In Brugge

Part 1 and Part 2 in case you are interested.

'Maybe that's what hell is, the entire rest of eternity spent in fucking Bruges.' - Stupid grumpy Ray from In Bruges (the movie).

Of course, for me replace hell by a good idea of heaven, please! I am like the good old romantic Ken from the movie who wants history, culture and a good time to be able to call it a good day. Good life even. When I watched the movie back in 2010, I knew I would visit Brugge one day.

the sight of the bed!

That day arrived in 2016 July. After the super flop journey to Brussels and making J and Paglet bear the brunt of my illness, I channeled all my inner will power and strength to go to Brugge. We left Brussels at a leisurely 11 am in the morning on the 21st of July. An hour long, uneventful (thank god!) train ride later, we were at the Lybeer Hostel, lugging those dreadful backpacks and that cursed stroller on the cobbled streets of Brugge. The pragmatic in me was cursing the romantic by this time. I made myself lie down as soon as we entered the room. This seemed to work for the pragmatic.

A bit about our hostel. It was 15 minutes walk from the railway station. We had a single room with 1 bunk bed and shared bathroom. It was clean and it also had a window which opened to the terrace! It also had an open kitchen, library with book exchange, open bar and lounging area. One hour rest later...

hostel terrace!

We were to take the walking tour of Brugge with cyhit the same day. We had already been  introduced to our tour guide Thijs, through his successful attempt to scare us. (He knocked on the door. I opened the door, totally unaware and he scared the hell out of me by presenting himself in one of those K3 type masks. He was apparently trying to scare Paglet, being colleagues. You know how it went). 

very very good!

The afternoon (3 pm) tour was supposed to start from the Charlie Rockets Youth hostel (another very nice hostel with a social vibe). A bunch of us 3 Peruvians, 3 Scottish girls and 2 Indian girls (us) were to be Thijs's party for the afternoon. The tour was filled with his antics! He made us touch and feel history, making us stand on the oldest bridge in Brugge for a few minutes. We made our way through Astrid park, walked through the prison which is now a residential area to the city center. Brugge is home to a very famous church which supposedly houses the blood of christ (in powdered form). No we did not go there. I am just sharing knowledge. After some more medieval stories and jokes, we came near the bell tower. The famous bell tower. I and one more girl from Scotland were the only ones who had watched the movie In Bruges. So we two were the only ones who got all Thijs' jokes and references. Pop culture FTW! He shared few more anecdotes from the movie and gave us recommendations about where to have the best fries and chocolates. (Belgium is the home of potato fries and some really good chocolates!)  We also did a secret pitstop at a very nice and old pub and had the most amazing local beer. I was unwell but I tried it a little. Belgian beer y'all! The beer stopover also gave us a chance to sit down and relax and get to know each other. Some fun exchanges later we started the part 2 of our walking tour. We also got introduced to the symbolic Brugge architecture and some flemish history. Thijs gave us some really cool and cheap references for food, beer shopping, ice cream and things to do. Thijs was a storyteller who made us time travel while narrating some of the incidents of the west flanders. The 2 hour long tour ended at the oldest hospital in western Europe. (I highly recommend it if you are interested in local culture, cuisine, history and fun :))

Tour group!

Brugge is really small. You can travel from one end of the city to the other in 30 minutes, 40-50 minutes if you walk leisurely. Paglet and I roamed around a bit. Had some delish fries and mayo, soaked in the sunshine. Surprisingly I was feeling sprightly again. We then bought some local beer and made our way back to the hostel. As soon as I was inside the hostel, the body pain and being unwell feeling was back. But we met some really fun people and the evening went on smoothly, with conversations. There was a solo traveler from Turkey who knew very little English (the language). I cannot tell you the pain I felt while trying to make meaningful conversation with him. 
We called it a night sooner than everyone else. 

Next day when we woke up Paglet was showing the first signs of being ill. I was slightly better. So we decided to have some breakfast and just take it easy, since we also had to leave for Amsterdam the same day. We went to Astrid park and sat around like bums, studying the city map thinking what next to do.
We decided to buy some souvenirs and found an interesting souvenir shop on the map. There is a very famous Sanskrit idiom which means something like this 'When your bad time is going on, you tend to think unintelligently.' Our walk to the shop was going to be something similar. Little did we know. We walked through the city to the other end for almost 30 minutes to reach the place only to find out it was like a huge super market of second hand goods. It had really great, kitsch stuff but there was no energy left in our sick bodies and fevered brains to sift through them. Each of us bought goods worth 25c as souvenirs to remind us of the death walk. By the time we reached the hostel, we both were feeling really really sick. We even got annoyed by each other and quarreled and fought and did not talk to each other till we boarded the bus to Amsterdam later in the day. Talk of ending a perfect day on a sour note!

