Voices from Around the World
Welcome to Voices from Around the World — a soulful space where stories breathe, borders blur, and humanity speaks.
This isn’t just a podcast. It’s a gathering.
A circle of voices—intimate, courageous, and deeply personal—echoing from every corner of the globe.
Through heartfelt interviews and reflective solo episodes, we explore the lived experiences that shape our shared world:
The struggles that stretch us.
The triumphs that lift us.
The quiet moments that remind us we belong.
Each episode invites you into conversation with artists, healers, activists, educators, and everyday visionaries—people whose perspectives are rooted in culture, resilience, and truth.
And sometimes, your host steps into the silence alone, offering gentle reflections on global issues through the lens of compassion, curiosity, and care.
This is a space for listening deeply.
For honoring difference.
For finding connection in complexity.
Because in a world that often divides, Voices from Around the World dares to weave us together—one story at a time.
Voices from Around the World
What A First Trip To The U.S. Taught Me About Scale, Kindness, And The Pull Of Nature
What does it really mean to arrive somewhere new—beyond passports and planes? With Mukhalita, a Calcutta-born economist-turned-artist, we trace a first journey to the United States through the senses: the shock of Houston’s concrete spiderweb of flyovers, a reunion that softens jet lag, and a sunset that feels like a ceremony. The early weeks unfold into a nuanced map of belonging—New York’s familiar chaos, the hush of car cities where silence sounds like tires on concrete, and the subtle difference between everyday politeness and felt warmth.
Food becomes a bridge and a revelation. Home-cooked staples steady the spirit while Houston’s Mexican flavors reset expectations. Grocery aisles brim with berries and avocados that feel rare back home, sparking a season of baking and smoothie bowls. Then comes the tiniest culture shock with outsized meaning: ice water at every table, even in winter. Small rituals tell big stories about comfort, care, and how hospitality is encoded in daily life.
When the family faces healthcare delays—a two-week wait for a simple x-ray—gratitude for India’s accessibility grows alongside questions about systems that feel advanced yet out of reach. In the gaps, nature steps in as medicine. Long walks and bike rides through parks, meadows, and lakes lead to naming trees, learning new landscapes, and finding a steadier rhythm. A gift of Braiding Sweetgrass opens a path into indigenous teachings and reciprocity, inspiring a performance back home—“Emin Goyak,” Potawatomi for “that which has been given to us”—that reframes nature not as a resource but as a relationship.
Come for the travel story, stay for the deeper invitation: choose curiosity over assumption, build community on purpose, and let the land teach presence. If this conversation sparked something in you, subscribe to Voices Around the World, share it with a friend, and leave a review with your reflections—we’d love to hear where you’ve most recently felt at home.
Welcome to Voices Around the World. A podcast that brings together diverse voices and perspectives from different corners of the globe. Each episode features interviews with individuals from various cultures, backgrounds, and professions, allowing listeners to gain insights into different worldviews, experiences, and ideas. From personal stories to discussions on global issues, this podcast aims to foster understanding, empathy, and connection among people from all walks of life. Join us as we explore the rich tapestry of human voices and celebrate the diversities that makes our world so vibrant. I'm your host, Obadiah, and today we have the privilege of witnessing a story that unfolds at the intersection of place and soul. Our guest is a first-time visitor to the United States. And through their eyes, we will explore what it truly means to arrive not just in a new country, but in a new chapter of life. This journey reminds us that arrival is never just about crossing borders, is about the quiet shifts within the emotional, spiritual, and deeply personal moments that shape how we belong, how we breathe, and how we begin again. Born in a vibrant city of Calcutta, India, Mukhalita began her journey in the world of economics, earning both her bachelor's and master's degrees before spending six years as a marketing analyst at City Corp. But life, as it often does, whispered a different rhythm to her and she listened. Today, Mukhalita moves through the world as a yoga and meditation instructor, dancer, performing artist, and visual storyteller. She's a devoted nature lover and ritual maker, someone who honors the sacred and the everyday. Through prep, movement, and art, Muka Lita creates spaces where people can gently return to themselves and to the beauty of the world around them. Her presence is an invitation for all of us to pause, to feel, and to reconnect. Before we dive in, I just want to give a heartfelt thank you, Muka Lita, for joining us today on Voices Around the World. And I know that our listeners are in for a special treat. So before we get started, is there anything that you'd like to share with the listeners? Maybe a thought, a feeling, or a little insight into the set.
SPEAKER_00:I think I'm both uh excited as well as a little bit nervous because it's the first time talking on a podcast. So I hope I do justice to this. And also, this topic today is very, very close to my heart about my first trip to the US, which happened two years ago. So I'm also very excited to talk about it and share my experiences with you all.
