Changes. What changes ?

And the years are rollin' by me. They are rockin' evenly.
I am older than I once was, and younger than I'll be. That's not unusual.
It isn't strange, After changes upon changes, we are more or less the same.
After changes, we are more or less the same.
- From 'The Boxer' by Simon & Garfunkel

This is one my favorite songs and i happened to hear it recently as Simon & Garfunkel are beginning another tour after a long time. These guys are OLD but the voices are as golden as ever.

The words jumped at me coz i somehow had the idea in my head that i have gone through a lot of changes - yet i know that i am so much more like the me i think i left behind. This was very surprising to me and i suspect in the case of most people. I just moved to Pittsburgh on work and guess what, its almost as if i never left Rochester.

Folks who leave their native lands to live elsewhere can test out this theory. No matter where you go, you carry not just your luggage, there is a whole lot of baggage that travels with you that make you the person you were. If you want to know what i am talking about, imagine this situation - you go to a new country, state or city to study/work/live and once you are past the initial excitement of changing and adapting and growth and wanderlust, most people settle down and begin a life of predictable comfort. Before you know it, everything you are nostalgic about comes back or you go back to it. And I think it explains the birth of Little Indias and Little Italys and Chinatowns all over the planet.

I am convinced that the 'circle of life' is no stretch of the imagination - literally and otherwise you end up where you begin.