siddhartha comes to america

Siddhartha Comes to America

It was three in the morning, I was so excited I couldn’t sleep.  I have been waiting to meet my great uncle Siddhartha for years.  He was coming to America all the way from India, and I am the lucky one who gets to pick him up from the airport in the morning, and plan our whole weekend.  I wasn’t quite sure where I wanted to take him yet, but I had a few good places in mind.  I was so overwhelmed with thoughts, but I knew I needed to get back to sleep.  I had a long weekend ahead of me, so I cleared my mind and shut my eyes.

“Wake up Sam!” my mom yelled, “its time to get Uncle Siddhartha.” I jumped out of bed, threw on some clothes and on my way I was.  I arrived at Bradley International Airport with my mind still racing and anticipating Siddhartha’s appearance.  I saw a tall, slender man wearing very unusual clothing walk out of the baggage claim area and thought to myself, that must be him.  I ran up to him, introduced myself, and informed him that we had a busy day, and we started to get going.

The big city, that’s where I decided to take uncle Sid.  I have always loved Times Square, and I wanted to share my experience with my uncle.  I decided we would take the train to get the full effect.  We arrived at Grand Central Station, and uncle Sid's mouth dropped with astonishment.  I assumed he never seen anything like it before.  “Its amazing” he said “I’ve never seen so many people.”  This is a whole other world from India.Before evening that day he reached a large town and he was glad because he had a desire to be with people. (50/51) “this is more than a town.” I told him. “This is the big city.” I hope you don’t hate some of the things you see, I thought to myself.  We got to walking around, he gazed at the bright lights everywhere, and his eyes wondered in all the commotion of the city.  “whats the smell?” he said. It smells gross. “That would be American food” I chuckled.  “Here you have to try some”  “I’ve never tasted anything like it” he said. “Its…its delicious!” I smiled at him and leaded him over toward some of the street vendors, so he could get a souvenir, when all of a sudden his face went blank, and he stopped dead in his tracks.  “why are those people sitting on the streets?” he asked.  “They look cold and hungry.”  “They’re homeless”  I replied.  This is horrible, I don’t want to see this.  I’ve never seen anyone look so dissapointed as my uncle did looking at the homeless people on the streets.  “Come on  uncle Sid, lets go to central park.” I suggested. “ you can relax and find peace there.” Siddhartha reflected deeply as he went on his way.(37) I realized maybe the city wasn’t such a good place to take him for his first visit in America. He explained to me how he hated seeing people like that, and he didn’t understand why it happened. No one should suffer, no one should live life like that. ‘ Its okay.” I reassured him. “Tomorrow we’ll go to a place where you can meditate and connect with your inner soul.” “You can even teach me how!” I exclaimed.

After a long day and a good nights sleep it was time for another adventure. Today we were off to the Botanical Gardens. I knew Siddhartha would love it there. The smell of flowers and fresh air, the sound of the waterfalls and birds chirping. It was a world of beauty, and the perfect place for uncle Sid to refresh himself. “ This is perfect Samantha.” He said. “You will be able to find your inner self here.” We sat on a little bridge over looking the water. He talked to me about Samsara and finding Nirvana. He rambled on about many things, and he told me that if time is not real, then the dividing line that seems to lie between this world and eternity, between suffering and bliss, between good and evil, is also an illusion.” I was pretty overwhelmed and confused by all of this, but I pretended to understand. After we finished meditating we walked around admiring the beauty of nature that surrounded us.

Siddartha bent down, lifted a stone from the ground and held it in his hand.(144) “ What are you doing?” I asked. “ This is not just a stone.” He said, “ it may not have value, but it could be something one day.” “ Perhaps an animal or a spirit.” I began to realize how different Siddharta was from the rest of the family, but his beliefs were interesting to me. “ Well, I hope you liked it here.” I said. “ I love it, I feel reborn.” He said. My face lit up with a smile and we headed home.

Out of this whole experience with uncle Sid I learned a lot about him.i was glad he enjoyed our visit in New york, and I wish I had more time to spend with him. It had been a long couple of days, and we were both exhausted. We both crashed as soon as we got home. “Goodnight uncle Sid.” I said. “Goodnight.” He replied.