Before leaving the hostel I bartered books at the hostel bookshelf. I had noticed 'museum of innocence' on the bookshelf the night before and could not contain my excitement. I had been meaning to read that book for a long long time. Meeting a traveler from Turkey the night before and seeing a copy of the book made me believe in 'a book finding the reader' theory even more. So I kept a friend's copy (which I had finished reading) of 'the man who knew infinity' with notes and picked it up. Verdict below!

Sad to report that halfway through this book and I am finding it insufferable. Need some cheer in life. pic.twitter.com/zr35N7oT6N

— Y (@yaymini) August 4, 2016

Anywho, Brugge was a dream come true to me. I really liked it. I wish to return to live there for a few more days. I leave you with a postcard from Brugge.

Beautiful Brugge!

P.S. So the essential part of the post. Costs!
Brussels - Brugge ticket - 20 Euro per head
hostel charges for a day (separate twin sharing room with shared bathrooms) - 59Euro (~30Euro per head)
misc - 20 euro per head
dinner - 15 euro per head
Total - 85 Euro 
Hostel link - http://www.hostellybeer.com/

Belgium

Post 1 about how and why my Europe trip happened

I need to report some drama that happened with us on the journey to Brussels.

So we left for Mumbai on 19th afternoon. I had a super important work meeting on 19th evening where I was supposed to give a presentation (My official vacation was going to start from 20th).  Thanks to incessant rains, our bus got delayed and I realized that taking that work call was going to be impossible. Thankfully someone else could present in my place, so I let go of it (I am a workaholic and this is a BIG deal). Additionally I had caught a slight cold and was generally feeling tired. BTW that's not how you are supposed to feel before embarking on a vacation. So we ate a good dinner with a couple of friends and took some rest at their home, before heading for the airport.
We boarded the flight to Brussels from Mumbai at 4 in the morning. We stopped over in Abu Dhabi for an hour and a half. Some coffee and more rest later, we were on board the flight to Brussels. I asked the flight attendant for a paracetamol tablet (my medicines sadly got checked in) and I went to sleep. So far so good. I woke up only to report uneasiness and extremely high fever to Paglet, who by this time became completely convinced that long distance travel was not my thing (insert laughing smileys here. Actually long distance travel is my thing and being part of interesting, bizarre stories is her thing. You see where this is going ?). Anywho, she then covered me up with as many blankets possible and made me go to sleep again. I was to sleep until my fever broke and I sweated.

Imagine being on a flight. Now imagine the AC and claustrophobic environment of the flight. Now imagine being covered with 2-3 blankets, on top of a leather jacket. And then imagine having your breath on fire because of a fever and shivering like you are north of the wall. Also imagine having a friend by your side to take care of you, even though they are shit scared themselves seeing what's happening to you. I know its too much to imagine.

Actually, now that I am back to my routine life and think about what happened on that flight that day, I can only smile. We have this inside joke where we tease Paglet about how everything that happens in her life is bizarre and has an interesting story going with it. She is well versed in how things 'normally' play out in her life. She even plays on us with us when we joke. But this, I am sure even she did not anticipate. I mean bad weather, unnecessary delays, immigration trouble, emergency landings etc were on our list of things that could go wrong on this journey. One of us falling this sick without any warnings or symptoms was not even on our minds. Which was silly, given how much travel and exertion each of us went through, before starting this trip.

Anywho, there was a very nice cabin manager Sophia (Etihad Airways) from Mumbai, who came to know of my fever and made me some amazing masal chai. Once my fever broke I was able to sit through the rest of the flight. Only to report piercing ear pain when the flight was about to land, due to change in pressure. I wanted to my trip to end and go back home. I kid you not. I even told Paglet that if she were not there, I would have done so or made them do an emergency landing somewhere. 

