Intersecting Paths

Ashvin checked his watch again. It was five minutes past eight on a sunny December morning when his phone silently buzzed in his pocket.
"Hello"
"Dude, I reached the flyover, tell me where to go now." Shouting over the sounds of engines and horns, it was Krishna on the phone.
"Just go over the flyover. Once you get off it, park in the first free spot you find on the left."
"Alright. See you in a bit."
    Ashvin heard the phone go silent and his mind slowly drifted back to the first time he had met Krishna. Their paths were going in diametrically opposite directions and just happened to cross at the research center where Ashvin was working on his undergraduate thesis and Krishna, who had by then obtained a Masters degree in the USA, joined to do his PhD. Though their paths were seemingly at odds, in almost no time they had become good friends. Soon Ashvin left for graduate studies in the USA, but they had managed to kept in touch. It had been a year and a half since Ashvin left and now he was back home for vacations. Back home..
His mind drifted back to the sounds of roaring engines and unforgiving horns. Skirting around the traffic, he slowly made his way to the meeting location- S.L.V. Corner, Ashvin's favourite breakfast place in town.
     By the time Ashvin got across all the traffic, he managed to spot Krishna and waved at him.
As they made their way, Ashvin noticed that Krishna's sense of style or the lack of it hadn't changed since he had left. He wore a bright blue shirt with aeroplanes painted all over it.
Smiling at his shirt, Ashvin said "Nice shirt!"
Obviously not catching the sarcasm, Krishna said "Thank you! It's been a while, how have you been?"
"I'm good man, how about you? How have things been going at The Pit?" Ashvin was the one to come up with the name 'The Pit' for the research center since it was quite small and was constructed over marshy land, metaphorically lending to the already sinking feeling one would get in small research environments.
Krishna, who had taken an instantaneous liking towards the nickname, said "Same old, same old. You know how it is. If I don't get out often, I start to forget that there actually exists a real world outside."
     They entered the fast food place and sat down. "So what's good here? I haven't eaten in a place like this for quite a while."
"My personal favourite is the Kharabath and Vada. You can give the Dosas a shot too" replied Ashvin.
After much deliberation, Krishna decided that he would start with Idlis while Ashvin went with his favourites.
"So.... how has your trip been so far?"
"Good. It's been really nice too meet with all my friends and get away from the snow for a while." After pausing to drink some water, Ashvin continued "So how are things for you? How is your PhD coming along?"
"I have had much better times, but it's fine now. There have been some internal politics and sometimes students are the ones to get affected."
"What politics? I thought The Pit was quite above all that. Considering that each department was so small, why should people have problems?"
"I thought so too, but I guess since its small, all tiny things escalate to ridiculous levels."
Ashvin pondered for a moment, "You know what, that makes sense. Remember Sunny?"
Laughing aloud, "Sunny was one strange guy. He managed to blow tiny fights out of proportions. Ah crap man! It's too tiny for my liking. I barely get along with people these days."
Krishna paused as the food arrived and dove into it without a second thought. After a few greedy bites, he said "By the way, you know that the Chair quit right?"
Ashvin dropped his spoon and said, a little too loudly, "What!? Quit? I thought it was a term based, 2 years or something like that. But you say she quit!"
"Oh you didn't know! Internal politics. Most people have a problem with each other now and the Chair took the nail for no fault of her's"
"But why!?"
As he took another big bite, Krishna said "Ah, long story. I'll tell you the gist. It's a fight between liberty and equality." As Krishna paused to swallow, Ashvin smiled on the inside and thought So he hasn't changed on the 'America has liberty and dream it, do it attitude' either!
"There were some new students joining in last year. While some wanted the students to be distributed equally amongst the researchers, the Chair just wanted to give the choice to the students themselves. Though the rules were on her side, the Chair ended up quitting. Nobody obviously knows the exact details, but I guess that's about what happened."
Ashvin's thoughts drifted back to the Chair, his mentor. She quit... what has the world come to? She was his inspiration and the cruel reality was that politics and ego battles in the scientific community had troubled even the best. Sigh... so that's how it really went down...
Noticing Ashvin's sudden silence, Krishna inquired, "What happened?"
"Nothing.... I think I just felt my bubble burst."
Clearly amused, Krishna said "Bubble? Don't tell me you thought things were going to be all rosy and sweet. Even in the USA, such things happen. Only difference is that the Universities are so big that such incidents get diffused off. In small places they can end up being blown out of proportion."
"No... No I didn't think everything would be smooth sailing. But, I guess I had always hoped that with knowledge comes wisdom."
"With knowledge comes ego... and a lot of it"
A smile crept across Ashvin's face, "That is so true. Maybe I shouldn't make the mistake of treating scientists any different."
