Work Ledger - 1

About 6 months into the job. A place of choice, the typical into-the-job pangs. Interesting/ amusing workplace discussions, intense WhatsApp chats. Vibrant Facebook posts, nostalgia & love soaked updates. Taxes, savings, unforeseen expenses now commonplace. Life does moves on, at a cruel speed.

There are very few surprises that a job brings, there was a conspiracy but we were prepared. Conversations with friends, echo disappointments, but there is only a diminished feeling of loss, for the batch of which one is part and will be forever proud of, parades a trajectory of success. Dreams take shape, a few regularly, many in a slow motion.

Exchanges are infrequent, and similar. So are our routines now. In these routines, so many truths are vindicated. The general impatience that life is, that ideas are valued and substantial, essentialism of companionship & conversation, bearings of choices made – briefly, the summation of one short life.

The day ends peacefully, if the walk back home is accompanied with a smile and a tune in the ears. One learns and grows, yet deep inside, one looks for the constants, the answers that are never enough.

Next are the next steps, unnumbered. Probably the ones which will make it possible to be closer to something that one is close to and a home that will be called rightly so. Undoubtedly, things will make sense, they simply just will. 

Travel Journal - 1

The word travel does not invoke a beautiful memory for me as it does for most people. I have travelled well, if not far and wide. And I have not had a life changing experience so far while on road, nor have I undertaken a trip that is so unforgettable that it can be told to the coming generations.

But I have travelled, with family, with friends, acquaintances and alone. In each setting, I have had my own little stories to share, which I will recount here, in no particular order. I have travelled to many corners of India, with family on religious trips. Not religious myself, I am glad my parents decided to take those trips for their parents – for their goodwill and karma, have played a part in my making and I consider myself blessed due to their actions. I also made a religious trip of my own, to Amarnath Cave, which was a pass to visit Kashmir, a place where my mother spent some years of her childhood, of which I will always be jealous. The same year, I visited Malaysia, an eye opener trip. I was there for an AIESEC Conference, and the learning was that how very similar the youth is across the globe, in thought, action, beliefs & dreams, even though color, birth and boundaries dictate otherwise.

In my post graduation, I managed to travel in each semester. The best excursion was one after getting a job, there was nothing holding me back, saved enough, no classes or assignments and the clichéd troublesome future lay weeks ahead. I travelled to multiple places, with different set of friends and alone too. After my first solo trip, I now know how to plan my future journeys, better than earlier.

My small little voyages also include the walks across the two cities I spent the wonderful years during my post graduation and internship. If Pune has abundant cafes & bookstores and emptier streets to fancy a walk on, Bombay ofcourse has the sea and effective transport system. I transversed on foot in both a cities frequently and was delighted in the discovery of smiling faces, delectable food items & places, and the sights that are essentially captured in a click. Though I could not like Pune, even after trying, I did fell in love with Bombay and had a brush with the emotion with which Mumbaikars call it their city, the unfathomable, weathered, enchanting island of dreams.

My travels in the current decade have had lasting impressions on me, they have become a part of my aspirations, opened access to more places and have made me appreciate things in a better vein. I have had people, friends telling me their own stories. I hope to create a few of my own, that I can tell kids. How very metaphorical these trips turn out be, and when one does look back, a smile appears, a longing to get out again and to allow the air, whirl your hair. 

(Originally written for & published at wanderingvivek.com)