Today, 30th of September, I am on my return flight from Zurich to Delhi.
We have been away travelling for last 40 days now. First to the United States and then on our way back, a four day sojourn to Switzerland. Second on the list of list for Neha, My wife.
In June 2018, when we moved to Gurgaon from Patna, I made some social network post, chest thumping of my self declared achievement. That was a rather personal satisfactory moment, not to get applauded by on Facebook. Promptly and Rightly, Someone did point out, that I was making it sound as if I had shifted to New York.
This post starts from New York.
I haven’t shifted here, but the place is Home in my Heart Now.
As a family, we have been based out of our humble village, which is back of beyond for, ever since “I”became “We.”
Nineteen years after we got married, moving to a big town, was a bigger achievement than living anywhere on the planet.
My Elder Daughter Aarya, Muski As we call her. Had me convinced, on the destination and destiny of her life. This day was being wished upon for many years and had the good wishes and all kinds of support of many good souls.
In retrospect, it all looks obvious and maybe a cakewalk, but I know, it is nothing short of a miracle.
Having a dream and persistently walking towards it, not withstanding, your humble beginnings, narrow visibility from the place that we stood, it was like dreaming of a life on beach side, when we had the view from the bottom of a well.
Like the moment of moving to Gurgaon, Very few would actually understand this. Without prejudice.
Besides, noting on experiences, this is my gratitude.
Three years back, Aarya, for her self known reasons, which I completely understand and support. Decided on just one place she wanted to go to after her school. School of Visual Arts and New York City. I never thought, it would have been a possibility, She on the other hand, never thought otherwise. It was her decisiveness, that gave me strength. The universe conspired.
We did have our moments of meltdowns and detours. It's for sure life is not going to be any easy after this. An extremely steep climb it is. but then, there is this thing about steep climbs, it makes us stronger, the view is amazing and we got company.
Who writes, travelogues these days. Its a thing of the past, maybe kids at school, as an academic exercise.
People travel all the time, for many its an mundane exercise. Thousands, or even lakhs of Indian students go out every year. No Big deal.
Well for Me, its a very very big deal, and If I had a way and was a little less lazy, I would write 1000 words for every day spent on this earth. Not caring whether anyone read them.
So Here it is,
We embark upon the journey of our lives, three of us, leaving one behind, Anjali, our little one at school, for reasons strategic, compulsive, for that feeling of incompleteness and to have hopes and dreams for another day.
Everyday that moved towards this day, was eventful enough, from not taking Passports for the SAT test, Changing Date of Birth on the passport, that took us two years, three court cases and loads of bribery. Nupur, truly, genuine friend helping us fill Visa forms and guiding us thru. The financial arrangements in the times of falling Rupee to Dollar, Which is just another story. It was just one step at a time.
I remember, when we were taking, professional help from Iris, my college friend to help us decide and guide thru US colleges, as she runs one of India’s top most Consultancy. She gave us a fifty percent discount of what she charges, that too was a whooping amount for us. It was very doubtful that, we would ever be able to raise the money needed for the fee and even the consultancy fee would go in vain. Old mate Anu, for once had rationale and positive opinion. that, If we wouldn’t spend now, means we have already given up on the hope. So we did, make that payment, and followed it thru. I am glad we did that.
We arrived New York, in the evening. The first sighting of The US, did not really go as per our expectations. Even the drive, from JFK to Downtown, East 23rd Street Airbnb wasn’t really too exciting. Could be various reasons, jet lag, maybe financial stress, such an ambitious project this would be, taking care of things back home.
But, we did feel good having being able to make this happen. The Indian Driver, Banu who brought us home, got a fifty dollar tip, I was Happy, he was very happy.
Neha and Muski, crashed immediately, even without taking their shoes off. I couldn’t sleep, and went down to take a stroll. It was Friday Night, we were at almost The happening part of town, it was buzzing. For Me, there was this immense feeling of incompleteness.
Little later, I went and woke up Neha and Muski, took them out for a stroll. Now, New York Grew on us.
The Next Day, Neha, wanted a Nap in the afternoon. Ashish my College and Hostel Friend, who works on the wall Street, we hadn’t met for some 28 years, was kind enough, to take me on a stroll, a beer trail of sort, inside the New York breweries. We walked 15 kms for over 5 hours drinking some 20 kinds of beer. This is when I hadn’t slept for over 72 hours now.
Next ten days we stayed in New York. Mornings, we did things associated with Muski’s College and later, we went on the sight seeing and experiencing the city. The Statue of Liberty, the river cruise, Empire State, Broadway, Times Square, UN Building, whatever needed to be done, was done meticulously. Even the Suta Bombay Saree was well displayed by Neha at the glitz of Times Square and Broadway. I could even manage a quick lunch with a college friend, Rachna. Though, I had wanted a breakfast at Tiffany’s. It was booked for over a month. Its one amazing store though.
On the last day of NY, My School and Hostel Friend Padam, who lives in Albany, took us to watch the US Open. This was an amazing experience, thousands of Tennis lovers gather at just one place, this becomes a Mecca of Tennis. There are 4 different arena’s having a total capacity of seating 150 thousand people. its like a big festival of tennis. This was definitely an amazing experience.