SPEAKER_02:Thank you so much for sharing that. And I just want to say, it is completely natural to feel nervous, especially when you care so deeply about the message that you will be sharing today, your first experience and your perspective. But from my seat, what comes through, I'm sure is gonna be authentic, especially given a person that I know you to be. So again, I just want to welcome you and thank you for being here and being a guest, regardless of you know how you're feeling, your nervousness, you're gonna do an amazing. Um, you're gonna do an amazing job. So thank you. So the first question that I have for you today is you know, again, we're talking about your first experience in the US, your first visit. Um, were your first impressions, what were your first impressions when you arrived? Um, did it feel anything like you've seen, like the images that you've seen in movies, on the news, on social media? Was there like a moment that felt especially surreal, or maybe one that really grounded you upon your arrival?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so I do remember vividly my first few hours right after landing in the US. Um, of course, it was a new place, and we were all super tired and jet lagged, all in a haze after traveling a 16-hour flight from Dubai, and we were just happy to just stretch out our limbs and finally be outside of the airplane, and also super excited to see my brother and his wife. We were meeting. I was actually meeting her for the first time in person, and also my brother after a couple of years, so it was a very emotionally charged moment for our family. We're just all happy to see each other, so I think that sort of grounded all of us, like especially me, because for my parents it was the second visit to the US, but for me it was my first one ever, and being with my family helped ground me at the very first moment. Um, and then when I looked around within the airport, what I noticed was very huge variety of uh people like from different places, and people looked very different from each other, which was also at the same time, it was a bit overwhelming to see so many different kinds of people under the same roof, but at the same time, it also made me feel welcome and not feel conscious about if I'm different, you know, if I'm looking different in this place. So that was nice. And um, right after coming out of the airport, what struck me was the whole scale of things, like the massiveness of everything. And uh, even though I had not come prepared with any uh expectation like to see this or that, um, I did have certain images in my mind as per what social media has fed me, uh, or through movies, whatever I've seen about the US, but those were mostly for more popular places, like New York and Chicago. So I was fed more of these typical cliched images, but when I actually landed in Houston and came out of the airport, what struck me the most was the giant concrete spider web in the sky of flyovers, and later I got to know that it's something that Houston is famous for, its network of roads, um, like simultaneously, there were like five-six different roads cutting through each other uh in different levels, and that was so so overwhelming to sight at the first moment because even though we do have a lot of flyovers in India, but I've never seen something like that before, and um but what was really amazing, and at the same time it was super gorgeous, beautiful, as well as grounding was the sunset, and it was the perfect time when we were moving away from the airport towards my brother's house, and I got to witness the most gorgeous sunset, uh, which also felt like a grand welcome for all of us to this country.
SPEAKER_02:Thank you, thank you so much for sharing that moment with us. It is incredibly moving how you paint such a vivid picture of your arrival. Um, again, there's something so tender in that moment when you first step off of a long flight, the ability to stretch and then lock eyes with your with your brother who you haven't seen in a while, as well as your sister-in-law. So that kind of reunion carries a weight that words can barely hold, as well as your description, right, around the around Houston, and also just the sunset um and seeing those giant concrete spiderwebs in the sky. I felt that when you described that, because my first visit to um Houston as well or Texas, I was able to see um some of those things, and I was, you know, in awe with it. So thank you for your description around that. And also it's incredible how you know scale can hit us so this really, especially when, you know, you're first stepping into a new place for the first time. Even though you have, you know, as you mentioned, you saw images. Um basically, you know, New York, Las Vegas, um, LA, those big, the big cities that we have, the yeah, within the US, um, the images that you saw kind of mimic that, but you came with that openness, non-judgmentalness. So the way you notice both the emotional and physical shifts says a lot about how deeply you were taking everything in up on your arrival. So I do have a follow-up question. I'm curious, did that sense of vastness that you described stay with you in the days that follow, or did it start to feel more familiar as you, you know, started to settle in?
SPEAKER_00:I would say both. Um, while it started to feel more familiar, I got accustomed to it as I uh stayed longer, and by the end of the six months, it was I was more comfortable with the scale of everything. But at the same time, it still kept surprising me in different ways because I also traveled a bit alone as well as with my family uh through some of the states within um that country, and I did feel that whole feeling of spaciousness and vastness coming up, surprising me in different ways, either through the landscape or just through the size of um the buildings that where where Costco is, the size of all the items that Costco sells, those were like different ways how this whole feeling of vastness crept up on me and it kept surprising me throughout my stay, but um it was not as overwhelming as it would be on the initial few weeks. Uh actually, I did arrive with uh very minimal expectations, I would say. Um, of course, I when I went to New York, it was still very overwhelming to see the scale of the buildings in front of me and seeing it in person after seeing it so many times in so many different kinds of movies and TV series. So that moment was definitely special, but it was still you know something that probably I was pre-fed through all of these mediums. But um, yeah, in terms of the atmosphere, definitely what I did not expect at all was the sensorial aspect of it. So the atmosphere did feel very different in different states, I would say, in different cities, also. Like how I would feel in Houston was very different from how New York made me feel or Arizona made me feel, right? Um, I would actually like to say that New York was the closest to home because there was still some amount of chaos in that city, which actually made me feel like I was at in home, so that was nice. Yes, and yeah, because the rest of the country wherever I went, it was super clean, everything was so well structured, well manicured, well planned, and you know, like everything was like so proper, it had to be super geometrical, like all the buildings seemed very geometrical, like a lot of boxes