I have been reading Eat Pray and Love and it got me thinking. In the book Elizabeth Gilbert mentions how every city or country had a word. A word that defines the place..the people there..if you felt that word..that means you belong to that place.To make things more clear..I'll give examples.. For Italy, the word would be SEX. Vatican's word would be POWER. You get the point..So, it got me thinking..What is India's word? In particular, Kerala's word?? To narrow it even more.. Kottayam's word...and finally..what was my word?
Hmm..first of all...India...what could be our word?? DEMOCRACY??Not really...YOGA???I think Americans and Europeans do way more yoga than the whole of the billion people from India...So that's out.. What about UNITY?SECULARITY? If you read the papers..I think you wouldn't think so...CULTURE?DIVERSITY? yes...I think that would be the words.. That's the only thing that keeps us all Indians together...The fact that we know we are different but still cope up with each other..CULTURE and DIVERSITY are the two words that make me proud to be an Indian. All the difference in the people..their habits...their food.. That's what defines us Indians.
Now let's get down to Kerala. POLITICS? Yup.. That's definitely one word..another sure word would be DUBAI!!!! That's one word that's kind of imbibed into every Keralite's mind. That's the Keralite Dream like the American Dream. Why we are so obsessed by this idea I am yet to figure out and I still don't understand why we can't be happy working and living in Kerala itself...Yes.. there is no job opportunities...no jobs with high pay.. That's cause all of us just run off to Dubai and never bother with our roots.. I feel there is need of change in our mentality there.. which I'm hoping would happen in the coming few decades.
Kottayam...the first word that comes to my mind is GOSSIP..yes.. we Kottayamites are just amazing at it...It's kind of like a God given gift. But we mean no harm.. When you get the hang of it.. It is kinda of fun as long as you are not bothered about it. It's really funny to hear all those cooked up stories about yourself but I can't complain much.. Kottayam is nowhere near GOSSIPING when it comes to my college...I guess my college has bagged the gold medal on the art of gossiping for decades now. So no... GOSSIP wouldn't be a really apt word. I think a more apt word for us Kottayamites would be ELEGANCE. Atleast for the women. I don't mean to brag, but we do score a 7/10 on our fashion sense. No matter how normal our clothing might be we don't forget to put our essence of elegance in it. It's kind of a spice that we Kottayamites own. Something we pass down to our future generations.
Now coming down to me. My word... I can guess some words a few people might be thinking... BITCH? WEIRD? NARCISSIST?QUIRKY? These are just a few... But what I think...I'm really trying to figure it out... I think everyone should have their word and must live by it. Something that defines them.. So after a lot of thinking... I think my word would be BELIEVER. Not like a Christian believer... I don't think anybody in their right minds would call me that... more of like a believer in the good. When I meet people I believe they show their inner truth to me. (though I have been proven wrong.. uncountable times..) But I still like to believe... that they would... I don't feel I could live in this world without believing people.... that there is some good somewhere... I like to believe my life would become like the fairytale I always imagined.. If it does or doesn't, I don't have to be bothered.. All that matters is I believe. The countless mistakes I make.. I believe it is for a reason. The reason I'm here in the world. I believe it's to make a change...however inconspicuously small it might be. I'm hoping everyone finds their word atleast at one point of their life. That word. Makes all the difference.
Hmm..first of all...India...what could be our word?? DEMOCRACY??Not really...YOGA???I think Americans and Europeans do way more yoga than the whole of the billion people from India...So that's out.. What about UNITY?SECULARITY? If you read the papers..I think you wouldn't think so...CULTURE?DIVERSITY? yes...I think that would be the words.. That's the only thing that keeps us all Indians together...The fact that we know we are different but still cope up with each other..CULTURE and DIVERSITY are the two words that make me proud to be an Indian. All the difference in the people..their habits...their food.. That's what defines us Indians.
Now let's get down to Kerala. POLITICS? Yup.. That's definitely one word..another sure word would be DUBAI!!!! That's one word that's kind of imbibed into every Keralite's mind. That's the Keralite Dream like the American Dream. Why we are so obsessed by this idea I am yet to figure out and I still don't understand why we can't be happy working and living in Kerala itself...Yes.. there is no job opportunities...no jobs with high pay.. That's cause all of us just run off to Dubai and never bother with our roots.. I feel there is need of change in our mentality there.. which I'm hoping would happen in the coming few decades.
Kottayam...the first word that comes to my mind is GOSSIP..yes.. we Kottayamites are just amazing at it...It's kind of like a God given gift. But we mean no harm.. When you get the hang of it.. It is kinda of fun as long as you are not bothered about it. It's really funny to hear all those cooked up stories about yourself but I can't complain much.. Kottayam is nowhere near GOSSIPING when it comes to my college...I guess my college has bagged the gold medal on the art of gossiping for decades now. So no... GOSSIP wouldn't be a really apt word. I think a more apt word for us Kottayamites would be ELEGANCE. Atleast for the women. I don't mean to brag, but we do score a 7/10 on our fashion sense. No matter how normal our clothing might be we don't forget to put our essence of elegance in it. It's kind of a spice that we Kottayamites own. Something we pass down to our future generations.
Now coming down to me. My word... I can guess some words a few people might be thinking... BITCH? WEIRD? NARCISSIST?QUIRKY? These are just a few... But what I think...I'm really trying to figure it out... I think everyone should have their word and must live by it. Something that defines them.. So after a lot of thinking... I think my word would be BELIEVER. Not like a Christian believer... I don't think anybody in their right minds would call me that... more of like a believer in the good. When I meet people I believe they show their inner truth to me. (though I have been proven wrong.. uncountable times..) But I still like to believe... that they would... I don't feel I could live in this world without believing people.... that there is some good somewhere... I like to believe my life would become like the fairytale I always imagined.. If it does or doesn't, I don't have to be bothered.. All that matters is I believe. The countless mistakes I make.. I believe it is for a reason. The reason I'm here in the world. I believe it's to make a change...however inconspicuously small it might be. I'm hoping everyone finds their word atleast at one point of their life. That word. Makes all the difference.
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