standing on a train platform

yesterday i was heading out to the village which meant that i had to take a train instead of the metro. if you have ever been to an indian train station or watched a movie that showed an indian train station, it will give you a pretty good idea of what i was surrounded by. in the midst of the chaos that seems to always be present at the station i saw i plane fly overhead. in the last couple weeks i have noticed planes more often flying over our part of town. it always reminds me of the flight i will be on in a couple months back to america. in that moment on the platform, i realized that i have the option to get on a plane at any point in time and leave the chaos of this city. the people i was surrounded by do not. one expression we have discussed with our team is the idea that choice is a luxury of the rich. i have never thought it was more true than in that moment. i have a choice to come live in kolkata for a few months. i have the choice to go back to america where i am faced with hundreds or thousands of choices of the food i eat, the car i drive, the job i want, and the place i live. for millions of people in kolkata, choice does not exist. most do not choose what they eat. they eat rice and dal. most do not have the option to visit their village because they can not afford it. they do not choose to beg or sell themselves in the red light areas but those things have chosen them because of their poverty. it breaks my heart that the friends i have made here may never have the choices i have had. now the reality i have to face is what will i do with the choices i have to make. at the moment i choose to make kolkata my home.