and a lot of squares and rectangles. So uh there weren't much of cords in the architecture, I would say, that I'm more accustomed to seeing in my home country or even in certain European countries or in other Asian countries as well. So that's something that I felt like in most of the cities, things were very um either very tall and rectangular or square, and uh one thing that I really appreciated was firstly the spaciousness because that was a welcome sight for me coming from the hustle-bustle of Indian cities. But what really stayed with me was how coming from the downtown areas to the more residential spots, and especially in Houston where my brother lived, I could see how the tall towers, tall glass buildings gave way to more lower buildings that went up to a max of two or three stories. I felt like that gave this additional sense of vastness to the skyline, and that also helped us witness better sunrises and sunsets, which is like almost impossible in India. You can't see the skyline here, it's until unless you're like in a village, right? So that that felt really nice, but apart from that, like in terms of the people and their behavior, it was all very nice. I always got treated nicely at um, you know, by strangers in um unknown public spaces. Um, people were very polite, always they would greet you with a smile, and there were all the niceties that uh one can ever think of, but after a certain point it just started to feel a little bit superficial because um yeah, the warmth that comes inevitably with chaos was missing, and I also did not feel enough sense of communal belonging or the presence of communities there. Um, of course, if you knew people, then it's different, but you know, in if I compare it with India, like you just go out on the streets in most places, not all, because now even Indian cities are mimicking western cities a lot, right? So that is fading away slowly. But even in older cities or in towns, you'll see that you just go out and you'll find groups of people doing their own things, like which is very um leaning something towards something cultural or just making food or making some event for the whole neighborhood, giving food out. So there were there's a lot of activity that goes on all the time where strangers come together to participate and just help uh people out without any ulterior motive, without hoping to get something out of it, which is very nice to you know witness, which I did not see much of in the US because people are very busy, right? They are always in silos in their own bubbles, so yeah, I would say that's that's something that I felt strongly throughout my entire stay there.
SPEAKER_02:Amazing. Thank you, thank you so much. And I want to highlight what you said in regards to New York, feeling so uh similar and familiar, um, especially coming from India, right? My first trip to India and my the first place where I landed was in Mumbai. And as the plane flew over Mumbai, I truly was like, my the first thing that came to my mind was like, oh, this looks like New York. It's very similar. So it thank you for highlighting that similarity um as well. And I'm pretty sure Mumbai and other bigger cities, right? And in India, um, it does have some similarities to New York and even some of the bigger cities um in the United States. So I really appreciate the openness that you brought into this experience. And I also want to highlight what you just mentioned too around, you know, when you go out in India, you do feel that warmth, you do feel, you know, that connection with people, and it's not very superficial or surface level. I agree with you because my first trip, I was traveling around, but I had like this young couple come up to me. They were eating, and they came up to me and they started talking to me and they offered me some of their food. And I'm like, you don't even know, but that was such an amazing, right? An amazing gift to receive, especially in a country that you know that was I was not familiar with, and I wasn't familiar in how people was going to treat me and receive me. So I was really welcomed with friendliness, with openness, and certain parts. Of course, did I did I get some of the other stuff that you mentioned, right? Um, every city um in the US, as well as you know, the different countries that I visited are different. You're gonna get a different vibe, um, different energy based on where you, you know, the the cities that you're visiting. So, again, thank you so much. And I love how you shared again around you came without judgment or assumptions. You simply allowed yourself to take in things as they were, and that kind of presence is extremely rare, to be honest, and powerful. Um, you rarely hear people travel and not have these assumptions. I know prior to me traveling, many people, based on what they watched or saw on the news about different countries, were concerned because I did solo traveling. So there was concern it was, you know, talking about all of these different images that they saw on social media, on the news, um wherever, that they, you know, was warning me about uh around the different countries that I was planning to travel to. So I love that you came with that openness, regardless of you know, the images and what your pre-fed. Um, it's easy again to let the media or preconceived notions shape our expectations, but you chose curiosity over conclusion, and that is something I deeply admire because I do the same thing and I wish that many more people will go with that open-mindedness because you really don't get a feel of a place based on someone else's experience, right? We all have our unique experiences based on you know our individual selves. What may impact me and one, you know, when I travel and I communicate that to friends, um, may not impact them in the same way. So I like to go with that openness just as you did. So again, thank you for highlighting that as well. And then what you also shared about the contrast between that surface level kindness and emotional distance truly struck a chord. Um, you named something that many people feel but struggle to articulate. So that quiet longing for warmth for the kind of connection that's raw, that's chaotic, and deeply human is definitely wanted and needed um in many countries. And I and I know that being here and living in the US for such a long time, I I crave that. And I know many of my friends crave that and and colleagues, my my circle crave that as well. So your words also remind us that you know, real connection isn't just found in the simple politeness as well. Yes, politeness is great, um, but it lives in a shared energy, vulnerability, and a willingness to be a little messy together, right? Not that perfectionism. Um we struggle with, you know, kind of internally feeling how we may come off to others or being judged that we struggle to kind of get more deeper connections um with each other. So again, without that, even the kindest gestures can feel a little bit distanced, you know, even if someone has well-meaning intention, um, if it's if it doesn't feel intentional, if it feels surface level, it can, you know, feel a little bit distanced. So I thank you for putting that into words um so beautifully. You share so much, so much, and I appreciate it. So I hope I summed it up and in the you know proper way that that it needed to in the way that you shared it. So thank you again. So let's talk about the little things, right? We're gonna focus around people and culture and you know your experience around that during your visit. Um, so those everyday cultural habits or social norms that might have caught you off guard. Were there any moments you thought, you know, during your visit, oh, that was different, or you had to adjust your expectations just a little bit?