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.

Listicle

• 6 months being a vegetarian! yay! This was my long term life goal. And I am glad I could embrace it in my early thirties. Slightly inspired by Scott Jurek's lifestyle change and a lot more about trying to have minimal impact on nature and my surroundings. I know this sounds totally absurd, at least in my head, but believe me the more I think about it, the more I know I made the right choice. I have 0 cravings for chicken or any meat items. Initially I used to consciously tell myself to not gravitate towards the shrimps or the fish or the chicken. This was mere habit and did not take me long to change it. Another disclaimer : I am still eating eggs once in a while. Its because its easier to prepare eggs during travels and also easiest source of protein. Slowly I'll get there i.e. being a complete vegetarian. Next step in this journey : Growing my own veggies and food.

• My past few years' reading pattern suggests that I read non fiction just to add variety to my book lists. My personal grudge with non fiction is its boring most of the time. And I pick up a book only if its been recommended by someone I trust highly or getting rave reviews. This year I am trying to change that consciously. I have read 4 non fiction books till now (yay!) and none of them put me to sleep. I enjoyed each one of them. Needless to say they were really informative and at places inspiring. In fact the next 2 books in line are non fiction as well. I have put off some novels I wanted to read on the back burner since April. Talk about change.

• Recently I visited Las Vegas for a conference. I was least excited about being in the city. As expected I did not enjoy it one bit and was glad that I was there for work. This also saved me the trouble of writing a travel post. Although the only touristy advice I have is, do try the unlimited brunch/breakfast options at one of the casinos. We tried the one at Ceasar's palace and loved the variety of food.

• 6 months into this year and I have not registered for any running race. I am doing pretty good on the 'don't be so hard on yourself' pact I made with myself. My routine includes pretty much easy runs. And its unbelievable that I trained and ran 42 kms 5 months ago. Hence I like running. Its so humbling. Do the same thing over and over again. The moment you feel like you have arrived, you are back to being a novice.

C

One more long haul flight. Few more weeks of asking the household maid to keep watering the plants every day. Few more weeks of living out of hotel bed, missing hearty home cooked meals and freedom to lay around the house like a dead rock.

C and I are in an unusual relationship. It did not start with hate. It did not start with sparkles either. It was meh. So meh that initially I used to dread spending time with C. The wannabe-ness of it all. The craze everyone felt about C. The throngs of people who would trade places with me to embrace C openly. Unlike the reluctance and reticence I showed. 

From the beginning I stayed on the back foot. Gauging every move C threw at me. C expected me to be bold, fearless. C wanted me to drive after the first month or so. Explore the outside more. Not that I could not drive, but fear of the unknown. With much resistance I accepted it. Not the change, but the demand for it. May be it was out of some survival instinct. Gradually I realized how liberating it felt. Not being outside. But calling my own shots. Deciding which route to take. Learning to explore the neighborhoods. Hand in hand. Sometimes driving each other nuts.

Then came the time for me to depart. The first time I was little relieved. I mean adventures and all are ok. But a homebody like me loved the comfort of being cooped inside my nest. By chance I had to visit C a lot more over the past one year. It was mostly because of work. But we started getting to know each other better. Some of the trails C showed me became my companions for long runs. I started getting used to the moods and colors of C. If it was cold outside, I would put on a jacket, sip warm coffee. If it was sunnier, put on my sunglasses. Sun or shade we started figuring things out. Together. I also made a bunch of new friends while visiting C. Hikes amidst the mystical redwoods, house parties, conversations, sharing stories became a regularity. 

C is growing on me. And I on C, because C likes me despite my baggage. Of another C gone by. 

In case you were wondering the C in the post are California (present) and Chicago (past). 

An ode to work

That keeps me busy and occupied day after day.

That on really slow days makes me feel thankful for being there.

That makes me appreciate the various skills required, on a day to day basis to get a task done. Technical, tactical, strategical and human.

That makes me realize the value of showing up day after day. Sometimes that is all what is needed from me, it assures me.

