Sheep in the big city......... !!!

For those who find the title weird, it was an animated series about a sheep that, due to some unfortunate conditions, was forced to survive in a big city. Most of us are like sheep, small town people, who don’t know much about big cities and find it very weird and then there is always a general feeling that you do not belong to this place. Whenever a small town person arrives in a big city, the feeling of curiosity and excitement is soon overshadowed by feeling of fear and awkwardness. In any case, transiting to a big city is always adventurous and it’s never as straight and normal as it should be, thus lots of stories are created that are cherished and enjoyed forever.

Initial few days are always great and enjoyable, whenever you arrive in a big city. It’s more of a holiday or a picnic, you meet new people, you see new places, you taste new food, everything is new and big and something that so far you haven’t experienced. You click lots of pictures and upload them on your Whatsapp and Facebook with very catchy captions. But then, the later part if completely opposite, if not completely opposite then far more troublesome and full of struggles.

First thing is finding the accommodation as you have permanently shifted from your city to this one and you have to settle here now. I don’t know about other cities, but here in Pune, or particularly in the area where I have to stay, it’s a very challenging task. There aren’t any ‘TO LET’ boards here everywhere so that you can go, enquire the owner, and happily return with an accommodation. Internet is not much of a use, as it only points in a direction but not at a particular point. If you are lucky and know somebody who is already staying there then you won’t be having much trouble but if you are on your own then you are trapped in a vicious circle of various brokers who would ensure you that it’s their responsibility of finding an accommodation for you but you would get to know the reality soon.

You would roam around with the brokers at various places, searching for the perfect place. Sometimes you will roam around for days and would return empty handed daily. In most of the cases, you would indeed find a flat or a PG or something; you have to give a very large sum as brokerage to them. Those who take flat give a token money, and return very relieved and ensured that they have a place. But wait, there is a catch. Just a day before, when you have to shift, your broker would call you that the flat has been given to some other person, or the owner said that he won’t allow bachelors to live in his place and you could take your token money back. Now, here you are, with nowhere to go and no place to live, completely betrayed and doomed, and all you can do is to control your anger and somehow think of a temporary solution for the time being. A poor helpless sheep, lost in the big city.

If you are lucky (unlucky), you would also understand the meaning of “each men for himself”. Self interests indeed overpower greater good at times, and you will have a piece of it sooner or later. On the other side, you would find unexpected unpredictable help out of nowhere. New hands will always be there to help you out and take you out from various problems. There would always be support and comfort.

One more big change that ‘sheep’ like us observe in this big cities are, there is a very noticeable line between simplicity and sophistication. You don’t eat like people here eat, you don’t talk like they do,  you would fumble a lot when you are speaking English or you would be very uncomfortable. Your plate, your eating habits, the kind of food you are having would always be very different and far away from sophistication. Your dress, your demeanour, your body language, all would make you realize again and again that you are way out of league here. Inside we all are human, but the place where we live in changes our interface. Everyone who has arrived here has started from streets. They felt the same discomfort, same cultural change and there comes my greatest fear, of losing the small town guy in me and becoming the same sophisticated person.

It’s very easy to lose yourself, your soul and the small town guy in you in these cemented structures. At times, you feel very small in front of all big skyscrapers. You feel lesser because you don’t fit in. In the process, you try to be one of the sophisticated guy, you tend to smile less and be serious more. You tend to not enjoy the small happiness of life. You tend to work more and dream less. You become a part of a structure where you are just a digital part of a large circuit running forever in a loop and producing no results at all.

As much excited and curious I am for this newer phase of life, I am afraid in equal quantity to not lose the inner small Towner. I don’t want to be formal and professional. Life is good in this way. I can laugh and make laugh. I can eat and treat. I can pull legs and make a fool of myself. I can think and act. They say life here is a golden cage, it will give you an illusion of comfort and you would be trapped here forever. We all have wings, but with times we just forgot to fly, all I wish is to retain both the wings and the determination to fly.