First, some context…

But when I’m cold, cold
oh when I’m cold, cold
there’s a light that you give me when I’m in shadow
there’s a feeling you give me, an everglow

80,000 people sang in unison at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin. Chris Martin had dedicated the song to the victims of the attack at the Istanbul airport, which had taken place exactly 24 hours before. On his piano, was a neatly laid-out Turkish flag. If you know me, you would know that I hold a special connection with Turkey but, more on that later.

As the stadium continued singing accompanied by a magnificent coldplay-typical light show, I was enjoying a transcendent moment from one of the cheap seats with the panoramic view of the whole place, thinking to myself: this is why Music is the second-best way to achieve World Peace.

Side note: If I ever write a post titled Ten Things To See Before You Kick The Bucket, a Coldplay concert will be a part of the Top 3 for sure. Speaking of which, you can still enjoy the show here.

Why second-best? Glad you asked.

My new year’s eve for 2009 was spent in Turkey, amongst friends hailing from 4 different countries. This was my first time being in a foreign land on my own (as fate would have it, the first out of many). Those 45 days were nothing less than life-altering. I volunteered in a school for special children — a highly intense and rewarding experience. Living with the locals being immersed in their culture was my window to understanding the essence of diversity. It was also in a lot of ways a window to understanding myself and where I come from. All of this self-discovery happened while living the local life in another country, in addition to working on a social cause. I came back having found a second-home. It is this combination of pushing oneself out of one’s definition of normal, exposing one to someone else’s normal, and adding the element of responsibility of the well-being of the alien society, that leads to a chemical reaction impacting the very foundation of one’s being: a life-altering experience.

Astronauts have often talked about what they call The Overview Effect: a revelation that they go through the moment they witness their home planet from outer-space, devoid of any lines that we usually see on Google Maps (lets be honest, nobody checks the atlas anymore). Looking at the planet Earth in its entirety while orbiting around it causes a massive shift in their perspective — a perspective that allows them to see much above the petty differences that cloud our usual line of sight, that the planet infact is just One World, inhabited by ‘One’ Humanity.

I often describe the effects of my exchange in Turkey on me similar to those of the Overview Effect. I didnt really leave my home planet (some day?), but, leaving your home (country) and living in another is the closest one can get to an Overview Effect without having to board a spacecraft. I saw how a different ethnic group has a different language, staple food, dances and concepts of nodding your head to say ‘No’, but, in indescribable ways, we are all the same. Emotions feel the same. And whatever is different is not wrong. It is just what it is — different. I had that revelation at the age of 18. Imagine, if everyone would have their own Overview Effect. How harmonious can humans become. And that, ladies and gentlemen, according to me, is the best way to achieve world peace. Exposing everyone to the world outside their comfort zone, putting them through intense experiences that make them understand everything around them by understanding themselves. And allowing themselves to see The Big Picture — devoid of racial, national, cultural, religious and any other boundaries, and instead painted with Empathy and Compassion. To see that Big Picture, one has to zoom out. To zoom out, one has to step out!

This is how my not-for-profit career started where I volunteered in a youth-led organisation alongside my college (and later, full-time) for a little over 7 years. These 7 years gave me an experience that deserve a trail of blog posts altogether, and, I could only think of one fitting way of closing that phase of my life — exactly the way I started it.

A short recap into that:

Therefore, I find myself penning my first blog in the first week of my exchange in Hungary. Till the end of September 2016, I am volunteering at a refugee camp near Budapest, Hungary. How did I get here? I applied for the Global Citizen Fund which is run by PwC in partnership with AIESEC, and was lucky enough to be granted the fund. PwC and AIESEC mobilized 10 people this year with this fund to go to another part of the world, than their own, and work on a project which directly impacts the Sustainable Development Goals (also known as, the Global Goals). Why, a refugee camp? Why not!

Living in a different culture away from home by myself at the age of 18 changed the way I look at diversity and people. I am willing to know how this experience of living with people belonging to different parts of the world yet no place to call home will affect me at 25.

Having spent my first few days here, I have already had my share of deep conversations and splits of laughter. And I will write more in the coming weeks about my experiences here. At the same time, I am also looking forward to exploring Budapest and the Hungarian culture. This is my long-pending return to being a Tourist.