It has been two weeks now. Since that night I boarded my first international flight with a medley of feelings- apprehension, excitement and of course missing family and friends- on going to a strange place to take up a role in an area where I had little expertise. Hong Kong is not really that far from India and my communication channels with near and dear ones are still intact, thanks to the fact that I live in 2012. But with me being yet another normal human being- a creature of habit- any change in my life is generally not met with a warm welcome.
The travel was smooth; the accommodation, though small (as every place in HK is), is comfortable enough. The only problem I faced (and still face, to an extent) was with the most primal means of survival- food. In a place where chicken is considered vegetarian food, we had to go around explaining that what we wanted was something with "No meat; No chicken; No Pork; No beef; No egg". In most places we were met with weird looks from the hotel waiters. One particular guy, who was totally shocked, shook his head vigorously thinking of how such homo sapiens could exist in the same place that he inhabited.
Hong Kong is cleaner, more regulated and definitely more automated than India is. It is a pleasure to travel to anywhere here. I do not see India even nearing this place's standards in the above criteria any time in the next decade. But, are all those needed for India? There is some fun and excitement in life back there. Uncertainty over public transport, unruly traffic and people who always think of ways to surpass rules- don't these make living in India exciting and lively, using one's senses all the time, being alert and in short, being human and not a robot?!
Any day, I'd prefer living in my dirty and non-automated India eating dosa, sambhar and vada instead of a pack of microwave-heated bread that was purchased after carefully reading the ingredients.
Hong Kong is very good as a holiday destination- not as a place for everyday living.
But, a bit ironical as this may be with what I have written above, it is living in Hong Kong that has taught me some basic daily household chores! Whether my knowledge of financial markets has increased or not, my ability to cook my own rice and wash my own clothes has been honed really well :) Looking forward to 7 more weeks of this different way of living!