"Exactly!" Seeing that his Idlis were over, Krishna slowly spooned out some of Ashvin's Kharabath. He ordered a Dosa this time while Ashvin did a repeat on his initial order.
"So, Ashvin... it's been a year and half now. How do you find it there? Do You like it?"
"Academically, yes. It's been a great learning experience. As for a social life or the lack of one, I guess it is all about finding some balance. As I have told you before, I have managed to make a few geographic or intellectual friends which I guess is the most one can ask for." Ashvin shot a quick smile at Krishna and said "I have managed to travel quite a bit though, so all's good!"
After a moment of thoughtful silence, Krishna said "It's strange how though we are generally quite similar in our views, our experiences have been diametrically opposite. Till date, I refer to Texas as my real home and that I will return back, someday."
Krishna had said that many times before, but Ashvin never had asked why. He had always assumed that Krishna's liking towards USA was mostly because of the freedom he had as compared to The Pit.
"Why? Is it mainly because you find The Pit too annoying?"
"No... Not at all! I chose to come to The Pit because I wanted to work with one of the best. Period. It's more to do with the life I had. I had a life in Texas, I don't any more."
"What about the twenty odd years before that?"
Smiling widely, Krishna said "Sounds strange doesn't it? How could a place become my home just after twenty odd months when I had a home for twenty odd years before that? The thing was, I never had a life before Texas. Those twenty odd years slipped through my fingers while I studied for exams or played video-games"
Ashvin was visibly confused now, "So you feel you didn't have a life because you had to go through the Indian education grind? Or was it because you didn't have many friends and spent a little too much time alone with video games?"
Krishna burst out laughing at that. "Oh God no! Wait, let me explain it. It has more to do with the lack of freedom to dream. To express those dreams and to pursue them."
Krishna paused to order another Dosa while Ashvin decided that he was done for the morning.
As the waiter scurried off to get another Plain Dosa, Krishna continued "I know it sounds a little strange. In all those twenty years, I had no real freedom to be honest; and I consider keeping quiet when someone says something you don't agree with as being dishonest. I was never allowed to express my dreams; more often than not, ambition is mistaken to be arrogance. When I went to Texas, I just instantly felt at home. Honesty and integrity were given a top priority. Dreaming big and pursuing those dreams was encouraged while back home following the crowd was the right way to go about life. I do not talk for all of USA, it's a big place and things vary a lot as you travel across it. But, I really felt like I belonged there; I felt like I had a life."
Ashvin took a few pensive moments before saying anything. "Hmmm.... I guess now that I have actually seen the other side; I can say with experience that I don't completely agree with you. Even in the USA, you cannot always go around telling people what you think or dream. That's a recipe for disaster. I agree that it would be a bigger recipe for disaster here in India than probably in the USA."
"As I said, I speak for Texas and not all of USA."
"Okay.... I don't know about Texas. But, I had a life in India. In fact, I had one in school which I traded for the one I had in college. But now, I am just a stranger in a strange land. I know deep down that I will never belong there, never really feel a part of anything. It's not some random occurrence of racist comments that I refer to. I am talking about the ties that bind us; the ties that make us who we are."
Krishna had gobbled up his Dosa. Noticing that, Ashvin smiled and said "Want another?"
"No, I think I had enough. I'll get a coffee, what about you?"
"No coffee for me." Ashvin asked the waiter for the bill.
As the waiter left, Krishna said "My experience was really good. The first few friends I made there turned out to be my best friends. But here, I am still trying to just get along." Krishna paused for a moment as the waiter put down the coffee. Staring somewhere into the distance he continued "It's really strange how our experiences have been so different. I, a master's student from USA who loved the life back there, left it to come here and do a PhD. You, who had a life here, left it to pursue grad. studies in the USA."
Nodding, Ashvin said, "You are right, we have had very different experiences. You experienced the freedom that USA gave you and felt you could achieve a hell lot with it. I agree with you; there definitely is a lot more freedom there to express your views and pursue your dreams without people judging you. I feel I have lost a lot by leaving this country. Maybe a lot of people don't feel that way or never realise it. At the end of it all, things balance out don't they?"
A curious smile spread on Krishna's face, "Don't we all love to believe that they do?"
   The waiter returned with the bill. As Ashvin opened up his wallet, Krishna said "It's my turn this time. You paid the last time we ate out."
"Man! You are trying to get off cheap aren't you?"
Chuckling, Krishna said "I am a grad. student in India. I am allowed to do so."
  As they left, Ashvin said "You know what, it was really nice to meet you. I don't think either of us have changed one bit."
"I don't quite agree on that. I think you have changed."
Surprised, Ashvin said, "Oh really? How so?"
"You said 'it was nice to meet you'. The american small talk which you so fondly think as superficial has caught onto you."
Ashvin laughed and bid goodbye.
As they parted, they drifted away into the noisy world outside in opposite directions.