Hi Abhijit!
I am from South India, brought up in a village with our house right on the banks of the river Godavari. Right from early childhood, I loved swimming in that bottomless wide river, enjoyed getting lost in the wild growths of the other banks. When I started my career teaching at the Univ in a coastal town, I was overjoyed to see the mountains (Eastern ghats) and during the course of next few years, I climbed every visible peak in the surrounding areas with some guava fruit and oranges in a small sack and water in a heavy duty military canteen. We did not have A/C in our house or in the labs either. So what, it did not deter me from my wanderings! When I came to Oahu for my grad studies (on FB grant), I jumped at the first opportunity to join a hiking club and never looked back! The beauty of the stark granite mountains, the unblinking stars of a dark night, the fantastic sun rises in places like grand canyon, what else can one ask?
So its nothing to do with where you were born or what your race is or how many made fun of your hobby, the bottom line: enjoy doing what you do.
My 2c!
