At a time when many Indians are chasing goals abroad, Caleb Friesen took the other route. In his early twenties, the Canadian content material creator and father packed his luggage and made Bengaluru his residence. His causes weren’t rooted in ambition or technique — however in a quiet, radical pursuit of inside development. Now, after eight years in India, a video of Friesen reflecting on his unconventional transfer goes viral.
The video begins with a query Friesen is used to listening to: why go away Canada for India when so many Indians are heading within the different route? His reply is surprising. “To grow to be harder,” he says — not via exterior wrestle, however inside change.
He shares a pivotal second from his youth: a 40-day quick throughout which he consumed solely water and air. He dropped 18 kilogrammes, however what he gained was a deeper lesson. “While you commit, development can occur — even with out motion,” he says.
Friesen calls this “passive development” — the sort of transformation that takes place not via planning, however by shifting your environment. “It’s the sort of development that doesn’t require a plan. It simply occurs whenever you change your setting,” he explains.
That’s what led him to India. He needed to problem himself, to be mentally and emotionally stretched in methods he couldn’t orchestrate. “I needed to be in a spot the place development was unavoidable,” he says. And India — with its complexities and contradictions — grew to become that crucible.
His perception in passive development additionally shapes how he views parenthood. Turning into a father, he says, is one other expertise that forces development, just by being. “My son continues to exist, and so does my development,” he displays.
By means of local weather shocks, cultural shifts, and the day by day unpredictabilities of Indian life, Friesen discovered what he was searching for: not consolation, however transformation.
