Reliving the decade - A country tour!
Here is the long due travelogue on the trip(s) that I had in last few months. This entire journey happened over a duration of about a month, precisely for 26 days, can be practically called a country tour as I visited at least one city in direction covering four metros, one tier-2 and a few other cities. The experience of this trip ranged from a temp of 10 C in the freezing winters, a cyclone in the islands, a pleasant weather in the Garden City of India aka Bangalore, humidity of the city of dreams, Mumbai; heat and dampness of the city of joy - Kolkata diaries, the homely weather of the heart of India – Delhi NCR, to going back to the starting point hometown which was sizzling at a temp of 40+ C, almost witnessed all the weathers that this humongous country has to offer. India is a nation of diversity in all terms. 😊
I will divide this travelogue in two parts, not in chronological
order, but the way I travelled. First part would be more about travel to meet
and greet people, the one I wanted to do to touch base with places I have stayed
in, in last decade, and the second one, which was more of an exploration trip,
but also to discover myself!
Here we go! Oh, before that, the reason I could write this
travelogue today is, I wanted to take a break from reading, and the internet
has gone for a toss at my place, so I got a break from binge watching. Will write
about both in upcoming posts (Gosh, I already have so many things to write
about). And of course, I will be meeting
a friend today, someone who had inspired me to write since my starting days,
and was responsible for this blog to come into existence! So am on a deadline
:P
Let’s start!
This trip was a far-fetched dream for a lazy person like me,
and each leg was kind of an unplanned one, so everything was on the fly except
for the first flight. And that was decided, coz, family had decided to step out of
the hometown and visit my brother staying in Bangalore! The objective was to get a change
in surroundings, a reunion within family and balancing out between the people
who are working and non-working (I think this should non-corporate working) in
the family.
In the first week of Feb, we as a family decided that we all
will see each other and stay together for a fortnight in the city of gardens, and,
everyone was supposed to be in the city by mid of the month. So, I started with
my mother, from our hometown, to fly from the nearby airport into Bangalore. So
we technically started from a single digit temp (around 9 C) to the nearby city
which was already shivering at 12 C (that too when the sun was bright outside),
and land in a city with a pleasant weather, with a max of 27 C. We were
actually giving a timeout to our bodies from the woolens and the shivering
surroundings!
Though the weather was pleasant, the city offered us, its test of patience, or a taste of traffic! The typical metro, and I was cursing myself, for the decision of getting back to a metro after a blissful life in a tier-3 city for last 2 years (thanks to Covid)! It took us, more time to reach home in Bangalore from airport, than to reach airport from hometown to catch the flight i.e. it took us less time to travel 200+ kms than it took us to finish 30 km. With this, the Bangalore airport is not in the same city, it’s not even in the nearby city in terms of time. Phew! I guess that’s called the “curse of metro”.
Since, am too good in keeping secrets, and hiding my
hideouts, rarely people knew that am in the city, where I actually have a lot of
friends and acquaintances. Oh yes, and how can I forget, the way I was tricked
into a shopping spree, on the context that we are supposed to shop for others in
the family and I was kept on a gun point from my brother and his wife and my
mother, to shop for myself. And me being me, I finished the things in less than
30 min :D. All my family could do was, feel helpless. That’s how our first weekend
in the city went by. It’s a different kind of a fun to explore the city with
your parents, who had explored that same city almost a few decades ago. We
visited practically all the temples in the city, ticked a few “to see”
places in the city including a few malls, list finely curated by my sister-in-law!
Well, while my parents were on a trip, my heart was playing
games with me to get back on my travel wings, and fly solo for some time. With
the instability that Covid had left, it was difficult for me to convince
parents, that I can go on a solo trip to a random place. So I chose to visit
the places, I had already stayed in, catch-up with all the friends I have in
these places, and of course, work from hotels, airports and sometimes from a beach!
Atlast, I decided to go to Delhi for sometime, with a stop-over
in Mumbai. One is heart and another is soul city for me! So I flew into Mumbai,
on 3rd March to see this couple friend-cum family of mine, and their
little one, who was more excited than any of us was. While I was at the Bangalore
airport, speaking with My Angel, she happened to say, “I can already feel the
excitement in your voice, and am looking forward to your trip, how it unfolds,
and what all you discover!”. And yes,
before flying to Mumbai, I had already decided to go on a trip with a travel
agency that curates trips for women. This was something I was going to do for
the first time in life, and I took just a few minutes to decide for this. Guess
that was the tripping point!
Anyways, while waiting for the boarding at the airport, I ended
up working despite being on notice period! Phew, what a workaholic I used to
be! (I hope my ex-team mates could also agree with me).
Finally, I landed in the city of dreams (for many), and a
city of revelations for me at least! Though this city, Mumbai, never ceases to
surprise you 😊, it was a shock for my body, as it had to acclimatize
with the hot and humid climate after enjoying the pleasant weather in Bangalore.
But as they say, a traveler's body can cop up anywhere, mine did too!