Brussels airport was swarming with Tomorrowland visitors. Once we had our baggage we made way to a friend's place (J). After lugging around the backpacks and a stroller with my fevered body, I was glad to be at home (even though it was someone else's). I immediately went to sleep. Paglet woke me up, convinced me to take a shower, made me some tea and I went to sleep again. J arrived in few hours and guess what it was her birthday! The poor girl then went to the kitchen and started making Rassam for me. Here's the most amazing part.

A girl from Poland, who lives in Brussels was making Rassam, a south Indian soup, for a girl from Maharashtra India. Amaze-max !?

Only picture memory from Brussels.

I woke up again around 4-5 PM to a bunch of people in the house who had come to celebrate her birthday. Among them drinking champagne, belgian beers and celebrating, I was drinking Rassam like a good girl. I have never felt this much gratitude as I felt that day for J and the Rassam she made. On her birthday. All you south Indian friends, it was the best rassam I have ever had (its not my fevered brain speaking). This world is so wonderful and kind!

Feeling a little energetic and guilty for making J do all the work on her birthday, I tried to be part of the celebrations. The girls were dancing to bollywood music and we exchanged many a stories about our cultures. I went to sleep by 10 PM and got up only after 10+ hours. Paglet and I had left the decision of next day's travel on my condition after waking up. Thankfully I woke up feeling much better and ready for Brugge.

Moral of the story : Paglet and J are the best. Not sure what I would have done without them around.

To be continued..

P.S. Since I stayed at a friend's place and was nursing my sickness, I did not spend a penny in Brussels. No costs incurred, nothing to report.

Europa!

'Europe is always a good idea'.

Let me begin at the beginning.
I have been traveling to the US a lot for work, over the past one year. Paglet moved to Germany last year. Travel planners that she and her husband (N) are, they immediately started asking me to do stopovers in Germany during my trips. I confess I tried 2 times and failed, for one thing or the other. Then we decided to plan my first full fledged Europe trip instead. That's how this all began.

N is really into small, indie music festivals. He was booking early bird tickets for a festival in Italy which was going to take place in July. I said yes without knowing much about the festival and knowing my borrowerd music history. 
My festival tickets got booked in Jan/Feb 2016. 
I booked my tickets to and from Brussels in April. 
My rough itinerary got designed in May. I included visits to some cities where I had really close friends.
I applied for visa in June. 
I received my visa in July.
I dropped a few places from my plan and re-did the itinerary. And I took off for 18 days of vacation in July/August.

check in done and ready to board! also diy #travelgoals tees :D

A lot apart from this happened in this short span. I was getting slammed at work. In July R got married for which Paglet flew to India. We booked her tickets so that we both (paglet and I) could fly from India to Brussels together. All this drama and planning! The month of July really was a whirlwind. We left for Mumbai from where our flight was on July 19th. It was the first time Paglet and I were traveling together. So we were both excited and anxious. Oh what a journey it was and what a blessing it proved to be to have her by my side!


To be continued..

P.S.  I plan to do the entire travel cost post as well. But I understand that you don't want to wait for it. So I'll do the costing at the end of individual post.

To those wondering, I used some of my miles accumulated from the work trips to book the Europe tickets. So here is the international travel cost
Pune - Mumbai return trip by Shivneri - 1000 Rs.
Mumbai - Brussels return trip - 24,500 Rs
Internal Mumbai taxi etc - 400 Rs.

Total - 25,900 Rs.

Baby H

Dear (baby) H,

I know you will not be a baby forever. One day you will grow up and read this and roll your eyes like your mother* does. And then you will laugh at this Mavshi of yours, an even louder laughter. I also fear you'll stop visiting me for my soppy attempt at trying to word what I felt when I first met you.

*Your mother the only goddess of sarcasm and baking I know. Your mother and I, whose friendship is now ancient.

You were an year old. An unbridled bundle of joy. The happiness you radiated when you threw your little hands around my neck, the safety you felt when I pretended to throw you towards the ceiling (a silly game humans play with their tiny offspring), still bring smiles and tears of warmth and joy to my eyes. The entire hour spent around you made me forget the burden of being a grown up.

my little money <3

A grown up who constantly worried about how can she be a part of your world, your mother's world. 
But there you were. More welcoming than my anxieties. 
My insecurity. Insecurity of how to fit in. To belong. 
But there you were. Laughing that innocent laugh of yours, giggling to yourself for no reason. Telling me you don't have to worry around me to belong. 

