A friend of mine came home to invite me for a function at his house. And I was bit pleased. This was the indication of a new life that I am living. And how is that? As some of you know, I am a marine engineer. And my job involved extended period of stay on ships. I have sailed for around 3 year in the period of previous 5 years. Whenever I was at home, my only contact was with few friends, who themselves happen to be mariners. And except for close relatives, I didn’t know anyone in our area. Thats quite different from a villagers character, as everyone knows everyone else in a village. I never used to get invited for any function except by my relatives. And neither would I attend if any, as I was sure I would feel out of place amongst strangers. Then I stopped sailing. And landed a job in city. This involved long travel by trains. Which automatically resulted with friendship with fellow commuters who were regular in the compartment. And one of this commuter is the person who has invited me for the function. I wouldn’t ever have known that this person, travelling along with me, was a person from neighbouring village, had he not been introduced by another of my friend who travels with me. But as it turned out, we have become a small group in the compartment, and friends enough to be invited for functions. Now I see the difference in sea and land life. Money is one factor. But it is suppressed by the life I live on land. The overall social life is much better than on ship. As days go by, I know more people, and more about them. I get time to socialize. I get time to pursue my hobbies. I don’t feel out of place anywhere. And above all, I get to be home, every evening with my family.