Impressions of a New Horizon!!

CouchSurfing has been a revelation to me, really! This vibrant community of travel enthusiasts and social animals just embraces you from the word Go and forcefully places you right in the middle of the chaotic tower of babel owned by the true cosmopolitan. I'm sure the Thackeray cousins would hate this world where barriers of color, race, gender and language give way to a true desire to reach out to fellow human beings!

Yesterday was my second CS Moscow meeting, not counting the sister-club Polyglot forays.. And this time I learnt a valuable lesson that first impressions aren't the best impressions. Actually, I realized it earlier in the day when I was eating a cabbage salad. It was purple, rubbery and tasted awful to start with, more so because I didn't add any soya or vinegar to it. But I persisted. Three spoons inside, I decided that I can tolerate the stuff. And before I knew what was happening, I ignored the juicy grilled chicken breast and the enticing cheese sandwich, and concentrated my entire efforts on the cabbage salad! Then I got to thinking. First Impressions, anyone? Total rot; who says they matter!

There is a guy called Slava in the CS community. First time I met him, he was banging his fists on a wooden table, raving about a boxing bout he won earlier in the day and screaming expletives. I saw that he was not my idea of a pal - I like my friends to be of the moderate type, with extreme views only about Karan Johar! I avoided Slava a bit after that. And yesterday, he sat down with me owing to lack of space in the long table. We spoke beyond 'Hi!' for the first time. Though it could be because of the milk of human goodness in me that was swirling beyond excess, actively aided by the excellent Dutch beer brew - Lowenbrau, which possibly led me to say even that 'Hi!', I changed my opinion about him. He's actually a very nice guy, I realized. Who likes to live it up, which is not at all a vice! He's a scientist pursuing PhD in some chemistry subject, part time boxer and loves travelling! I spoke to him but briefly, and remembered the cabbage salad!

That brings us to the original point. First Impressions, anyone? Total rot, if u say they matter!

I'll tell you more. I met this tall, hefty Turk - Charry. He's an architect who told me about the influence of the Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman and the modern European styles on the buildings around his house in Istanbul. He says, you step out into the balcony and see a history book infront of you! He became an architect, following his sister's steps after they started liking the building in which they lived!
Charry is more a boxer type chap with his size and forceful expression, than the reed thin Slava. One could classify him as stud material may be, the type all those beauty queens fall for! Then he told me where he gets money for his travels. 'My boyfriend', he said, 'he works in an airline company and I keep getting free tickets! Some times even business class!!', he chuckled. I admired the guy for his knowledge and frankness. But the takeaway was, he was nowhere near the gay stereotype, like you see on Will & Grace. And he would probably hate it if someone called him a stud!

I left the place with my lesson - Impressions are just one-way traffic. Reach out a bit, mingle around, let your defences down and there is a world out there that can make you grow up in a single day. Chhat puja on Juhu beach? Hmmm... I mean, where does it fit in your life story?

There's a Couch Surfing community in Bombay too. I plan to send invites to Balasaheb, Raj, Uddav and Abu Azmi... May be they'll learn a few things there!