Come, be a part of my antics, you said. Outrun me just in time to save the kitchen utensils from an utter disaster. Those mischievous yet cherubic eyes of yours baiting me with your next great adventure. 

I still carry the smile you passed on to me that day. Imagining it would be a good idea to have you around all the time. And I started to hope for your mother to move nearer to me. You may have realized grown ups are selfish. Rightfully so, if the reward they get is spending time with you.

My next mission is to teach and introduce you to all the amazing fairy tales and harry potter and Carl Sagan (And you can confirm this when you read them). Of course I'll have to wait for a couple of years. Until then I'll make do with being a part of your adventures.

Pahadi (himachal) Safarnama (Diaries)

I am not a traveler. I mean I travel in a literal sense a lot i.e. going from one place to other. But I am not much into elaborate vacation planning. I like exploring new places only on the condition that the place is there in front of me to be explored. I'll not move mountains to just be someplace and experience living there. It has taken me quite a while to accept this about myself. I am much into imagining and time traveling through the books I read. 
Having said that, I do have a select list of places I would like to visit, because my favorite books and movies happened there or referenced them. (Kashmir was one such place!)

Most of my close friends are avid travel enthusiasts. They love doing all this planning, data gathering, logistics mapping exercise. And it works for a travel sloth like me :)

So when Paglet shared her India visit plans sometime in December, I was relieved because I knew she and her (travel crazy) husband would plan everything. And we would just have to show up. She planned a 3-5 days trip to Himachal Pradesh in the 2nd week of March and I was in! For logistics reason, I and a friend traveled to Jammu. From Jammu we booked a 13 seater mini bus for the road trip to Kasol Valley in Himachal Pradesh. 9 of us boarded the bus and we started the journey from Jammu. It was a slightly rainy day contrary to our expectations so we decided to keep it slow and have fun along the way.

Our first stop was for breakfast after entering Punjab before Pathankot. We were in the land of aaloo paratha and rajma chawal. So without even bothering about what time of the day it was (it was around 10.30 am), we ordered aloo paratha, rajma chawal, paneer paratha and chai (tea). I had the special neembu kehwa chai. Needless to say everything was yummilicious and fresh. It was a roadside dhaba so I can't recall the name, exact location to be able to recommend it to you. I believe all the dhabas on that route must serve the same tasty food!

Further journey till Palampur was uneventful. We tried playing a very silly but most fun game called ping pong. It didn't take off among some players. So we switched to playing Dumb Charades. Of course my team trumped the other team. Then we took a stop just outside Mandi, at hotel Ranjeet. We were starving and ordered all kinds of food there. From chinese to roti sabji to tea, coffee and varied starters. The staff there served us the most awesome road food I have ever had in a surprisingly short time. Within an hour we were back on the road, our stomachs full and our faces happy. Highly recommended place!
(Complete address- Ranjeet dining star restaurant, Joginder Nagar, Mandi).

Post Palampur, the hills were on our vista. We were longing to be among them. Once we entered Mandi, the first road block happened. Someone had parked their broken vehicle in the middle of the road, driving entire traffic to a standstill. Typical small town experience of no one being in a hurry happened. We with our city life conditioning, immediately got out and started trying to clear the deadlock. After 30 minutes halt, we were back on our way. We were moving even slowly now because of the hilly winding roads and sporadic rains. We took a tea break around 7 PM just outside Kasol to relieve ourselves and freshen up. Because we arrived in Kasol after sunset, the hike to the village where we were supposed to stay for the next 2 days did not happen.

We stayed at a local hotel in Kasol where the staff was nice enough to take dinner order from us at 9 PM. We were famished and ate like there was no tomorrow. We played cards and after some fun and frolic, we fell asleep one by one. I was probably the first one to doze off as usual.

Since we had arrived in Kasol after sunset, I had no idea what lay outside. So I was pleasantly surprised and squealed with delight when I woke up to this view outside my room. ->

beautiful Kasol!