I had just a day and a half or 36 hours to be precise to relive the three years stay in Mumbai. And I did live up to it. I could spend time with cutie pie (the daughter of my friend), play with her, went on a walk with my Fellow Virgo friend – a short one, but worth it. I could also visit my office and work from there for a day, and of course, I experienced the Mumbai traffic at its peak hours! All thanks to my friends that we could make it possible. And the time just flew off. I had to leave to catch my next flight. The look the little one had was disappointing, but I was surprised with her high EQ. All she asked was, where I am going and why I am going. She was mature enough to understand that people visit you, stay with you, spend time with you, and then they go to their places. She is just 5 years old. No wonders, her parents have given her the best upbringing! Kudos to them.
5 Mar 2022, and I was flying to Delhi! To avoid any last-minute
surprises, I had planned to reach airport way before time, everything went
well, until, the boarding got delayed by an hour. Waiting for boarding at
Mumbai airport waiting area to wait in the flight for the take-off, tested the
patience of almost every passenger, as we ended up flying post 3pm. Apparently,
flight was delayed by more than an hour. The time I was waiting at the airport,
helped me reflect on life. At one side, I was so looking forward to my stay
in Delhi NCR, while at the other, I was wondering why did I plan such a short
trip to Mumbai, which practically cannot even be called a trip. It was just a
stop-over! And yeah, my musings while i was waiting for flight at Mumbai airport... man it still has generation old fan?
Finally, I could land in Delhi, and checked-into the hotel, I
always wanted to do a staycation in! I still do not know why I like this hotel
so much. It’s not that they are the best in hospitality industry, they might be
in top 5 or 7, still I always craved to stay here. And today was the day, when
this was happening. Well, I was supposed to meet another friend of mine, who
had decided to do a stayover with me, leaving her kid and husband back at home.
While she decided this, I was like, I don’t know why this is such a huge deal,
but for her or maybe for all the moms out there, it could be. Or I can just
say, each one to herself! By the way, let’s call her “Ms. Shopaholic”.
The evening and the night out (almost one) were a blast! What
we all did? Ahh, she being a shopaholic (the one I referred in one of the previous posts "Window Shopping: A Fiasco"), so I had requested her to help me with shopping for the upcoming
trip, and of course, there she was much more excited than what I could ever be
even in my dreams! Despite being on different platonic levels of excitement, we had fun and finished shopping with a delightful dinner at the hotel. The
whole evening was amazing, this was literally the first time, I had to ask
someone to sleep, as we couldn’t stop chatting until 3 am.
Next day, had an early start, and an impromptu plan to see another college friend, who had just happened to be in the city with her twins (she
has been staying in States since a decade). Thanks to the airlines she was
flying out with, she had to stay in Delhi for another day, and happened to
share the info, if anyone wanted to catchup! Thanks to such nice people who
share their plans unlike me, and we get a chance to see each other. Though it
was a bit difficult, as I had to commute to another side of the city, it was
worth. We were meeting after two years, as we had met just before Covid
happened, thankfully she was in the country at that time, and had blessed me
with her time. Nevertheless, it is always great to catch up with old friends.
While the brunch was impromptu, I had another plan to meet a
few friends, who were colleagues at a previous organization, and we had chosen
to stick around. I was the only one in the group, who was kind of off, I mean
being socially inactive, and living in another part of the country. Rest were
staying in the same city, so had managed to gel better with each other’s
family. Somehow, I tried too! I guess, that not that important, till people
understand what matters. Met these fine ladies, visited their new abodes, and a
fun evening.
Next day, I thought better to have an uneventful day and an evening only to myself. So, I chose to stay at hotel with some binge watching.
The next day happened to be the Women’s Day, a day which
always was a marketing gimmick for someone like me. I even had a discussion
around the same, when I happened to wish my fellow Virgo, the friend from
Mumbai. And of
course, I had received a surprise from my brother
and sister-in-law. He had asked for my address in the morning, and without
giving a second thought, I just shared it. Later on, I had received a nice pink
roses bouquet and some assorted cheesecakes with a beautiful note.
On the other hand, Ms. Shopaholic's son, Aarav, who was not very happy with his mom having fun with me (the other day), and he shared his disappointment on being left out. So, his mom, and I, we both decided to take him out to a Game Zone date! His mother was supposed to take care of logistics, and the other things, while Aarav (my date) and me, we both were having our time playing all the games available in the gaming zone.
It was just 4 days in the city, and I had already met people more than I had met in last 2 years!
Another day, a meeting with another friend. A time to catch
up on what we had missed in last decade. She was never a close friend, but more
of a mentor (unofficially), who had always kept her eye on me, ensuring that am
doing good in life, and always there to help out, just in case if I needed something,
both personally and professionally. I was always touched by her graciousness,
and always wished that someday, I could follow her steps. She can be called as
Iron lady though, making her mark, in her own style in this anti-feminine business
world. Oh, she happens to be quite older to me, so I did get an earful from her
on certain aspects of life. I guess, I have always been getting that, but this
time, I could see the concern and genuineness behind, wondering what did I do
in life or in previous life, to have so many kind and nice people around me!
