Covering Distances...

                                Picture Courtesy:-My ever cooperative iPhone 6 :D

Two weeks ago, I joined a group of 18 other students and two teachers on a school trip to Vietnam and Laos. Titled as 'Discovery Week', its a one week long trip to different parts of the world for all Grade 11 students. The main purpose of this trip was to learn about the Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War and its impacts on Vietnam and Laos. 

When I had embarked on this journey, I was filled with confusion hesitation along with fear that crawled through me every now and then. Other than the fact that I had no friends (then), I was--and still am-- horrible at saying goodbyes. And that was the time when I had to take a deep breath and travel to a place where one of my interests lied; history! 

I had no prior knowledge on the war, other than information on the countries involved. We weren't given much information at our base camp either. And I'm glad we weren't. Because I explored history from a deeper perspective like never before. I had always been intrigued by history, but never had I felt goosebumps at imagining the life of fear people lived in. Never had I experienced the admiration for the brave hearts or the survivors. Today, all the emotions felt through flipping pages in a book seem next to nothing compared to the ones I was introduced to on this trip. Respect. Admiration. Agony. Guilt. Sympathy. Fear. 

Laos is a country totally different to the environment I've grown up in. Where I was surrounded by malls and trends, this country's speciality was its simplicity. Each turn revealed new secrets, and my music became my best friend. Covered in greenery and pure bliss, the air around me smelt of hope and a new beginning rather than petrol or smoke. 

Waking up at five in the morning seemed so annoying when I had first read the itinerary. However, on the day itself, I experienced an adrenaline rush and a jolt of excitement. Distributing alms to the monks seemed so surreal. The feeling of tranquility was truly felt then and there. We soon climbed numerous stairs to witness mesmerizing scenic views, and Buddha statues. 

As a monk tied a string around my wrist for protection, I could not but admire the similarity in cultures. Reciting a few verses, of which some were in Sanskrit, I smiled at this new home away from home. And that's when my thoughts drifted to this irony of life.

Our world, that once consisted of one nation known as Pangaea, now had been divided into 195 countries. Not only had our world map had been marked with lines, but our nations had been marked with borders; some with serious conflict. And yet, we shared similar cultures, beliefs and ideologies. We all were taught when we were little, 'united we stand, divided we fall'. And each one of us grew up, learning about new disputes leading to conflicts, verbal fights concluding in devastating wars, 'Ego' winning over 'Eco', thus establishing another border, another marked line on our world map. Did these borders stop us from exchanging experiences, from learning something new everyday? Or have these very marked lines caused rifts between us, through words like racism? Is Pangaea the solution to all our social problems? The solution to the unity of human race?