And so I flew..!

In my growing up years, I used to be the timid, inconfident and jittered types. Though being a tomboy at heart - I always wanted to break free of the mental/traditional boundaries around me to discover the person within.
But for some reason or the other - It never happened until I was out of college.

There was this deep longing to once set out - try my spirit, know where I stand on my own and have the literally on-my-own kind of feeling.

It started with my passion for travelling. In the beginning, it was just an interest - which while I was on my third trip, I knew - was my passion. It was a birthday gift I asked my parents few years back; the permission to solo travel. Ofcourse they weren't too convinced about me venturing alone, especially considering my dependent state at that time.. but my Dad supported me and I can never ever be enough thankful to him for that. Today when he's not there to listen to my stories, to see the person I've moulded by the experiences I've had, I miss him the way that cannot be expressed and I hope he's happy when he sees me from up above.

I started out with a small weekend trip and today, it does not matter the number of days I go on a trip, I know I can handle it.
The first time is always the exciting, nervous, difficult yet easy in the end. Its also the most memorable. The first solo train ride, flight ride, the first hotel check-in..everything which we never give a thought to when in a group, becomes a responsibility. Also it taught me a great lot about human psychology. The weird questions, the approving/unapproving comments all became my teachers in some way or the other.
This one step, apart from giving me a sense of self - gave me so many things that I hadn't even anticipated.
The confidence, the sense of belief, the sense of discipline, the responsibility of the self, the environment and the world we live in. The recognition of our place in this huge world, the ability to meet new people/cultures and learn from them or be thankful for my environment, depending on the place of visit, the feeling of empowerment and so many things more. There's just so much for which  I now express gratitude for.

Today, its been more than 5 years I've been travelling on my own and I recommend it to every person who asks me about it, especially females. Reason being, it reiterates the feeling of self-dependency and breaks a lot of mental shackles Indian females have been raised to believe in. 
I took the first step and it changed my life. Life's good! :)

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Housing Memories

Sometimes when you give up hope in a relation, even a small whiff of encouragement is all what it takes to get the faith back on track. And sometimes after giving your best, the best to do is house the memories in the safe core of your heart.

I'm a person of few relations and those few I set them in stone. Nothing at all can deter me from going all the way for someone I call my own, so when there is rough weather - I go ALL out to make sure things get back to smooth.

I was having major issues with a particular close friend. We had been only arguing and having communication gaps for more than 6 months. Unfortunately, since none of my closest friends live in the same city, it only gets worse to smooth out big issues easily.
So, when I happened to get a chance to visit this friend's city, there wasn't any doubt of thinking of anything else except for packing up and jumping on the chance.

As my luck had it, after I reached, I discovered the friend that day only had a few hours to spare before getting back to work, which apparently couldn't be avoided.
So even though I was super upset by that, I made my peace in those few hours and I had a memorable trip.
To date - while we still are in rough waters - I think of that effort of mine and make my peace that I DID give my best to iron out the differences.
For that last meeting, neither of us brought up the issues bothering us, nor did we let the complaints get in the way. Today I reflect on that day and in a way feel glad that we did not rake up unpleasantness.. but rather had enjoyed the time like the good 'ol days.
There's a lot to think here. Was I the only one who wanted to sort out differences, does distance really change people so much etc etc. But for the things that have happened and have been an important part of our life, I believe in keeping the sanctity of the emotions and feelings spent and rather keep the good  memories close.

In hindsight, that meeting seems like we parted on a memorable note. That is all I would like to hold onto to.

Truly life is unpredictable. But just because a relation breaks, we don’t have to look back bitterly on it. Till the moment you were in it, it was important and pleasant. I’d rather remember the pleasantness than the end result of it.

Sometimes some relations are Together... but not quite.

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