Mindset

A decade back when this question - "Do you want to go abroad" meaning "Dont you want to get married to a US visa holder/NRI" was asked to me, I used to fly off the handle. I mean how dare anyone insult my indian core ?! That was an atrocious thought ! I would rather die, than end up doing anything so sacrilegious !!! But guess who had the last laugh ? Yup my cards/stars or whatever you choose to call, saw me married off to a guy working in the US, and zoom...I was shipped off just a few days after the wedding.
Needless to say I arrived at the Columbus,OHIO airport with a whole bunch of prejudice, expecting a scene from the "Bold & the Beautiful" to be enacted right in front of me. I can admit it now, that I was a little disappointed when that didnt happen :) what was in store for me was the "toned down, down-to-earth american experience" of a move. My husband, for some absurdly romantic reason (thats what he claims it was !) had thought that I would like to help him move from his old roach-struck studio apartment into this 1-bedroom apartment that he had chosen for us. Now, whatever my impressions of the "westernized world" were, they did not include fighting cockroaches ! I couldnt in my wildest dreams fathom that the mighty US would have the same irritating, immortal creepy crawly creatures ! That my friends was my first mis-conception. As the days went by, and I started meeting people - indian and otherwise I had to rip the curtain of prejudice from my eyes, and realize that people are the same everywhere - with their share of joys,disappointments,expectations,belief and even religion. Infact sometimes being away from one's country, makes you bond closer with your countrymen and forget the caste/language/religion - that are otherwise major dividing factors here in India.
Now I am back after completing my stint abroad, and I am thankful for the exposure that this oppurtunity provided me. I am not sure if I am wiser or a better person because of these years I have been away, but I will think twice before condemning a place/city/country just because its new to me.