We got ready by 10 am (cos of the super long journey the day before) and by the time decided to trek to the village, it had started raining. Starving (I think there is something in the mountain air, it makes your metabolic rate zoom), we had a very sumptuous breakfast of omlettes, tea, egg-paratha, bread toast, scrambled eggs etc. After having fed ourselves we finally headed out, rain or no rain. Thankfully it had stopped raining but it had become chillier. So mandatory winter shopping break happened. Slowly we made it out of Kasol by crossing a precariously placed bridge over the Parvati river. (I dont have a picture of it).
The Parvati river became our companion as we hiked to Chalal. It was a 40-45 min hike made surreal by river on one side and the mountains on the other. Escapist thoughts of disowning all our city ties to dwell in the woods came to all of us, turn by turn. 

When we reached our cottage in Chalal, there was no electricity in the village. Us city dwellers, eager to charge our smart phones and share the beauty on social media, had no option but to let it be. After settling down for a while and exploring the nearby areas, we started scouting for lunch locations. A village of 30-50 houses offers very few options. The kind people at Cafe Freedom offered to prepare fresh lunch for us (it was 3.30 PM). Only in really small towns/villages can one find such hospitality! We ordered loads of food and topped it off with tea, maggi, sandwiches while waiting for real meal to be ready. We got back to our cottage happy and fulfilled and only after sunset. Then we cozied up in a room, singing songs, making up songs, sharing warmth in the cold! One of the rooms also had a wood chimney so some of us got busy to fire it up to try to make the room even warmer. I called it a night early cos of all the airport lag and chill in the air.

Again, the next morning this is the view I woke up to. There was fresh snow atop the distant hill in this picture. I could spend hours sitting in a chair spellbound by the mountains with a glass of warm black tea in my hand. I had my bit of being vain, as my phone showed some network connectivity.

cottage with the view

After rounds of black ginger tea served at our cottage to us early risers, we decided to head out for breakfast. It felt like an expedition, as on the chilly day, even the villagers had decided to take it slowly. Home after home we inquired who would serve us omelettes, bread, aloo parathas and tea. Ema, singlehandedly accepted to serve the gang of 9 (us). The expedition had filled us with cold and we immediately huddled under the thick blankets Ema provided us. Once the warmth was back the chit chat and banter returned. Suddenly overcome by guilt to not even have asked Ema whether she needed help, a friend and I got out of the cozy room and went into her kitchen. She graciously accepted the help and we started serving everyone. I cannot put into words the feeling of eating a very modest breakfast but still feeling overcome by gratitude and satisfaction. Ema's mother, a sprightly 58 year old, who hardly looked and felt her age, sat amused watching us devour the food.
 
We did not do much during the day later and headed back to Kasol by afternoon. From there we went to Manikaran. Spent some time at the hot water springs and headed for Bhuntar. I and a friend were to catch bus for Delhi from here. I personally was very bummed to be leaving that place. On the other hand I was also proud of myself, because I had not accessed office email even once during these 3 days. The temptation was there, but nature saved me.

Though we did not do a lot of touristy things during this trip, I was glad that I got to meet some friends and do a road trip through parts of Himachal Pradesh. With the logistics and unexpected weather changes all went well. Now bitten by the HP warmth, I wish to visit it often and for longer duration.

On love

The past two weeks were a lot of activity and full of daze and drama. The runner in me can handle continuous activity but things were happening on auto pilot and it had become difficult to put my finger on what was going through my head or what I was feeling.

And then I decided to attend the wedding of a friend almost on a whim to get away from everything.

When the groom's eyes lit up to the bride's entry under फूलो की चादर accompanied by her brothers, things started to settle down in my heart. That 'singular magic moment' when magical happy smiles were exchanged between the two, must have been what drove me to Delhi.

I have exchanged many notes, emails and thoughts with Someplace else. And on this Monday morning, when my vacation has ended, I am feeling nothing but a weird satisfaction. 

Because its not just the movies where you meet your Shahrukh khan on a train journey. Sometimes fairy dust makes these things magically real.

out-ing the day with an 8 month old..

We stopped in front of a kirana store (run by a baniya*, people who have moved from Rajasthan to the Marathi-ness of Pune), and inquired about the Sabudana rate. Why ? Because pregnant friend who is now the mother of a 8 month old Avani, thought all the big shops (the marts and all) were making her pay more. Of course there was a difference. Not drastic, but then we could rationalize the extra charges by the marts for packaging and cleanliness etc. The baby got her first grocery lesson.


We moved on to a bigger 'more now' mall. We roamed around, going crazy over all the cutesy baby stuff (we had a baby with us!!). We felt good about a pair of friends having fun with the baby. At the checkout, when asked to fill in a membership form, I promptly showed them the 'now' (then?) distressed and hungry baby and asked if we could skip. We were allowed to. Saved by a 8 month old!

retro baby!!

