A student? A daughter? An artist? A science nerd? Who am I really?

I was born as a seed above this Earth, rooted and encased on Mother Nature’s lap. She watered me with affection and care, metamorphosing a seed into a tall and strong plant, accomplished in music, art, drama, leadership, studies, etc. But, strangely, these things don’t define the real me. There was something else.

Mother Nature had secretly watered me, the plant, with intellectual curiosity, back boned by an urge to help others. I had grown strong and well respected in my Americanized society, but there was some inner crave to break the walls of stability into a world uneven and aghast. There were so many ideas and problems and cultures to explore and see beyond Atlanta and so many people to help, to love, to know. It’s silly to imagine this for a plant stuck to its roots, but I wanted to break the isolation. And so I broke off and joined the swirling wind.

On this journey, my flowers swayed this planet alongside the wind’s current, a planet of values, morals, and cultures. And I felt the air rushing upon my petals, bringing me to worlds I hadn’t seen before, worlds that craved for desperate attention.

I saw many slums of homeless kids loitering the garbage for food, landlords hauling upon them the weight of formidable tasks. The government seems to speak for these slums on media but, in reality, hardly reach their hand out of concern than diplomatic acting. And these poor flowers neither received water nor sunlight. And I realized then what my real place in the world was: not just learning about others, but making an impact myself.

I work to spread the scent of kindness to these places, hoping to alleviate the terrible conditions of the unfortunate. Years of neglect had kept them withered to a state that people did not even want to look at them. In fact, some mocked me for spending time too closely with some Indian homeless kids, quoting how “I would get diseases from them,” or “they were too useless for help.” But if I saved another withering plant, then I wouldn’t mind even taking that disease upon me. So I swirl with this goal.

This is the entirety of my journey and myself. Sure, I have played the violin for seven years, learned art for ten years-- but the real me isn’t represented by my talents, rather by my service. I am the servant of Nature, friend of the needy, enemy to the derisive, one flower who sacrifices her roots to be by the wind patrolling the streets. Because at the end of the day, when death comes to evaluate our resume of life, neither my intelligence nor skills will stand out. But my humility will. My compassion will. My service will.

So I glide door to door, hoping to bring one smile, one chuckle, one more measure of happiness. This is my signature.