Wednesday 25 April 2012

Restart

They say change is good. I agree and disagree.

Moving to Singapore and restarting a life here is tough for some one like me who has never aspired to leave my country. All my school mates, college mates etc have found their way either through jobs or marriage in Switzerland, US (of course), Sweden and even Finland. But me never wanted to leave India, and in fact that was my primary criteria while I was groom hunting 4 years back. With my elder sister already in the US, I always wanted to be living close by to my parents and be at their side whenever needed. I tried 100% till about now.

Well, I can't control or dictate how situations evolve in my life -- some lead to happy endings & content beginnings, others ensure an ugly time while they last. I'm still debating what category the current situation fits in. But anyways now that I'm in a foreign country which has been fairly kind to me until now, I better make the best of it.

Singapore is a great place to restart. I read somewhere that the expat community here is one of the largest per capita in the world, with 27% of the entire population being non-residents.

And I believe that one of the best ways to avoid feeling homesick & mull over the distance between me and my parents is to integrate myself completely in this new life. A fresh chance to do things differently, perhaps. There's no denying that I go through a wide spectrum of emotional stages each day —overwhelmed, scared, lonely, frustrated, content, irritated, determined, confused, excited, grateful, disappointed, and angry but that's only normal for a person like me who HAD to move because that's what most married women do.

But as I write this blog, it's dawning upon me that it is only natural to resent the change and take some time to get used to everything new in life. This also includes moving around with our luggage, finding an apartment, settling in, and lots of backaches!

On a fresher note, as a woman what I miss the most from back home is the comfort of having a maid who would clean up my home, neatly cut up my vegetables so that I could come from work and pretend to be Nigella as I tossed them in a wok. I miss that comfort. Silly things like the ability to call your neighborhood grocery store for just bread and eggs is also high up on the 'What I Miss the Most from Back Home' list.

The shopaholic in me misses the impulse weekend shopping sprees since converting Singapore dollar price tags to Indian rupees puts a definite brake on most impulses. But I am getting a hang of places that allow me to shop without feeling guilty about the money spent. 

So, get ready to get a budget-view of Singapore and I promise that there wont be too many sop-sob posts :)



UPDATE: Found a fab video on Singapore. See and laugh 


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