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, a few things did come across because I also had my family almost all the time, so there was always this sense of familiarity and warmth and home that I was uh wrapped with. But then uh whenever I interacted with new people from that place, uh, what I felt again and again was there was a certain barrier that I could not get past, and it really felt like nothing to do with me being a stranger here, but that that is how things were already, and uh there was the sense of detachment, being not too um you know involved with the land there, this um also this sense of community, which I felt a bit lacking, um, was something that came came up again and again. But out of that, one thing that uh really might have felt strange to me, but actually I kind of felt freer because of that, and I used it to my advantage, was how people in most places, um at least in Houston or maybe in New York, people really did not bother much, so there was a sense of freedom in that when you just go out and you can do your thing, and people would not look at you, apart from just one thing, which was walking in Houston, because I felt like walking is such a bizarre thing that people would stare at you for walking and not driving a car. So I I did remember one day I just went to a movie theater by myself and I just walked down, it was just uh like a mile or two miles at max, and I just walked down the street, and I could sense people being very bewildered by that sight of this lone person walking down the street, and uh that felt a bit um, yeah, like very funny and strange at the same time. But apart from that, I could like just go around, go to these parks and uh in like in public spaces, more around uh nature where I could do my yoga practice or do some dance practice, and people really let me be, which was very freeing, which is also like a rare thing in India because people will stare at you, and um even if it's out of curiosity. So that felt it was nice, but um, again, like sometimes it also felt like in any way, um, wherever I went, there were too few people because I'm also used to seeing a lot of people all the time, everywhere I'm going, right? Yeah, so that also felt very strange because that kind of gave way to this Eeve silence in most spaces. Yeah, all I could hear was cars zooming past. So there's this one drone of cars moving in very high speed over concrete, and that sound just kept like now that I'm talking about it, I can I still hear that sound because I heard that sound so much, I hardly heard any voices, like human voices or laughter or anything outside, only cars zooming past. So that definitely felt yeah, a very different.
SPEAKER_02:Thank you, thank you so much for highlighting. I want to say that uh so Houston was the first, you know, uh city that you visited within the US. So yes, it is very, you know, it is populated, it's one of the biggest uh cities. And I live in a state and city where you know um walking is not frowned upon, you will not get stared at. Um, where it sounds like when you are walking um in Houston, because many people drive, and I'm pretty sure some parts of Houston you will see, you know, some people walking and maybe running, but that is something that occurs in different parts of the US. In different parts of the US, you see people that are more active into walking and uh taking public transportation or even walking to work, but in certain high populated cities, you definitely don't see that often. So that's probably why you are getting the stairs like, huh? Um, you know, in contrast to you know, different countries and across the globe, walking, you see, that's that's your basic mode of transportation, is there's nothing strange about it. Um, and I enjoyed when I was overseas, I walked everywhere, and it just felt so refreshing. Um, and that's just kind of gone into what you're saying. You don't get to do that much. Um, at least I haven't, and it sounds like you experienced that as well, although you did, but people kind of looked at you like, what is this strange lady doing? And why is she walking? Um, but in certain parts of the, you know, in certain parts of the globe, um, walking, you see it everywhere. So thank you for for highlighting that um thoughtful reflection. And I really appreciate the way you've captured those subtle emotion, emotional textures of your experience. It's truly fascinating how those, right, little things like politeness and order can feel so different depending on the cultural lens we bring. So in many parts of the world, warmth is expressed through spontaneity, through closeness, even a bit um around beautiful chaos, right? You have so many people around, but still it's just you know, the spontaneity of doing things, the closeness that you felt. And I definitely felt that during my travels overseas. Um, even though it was it was chaos, it was still, and I think you highlighted this too. You know, chaos can can bring that closeness, can bring that spontaneity. So thank you for sharing that as well. So there's a kind of emotional immediacy that makes people feel deeply connected, even in crowded or unpredictable settings. And many of the places that I went to and I visited across the across the globe was crowded, but I felt that I can be myself. It felt so warm, it felt so welcoming. I felt like a whole new person, to be honest. You know, compared to me having the ability to be my true authentic self in the US. I feel like sometimes I have to kind of not shy away from that opposed to some of the other countries. I was just like, this is freeing. It's like it felt so amazing to just be in a country where you weren't stared at, where you know, you can walk around and you can walk around and not be stared at, and you can be who you who you are truly are. So thank you. And in contrast to um the US, like our social norms, often prioritize personal space, which you also mentioned too, that in most areas that you visited, you are able to have that personal space. You are able to have your boundaries respected and not have people come up to you and um kind of you know interrupt your your practices that you are doing and interrupt your peace. So, in a kind of structure, that's kindness, right? Um, it's polite, yes, but sometimes that politeness can feel like a buffer rather than a bridge. So, again, what you described, that emotional coldness that you felt sometimes throughout your travels beneath the surface is something many people sense but rarely articulate so clearly. So, your insight again reminds us that connection just isn't about being nice, it's about being open, present, and willing to engage beyond that surface level and noticing a difference. Um, is a powerful part of cultural adjustments, which is you had to do, you know, while you were visiting here. And so, thank you for naming it with such clarity and such care. So, is there anything else that you would like to kind of touch up on before we move on?
