Nihit+Chavan

Came here from there By Nihit Chavan Life is like a road. All the twists and turns define who you are and what you are to become. This is my road, there are things I regret but there are many miles ahead.

The toy car: Cars. That was all my life was, while I was growing up. My sandwiches were shaped like cars; all I read about was a car, all my math problems had cars implemented somehow, and all I would watch on TV would be about cars. But most of all I would draw cars. I would draw all types of cars, big Caddy’s, small city cars, family minivans, and exotic supercars. Soon my whole house was full of cars. There were toy cars everywhere; our refrigerator became adorned with various pictures of cars. Why you ask, it all started as a small little object. My first toy was a small little matchbox car my dad gave to me. I held on to it with my little fingers and took it everywhere I went. That little toy inspired my whole life. Now I’m still that little kid with the little car in his hands with all those big dreams and high expectations. I’m still that kid who draws cars on every imaginable place. And I am extremely positive that I will never change. To this day I still have it cooped up in my drawer as a reminder of one of the greatest aspects to me ever growing life.

The scar- Curiosity killed the cat. Boy, If only I was told that earlier. At only about one year old I had been cared for and nurtured by my parents all my life .I was pretty much carefree, or so I thought. My mom was in the shower taking a break from all cleaning she had done. My dad was simultaneously ironing his shirts, talking on the phone, and playing with me. My dad isn’t a multitasker anymore. It was a recipe for disaster and there was no cherry on the top. My dad’s boss got on the line telling him about one of the databases crashing. My dad’s attention was broken. The hot iron was left on the board about a foot away. Listening to the phone call he realizes what’s about to happen. Telling his boss angrily to wait he bellowed, “ Nihit, Nooooo! “ as my hand touched the iron. I was immediately rushed to the hospital. My mom told me he drove like they do in the action movies, yelling, honking, and swerving through traffic. I still remember waking up to my mom looking over me. It was a faint memory that was implanted in my brain telling me my parents were there for me always, no matter what. Telling me support and help will always be there. And if I ever forget, I have that scar on my hand to remind me.

The jewel of Asia – My father was the first of his family to come to America, my birthplace. For five precious years I had come to love the amazing and beautiful metropolis I had grew up in. But there was one puzzle piece missing. My friends would visit their grandma’s and grandpa’s on the weekend, hand gout with cousins after school, have family reunions with aunts and uncles. As any confused five year old I was certain I had some family, but where were they? Can we visit my family next Saturday? I asked my parents. They looked at each other nervously with a guilty look as I began to fear that I simply had no family. My five year old heart took it all in, my family was in India on the other side of the world. It took the weight of my shoulder knowing I had family, but knowing that they were so far away brought the brick crashing down. I felt like crying and all I wanted to do is see their faces, all of them. The most I knew about my family was still pictures that I couldn’t make a single memory with. I knew my family as names on a computer chat screen, and that gave me a knot inside of my stomach that swirled as I tried to conjure up there faces and the memories we could have. When I learned I would finally see them in person and get to know them as them, and not the legacy that I had been told of. After arriving I scanned from the faces from the photos imagining I was a spy and it was my mission to find them. My eyes darted back and forth all of the people calling out to them. I realized I was sweating and every second that knot in my stomach got tighter from anticipation. It was ended by one word that cut through everything else, as if this was a television program and it was on mute, “ Nihit “. I turned to see their smiling faces. Grandpa’s, Grandma’s, Aunt’s, Uncle’s, and a bunch of cousins. I could finally put my puzzle back together. For two months of summer vacation I learned of my great family and what I was soon to live up to.

Transition: In life there are the big moments, best adventures, new beginnings. Then there are the moments we would like to hit fast forward on. But without any of these moments none of us would be here right now as who we are. For me preschool only had the word “ school” in it to convince our parents we were actually doing something productive there. Sure I learned how to swim...with floats. Take the float off that was another summer worth of learning. Most of the time I didn’t even go swimming I just told the teacher some random excuse and wet my shorts under the sink, so my mom though I was swimming. It was the perfect blunder until the lack of a chlorine smell, and a parents day meeting ruined everything. Otherwise the rest of my preschool consisted of show and tell, snacks, and building blocks. That was preschool in a nutshell, a very big, colorful, and awesome nutshell. The nutshell got run over by a car and thrown of a bridge when I learned it was time for kindergarten. To a sugar crazed five-year-old preschool was the best place on earth. I had enough secret information from my friend’s siblings to know kindergarten was a bad place. There was so many lies implanted in my brain that if I listed them all they could wrap around the moon- twice. Well that was how it seemed to me. After days of waiting in fear the day finally came. No matter how hard I tried I couldn’t get out of it. Kindergarten would change my life; I just didn’t know it yet. My kindergarten teacher Mrs. Gironda was the nicest teacher I had ever met. She encouraged me to draw, which I quickly realized I was good at. I got this from my mom who is an amazing painter. In class she would show my drawings and she would make sure I got to draw as much as she could let me. I went on to win art contests and much more. Today my dream is to become a car designer. And to think it all started from something I feared. That is when I learned to look fear in the eye and make good out of it.

