making computerized presentations for small businesses. My stint at the press came in handy while writing content. After finishing class twelve, I stopped going to junior college and opted for distance education so I could better utilize my time. My college education had completely disappointed me, and I couldn't see what I had learned in the past two years. I thought of studying abroad, but affordability was a big issue. I didn't have any siyar singhi I could use to fulfil my ambition to go abroad. But I did have a mantra with me. It was said that chanting this mantra would send the practitioner on a voyage. Its sonic vibrations were supposed to manifest your desire—the law of attraction.
I expressed my desire to the Universe and started chanting the mantra in January 1998. While driving, bathing, eating, travelling, before sleeping, upon getting up, day and night when I wasn't doing anything else, I meditated on the mantra with great mindfulness. I had faith in the mantra but I wasn’t sure if it would work quickly enough. My scepticism disappeared one day in March when one of my acquaintances casually mentioned her cousin, who was an education consultant and sent students to Australia.
I asked my father, and he immediately approved of the idea of my higher education in Australia. I enrolled in a two-year diploma in information technology at Hurstville Business College in Sydney. My father made withdrawals from his retirement fund to pay for the first year’s college fee and my air ticket. I used my savings to do some shopping and buy Australian dollars. Meanwhile, I left behind my shares as a long-term investment.
If I thought India was hard work for me, I didn’t know what lay ahead in Australia. I had no tertiary degrees and no relevant work experience to help me settle down in a new country and be able to earn enough to support myself. I didn’t even have full working rights since I could only work twenty hours per week on a student visa. What was to become of me? What chance did I really have? I just had the willingness to work hard, very hard.
At eighteen, I was on my way to Australia. Chanting the mantra had manifested my desire, but I was responsible for living through the consequences. Alone but overconfident, unprepared but resolute, clueless but hopeful at heart, I was ready to face everything life would throw at me.
4
First Flight
I distinctly remember feeling numb on two occasions in my life. The first was when I was flying to Australia and the second was twelve years later when I took renunciation. No, this was not a physical numbness but a sort of emotional paralysis. I remember not feeling any emotions. My family, along with a couple of family friends, came to see me off at the airport. Though they didn't say much, their eyes spoke volumes. I was going to a place thousands of miles away without knowing when I would return.
No one in the family had ever been on a plane before, let alone leave the country altogether. At the airport, they talked about everything else except my impending departure. This wasn’t something they wanted to think about because, on the train of thoughts about my future, the only passengers were worries, insecurities and the pain of separation. I remember saying goodbye as I passed through the security barrier. My loved ones stood watching me. I looked hopeful and helpless while they looked sad and helpless.
The flight from New Delhi to Sydney was a little adventure for me. It was not like the first sighting of the bookshop when I was five or like my first trip to the library. Those were pleasant and joyful discoveries and there had been no confusion at all. Here, I was doing things I’d never done before, like working out the mechanics of the seat belt and trying to understand what the paper bag was for. I didn't know if they charged for meals and drinks or what was stocked in the tiny restroom. Above all, I didn't
I expressed my desire to the Universe and started chanting the mantra in January 1998. While driving, bathing, eating, travelling, before sleeping, upon getting up, day and night when I wasn't doing anything else, I meditated on the mantra with great mindfulness. I had faith in the mantra but I wasn’t sure if it would work quickly enough. My scepticism disappeared one day in March when one of my acquaintances casually mentioned her cousin, who was an education consultant and sent students to Australia.
I asked my father, and he immediately approved of the idea of my higher education in Australia. I enrolled in a two-year diploma in information technology at Hurstville Business College in Sydney. My father made withdrawals from his retirement fund to pay for the first year’s college fee and my air ticket. I used my savings to do some shopping and buy Australian dollars. Meanwhile, I left behind my shares as a long-term investment.
If I thought India was hard work for me, I didn’t know what lay ahead in Australia. I had no tertiary degrees and no relevant work experience to help me settle down in a new country and be able to earn enough to support myself. I didn’t even have full working rights since I could only work twenty hours per week on a student visa. What was to become of me? What chance did I really have? I just had the willingness to work hard, very hard.
At eighteen, I was on my way to Australia. Chanting the mantra had manifested my desire, but I was responsible for living through the consequences. Alone but overconfident, unprepared but resolute, clueless but hopeful at heart, I was ready to face everything life would throw at me.
4
First Flight
I distinctly remember feeling numb on two occasions in my life. The first was when I was flying to Australia and the second was twelve years later when I took renunciation. No, this was not a physical numbness but a sort of emotional paralysis. I remember not feeling any emotions. My family, along with a couple of family friends, came to see me off at the airport. Though they didn't say much, their eyes spoke volumes. I was going to a place thousands of miles away without knowing when I would return.
No one in the family had ever been on a plane before, let alone leave the country altogether. At the airport, they talked about everything else except my impending departure. This wasn’t something they wanted to think about because, on the train of thoughts about my future, the only passengers were worries, insecurities and the pain of separation. I remember saying goodbye as I passed through the security barrier. My loved ones stood watching me. I looked hopeful and helpless while they looked sad and helpless.
The flight from New Delhi to Sydney was a little adventure for me. It was not like the first sighting of the bookshop when I was five or like my first trip to the library. Those were pleasant and joyful discoveries and there had been no confusion at all. Here, I was doing things I’d never done before, like working out the mechanics of the seat belt and trying to understand what the paper bag was for. I didn't know if they charged for meals and drinks or what was stocked in the tiny restroom. Above all, I didn't
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