SPEAKER_00:Um, no, nothing really on this, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Yes, yes, thank you. Thank you. You did you did mention that you you were able to find your pockets of community and your pockets of yes, you know, doing things. So thank you for for highlighting that as well. So next is one of my favorite topics: food. Everyone loves to talk about food, food is always a fun topic, and I can really go down a rabbit hole when talking about food. Um, although I'm a vegan, I still can go down a rabbit hole when talking about food. I love food. So I'm curious about your very first meal in the United States. Um, what did you have and did it stack up against the flavors as well as dishes that you were used to back home? Was there anything that was familiar to you? Something that was totally different, or maybe a little bit of both?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I would say a little bit of both because again, since I was staying with my family, so getting access to familiar home cooked meals was not a challenge. I was always eating food that I was accustomed to back in my hometown. Uh, but when we all went out on our first outside meal in the restaurant, we I think we had Mexican food, and that was really a game changer because back in India I never enjoyed Mexican food much, but there it really blew my mind because of the flavors and it all felt more authentic. And later, I of course realized because um also in Texas, there's a lot of Mexicans living there, and overall in the US as well, so it just made more sense that the food would be much more authentic than what we get in India. So that was nice, and uh, I also got access to so many different cuisines that I had never tried before. Um, that was really good because how people from different parts of the world actually come and start living there and they build a light there. So there are uh food is such a big aspect, it's such a big part of their culture, and it only made sense that there would be so much of variety, at least in Houston, we got so much of variety in different foods, and uh, we got to eat what we already eat in India. Apart from that, also there were new cuisines that I could try out, so that was really nice. Um, just that when we went to the grocery shops and we wanted to buy Indian ingredients to make something um like curries or something very specific to Indian food, sometimes the ingredients weren't as fresh. Again, that also was justified because they were mostly imported from other countries, and uh what but what left me really happy was the easy availability of different kinds of berries and avocados. I'm a big fan of berries, I love smoothies, I love making my own smoothie bowls and baking desserts and uh even with avocados, I love incorporating it into my meals. So I was having a gala time, and every time I would go to the grocery stores, I would just uh take so much of them because in India it's not it's very rare to find these fruits, they are termed as exotic here, and even if you find them, they are super expensive, or sometimes they're not even in the greatest shape. So I feel like that was a good um barter of some things that I did not get, which was more easily available in India, but instead I could get these things which were so much in abundance and also cheaper, at least back then. Um, so I I did experiment a lot with my food with different kinds of baking uh desserts, so I was super happy about all of that. But one thing that felt really funny and strange throughout my entire six-month stay was the water. So I cannot not mention this that I really did not understand how everyone had so much of cold water, even in restaurants that had the AC in full swing, and uh, even if it was snowing outside, there was a snowstorm outside. But even inside of the restaurant, instead of getting warm water, you get cold water with ice cubes in it. So that was yeah, I I just could not fathom this whole concept of having so much of cold water. So I started carrying my own bottle everywhere, I remember, because getting room temperature or warm water was almost impossible in most cases. So, yeah, these are some of the uh funny, memorable incidents that I uh experienced around food over there.
SPEAKER_02:Thank you, thank you so much for such a rich layer reflection um around your experience in your first meal. And I can definitely resonate, especially when you talk about like different foods that you crave, like different comfort foods. I love multicultural foods, I love ethnic foods, and yes, depending on what what state or city you visit um in the US, you will find that. But the states that I've lived in is very hard to to find those different, you know, multicultural um cruisings and dishes and restaurants. Um, so thank you for highlighting your experience around that. Um, it's fascinating how right something so simple has a class of water. And I think this is the part that really gets me because I'm the same way. When I go into restaurants, or not even going into restaurants, I don't need, I don't drink when I eat. I either drink an hour before or an hour um after. But I definitely don't drink cold water. But you're right, in the US, um, cold water is offered, but you also have the option to tell no, I don't want cold water. But if they don't ask, which is sounds like you did, you know, they didn't inquire with you, they just bought you cold water even when the weather was was cold outside, and you know, they they're bringing you cold water with your meal. So thank you for highlighting it. I drink warm water, um, and even during my travels, I you know carried my water with you, so it sounds like there are some similarities around that. So, again, that glass of water can reveal so much about right the different cultural norms and expectations globally and in many parts of the world, especially you know, across um Asian countries, room temperature or warm water is considered more soothing or medicinal. Um, so even encountering that ice cold water as a default in the US, regardless of the season or setting, can I pretty sure felt a little bit jarring for you, even a little bit alienating. So it's not just about the comfort, right? As you mentioned, it's about the deeper rhythms of how culture relates to the body, to the hospitality, and to everyday rituals. So your experience with food, um, though it was such a beautiful counterbalance with you being able to enjoy, you know, one of your comfort foods that isn't readily available to you in India, um, kind of gave off that counterbalance uh with the water. So it's amazing how cuisine can become a bridge, offering a warmth connection and even surprises. So discovering Mexican food again for you is you know, in its full richness, must have felt like a cultural embrace, especially after the chill of the water and the air conditioning. So it is a reminder um that you know, even though we we have these different things, it's great that you are able to find that food and the avocados and the berries that I know that you said is available to you, but it's pricely or is it's not much available to you in your country. So I'm happy that you're able to find something that bought you comfort during your visit. Did you do any research before your trip, especially around the country's culture and its indigenous traditions? And did that help you kind of feel a little bit seen or understood as a foreigner? Because I know that you were here for six months. You weren't here for just a month or even two months, you were here for half of a year. So, were there any moments that really challenged you or your family or affirmed your sense of self while you were here?
