海外移住、多拠点生活のジレンマ。アイデンティティ・クライシス

海外移住、留学の苦労

海外の大学院で修士過程を終了し、そのまま博士課程と進み、インドとのお付き合いはもう７年にもなります。

海外に移住、留学するというのは想像以上に大変なことです。

数週間～数ヶ月滞在して、その国のいいところだけを見て帰国する、旅行とはまったく違います。

私の場合は、特にインドという、まだまだ保守的かつ差別や貧困のある国で、インド音楽という特殊な世界に身を置いてミュージシャンとして活動してきたわけで、自分自身についてアイデンティティについて、身一つで旅するということ、住む国や場所について考えることがたくさんありました。

Can we be an expat or a nomad forever?

my very first experience of visiting India was almost 9 years back, solo 3 months trip. got into Chennai from Singapore then traveled towards Kanyakumari, formed an arc. From the southernmost tip traveled upward, stopped by some lovely nature trails of Kerala, again formed another arc.
Later I started practicing Tabla and living in north India, almost 5 yrs, tied up myself even during severe heat in summer and annoying monsoon, immersed in Hindustani classical world. I had never come back to South.
As a traveler, I was not willing to revisit the same place. My thought was - life is too short to be stagnant, there are many to see & learn.
So that was south India, welcomed me again last month. I recalled when I was simply wandering.
As an expat, I gifted a lot of time to Kolkata, aka "Tabla capital". Tabla is, indeed the most difficult instrument in this world. it demands practice, discipline, and devotion. Guru would say if one wants to be able to play Tabla adequately, at least 4 hrs every day must dedicate to be with it.
In fact, I gained another me "a female non-Indian Tabla player" along a degree. I was amused by being a different person in the place where I knew no one.
Traveling and living might be completely opposite concepts for most of people. now I'm staying for a while in Tokyo where had nurtured me, realized that no matter where I am or what I'm doing, I just want to be exposed by the beauty of this world forever.

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Can we be an expat or a nomad forever? my very first experience of visiting India was almost 9 years back, solo 3 months trip. got into Chennai from Singapore then traveled towards Kanyakumari, formed an arc. From the southernmost tip traveled upward, stopped by some lovely nature trails of Kerala, again formed another arc. . Later I started practicing Tabla and living in north India, almost 5 yrs, tied up myself even during severe heat in summer and annoying monsoon, immersed in Hindustani classical world. I had never come back to South. . As a traveler, I was not willing to revisit the same place. My thought was - life is too short to be stagnant, there are many to see & learn. So that was south India, welcomed me again last month. I recalled when I was simply wandering. . As an expat, I gifted a lot of time to Kolkata, aka "Tabla capital". Tabla is, indeed the most difficult instrument in this world. it demands practice, discipline and devotion. Guru would say if one wants to be able to play Tabla adequately, at least 4 hrs everyday must dedicate to be with it. In fact I gained another me "a female non-Indian Tabla player" along a degree. I was amused by being a different person in the place where I knew no one. . Traveling and living might be completely opposite concepts for most of the people. now I'm staying for a while in Tokyo where had nurtured me, realized that no matter where I am or what I'm doing, I just want to be exposed by the beauty of this world forever.

A post shared by Noriko Shakti (@nori.kori) on Mar 12, 2019 at 6:09am PDT