Seven days and seven lessons from Melbourne

It was 29 July 2008 I stepped out of tullamarine airport and saw Melbourne for the first time, to be very honest it was not very majestic simply for the fact its located in outskirts, but the very sight of my friends waiting for me made it special.

Melbourne makes you uncomfortable especially if your from Mumbai, because there is hardly anyone around you and when my friends left me at home and left for work, for the first time in my life I felt what only elderly people feel, the fear of being alone.

Not a soul in sight and guess what I was living in suburb, oh our definitions of suburb is just like chalk and cheese. This is the day when I learned my first lesson, "never be alone and never let anyone be alone".

As I struggled through this journey, I remembered how easy it was for me back home, I had a job, had a bike and had home it made me realized how established I was even though it was a small achievement. My bike is my first asset and I regret selling it till this day I have dreams of her crying out to me asking me to stay with her. I loved my bike and no one can take her place ever. This taught me never to let go of anything special and treasure it for the rest of my life.

Melbourne taught me what friendship really means, they are not just people you hang out, party with, goof around with. They are the hand that reaches out to you when you're down, they are people who tell you like they do in Liverpool "you'll never walk alone". Now I know what they mean and now I know really what friendship means.

Melbourne is the great leveler, It doesn't care if you are a master's student, it doesn't care what you have achieved back home and it always asks you "show me what you can do here!!". It made me shut up my big mouth and taught me to talk through my actions and work.

It taught me how everyone is equal, it just the human mind the elevates itself. Humility is the greatest achievement a man can achieve.

It showed me how vulnerable we all are and no one was bulletproof. It taught me how to protect myself first and then to protect everyone.

Finally, Melbourne asked me never to give up and it reminds me of one the greatest quote Rocky Balboa made;

"Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done."

My friend Sujit is not philosophical nut like me, but he gave me one of the best philosophy's I have heard in a long time "You don't have to make others lose, You have to make yourself win!"

I will dedicate these seven learnings from Melbourne through a tattoo, so that I wake up everyday and let these learnings guide me through those 24 hours.