Boston, as I see it

Ruhaan Sharma-Soneja

Boston after dark (taken by me)

Growing up, Boston shaped me. I must give credit to my parents for first introducing me to the city, as when I was a child we would take forays into the city, hopping on the Red Line at Alewife and usually getting off in downtown. We would walk for hours, as I gazed in wonder at all the life around me. I vividly remember walking out of Park Street station, craning my neck to stare at the buildings which surrounded me. We would walk through the beautiful Boston Common, pausing for a moment by Frog Pond to take in its beauty, then crossing Charles Street and enjoying the lagoon in the Public Gardens. These days used feel magical, as venturing into a new part of the city felt like unlocking new part of the world, and in a way for me, it was. We would explore the North End, Back Bay, the South End, Fenway, and beyond. I remember that one day my dad had the day off, so we went to the airport and simply watched the planes come and go for hours. Even when driving back from swim practice, I would beg my parents to take the "fun way", driving through mundane residential streets which I was captivated by.

So as the years passed by, I naturally fell in love with Boston. But I was getting older, and now days spent in the city turned into me exploring the city by myself. However, I didn't limit myself to the typical touristy parts of the city. I made an effort to go to every part of the city, as well as the surrounding cities and towns which were not directly adjacent to my town of Arlington. As such, I was able to truly experience everything that Boston had to offer. I journeyed through everywhere from Allston to Jamaica Plains to Chelsea to Dorchester to West Roxbury to Eastie and beyond. And although I loved walking around downtown, discovering these outer neighborhoods showed me that there was more than what is considered the typical Boston, and the city is only made possible by these lesser known but just as interesting neighborhoods. Each neighborhood had its own character, whether it was Dorchester's mouthwatering food spots, or the vibrance of the large student population in Allston.

In late middle school and early high school, a friend of mine introduced me to railfanning. For years, we would chase trains around Boston, taking photos and videos of them as we went. This introduced me to a whole new part of the city, the parts where you don't end up in accidentally. We would wake up before the sun rose, often taking the first train into the city. We would camp out in questionable spots for hours, all to get a glimpse of trains which we felt were worth catching, going to the tops of parking garages, finding holes in industrial fences, and begging for permission with rail cops. This made me see the city in a different light, not just exploring in wonder but rather methodically planning out the best spots to catch trains. One of my most memorable days of railfanning began for me at four in the morning, when I took a train to another train to a bus to see one of the last runs of a local Boston freight service in Peabody. I ended up waiting in the cold for hours, but finally seeing the train switch around a yard made it all worth it. Then, me and a friend hopped onto a bus and then a train, just barely catching it in Chelsea. Later that night around midnight we camped out at West Medford to see a nightly but elusive freight train, which to our delight came as soon as we got there. However, the real treat was seeing two other rare trains which we were not expecting soon after, making the long day well worth it.

Towards the end of high school, I got more into photography, and Boston was the perfect real life canvas. Me and some friends would spend time in the city with our cameras, taking photos of everything from interesting storefronts to skylines to people going about their days. By now, I was very familiar with the city, but it didn't stop me from finding cool new spots, which I think is the beauty of any big city.

Boston has played a large part in making me who I am today. It has seen me as child, teen, and young adult. Even though I may never live there permanently again, I will never take the formative experiences Boston has given me for granted.