Swimming- For kids in Millbrook Village, summer was dreams come true. Two entire months away from school, the ability to wake up at anytime, and most importantly the swimming pool. The pool was huge, it went as low as 3 feet for babies and as deep as 9 feet for adults. So like all the other kids that turned six recently I couldn’t wait to jump in the pool and have the time of my life. With my luck though things wouldn’t go that way. As everybody jumped into the ice cold water that reeked of chlorine I chose a more conventional route: the stairs. I tried to swim but the water chose not to hold me up. Every time I tried to swim water would go up my nose and sting my eyes reminding me of failure. //Why// //couldn’t I jump in a pool and just swim. It’s so easy; anybody can do it, what’s wrong with me// I asked myself. “ Hey you jump in the pool scaredy cat, “ boomed one of the older kids laughing and hi- fiving his friends. I had tried to jump, but every time I got close I felt as if I was jumping into the Grand Canyon. But now I was mad, the anger spread through every inch of my body building up strength and finally taking over. I didn’t think straight. Everything went into slow motion. All I could hear was my heart pounding over his laughs. I became an Air Force pilot about to strike the enemy. I locked on his coordinates, and ran as fast as I could and jumped. I jumped as if I was James Bond chasing a bio chemical terrorist through rooftops. The next thing I knew I collided with the kid knocking him all the way to the ground of the seven feet depth of the pool. So that’s how a six year old earned some rep in a swimming pool. Even though a harsh lecture by the lifeguard followed I had a feeling of accomplishment, which to me is the best feeling of all. Today I’m probably the best jumper in the apartment complex. It feels good to laugh at my past failures.

Dad – “ I want to be just like you daddy “ screeched the tape recorder as I relived past memories. I had been with my dad for the past ten years yet I felt like I had only known him for a couple of days. There were faint memories, but all the office calls, meetings, and trips overshadowed them. My dad was always working; there was time for a few hellos’ and asking about school otherwise nothing much. However, there was one time when we could truly bond. Sunday night football was almost a tradition for my family. When my dad came to America he was instantly drawn to football. When I was little I completely ignored the sport. To me all it was, was a bunch of guys in helmets trying to tackle the guy with the ball, but as I got over it interested me. The curiosity led me into becoming a die-hard Steelers fan; my dad was a Giant’s guy. That’s how my dad and I bonded: by yelling in each other faces when our teams scored touchdowns. By going bonkers over missed field goals, and arguing over defensive calls. Now, I don’t have much time with my dad, with his new job and my ever-increasing homework. But I’ve never missed a Sunday Night.

Train Ride – Clunk, Clunk, Clunk, as the train went as I failed to drift off to sleep. My mom however was out cold. //How can she sleep?// I looked around for some form of entertainment. My phone was out of battery, video games were in the suitcase, and there was obviously no TV. It was a twelve year old’s crisis. Aughhhhh! I grunted as I watched my watch go from 12:30 to 12:31. //I just love how time decides to go incredibly slow now and when I wake up in the morning it acts as if it is in a race against a SR – 71 Blackbird fighter jet.// “ Hey, I can’t sleep either,” whispered my cousin startling me slightly as I smiled, embarrassed//.// “ Yeah. There’s no way I’m going to be able to sleep.” I replied chuckling softly as she gestured me to come closer. “ How about we just talk then,” she said shrugging her shoulders indicating there was no harm to the idea. In the beginning it was awkward but before I knew it I just started to spit all my feeling out. All my hardships, problems, and feelings came pouring out one by one. I lost control as my words took over as I watched my cousin listen intently as she let go her problems too. Then suddenly I lost track of my words and stopped. I laughed as my cousin did the same. I looked at my watch, 5:30 it read as I watched the sun go up through the window. It was the most beautiful sunset I had ever seen. I had been a boiling bot these past years and it was as if all the water had been emptied out. My next movements felt effortless and my heart seemed weightless. It was happiness, bliss, and so many other things but it was mostly freedom, I felt free. I felt like a bird, ready to fly into the unknown.

Authors Note – There are countless moments a boy will encounter. The stories he will never tell his mother, the injuries he will never forget, and the emotional moments he will never tell his friends, the lessons he learned that he doesn’t understand right away. Deep inside all these moments are the ones that are truly important. The ones they will be defined by, the ones that will change their lives forever. There are the moments that will show where there lives started and how they got to where they are now. These are my moments, my memories that define me and I am truly proud of that.