Vijay's Virtual Reality Odyssey

When I first arrived in the capital, nothing could have prepared me for the sheer size of the city or the volume of people. The streets are practically overflowing with people, each going about their own business. When I first walked through them, I wondered if there was ever a moment when everyone wasn't moving at once. Even now that I've lived here for a few months and am used to the chaotic traffic patterns of the roads and sidewalks, it's still hard to believe that so many people can be in one place at once.

As I walk along the sidewalk on my way to work, I find my thoughts drifting to my hometown. It seems like a lifetime ago since I've seen it. It's amazing how much can change in just a few months time. As hard as it is to believe, I actually miss my home town sometimes. There are certain things you never really get used to living without--a certain kind of silence and solitude, for instance.

The city isn't all bad though; in fact, it has its fair share of distinct advantages. The food is great especially compared to what we ate back home, and being able to walk most places means that despite being so new to this city, I already know my way around pretty well. And for someone who lives alone like me, having such a generally quiet atmosphere is nice as well. Of course, any place with this many people has its own perils as well--there are pickpockets everywhere and police presence is often sparse even during times where you'd think they'd be needed most. Still, as long as you're careful and avoid trouble whenever possible, life here isn't nearly as difficult as some people make it out to be (and trust me, there are plenty).

I reach the building where I work and go inside. The lobby has been painted recently--the last time I saw it had been an ugly shade of yellow, but now it's mostly red with white trimming all around it. The receptionist calls out a greeting as I pass by her desk and head up the stairwell to get ready for work. My boss is pretty easy-going so far so at least there's that going for me; he doesn't seem like he'll be too bad as long as things stay this way (they probably won't but who knows?). After getting changed into my uniform and putting away my backpack, I head out into the open office space where everyone else sits at their cubicle desks and start working on today's project--we're helping create an interactive museum exhibit for some major museum overseas (though we don't know which one yet). Our job is mainly just creating static 3D models of various things from India's past then sending them off to wherever they're needed later down the line. Most days aren't that exciting but there's always something new every now and again so it's not too bad overall. Once we meet our deadline for this project though, maybe we'll finally get some time off before starting another one again--that would be nice!

Before long lunchtime arrives and everyone leaves their cubicles to go grab lunch elsewhere in the building or outside somewhere else nearby. Today someone brings in lunch from home so we all sit together at a table near the window while eating together instead of splitting up like usual; it feels good seeing other people after spending most of your day alone staring at computer screens looking at 3D models! After lunch we split back up again to finish our work before clocking out at 5 o'clock on time (well...at least close enough) like usual.

"I'm gonna cut through Central Park on my way home!" someone declares after clocking out with everyone else; apparently she doesn't want to walk through Times Square tonight because she thinks it'll be too crowded or something idk lol "Central Park should still be less crowded since no tourists would want to go there..."

"Ohhh! That reminds me!" another girl says "I heard that Central Park got vandalized by graffiti artists yesterday! Someone spraypainted all over everything!"

"Vandalism? That sounds serious..."

"Wow...that does sound serious." another person chimes in "Maybe that was why they were talking about it on the news earlier today?"

[color=red][i]Whatever...let them worry about vandalism when they should be worrying about real life issues instead.[/i][/color]

[color=red][i]"I thought graffiti was ok though..."[/i][/color]

[color=red][i]"Ughhh shut up man...it's not like you care about anything besides your stupid art anyway."[/i][/color]

[color=red][i]"Hey hey hey...don't talk about my art like that..."[/i][/color]

[color=red][i]"Alright alright let's just drop this discussion before we get into an argument or something."[/i][/color]

[color=red][i]"Fine fine..."[/i][/color]

[color=red][i]"Anyway guys let's just move on from this topic before we fight any more."[/i][/color]

[color=red][i]"Yeah yeah okay let's just get going."[/i][/color]

[color=red][i]"See ya later guys!"[/i][/color]

[color=red][i]"See ya!"[/i][/color]

[ color=blue ]I wave goodbye until they're out of sight then make my way out myself.[/ color] I think about what those other girls said during lunch today: "graffiti vandalism"...what a strange term for something so meaningless! Growing up in my hometown always made me feel different than everyone else because almost everyone else seemed obsessed with materialistic things; meanwhile every day I wanted nothing more than to create art or take photos even if no one would ever see them except me and the subject itself, but now this somehow makes me stand out even more than before? Well whatever...I guess not everyone can love everything equally like how not everyone can live equally either...these kinds of things never bothered me before so why would they bother me now? It feels strange though thinking about how happy I am right now despite knowing that someday soon this too will end--maybe someday soon I'll finally get used to living here and forget what life looked like back home...it wouldn't be too bad if that happened though...for now however there are still many more sights left waiting to be seen by eyes eager enough to notice them! For now though all those sights will have to wait because right now there's only one place left that matters most: home!