SPEAKER_00:I did feel both belonging and alienation in different uh capacities there in different ways. But we also as a family went through, we had to navigate through certain challenges that came up um which was a bit surprising for me because I was not aware of it before. I like of course knew about healthcare, how it is, and uh the importance of having um insurance, because it's also something so cliche that some movies, some TV series also talk about it, they also highlight this fact. But I what I did not know was how difficult it was to get a simple doctor's appointment when there was dire need of it, because in India it's so easily available, like I wouldn't go into the quality of it, but at least you get help when you need it, and irrespective of what hour of the day it is, right? So, even if the mid in the middle of the night, if you fall sick, there would be government hospitals that would be open and working all through the night to you know just help people in need, um, and some almost all the times for free, like government hospitals do either for a very small cost or even for free sometimes, right? And there are ample hospitals and ample doctors, also, so we really do not have to wait too much. But that's something that uh really shook me was how different the scenario was in the US, because it took us a whole of two weeks just to simply book an x-ray appointment for my father because he had fallen down and he hurt his wrist, and we just wanted to check whether he had fractured his bones or not. But we had to wait for two weeks just to do that, which felt very bizarre because otherwise, in this place, everything was so up to date and it was so fast and advanced in terms of technology and science and everything. But when it came down to something as simple and basic as healthcare, there were so many challenges that regular people also had to face, and it just made all of us feel more grateful towards our country. That was like this one moment that brought all of us together and feel grateful for the privilege that we have and we did not realize. So, yeah, that's definitely something that I like we all felt like um a cumbersome thing to overcome. Uh, thankfully, we all got the help we needed. Even my mom, she uh was suffering from a lot of anxiety and um uh high blood pressure. She also needed to wait for a long time before she could find help, but thankfully, because we had family staying there, uh we could still be treated before it was super super late. Uh so that was uh nice. And all throughout my stay, also something that I kept on feeling, I kept it kept on coming up again and again was how people were really so much into their own bubbles, and there was not a real sense of belonging to the land, so people really did not care much about the land as much as they did, probably about the country, about making money, about uh the economy. So we all know uh certain things that the US stands for and it's well known for. But one thing that I really felt that there could be more of was the belonging, the embracing of the land and the nature there, because that's what kept me going on my hardest days on my um lowest times. That I would just turn towards nature, I would go out cycling and spend hours outdoors in uh some forests or parks or by the lake or just some meadows or you know, wherever there's a bit of nature, and I'll just spend so much of time learning names of the trees and flowers that I had never seen before. And when I would ask people who had been spending like years and years over there asking them, do you know the name of this tree? And most people just could not give me an answer. So that just showed that how oblivious they were to the other non-human neighbors that we have, right? They hardly bothered, they hardly acknowledged the others who carried the land, who were part of the land, who the land belonged to, and they also belong to that land. And um, yeah, that's something that felt uh like there was a huge need for as well. People were only more focused about their work, but um, they were not embracing land enough. And before going, I did research quite a bit in terms of the indigenous people, uh, the actual people of the land there, and it all started with this book that I was gifted a year before my travels to the US. It's called Brading Sweetgrass by Robin Walking. And that book really opened my mind, it opened my eyes, my heart. And I was so so happy to get this like this window, this portal of indigenous knowledge, this other way of living and knowing things without the help of machines, without the help of the internet, and just through your body, just through being in touch with nature, it just made me feel so much awe, and it inspired me so much, and it sparked a deep desire in me to just go there and find out more about these communities, find out more about the tribes. So, this book was written by Robin Walkimirer, who was uh who's a botanist as well as a member of Potawatomi Nation, one of the indigenous tribes of the land. And um that that was something that I was hoping to find more of, like being part of some community gathering where I could just listen to their stories or talk to them in person. And uh, throughout my six months of stay, sadly that did not happen, but I did find a lot of books. I remember going to the library right after my uh landing there and getting 10 different books, trying to read up on their folklore or the history and the culture of these different kinds of tribes, and then there were these moments where I would, you know, encounter some tree that I had read about in Robin's book, and then I would recognize the tree, recognize the values or the way it was used by these tribal elders, and it would just make me feel more connected to the space, more connected to the land. So that was very special for me, I would say.
SPEAKER_02:Thank you, thank you so much for sharing um such a vernapple, um, a time, some some challenging times that you did have in the US, especially with your parents and your your father. Um, and his, I think he you said he fractured his wrist, right? And just the time with navigating.