Padam, took us all to his very beautiful House at Albany next day. Rekha, his wife cooked us some amazing food. We learnt a lot how he took care of his kids and the mutual respect of parenting, even at a tender age of his children. Albany was a beautiful place.
Neha’s First Cousin, Rajesh, Lives, in Phoenix. He was kind enough, to come all the way to the airport, along with his son, Sam. His 6 year old who grew really pally with me over the days.
It was at phoenix that we got a little calmed down. All this had been rather unusual, as during the days, we would be doing some activity or the other. And as it was time for us to sleep, India woke up. My phone and messages were on and things had to be taken care of back home. Invariably, I was awake after a few hours of nap and stayed on the phone.
Grand Canyon was astonishing, Nature at its best, like an erupting Volcano, it leaves you in an awe. I wish I could see those ravines from the bottom. Sedona was Picturesque in the middle of the dessert. There are over 200 Golf courses in Phoenix, thats amazing.
Vegas, was like Kumbh or Benares, needs to be done every 4 years and definitely once in 16 years. instead of Faces of trust and faith, we saw faces content and happy. Lust and greed, momentary nature of Romance and love, lapse of reason , that thin line between everything right and wrong is so blurry here. It would be fair to say, it was New York on Steroids. I loved the place. It was frivolous, unnecessary, unrequited. It was America, it was simply LIFE. It needs to be done again and again.
Shopping and more shopping. This place is about the innate human nature of greed. They just make you buy things you don’t want and don’t need. Offers and more offers. We had to buy an extra suitcase to accommodate the rest, we were paying 85 dollars extra on every flight that we took, thats 5 flights X 85 we could have done all that shopping in Delhi and much more.
I could also manage a feasibility presentation of my startup idea to a bunch of techies. Who could be prospective initial investors.
Rajesh, Swati, Sansita and Sam. It was two weeks of family time, a new found family. An association we would love to endure and always remember.
We stayed in an Hostel in San Francisco. First night had left us gasping for some fresh air. But we got used to it next day onwards.
If I have made a mistake, I usually know it immediately. Even if rationale is experience. This was still doable. We went around, walking, cruising, bus rides. The Napa Valley Wine tour, muir woods et al.
The sight of the Golden Gate Bridge is truly worth seeing. The Cold breeze and Clouds, over the bridge, make it not just picturesque, but goes upto your bones.
If I have made a mistake, I usually know it immediately. Even if rationale is experience. This was still doable. We went around, walking, cruising, bus rides. The Napa Valley Wine tour, muir woods et al.
The sight of the Golden Gate Bridge is truly worth seeing. The Cold breeze and Clouds, over the bridge, make it not just picturesque, but goes upto your bones.
Arvind, Anu’s Big Brother, Who lives in Menlo park, took us out for an Indian Lunch and guided tour to Stanford University, Google and Facebook campuses. He also, gave us some good suggestions for our enterprise. We also managed to attend a startup workshop at silicon valley. Which I am sure will be rather helpful.
Neha’s First Cousin, Rohit and his wife Kamini live in Chicago, though we reached late that night. They were wide awake and we kept talking till the wee hours of next morning. Next day, we went for a nice big tour to the city area, to get a glimpse of amazing equinox at sunset. The walks around the famed Al Capone trail and the boat rides, the river walks and just plain chill at home. An awesome experience.
By this time. I guess, it had been almost a month of travel and it was growing on us.
One night again at New York , Muski came and stayed with us.
Leaving her finally, gave us lumps in our throat.
I guess, this was the day, we had been working upon all these years.
One last leg was still awaiting us.
Switzerland.
Even after, all that month of travel, and that heavy luggage I was tired of lifting floors over floors. The first sight from the plane itself was mesmerising. We took a train to Lausanne, which was recommended if we had a short visit. The train journey, The view around the lake was, maybe like what lake Mansarovar would be. As beautiful with lovely Swans wading, calm and serene. Moreover, all that wine makes it so much better. The hotel was the best recommendation we could get.
This thing about my experiments and yearning for newer experiences. They do land us in trouble. In wanting to experience more and different and to save some pennies, we landed ourselves on a yacht, hoping he would take us around sailing and we could spend more time and more places on the lake. I guess it was my limited understanding of French that we we never saved any penny, neither did we go to France for dinner. We landed back at Chateau d’ouchy for our meals and wines. We need to do this again.
We cut short our Lausanne stay and came back to Zurich, good decision. Caught up with a very old college friend, Tehiya . Who was kind enough to offer us drinks and dinner. Most of it she Took out time to come see us. The buildup to Oktoberfest was on at Zurich HB and, I need to do the real thing soon. Those Bavarian Women and all that German Beer is too much to resist.
Our stay at Zurich was again a good surprise, a playboy studio, high tech place, red and white and everything that you associate with playboy was right there. The masks, whips, shoes, lights, wigs, couches, The works.
I have travelled before, to some very beautiful places. Most of the times, alone. I never liked the experience of not being able to share it. Being alone and lonely was a terrible thing. worse in pretty places.
This was a trip where I wasn't alone.
I realise being alone and lonely are two different things.
Also, I realise we pine for what is not.
That sense of incompleteness.
It satisfies me now.
This is what I had been looking for, not being content and still happy.
