John sent me the photo for the next Picture challenge in the last week itself. But I didn't get time to sit down and write about it. He must be waiting for my response wondering what happened to my enthusiasm to do a picture challenge every week without fail. But here I am, stealing some time in the evening while talking to my son. He is asking me about some crossword puzzle and I am dictating him something and writing this post simultaneously.
Read about the other challenges here:
https://thebluecanvasofwords.blogspot.com/2018/12/picture-challenge-1.html
https://thebluecanvasofwords.blogspot.com/2018/12/picture-challenge-2.html
So what did he send me this time?
He sent me this picture:
Birds of a feather flock together.
This idiom struck me the moment I saw this photo. I imagined myself to be one of the birds sitting high up there. I was so lonely, so alone, so helpless when I left my family and friends in India and came to Germany in November 2017. I knew the language, but I had no friends. Slowly, I ventured out and made friends. I have a good social circle now. I am a part of many different groups now.
I have a chanting group, I have a set of friends who speak my mother-tongue, Marathi, I have a group of mamas of my son's friends and I have a group of singing class. We all are different, we come from different backgrounds, have different thinking and ideologies and have different priorities. But we all have a common interest. The common interest in the chanting group is Nicherin Buddism, in the group of Marathi friends, the feeling of being away from the hometown, but being able to speak the in our mother-tongue, in the language with which we were born! The common point in the mamas' group is the fact that our kids are same aged and share the same Kindergarten or school and the common thing in our singing class is our passion and love for world music.
It's true that one can't stay in isolation. We are after all a social animal. Though I have heard stories of people being very cold and hostile in countries abroad, my experience till date here in this dainty little town has been wonderful. I have good neighbors. I feel wanted, I feel included, I feel respected within my friends' circle. I have my own space and I feel loved and accepted as I am. There are no judgments, no pre-conceived notions, no barriers.
This is what friendship is all about.
Sailing in the same boat no matter how high or low the tide is.
Holding together no matter how high or low the mood is.
Being there for each other no matter how rich or poor you are.
Looking in the same direction no matter how rough the weather is.
John, we had the same workplace and the shared the same bus route to and fro from office. It was there we first met. Then we bonded over books and writing and you inspired me to start a blog and I have been writing since then. Sometimes I get lazy and sometimes over-enthusiastic.
Cheers to our 10th year of friendship, John! We started in Bangalore, you went to the US and I came to Germany and we are still in touch. God bless our friendship and I wish many more years of our friendship, motivating each other and being there for each other.
Hip hip hurray!
Read about the other challenges here:
https://thebluecanvasofwords.blogspot.com/2018/12/picture-challenge-1.html
https://thebluecanvasofwords.blogspot.com/2018/12/picture-challenge-2.html
So what did he send me this time?
He sent me this picture:
Birds of a feather flock together.
This idiom struck me the moment I saw this photo. I imagined myself to be one of the birds sitting high up there. I was so lonely, so alone, so helpless when I left my family and friends in India and came to Germany in November 2017. I knew the language, but I had no friends. Slowly, I ventured out and made friends. I have a good social circle now. I am a part of many different groups now.
I have a chanting group, I have a set of friends who speak my mother-tongue, Marathi, I have a group of mamas of my son's friends and I have a group of singing class. We all are different, we come from different backgrounds, have different thinking and ideologies and have different priorities. But we all have a common interest. The common interest in the chanting group is Nicherin Buddism, in the group of Marathi friends, the feeling of being away from the hometown, but being able to speak the in our mother-tongue, in the language with which we were born! The common point in the mamas' group is the fact that our kids are same aged and share the same Kindergarten or school and the common thing in our singing class is our passion and love for world music.
It's true that one can't stay in isolation. We are after all a social animal. Though I have heard stories of people being very cold and hostile in countries abroad, my experience till date here in this dainty little town has been wonderful. I have good neighbors. I feel wanted, I feel included, I feel respected within my friends' circle. I have my own space and I feel loved and accepted as I am. There are no judgments, no pre-conceived notions, no barriers.
This is what friendship is all about.
Sailing in the same boat no matter how high or low the tide is.
Holding together no matter how high or low the mood is.
Being there for each other no matter how rich or poor you are.
Looking in the same direction no matter how rough the weather is.
John, we had the same workplace and the shared the same bus route to and fro from office. It was there we first met. Then we bonded over books and writing and you inspired me to start a blog and I have been writing since then. Sometimes I get lazy and sometimes over-enthusiastic.
Cheers to our 10th year of friendship, John! We started in Bangalore, you went to the US and I came to Germany and we are still in touch. God bless our friendship and I wish many more years of our friendship, motivating each other and being there for each other.
Hip hip hurray!
Happy 10th year of our friendship Mrunalini. I wish both of us many many more years of this wonderful friendship. :)
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