Citizen Polka

Recently, a cab driver asked me, 'Did you get the dog from your country?'  I responded, 'No she's local. I am just a resident here but my dog is a citizen. Haha'

Polka is a Singaporean due to the fact that she was born on this piece of land.  But neither Polka nor I can answer the question, 'Where is home? Which place do you belong to?'  My childhood was in India, I came into my own in USA and currently enjoying my time in Singapore. I long for each place that I've lived in and am part of every place I travel to but I don't feel I belong to any one place.

So who am I? A global citizen? Traitorous to no one and patriotic to myself! But what does it really mean to be a patriot? As Samuel Johnson famously said. 'Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel'. As the world gets flatter, the physical lines that tend to divide and categorize us continue to blur. We are getting closer to becoming citizens of the world or at least citizens of the Internet.

The Internet has made us realize that we are very different and yet very similar. We are now all part of this global village - connecting instantaneously to anyone in the world, seeing places we never dreamt of, signing petitions across borders for causes we believe in, playing games in a virtual, fantasy-filled world, getting a second and even a third life - traveling seamlessly between the virtual and the real world with no passport or visa!

That begs the question - Is reality virtual or the virtual reality?' Are we global citizens or citizens of our own mind?  Maybe we are the figment of our own imagination, residing in our own heads, creating and re-creating boundaries as we please ....

I am sure Citizen Polka would agree!