Travel!

Quite a few things have happened in the last two months or so, that I wasn't sure how I could write about all of them. Or even if I had something to say at all about them. So instead, I thought I'd just list some of the more memorable moments:

1) Deciding to go to Las Vegas the night before, because of which I didn't have time to pack all my essentials, including glasses or spare pair of contacts. Having to put my only pair (that I was wearing) in water glasses only to wake up the following morning to see that my uncle had thrown it out and rinsed it so he could drink water from the glass. And mind you, I'm pretty blind. So on our return trip, I couldn't see any thing more than 6 inches away clearly. When we went to the buffet, I had to bring the entire plate up to my nose to be able to see what I was eating.

2) Last day at work. I'm always intrigued by how attached you get to things/people and don't realize it until they are gone. I'm glad to not have to work, but will miss the work life, feeling like an adult feeling, and of course the paycheck.

3) Traveling to India with the fam is always fun. Our schedules don't match up for us to travel together often, but we were able to travel together both to and from India.

4) Being with my grandma through her surgery. Actually being with anyone close to me through a surgery was big. The constant worry, tension that something bad might happen, took a toll. And I realized how the surgery is as painful and mentally testing on the patient's relatives as on the actual patient. The experience made me question my career goals even more, so we'll see where this year will take me.

5) Traveling with a friend. To Mumbai. That was pretty epic, as you can probably tell from my previous blog post.

6) Getting to talk to my cousins and hanging out with family members. Though I constantly complain how judgmental and almost mean my relatives are, always ready to give me unsolicited advice, it's always nice to be surrounded by people who care about you and get back in touch with them.

7) Traveling to my Dad's village after more than a decade to pay my respects to my grandfather. I'm very close to my mom's side of the fam, so it was nice to see where my Dad's fam came from and get closure.

8) Experiencing Bengaluru's monsoons. Once, we were stranded under a shop's roof and it was nice to just stand and observe how people manage the rains. And I still can't forget the time when I was pretty wet and decided to get hot coffee (I'm very much a cold coffee drinker). It was so nice to be drinking a hot drink in the cold rain with drenched clothing! I walked slowly, trying to savor the moment and got scolded for it. But it was worth it.

9) Being with my grandma through the post-operation period. Trying to push her to be more assertive on her knees. Trying to motivate her. And having to withstand her scoldings and anger whenever we did.

10) Traveling to Thailand! Looking up places on the internet, asking friends, and reading books to plan the ideal vacation. It was great to eat cheap street food, stay in a nice hotel (we really didn't know what we were getting ourselves into on this one, so the nice experience was a pleasant surprise). Being all touristy in the old part of the city, visiting temples and palaces. Eating street food. Walking the streets late at night and feeling pretty safe about it. Riding a tuk tuk, the sky train, and even a local bus (like the legit kind) after fighting with our taxi driver at the Floating Market and him driving off without giving us a ride back. Buying a lot of goodies at the weekend market.

11) Thinking our flight was at 11:30am and getting to the airport at around 8:30am only to realize that our flight is at 4:30 PM and killing that many hours at the airport. Mind you, check-in wasn't open yet, so this was at the terminals and not beyond security where at least there was some shopping to do.

It's been a crazy past couple of weeks and will continue to be so as I have 3 days to pack and say good-bye to all my friends in the Bay Area before leaving for the East Coast. But this is what I asked for. I will say though that as most people would agree, the more you are away from home, the more you realize how lucky you are and how much you have. And I am very thankful for both.

Mumbai Meri Jaan

have you heard that before? i have. and have wondered, what makes a city so endearing? especially this one. I've been wanting to go to Mumbai for quite some time now and finally got the opportunity to recently.

after spending 9 exhilirating days, i'm still trying to figure out what makes the city so awesome, the city where dreams come true:

1) is it really (like everyone says) the pace of the city? how one feels safe walking around even at 11 in the night because there are still all sorts of people out? from grandmas to kids? how you can get stuck in kilometers long traffic for hours together but still not get bored of looking out the window?

2) is it the constant rainfall that Mumbai people just accept and go around with life like it were nothing? the umbrella is the perfect accessory for everyone in the city, and armed with that, it seems like no amount of rain can stop them. i saw a grandma pulling her saree up and treading knee length pothole in the street. people were on the beach, rain or shine, with or without an umbrella.

3) is it eclectic group of people and cultures that comprise the city? how there are so many Italian restaurants, a full page of Mexican food choices in the menu of Indian restaurants. Or how at the home of our lunch hosts, they were speaking Gujrati, Marathi, Hindi and English?

4) is it the graciousness of people (though I admit, it's not exclusive to this city) who offer everything they have to guests, even when they are lacking themselves? like the slum dwellers who poured their heart out to me, but still offered me a full glass of water with a smile. or the auto driver who dropped us off and told us to be careful and made sure we crossed the shady area safely?

5) is it the multitude, and I mean numerous, things to do and places to see? from an attention calling, brightly decorated horse carriage around Marine Drive to the many markets in Bandra, Colabha, etc?

I still haven't figured it out. And probably won't. But (I think) I felt the city. I felt it's heart beat. And I'm going to join the millions in saying that I was blown and I can't wait to go back. Mumbai meri jaan, phir kab milenge hum dono?