During a pit stop we also decided that sometimes not-so-educated people are wiser and simpler. About life. You can call this 'randomness in conversation' among friends.


When the outing was about to end, we bought plants from a nursery. We tried haggling and then bargaining. We sucked. But may be he saw it too and to make us feel good, gave away one tulsi plant for free :D


All this while Avani was fast asleep in her kangaroo bag! And we garnered all the smiles from passing by parents,ladies (not the creepy kind) for her cuteness! 


Day outs are fun. Specially with toddlers :)


-nightflier

*Brother asked the boy (I seriously dont know his name :() from the kirana store about school during a home delivery, and thus we got to know about the Rajasthan connections.

The best friend's (II) wedding!! - II

The worst part about any function is it gets over so soon! As in you are busy planning, strategizing, anticipating hiccups and bam its over!


I am in the wedding hangover phase. Considering how I have never liked attending weddings, I suffering a hangover, is an urban myth (:P). Well, I basically dont like the superficial conversations and artificial warmth oozing out of people on such occasions. But I have now grown over it and can actually mingle with loads of people without getting typecasted in the above mentioned evils. Thanks to my improving social skills (in my own way) over time. :D


So apart from enjoying my hot favorites in the entire wedding hungama, mehendi and good food i.e. I did a lot of people watching, as my busy schedule permitted. And since there is a huge possibility that the bride will come to know that I missed being on the stage when the var-maala (wedding garlands ?) were being exchanged, I will confess it in public.


There was lots of running around, search parties for trivial stuff, amends in plans, attending to friends' parents and relatives, where did this go and where did that go crises but the wedding went on pretty smoothly. And since India eventually lost the cricket match on 12th evening (which took place in my home town btw and I was really psyched about missing an opportunity to watch the match sitting inside the stadium) things remained normal in the wedding household. People had given up any hopes they had, after that abysmal batting order collapse. So yes things did go smoothly. ;)


This was my first time at a wedding organized entirely by the bride and groom by sharing responsibilities. Quite a proud moment for all of us remotely involved. And this is my cynical touchstone, when it comes to the concept of weddings inside my head. 


here's wishing them both the very best out of life together :)


~nightflier

The best friend's (II) wedding!! - I

After promising each other unconditional love, support and wait, the better one is leaving me for greener pastures of marital bliss.. Sigh..
(all the drama is quite necessary as it basically revolves around the two of us :D)

Lee and me are a lot alike. Totally unaware of a lot of girly things out there! Though we dream of princes like Collin firths and smirk at overly girly behavior, we are not needlessly called soul-mates by fellow groupies.

So 3 days before the wedding, today was spent in a beauty spa getting all lady like treatment and us behaving in courtesy. Amidst the steam caps, bleach layers, facial creams, moisturizers, toners, lotions and weird hair bands not a single opportunity was spared by the two of us, to wink, giggle, make faces, gush, choke ourselves with sarcasm and laugh inside our heads uncontrollably. We get each other. Totally! And when we don't we make up for it by being there. Life is simple actually :)

It is true that you don't choose your friends, but life chooses them for you. And with those chosen few are formed some of the best memories one can ever make :)

~nightflier

P.S. despite the not so straight undertones of the post we really do compliment each other ;)
And lee I hope you shed some tears if you ever happen to read this post:P

Jab we met !!!

I met him after an year today !

As I parked the activa and went inside, there was slight hesitation in my mind.

Will he recognize me ?

Will it be like the old times ?

Will we meet like kids, without caring for what others think ? OR

Will we meet like two adults who care for what people might think about such public display of affection ?

Will we hug or just pat each other ?

Will he let go of me ?

Will he jump at my purse to see what I have got him ?

Will he scold me with his typical growling voice for not visiting him for so long ?

Will he come outside to say me goodbye, later ?

Well, when we did meet finally, he did not move from his place first. His gaze was fixed on me. Yes, the same heart mending look, which had made me fall for him. My heart skipped a beat, but then he stood and started walking towards me !!! After the initial awkward moments, we let go of inhibitions and met like kids! I patted him and caressed him. He returned it with the heart warming hug. He had not forgotten me at last :)

Well, then I proceeded towards meeting other folks. As the evening progressed he could be seen to be constantly around me. He did everything he could to grab my attention. And I kept on pretending that I was not getting any of those 'subtle' hints ;)

Yes, Bruno still remembered me. Like the old times.

