Of only one thing I am REALLY proud and it is the fact that I took my birth on an island. My father is not an islander like my mother and myself but he keeps repeating to everybody that like Ischia Island there are no other islands in the world (and he is the one who has traveled and seen most of the islands of the globe, trust me).The small Ischia Island is located in the Mediterranean sea and I have spent there the first 18 years of my life. The reasons why you can be proud of this kind of accidental background are:
1) you grow FREE: the sea, the beach, the forest and the countryside are your secure companions.
2) You grow CONTENT: people around yourself are all the same, like a big family, they know you, they see you growing, they love and respect you because basically they are extremely simple and unconditioned.
3) You MEET loads of people from everywhere: at least for 2 seasons in the eighties (now its all over the year), Spring and Summer of every year, you get this wonderful opportunity to mingle with loads of tourists in the narrow streets, listen to a variety of languages and watch a myriad of faces from any country and greet them!
These are just three “practical” aspects, and I would love to tell you more about subtle aspects of growing “surrounded by water” nextly.
Boundless inspiration 
hey radha!
I am happy I found your blog!!! Did not know you had one 🙂
You must have a special punya to be so closed to the ocean all the time 😉
island, new york, hong kong…
I grew up not far away from the baltic sea. Could not hear the waves from the window but could go the the sea every time I desired. It was just half an hour by tramp.
Now I live in Austria and I miss the sea soooo much. It is so beautiful and so powerful.
In germany there is a magazin called “mare” that is antirly dedicated to the ocean with all its aspects. beautiful fotos and very well written articles but again: it´s in german 😉
Which city did u grow up in Leela? Baltic sea seems so inspiring too 🙂 luv
the polish name is gdansk (probably there is an english version as well 🙂
it´s a 1000 years old quite beautiful city, the air there smells different than in any other place I know, but the moment you get out
of the train you can smell the sea even it´s some km away from the railway station.
most of the time the city is a bit windy. there are also some dunes full of long gras on the way to the beach.
I like a lot the a bit harsh beauty of baltic sea 🙂
i also love the bit harsh beauty of the sea in general, it s more fascinating than the calm sea.