Where I belong?

We live in a troubled world. With all the terrorism and inflation and intolerance and corruption. People have so much of anger and hatred inside of them, that it has become so difficult for us to even smile at another person walking beside us. I see that every day. In metros or trains or even in the cars. Every eye looks tired and every face looks angry. People are running for something they cannot see or even know if that exist. This is mostly in the cities. Big cities.

I belong to a rather smaller city and whenever I get a chance to visit my city, I could feel the low pace of life there. Most of the people run their own small businesses. No offices to go to except for private banks and some small call centres. Off course the government offices as well. But whenever I visit my city, without even any effort, my mind feels so relaxed. Not because it is my hometown or something. It is. But today, I feel more of someone who belongs to Delhi rather anywhere else. These 7 years have made me a rat running in an unknown rat race.

There..People wake up early..have time for morning tea…go for a walk or just read newspaper. Pray. Get shower, get ready, have breakfast. Pack lunch. Talk to neighbours or people around.. and get to work. Now, this is what we all do. But the difference is, they are not doing it just for the sake of it. They drink tea but do not think about just gulping it down and running for another errand. They take time and enjoy everything they do. They smile at each other. Greet. Stop by to have a little chat, if required. Of course, they all have their own problems and things to worry about. But for those moments, they are happy and relaxed. They come back home on time. There is hardly any hour long traffic and people abusing each other at road. They come back..spend time with their family or friends, have dinner, watch TV and sleep. A good 8 hour long sleep, or even more.

No their life is not any easier. No Sir. But I feel atleast they are living their life. They might not have big malls to go to or Zara and Mango lined up in every other mall. But they have time and their money is not going to pubs and doctors to make them live. They are fine with their life. They are mediocre and they are happy with it. Unlike people in big cities where everyone is just a rat..waiting for the weekend to arrive to just gulp down the alcohol and spending grands to make them feel better for few hours.

Sometimes I wonder, how different my life would have been, had I done a regular graduation, got married to someone in a small city? How things could have been, had I been a little less ambitious. Settled for something which could have allowed me to stay there. In my city. Would I be a better person then? Or would I be wondering how different life could have been, had I been to a big city?