Vedagna Vemula Week#5 Since When Was the World Such a Big Place?

Everything always had four corners: my block, my apartment , my house, my room , my phone; you get the idea. Even my flag had four corners with orange, white and green stripes and a blue wheel in the center (Indian Flag). I never bothered to keep up with the latest news about whatever happened around the world, I really never cared about the latest gossip about which celebrity declared their undying love to whom. It didn't concern me, so I never bothered to know. And just like that- I lived under a rock, happy to exist with my friends and family away from internet trends and slang. 


When my dad first told me we would go to America, I was just like “Oh, Cool!” and never really thought about it. It was just a country on the same world map as India, how different could it be?


…


As it turns out, America was in fact, very different. How are you all just okay with the concept of Wallmart??? Where is the reckless traffic and potentially risking your life to cross a street?? (affectionate) Taco Bell is real?? I never saw a Taco Bell in India!! What do you mean you guys cannot buy firecrackers?? We have a whole holiday filled with as much noise and air pollution as humanely possible!! (also affectionate; and I am talking about diwali, my favorite festival)  Our schools never had the concept of  block days and weekends! I had to go to school for all eight periods and we had school on Saturday!! I only found out all the internet slang after coming to America. 


Moral of the story? The world is bigger than THE WHOLE UNIVERSE??? SINCE WHEN?? 

And pro tip: if you live under a rock, move to a different country. You will have your mind blown and unalive from the culture shock. 10/10 experience, would do it again!!


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  1. Seth B.October 26, 2026 at 8:10 PM

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  2. Seth B.October 26, 2026 at 8:10 PM

    Vedagna, I think that your experience with America and U.S. infrastructure and society in general is illuminating. When we go through a familiar environment often enough (or any pattern, in fact), it can become simple to assume that our experience is the only ‘real’ one. Your storytelling acknowledges that that is not the case.
    In particular, I think that you saying, “It didn’t concern me, so I never bothered to know,” is very important because you acknowledged that your viewpoint was self-centered. I am not necessarily trying to insinuate that you only thought about yourself all of the time. Rather, I think that recognizing how we view ourselves and those around us is the first step to changing that viewpoint to a more accurate or effective one.
    I hope that you have changed your viewpoint upon coming to America. I also invite you to recognize something new every day, just like when you migrated here. There are whole worlds within this world that people never notice because we are too preoccupied with our own worldview. I can guarantee that if you get lost in those other worlds, you discover a majesty and wonder not unlike your arrival to America.

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