August 18, 2013

Sand in my shoes







"Where do you see yourself 15 years from now?"

I think I only managed a dumb 'i don't know' nod in response and supported it with a weird shoulder movement.
Long bus journeys and sea gazing (and perhaps smoked chicken sausages wrapped in cheese) turn people philosophical. So much so, that even after over three hours of dancing the night before, two of my dear friends counted forty winks and slipped out in the morning again. And returned with this question.

"Where would you like to be in 15 years?"
The rephrasing meant that an answer was going to be coaxed out. I deep dived into my bag, searching for nothing but an escape from their gazes.

I had no response until I began writing this post. 15 years and maybe I would be happy to find myself having added another 50 posts here (this blog which despite my best intents, is more of a travelogue).
Or maybe atleast 30.
Or even 15 good trips in as many years wouldn't be too bad.
I just hope I 'Do the Math' right.

***

Enroute to our destination, I had 108 battles going on in my mind.
Is it the right time to be on a trip? Barely over a month into the first job. Training incomplete. A big presentation hovering over.
Is it the right way to spend your first salary? Others bought gifts and stuff for family and here I was joking about an independent trip on Independence Day.
Shouldn't  I be back buying myself a bed?
Is Independence day a dry day?

And then the bus crossed Karwar. The (back)waters appeared and washed down these turmoils.
Post that moment, the only time I thought about life in general was when Al-Kabeera asked me to rate my life on a scale of 1 to 10. And again when Al-Kabeera (plus another friend) got entangled in the fictitious thread tying Agnel-Daphnee-Vaibhav and a Santro (with a bumped in bumper).

For the rest of the trip, I didn't even have to bother about a single detail. Two wonderful people (our own home-boy plus a person I am sure I had met in an alternate timeline) took up most of the resposibilities. And the manner in which they took us about it made me wonder if this was really my second time in Goa.
The others chipped in with their resourcefulness from time to time. The only badge of responsibility I can pin on myself is getting a little grocery once. :P

I'll let the rest of the trip be summarised in pictures.





































































































































***

The days of late have been good. Settling-in in a new place has been easier than I imagined. Friends are aplenty.  Work is fine. Weather is ever so pleasant.
And just when a hint of monotonocity threatened to swoop in, this extended weekend happened.
And before ending, it has hopefully given me enough to face the grills and grinds ahead. e.g. During the return journey, the bus people put on 'Chennai Express'.
And I really enjoyed it!
:D

*********
Rights to exaggeration and bragging reserved.
Its not how it happened; its how you remember it.
No characterisation intended.
Data and information may have been skewed to suit the storyline.
Everything is relative to your perspective.

***