Fate / Faith

On my second trip to japan, I was as enthusiastic as when I took my first, for I was expecting how my perspectives about this beautiful country is going to change, since now I have been living in a country where opportunities are endless - United States of America. Being in the US for the last 4 years has definitely broadened my way of thinking and made me more receptive to new encounters in life.

Japan which I admired for it's technological advances incorporated in everyday life has a flavor of humility, compassion and humbleness all over it. The ever clean streets albeit there are no trash receptacles on the street, watches put to test for the timely and efficient subway system, 'Rashaima Sen' chants when you enter any store which meant welcome and bowing down saying 'Arigatho Gosai Mas', to thank you for whatever the value of the product you might have bought are some of the experiences that will stay with you upon travelling to Japan. If i were to recommend a place that is like the Mecca to a Muslim then it would include Kyoto, Hiroshima, Miyajima and Tokyo.

Walking through the Hiroshima memorial museum and the Atomic Dome made me revisit history, August 6th 1945, 8:15 AM. (Hiroshima was attacked by an atomic bomb). Going through every scene after this horrific episode, how many people got injured, killed, burnt alive and how the subway resumed service the very next day taught me a new meaning to the word 'Resilience'. Walking out of the museum made me understand and analyse more about a fundamental topic, Fate / Faith. We are in the 21st century, there are advances in field of science, technology that is simply breathtaking and yet i had a chance to meet people who believe in palmistry and which is the best time to move into a new home. On my return to the US i was rather still shocked by the fact that how a country like US could not maintain its infrastructure. Cleaner streets/ efficient transportation/ Safe neighborhood are all pre-requisites to any developed nation and i had to look at this nation objectively although US was the place that gave me a breakthrough in my life. There are people who would believe in fate and those who believe, FAITH. Unlike the mid 20th century atomic adversity that Japan faced, not a lot of countries have had any earth shattering disasters. So what made japanese people think about developing, evolving and be resilient. The faith they had in themselves and in their cultural disciplines. In an innate nature to work hard, putting society first, forgetting individualism for the team, Japanese people were equipped to face even a nuclear attack and learnt from their mistakes which they showcased it even in the War memorial in Hiroshima teaching the upcoming generation to learn from your past mistakes. On that note, there are certain attributes that we as a society have to shed. Some dogmas, superstition, horoscope, sun signs, stereotypes that make us not experience life and have preconceived notion of what it could be. This is not so different from what scientists have acknowledged about Personalized Medicine wherein individuals reaction to medicine cannot be generalized and results in iatrogenic diseases.

There are pros and cons in every country which i have to acknowledge is where my thoughts lead me. I felt wouldn't it be nice if subway system in NYC had a schedule and told us how long i have to wait. Upon entering the station to board a 6 train, i saw a prompter displaying '6 train arriving in 10 mins'. My faith continues to grow and i have a belief that as a society we will evolve learning from each other albeit respecting each others unique individuality for the collective good of human well being.

Our perceptions of things influences our experiences and others behaviour towards us and themselves. Inshort we are what we think we are, who we are is an infinite number of avatars.