SPEAKER_00:He did not fracture, yeah. It was just like a very minor crack. So thankfully it was not a fracture, yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Okay. Yeah, but thank you so much for for you know sharing that. Um, it's so vulnerable, especially the challenges that you and your family experience around our healthcare system. And I'm gonna address that too. But what you've described, especially around the land, right? The ache for rootedness for a sense of community that kind of feels truly connected to the land, is something that so many people feel. But really, we don't have conversations about. Um, and I'm not gonna say especially in the US, but it among my circle, my friendships, and people that I've spoken to, that that is that lack of connection to the land that you so beautifully um talked about. It is powerful to hear how your identity kind of shaped that experience, especially in a place where you know, belonging often seems tied to productivity rather than presence. So that sense of alienation you you felt um of people being here for work rather than for relationship with the Lynn or each other really speaks to the cultural undercurrents that often goes unnoticed. And yet you were able to find pockets of connection that you are able to connect to nature despite despite its manicured edges, um, reveal something so deeply and your compassion and your connection you know to the land um that we live on. So there's a quiet truth um in how the land itself can offer comfort as you are able to find comfort right in the land. You start doing your own research, you start going to different places to ground yourself for healing and just for knowledge alone. So thank you for for sharing that. And even when you know human systems fall short, you still, you know, you were still able to go into into the into the land and find, you know, what you were craving, what you needed, groundedness and and connection. So thank you. So that wisdom still lives here, and even if it's not always visible, right, in the mainstream, which it's not. So your story reminds us that belonging isn't just about fitting in, it's about feeling held, feeling seen, and also finding, you know, balance in the spaces around us. And sometimes it's the land um which you found. And I love that you, you know, you turned to the land when that human connection wasn't there, when you're experiencing challenges, when your family was experiencing challenges. You went to, you know, what gave you comfort and not people. Um, so that offers that first embrace. So thank you for for highlighting that. Next, let's talk about you know, your your family's experiences with navigating, you know, the the healthcare system um in the US, right? So the healthcare is it's no secret, right? That navigating, I don't know if you were aware of this prior to your visit, um, around the the systemic issues in the US around the healthcare system. Um, so there's no secret that navigating a US healthcare system can feel like a marathon, right? Especially when it comes to simply seeing a doctor. And I can only imagine um the frustration, right, that your family had to endure, you know, navigating a system, being from a different country. It was probably even more harder and longer. Um, the wait, the wait time, as you explained, I think it was two weeks, right? That your your father had to wait just to even get in. So those long wait times for appointments, the delay referral, as well as there's many overcrowded clinics that can lead to frustration and is very frustrating for US. And it's a norm here for many people in the US. You can be in pain, worried, or even dealing with a serious condition and still be told that the next available appointment won't be for a couple weeks or even months away. And it sounds like your dad experienced that too. Like he were able to get in for just to have an x-ray, right? Just to see what was going on. That took him two weeks. Um, so you kind of have a little bit of idea around how that how the systems work here, especially considering that you come from a country that you can make an appointment right away. There is no wait time, it is not based on what type of insurance you have or whether you have insurance on that, or what whether you have the ability to pay for, you're able to get in immediately and be taken care of, of your needs be taken care of. So this just isn't an inconvenience, it's a systemic issue, and it has been going on for such a long time. And this problem in the US runs so deep. Like the shortage of primary care providers, the overburdened specialists, insurance hurdles, and administration, you know, setbacks all contribute to a system that often prioritize paperwork over people. Um, and for those without insurance, as you know, I just talked about, or with limited coverage, but even you know, that creates even higher barriers for individuals who don't have insurance. And yes, we do have, you know, free clinics here in the US, but still, you still encounter some, a lot of those systemic issues. There's still long waits, or you know, you can be, you know, in a need in an emergency and you still have to wait. So thank you for highlighting that. And this isn't, you know, I'm not trying to point fingers, right? It's just about knowledge um about the systems and the strain and the people who are paying the price with their health, right? So reform is definitely necessary. It's not just urgent. And this is something that many of us in the US we're trying to get that health care refer reform change. So it's it's an urgent, an urgent thing that we are continuously working on. So everyone deserves timely, timely, compassionate, as well as affordable care. And until that becomes the standard, conversations like this are essential to push that change. And even from a lens of, you know, someone visiting, you know, from a different country, from the lens of a foreigner's day echo, right? You echo what many people in the US have to experience on a daily basis with our healthcare systems um and with the systemic issues. So I thank you so much for for sharing um your challenges and your parents' challenges around navigating right the healthcare systems. So thank you. Is there anything else that you would like to highlight around this topic?
SPEAKER_00:Just the fact that um I was how I was supported by the nature there and uh like at the most unexpected spaces. Uh, I think that's the only thing that I would say that kept me going, and I I'm still very grateful for.
