OFF THE BEATEN PATH

It's been a long way here, and miles more to go. I started off my adult life as a refugee, having a sleepover everyday with 10 people in a house out of which 4 people slept in the same room. The next promotion was living with 7 people in a condo, then down to 2 people in a shabby basement apartment behind a lemonade shop that had no windows at all, before I moved into my last apartment that had a window to my room that would open to a guy's balcony and he would always get a free show of my legs while sipping beer. After I graduated and moved out of Chicago. I stayed with my boyfriend (now Husband) in Michigan, while I was searching for a job. Then I moved to Ohio for my new job as a Firmware Developer. After saving my salary for 1 year, I was finally able to move to my own 1 Bed Room Apartment in Cleveland, bought a car with my own money and now spend peaceful days at home after coming back from work.

When I sit and look back at what I have gone through, it almost feels unbelievable and impossible to live that kind of life again. Adulting would be such a painful process, I could have never imagined. But, would I go back to living my old life in India with my Parents? Probably not. Having gone through my own experiences, I wouldn't want anyone else to ever try to scare me off my path by giving an example of their experiences. And so, I choose to stay isolated.

However, (hu)man is a social animal. Any kind of prolonged isolation can lead to depression and anxiety when in public spaces. To avoid that, I try to engage in more productive social activities while I fail miserably at it. My diaspora is so vast and outlandish that I neither associate with people of my own nationality anymore nor am I close to fitting in with the locals here. I rather find solace in knowing and reading about people from various countries and the histories behind their diaspora.

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Monologues of a 30 minus something

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