As a Child..

Our whole lives, we have been taught to be ambitious and competitive. Getting accepted into a prestigious university and employment in a high-paying job is essential in life, and is the way to be happy. So far, this is what I have tried to follow for the past 10 years, but is that really how one should live their life? Constantly picking faults, looking at the next best thing, earning the most money, does money really buy happiness?

The summer of 2009, I flew to Delhi, India with my mother to visit my uncles, aunts and my grandfather as they were in shock because one of my aunts had died. A week after we arrived, we headed for a week-long trip to see the rest of Delhi, with our family.  As a child, I always thought of India as a developing nation and I envisioned broken streets and bathrooms everywhere. But as I walked into the hotel, I realized that this place was really professional, much like Toronto is, with clean roads, no bathroom stalls on the streets. The only issue I had was with the mosquitoes; they would visit us every night and became a nuisance!  The next few days were similarly surprising and fun. The way they made every day an adventure. In the evenings, after dinner, everyone would start up the karaoke machine and sing along in Hindi to it. They would stand together, holding hands and swaying to the music, and before I knew it, all my worries were gone. The days seemed to fly by quickly.

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The last night of our trip, we all ate dinner around a big, round table. They all talked about their lives and the hardships they faced.  I had known the basics about their past careers as my mother had told me on the way here, but what my grandfather told me, shocked me. He was nowhere near as well-off as I had expected. He explained how many relationships were torn apart because of disputes, divorce and even death. Yet even as my grandfather told me of all his hardships, he smiled like a pug with a face with countless wrinkles, encouraging ...

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