Travelling Alone

Written for a creative writing assignment. We were given a 350 word limit which is why this seems incomplete.

Travelling alone is an experience by itself. It’s an exercise in independence, of being in control of yourself and your thoughts. It is an exercise in observation. And there is a certain sense of security in being a spectator. An onlooker. Sitting there near the window, with my iPod plugged in, looking out at the people milling about on the platform, gave me a chance to create stories. To make up lives for people I don’t know.

One of the first people I noticed in the crowd was a woman in a red sari. She stood there with a big bag near her feet, wringing her hands. Her eyes kept darting around from person to person. She seemed nervous somehow. I have always felt that nervousness and fear are two of the most easily recognisable emotions. I wondered what she was nervous about.

Then I couldn’t help but notice the two people on the opposite berths who were making a big show of settling down. The girl was pretty. It wasn’t an immediately recognisable beauty but it was there. The man on the other hand, I wouldn’t give a second look to. She seemed uncomfortable with him constantly hugging and kissing her. I have never liked PDA myself. Newlyweds, I thought in my head. I made a mental prediction that they would end in one year. It’s what always happens to incompatible people.

I went back to looking at the people on the platform. The man selling newspapers, the tea vendor. And then the man who had the berth above mine came in. He placed his guitar on the berth, put his bag under the seat I was sitting on and made himself comfortable opposite me. He fascinated me. With hazel eyes, nice hair, a grey tee and blue jeans, he seemed quite the catch. He took a book out of his bag – Mein Kampf. Intellectual or pseudo intellectual, I couldn’t decide which. Musician, the guitar said.

The cogs in my head were spinning and from my safe perch I could happily create all the stories I wanted.

This was going to be quite a trip I realised...

Change

When you lose the person you used to be, do you look forward or backward? Do you strive to hold on to that person? Do you fight to save those thoughts, those feelings, all those things you held to be so important? Or do you embrace who you have become? You feel the old you slip away like a dream, like sand through your fingers. You feel her disappear. And the next time you look in the mirror, you see a face you can't recognise. Do you let her go? Do you let accept the change that crept in so slowly, without you realising it?

Change is the only permanent thing in the world they say. Everyone says. But when the change is unwanted, how do you bring yourself to let go? When you can't trust the new person, how do you find acceptance? Because that is the most important thing, right?

Choices dictate our lives. And questions seem to rule mine.

Maybe it's time to move on. Or is it?

Anonymity

Anonymity is such a convenient mask to wear. There is a certain sense of security in being an unknown face. There is a sense of calm in knowing that no one knows you. Anonymity lends you the freedom to be; the freedom to do things that you might never do. There is a sense of release. It is a funny feeling, this anonymity.

The perfect coffee 12

Barista is overrated. I tried a plain cappuccino and it was just ok. Enough said.

But then Costa coffee happened :D That is one PERFECT cup. I went to the Costa Coffee in Pune and ordered a cappuccino. It was beautiful. I enjoyed it so much. It cost Rs. 60 including taxes but it was worth every penny. Thank you Ketki Bhosale, for taking me there :)

I thought Pune is coffee hell. Turns out, it isn't all that bad after all :)

Till next time, when you enjoy a cuppa, think of me :P :)

??

The power of the mind can move mountains. They say that if you want something hard enough, then the universe will conspire to make it happen.

My question is this, "what if someone else in this vast universe wants the opposite just as hard?" What happens then. Who does the universe listen to?

And all that jazz about if it has to happen, it eventually will, someway, somehow. What if two minds are wishing and praying for two different things? What "eventually happens" then?

How does the universe make up its mind? :)

I seem to think that a coin toss is the answer. All our lives are decided by a coin toss. That's how the universe decides who to listen to. It throws a coin into the air and a heads or a tails decides who it is going to listen to *shrugs*

Worth thinking about right?

The perfect coffee 11

Saturday, 5th June 2010.

Two different places. Two different types of coffee.

I first had filter coffee at ID, a restaurant in Sathyam theatre. The coffee costed 30 rupees and was disappointing to say the least. It wasn't hot enough, and wasn't worth the money I paid.

We moved then to City Centre. And Gloria Jean :) Those who have read this space would remember that I've mentioned Gloria Jean before. Well, at this Gloria Jean I decided to try a GJC cold coffee instead of a hot coffee. And it was kinda expensive, but it tastes very good. I sneaked a taste of my friend's hot coffee and it tasted just like I remembered it.

I think I've forgotten to mention the coffee I get at work. Even though it isn't perfect, the fact that they give me coffee whenever I ask for it, even though I'm just an intern, is nice. It helps me get through the boring parts of work :)

Till next time, enjoy your cuppa. :)

Happy birthday

I remember how we ended up talking. You were on the stairs and I was in the 5th floor corridor and we shot questions at each other. Stupid choices. :)

Panchgani. I was having a minor issue and you madam, just sat in the auditorium with me. Then you went on stage and I broke your glasses. Sorry about that :) But I managed to speak too and you stood there, near my chair, again, without saying a word. But you stayed.

On my birthday, we sat and talked outside college. Just because we wanted to.

We stayed outside French Loaf, talking one evening, for I don't know how long.

I gave you your first taste of cold coffee from CadB place :D I know you are eternally grateful, no need to say it :P

You took time out to see me when I was leaving for Hyderabad. just because I called and said come.

You give me bone crushing hugs :)

You let me rant that day. Made me rant, in fact. And took all of it.

You're an idiot. And I don't know how it happened, but I'm glad it did, that you made a place for yourself in my life.

I don't let people in. But you made me. And I don't regret it.

I love you. And I mean it.

Happy birthday and I get repetitive I know, but words are all I have :)

Guess what's playing in the background as I write this :)