SPEAKER_02:Yes, I'm I'm truly I am moved, especially by how nature became your anchor. And I think that is highly important to to you know the listeners, because we go through and many people experience a lot of challenges, and it doesn't have to be with the healthcare system, but nature, you know, can be our doctor. We just have to connect, we can't allow it to be separate. So going out there, going into nature, found finding balance, finding healing, um, and that's that that soulless, that silence, um, and connecting with nature is is is highly important. So I I appreciate you for you know discussing that too and identifying how it brought you comfort and how you were able to, you know, embrace it and allow it to embrace you when you're experiencing, you know, uncertainties, unknowns, and and challenges during your visit. So thank you again for sharing that with the listeners. So to wrap us up, um, is there anything else that you would like to share um with the listeners, such as any takeaways um that you had during your visit, whether um any aha moments, um, anything that you took back to back to India that you can reflect on? I know that you mentioned the importance of nature um and and connecting with the land. So I feel like that's a great takeaway for a lot of the listeners in the US that nature is your friend, um, and you can find a lot of grounding, a lot of healing with that. So I'm gonna go ahead and give it back to you. Any final wrap-ups, takeaways?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah, definitely. So I think um it's a very beautiful country, like not just in terms of the nature, like the different uh landscapes in different states, but also through people, because it's one place where there are people from all like they have history from all over the world, right? They have their ancestors from different places, and today they are all uh part of the same country. But um, I feel there's so much of opportunity, there's so much of potential to tap into if there was more unity within the people, there was more sense of community within across different cultures, different nationalities uh who have then fine you know um decided to settle there. And I also would like to share as I wrap this up is um when I came back, I was I got this opportunity to perform at a space where it was about performing on some kind of American literature, and I chose the book Brading Sweet Cross to base my performance upon, and the title of my performance was Emin Goyak, which is a potawatomi word. That means that which has been given to us, and that was my entire sentiment. That the that was the message that I wanted to drive across is how we could change the way we look at nature, and instead of thinking of nature and all its elements as resources, how can we think of it, think of her more as this gift that has been given to us? And that simple shift in our perspective actually might save nature today and um save us as well in the process from uh wherever we are heading towards in our rapid speed. And uh I think that was like a little thing that I could do to give back to something that supported me so much during my toughest times, and I could share that with people in my home country, and that was very special indeed, and I am eagerly looking forward to my second visit because now I'm more prepared, now I know what to expect, I know what to what my challenges could be like. So I am definitely um looking forward, and I hope I can visit soon, maybe who knows next year.
SPEAKER_02:Yes, yes, thank you, thank you so much. I am also looking forward to my next visit um to your country. This year has been extremely quiet for me in regards to travel. So I am really looking forward to visiting your country hopefully next year. Um, so let's speak that into existence. Um, but thank you so much for sharing such a deep reflection and thank you in the way that you described um the beauty of nature, right? That nature isn't just passive, it's persistent. Even in the most manicured corners of suburbia, it finds cracks to bloom through spaces, through breath, and into moments of reclamation. So, again, as you mentioned, in a world that is so often built around speed, control, and precision, nature moves differently. And we all need to remember that nature moves differently, regardless of how we try to speed it up, regardless of how much we try to control it, um, it moves differently. It doesn't ask for permission, it arrives with its own rhythm, its own quiet will. And in doing so, it offers us something that we can't manufacture, which is the truth. We may want to, but we cannot manufacture nature. Uh, we can manipulate. It but we can't manufacture it, and that's the truth. So, no matter how much we pay again or plan or polish the earth, it still speaks. And when you're willing to listen, it has a way of grounding us as you so highlight it as something that you are able to do. You found that groundedness, that healing in nature during your visit here. So thank you for reminding us what it means to feel alive, connected, and held when we connect with nature. And also for giving such a beautiful reflection and reminder as you know, takeaways to our listeners who are tuning in today. So thank you again, Mukalita, for being a guest on Voices Around the World. And is there anything else that you would like to share, like any final thought? Anything?
SPEAKER_00:No, I'm just very happy to have spoken. I hope whatever stories I shared was um worth everyone's time. And yeah, there are so many more stories. I'm sure like we wouldn't be able to exhaust all of them, even on 10 podcasts. So hopefully, maybe um there will be more coming up for some other one. Yes, you did.
SPEAKER_02:You share so many powerful, impactful um experiences and perspectives around your visit in the US. And I'm pretty sure that you know the listeners are gonna have so many takeaways. And I think the highlighting part is going when you're traveling, going with that openness, with that mindfulness, without you know, judgment. And I'll say the next one is is is navigating the health system. We all have to do our parts with getting that reform, the healthcare systems reformed and changed. And then the last one is is the earth, connecting with nature, connecting with earth. So thank you so much. Those were my biggest takeaways. So I appreciate you for you know sharing that and giving us that last you know minute thought. So again, thank you. So today we didn't just hear about Mukhalita's first visit to the United States, we witnessed our journey of heart and spirit. Through her reflections, we were able invited to consider what it means to embrace the unfamiliar, the landscape, as well as honor the rhythms of nature and gently welcome a new norm. Mukalita's story reminded us that arrival is never just physical, it's emotional, cultural, and deeply sacral. Mukhalita, again, I want to thank you for sharing your presence and your path with us today on Voices Around the World. Your story lingers like Soft Light, and I truly look forward to welcoming you back again on another episode of Voices Around the World. And to all of our listeners tuning in today, thank you for being here with us. And if this episode truly stirs something in you or moved you, or simply made you pause and think, I would love for you to share it with someone who might need, you know, that same spark. If you're interested, you can subscribe to Voices Around the World to stay close to the different stories, the different guests, and leave a review to let us know what resonated or what didn't, or to just join a conversation by sharing your reflections on social media. Remember that every share, every comment, every moment of connection helps this circle grow. And also remember that your voice matters here and your presence is deeply felt. Until next time, I'm your host, Obadiah, and this is Voices Around the World. May you walk slowly, breathe deeply, and boom gently wherever you are.