I had planned to stay in Gurgaon for entire week, before visiting another couple friend- cum-family in other side of city. After some changes in schedule, checked out from hotel, and came to Noida. I had told these guys, who were introduced as college seniors, but, had chosen to keep me as family. Whenever I meet these guys, it always feels like an homecoming. Think of it, that you visit someone’s house for the first time in ages, and you are told that you are staying in your room, as this place has a room for you and not a guest room! I guess, one of the most beautiful feeling is to have a family outside your blood family or family by law. It was a breather in the entire trip, where I could say I was at home, with people with whom I enjoyed doing the very simple stuff. I had read some where, the best people are those, with whom, you enjoy doing the simple and basic stuff, could be just laying around, or have a coffee by the window side with chit chats, with whom you don’t bother about how you are presenting yourself, and people who are keen to listen to you, and share their experiences with you. Again, while leaving I was wondering why did I plan such a short visit to these guys! A part of me, and a part of them stays with us forever.
It was her, because of whom, I had decided to go on a trip
with some unknown people, comfort zone being, she was also a part of the group
:D :D
So we had planned to have nostalgia tour in Delhi, before we
leave for the trip. Reliving old days, as we had stayed in this city for almost
5 years together in the last decade, and had explored the corners of the city,
we decided to revisit the places we used to hang out the most. And this ended
up with us visiting the nooks and corners of NCR. A full time “Tafri in Delhi/NCR”
(that’s what we call it), it was fun to visit the places you have loved so
much! Bangla Saheb, Connaught Place, ISCKON, Select Citywalk (Atrea Café),
Galleria, 32nd milestone, Aerocity, La Roca! Gosh! We had a list which
we had to tick off and of course had explored some new places too. She was
super happy knowing that she was the one to introduce a couple of new places to
me in NCR. As otherwise, it has always been the other way round.
We had our flight to Andaman, on 14th of Mar
morning, via Kolkata, and I was on another level of excitement, as I was visiting
Kolkata almost after a decade. I had always wanted to visit the city for its
vibe but could never do the same. Before landing in Kolkata, I already had my
list of things to be ticked off. Since it was a stop-over for a few
hours, I had decided (on behalf of both of us), that we will step out in the
city, instead of taking an Ola or Uber, we will enjoy the ride in the typical
Yellow taxi, visit Haldiram’s enjoy the meal, and cherish the mouth watering Bengali sweets! Also, wanted to have
a desert at Flurry’s, one of my favorite bakeries from the old times, but could
only find one at the airport. My pole star was wondering about the level of excitement
I had for Flurry's and the build-up I had made for the place. And it was a
disaster! She was like, are you sure this is the same place you wanted to
visit, raising her doubts on my judgements! You know the things best friends
always do to you!!! And yeah, did I mention that the temp of the city was over
30 C. By the time we reached Port Blair, I was drained with travel, heat, and having
the laptop on my back for straight 8 hours!
The trip to Andaman deserves a separate blog. I will write
about it in next one. For now, let’s
skip the dream, and go to the next leg directly.
After staying for a week in Andamans while making new friends,
overcoming phobias, we were back on our trip to Delhi, again via Kolkata. This
time, we didn’t have time and energy to step out in the city. We just wished to
board the flight and crash into our hotel beds and get some rest.
After an eventful travel day, Port Blair to Delhi via Kolkata, we checked-in the hotel, and I was supposed to meet another friend, who had landed in the country for her own wedding. I was supposed to meet the bride-to-be and her groom-to-be (whom I was meeting for the first time), along with her younger sister, who was also a company in our previous trip, our rendezvous in Thailand!
The next day was more of a transition state for me. I was
supposed to say goodbye to a dear friend, my Pole star, and welcoming another
one, who had been constantly there in last few years. Okay, this is the first
time I am introducing her on this blog, so let’s name her “The Free Bird”,
who is not that free anymore. We met as colleagues in office, who had hardly
anything in common except for dealing with same set of struggles. So “The Free
Bird” was no more a free one, and was about to get hitched! I was planning to attend
her wedding, and to our disappointment, I couldn’t be there in person.
Before her wedding, we both wanted to spend some time together, just the two of us, as
both of us had things going on in our respective lives, and wanted to pour our hearts out, in person. She despite being the bride-to-be stuck with
her shopping, a jetlag which resulted in bad health, was still willing to stay with
me for the longest possible time. And we did all the stupid things we could to catch
hold of each second passing by. Whenever I speak with her, though she feels, is more of a
brainstorming for her, it is definitely another level of brain food for me. She
always inspires my thoughts be it clearing the head or heart. With this meet, my
trip was coming to an end, and by evening I was supposed to board a train to my
hometown.
In short, I just didn’t have a country tour, but also a life tour in a sense, meeting all the nice people I had welcomed in my life in the last decade or maybe more than that. I had literally been to
Hometown >> Jaipur >> Bengaluru >> Mumbai >> Gurgaon >> Noida >> Delhi >> Kolkata >> Andamans >> Delhi >> Hometown.
Cherishing the moments with them, reliving the beautiful experiences, filled me
with gratitude. Once again, I was left with the question, how did I manage to
find so many amazing souls in just one lifetime?
