It's just not windy anymore....

Chicago's Night Skyline

I am 18 years old now. But I was only 10 when we moved to "the windy city." The numbers don't quite add up when I say I spent most of my life in Chicago so maybe I should clarify. I try to recollect my life before Chicago when I lived in Philadelphia PA, but I can gather nothing but glimpses of the few trips to New Jersey and one to New York City. I do remember a couple of faces I can call 'friends,' but none of whom have stayed with me beyond Philly's borders. So I think it goes without saying that my time spent in Pennsylvania cannot be equated to my 8 years in Chicago.

If I were to explain those 8 years in Chicago, it would have to be a brief account of the best years of my life, and that would not being doing myself justice. Therefore, I won't spend time now explaining the time spent in the city of the 'deep dish pizza.' If you, my dear reader, ever make a stop in Chicago, please go to Giordano's, yum! So I guess the only question I can answer now is why are the moments I spent in Chi town so significant to me? Well here is my answer, I can tell you in one sentence: 'my experiences from the past 8 years of my life make me who I am today.' They hold much significance as I might have been a totally different person if I had grown up in Dallas, Tallahassee, Las Vegas, or India. Well actually I think an incredible tan would be the only additional change if I lived in Las Vegas, Nevada. But if I had grown up in a completely different country such as India, my life would be unimaginably dissimilar!

"The unimaginable or the unthinkable once discovered lead to more."

 Well I discovered just how dissimilar that would be. Just last year I had to leave Chicago and come to Hyderabad, India for college. And ever since there has not been a moment when I just didn't miss my hometown. Everything is to the contrary of what I had been in Chicago. I talk, eat, and think differently. All these transformations were unintentional and probably a mistake on my part. But they were necessary in order to blend in here. I spent the past 8 years defining myself, and now I am back to square one. Who would have ever thought, right? Well, I sure did not. Now the unthinkable idea that I live in India and may not go back to Chicago for a while has become my reality. I can't and don't even want to imagine what can come next.