Places

"... a little flat and dreary for a moment after all they; had been through, but also, unexpectedly, nice in its own way, what with the familiar railway smell and the English sky and the summer term before them."

Those were among the closing lines in Prince Caspian. No, I do not mean literally the English sky and the summer term. However, my English adventures has been to me more like an adventure beyond the wardrobe. And like Lewis has described, the experience in the enchanted land ought to open our eyes to the niceness of the ordinary things.

Perhaps I did held the view that to leave a place and resettle in another is not an extraordinary thing, in fact progress would demand it. Afterall, did not our forefathers, just three or four generations ago left China in seeking a better future further south? And even now, I have scores of friends and cousins, again, leaving this place slightly above the equator for other perceived better lands, perhaps for a reason and hope not too distant from the one that brought our ancestors here.

I confess, my views are changing. Even as I reread one of my favorite book, 'Heart of a Nation', I see echoes of certain ideas and notions. While I will abstain from commenting upon the morality of migration (if you believe in such), there are yet so much to be discovered in a land that I might have mixed feelings about but are now trying to learn to love. Realize also, that I'm not talking in any nationalistic sense (for nation rises and kingdoms fall). Maybe a distinction does exist between the two terms.

So, perhaps this place, The Place, or any place for that matter is more than the sum of geography, history, the inhabitants, the culture, the politics, the economic potential etc. And it is Place that I hope to (re)discover and know anew.

The true blessings of travel is to increase your appreciation for both Places. It is never to trivialize the home ground. And I do not believe a trip as epic as Frodo's quest exist for me. Let me venture to suggest that you could never outgrow a place, for the more you grow the smaller you become, relative to the world you perceive, for your horizon has expanded. The higher you stand, the more you will realize how small you are.

"It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth. I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the planet Earth. I didn't feel like a giant. I felt very, very small. " ~ Neil Armstrong

Till the day, scales would fall from our eyes...