I just did not have any answer for his inquiring gaze, asking me where his real girl friend was ? I just said, sorry dude, she wont be here till December.

And yes, he did come till a very long distance to say goodbye, in his own caring and affectionate way of racing with my vehicle, till he could match with the activa's horsepower.

~nightflier :)

P.S. Bruno is a friend's dog :) And we have our history ;)

count your blessings !!

A friend sent me loads of stuff from India and you won't believe how blessed I feel at this moment.

Even though she does not read my blog that often, I am going ahead and dedicating this post to her.

We have spent 4 years of undergraduate life as roommates, technically seeing each other through the thick and thin of college days, spent away from home. She was the perfect companion. She was always there, understanding, fighting, consoling, teasing, caring, and never giving up on me. We blended so well together that our parents never worried about us. They knew we were in safe (each other's) hands.

As hostelites we had planned to visit every one's hometown at least once during the four years. And this amazing girl bonded so well with all my relations, that they still remember her fondly. 

Her purity and innocence are so soothing, that just talking to her after a very bad day, puts a bright smile across your face.

I remember, we (a bunch of friends) lecturing her about how careless she was with her health and food habits. Now she lives alone in a big bad city independently, taking care of herself, eating the proper foods, exercising regularly and striking a balance with her workaholic ways. And at the end of the day she is a good daughter, a good sister, a good employee and a better friend. I could not have been more proud of anyone.

Call it luck but its a miracle to find people who love you for who you are at every turn of your life. There could not have been anything more miraculous in my life.

And today as I eat the Indian bhel poori (she sent me a bhel poori packet thinking I must be missing out on my favorite snack. Such thoughtfulness, I am touched beyond words..) I cannot stop myself from going down memory lane and getting nostalgic.

You rock girl !!

I loveeeeeee you :) :)

~nightflier

Friendship

I read an article about friendship somewhere. I don't know in which category my friends are.

But I do know that, I "love" them all. 

So no matter how much we fight, what happens between us, if we keep in touch or not, if we get too busy with our lives, if we do or do not meet often, if we don't call each other up every now and then, if we don't talk about what's new and happening in each others lives, if we don't write each other long mails about friendship and love, if we just switch off from the scene for a while, if we do or do not turn up at each others' doorstep in the hour of need, we keep going!!

That's how it has been. I have had them by my side at the greatest and weakest moments (considering I have spent my late teens and early twenties outside the cozy cocoon). That matters for me.

Friends make me feel special in their own way. And yeah, specially on birthdays. It's an unsaid rule of my life, which I am sadly stating in public that, you can not forget to call me up on my birthday. Not all things are ideal in this world !!

Cheers to this weird kind of frengdship !!

nightflier :)

P.S. this blog is dedicated to some special people. Thankfully they know who they are :)

coming around

What do you do when you have had the fight of your life with one of your buddies?

What do you do when you realize how lonely you have become?

What do you do when you realize that you are in the US of A?

What do you do when you are sulking in the remains of a nasty fight?

What do you do when you have not slept properly for the past 3 weeks?

What do you do when sense finally starts prevailing and ego starts shedding?

What do you do when you realize 'Relationships are horcruxes. One should not break away 

from things so easily.' (Someone really sane had told me this once).

What do you do when you realize that you have been secretly brooding over things yourself, and counting on the chances of the other person coming around?

What do you do when the 'other person' actually calls up after all the shit?

What do you do when you start realizing how selfish and small you have been?

What do you do when the better of you, the goodness tells you to forget?

What do you do when the ego tells you that its ok to forget but not so easy to forgive?

What do you do when the void forming inside is too much to bear?

What do you do when you are really down in the dumps and need a shoulder to cry on?

What do you do when the real meaning of friendship starts sinking in?

What do you do when 'it's time to be good and nice again'?

I think, you just dial the number in your phone directory and don't ask so many stupid questions to yourself.

Life is too short to be bad and nasty to people. Friendships are too bigger than ego, to give up on.

Emotions are too complex sometimes, to actually give so much thoughts and energy to.

Life is really easy if you set it straight!!

nightflier !