That makes me realize, I can grow old doing this or something like this, even if it means working from a desk, sitting across a machine.

That is sometimes an escape, because it keeps me engaged and takes my mind off other negativity around.

That is sometimes as mundane as eating a meal.

That is always there, even if I feel like taking an effort or not.

That teaches me that dream or not, it is just work after all.  

That lets me be creative, impulsive, really intelligent (at times) and really stupid.

That is a constant when everything around me is constantly changing.

P.S. I am an office going adult. And feeling generally grateful about the ability to work to derive and create meaning.

of home furnishings etc.

I moved into this new home more than 6 months ago. The place has an open kitchen, airy and spacious living room, huge wardrobe, enough furniture for me to never think about buying anything new, a terrace and lots of plants. Yes, my generous ex-owner thought she could leave all her non human living co-habitants with me. Thanks to the super nice cleaning lady they are alive. And thanks to aai, who cleaned a lot of pots, cut away weed, they are thriving. I take credit for all the beauty and life these plants add to the home. Simple. Ok I am not that neglectful, I do water them every now and then and do make sure the weeds are thrown out. I just wanted to convey that plants are not dying on me or I am not causing anything harmful to them and those things changed in this house and hence this is special! May be I am too naive to take this all personally but you get the gist, or need more rant?

Anywho, the move happened as I wanted and I loved the new place, but I never quite settled in. This, that and a lot of laziness. I lived almost 4 months without a refrigerator and with a makeshift kitchen. So much so that, that was the excuse I used few times to avoid unwanted guests. Over time things had to change because how often could I crash other people's dinner or self-invite myself to their homes ? After many other measures to procrastinate, I now have a fully functional kitchen with refrigerator and appliances and what not.

book nook!

The only other part of the home, which was fully functional from day 1 was this book nook. I love how light played on the books from this window. Window. This window. The window which streamed abundant sunlight as the sun started setting, since it faced the west. The window without the curtain. The window by which KT and I sat and discussed, how it needed a dreamy curtain. 

Dreamy curtain. It all started that day. The quest to drape this wistful window by a dreamy curtain. How you define dreamy is up to you. To me, some fabric which would let the light flow, not block it fit the bill. A fabric with flow and lightness. I turned all home decor shops in my neighborhood upside down. Ready made curtains got rejected for obvious reasons. I sat by pile after pile of reams of cloth and inquired about how I would get a curtain stitched. Nothing felt like 'this is it'. You know the magical moment, when everything starts making sense ? Somehow google became aware of I needed a curtain and one thing led to another and I started exploring online options. I was reluctant because, how do you buy a fabric without feeling its lightness ? Just by description and pictures ? I put few things in my cart. Started taking opinions. And then went on a 3 week work trip. When I returned the contents of the cart were not available any more. The question of the elusive but curtain-less window remained.

Around 10 days ago, I finally placed an online order for a curtain, irrespective of what lay in store for me. To make matters tougher the website people decided to take their own sweet time to process and deliver the goods. I started tracking the order progress every day. Day before yesterday when the order progress bar had not moved even a tiny bit, I grew impatient and in a desperate bit, let it go. And then by some uncanny magic, yesterday in the middle of a meeting I got a call that the delivery person was out. I told him to leave the package by the security guards, only to realize after few hours that my much awaited dreamy curtain was here!

half dreamy

I finally collected it and hurriedly opened the package and oh! it was really a dream! The fabric was soft, light and had flow. I knew my dream of a dreamy curtain had fulfilled. 

Of course everyone including me would want the story to end here. But my handicapped home furnishing knowledge had made me order 1 curtain for a 2 paneled window. So in short this is how the curtain looked on the window (<-)

So after adorning half of the window, I frantically opened my laptop, searched for the product online. Thankfully it was in stock. But now they were selling it in pairs instead of single piece! Grinding my teeth, pulling my hair, I placed another order. Now in another 10 days or so, I'll have my perfect pair of dreamy curtains. And of course, one unwanted dreamy curtain.

So moral of the story, don't settle unless half or 1 1/2 of your dream is fulfilled.