Evident From My Blog Title

All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another.

~Anatole France

Life has a strange timing of granting your wishes- it makes them come true when you are spewing cynicism and the light at the end of the tunnel seems like another mirage. The break that I have been cribbing about landed on my lap when I had come to accept the monotony of my life.

Although the planning had been on for a week, given my reputation of flopped plans [:D], I tried not to get overtly excited about the whole thing. As the week progressed, I saw the location change three times and the number of people dwindle from ten to five. Had it not been for a very determined group of five people desperate to make it a success, this trip would never had happened. And I am glad, it did not fall apart.

We did the usual touristy things- roamed around the market, shopped for sovereigns, saw the same mountain from five different points/locations and went boating. There were moments when we simply sat on the edge, looked across the horizon, five people lost in thoughts and musings of their own.

I realised I travel differently- the excitement of seeking familiarity is more than that of discovering new places. Here, staring out of the window opening to a postcard-perfect view, I could not help thinking about settling there and writing a book, roaming around on cold mornings in the twisted alleys, cupping hot tea glasses for warmth and reading Robert Frost poems in the dead of night.

My memories are not of the perfect landscapes I witnessed but of laughing till my sides hurt, of endless brooding over life's unnecessary complications, of comfortable silences and of feeling something stir within. This is what I seek in a trip and from what I know, the journey has just begun.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -

I took the one less traveled by

And that has made all the difference.

~ Robert Frost

She.

You want to know what a woman really is?

~ She says 'Fine' in a scornful manner to her partner is because she is disappointed at the realization that this is not the first time she will have to bend for someone.

~ She talks about competing with men in all walks of life because she has spent her childhood seeing her parents sneak in an extra chocolate for her brother; she sees this competition as a chance to wipe out the unfairness off her life.

~ She calls to say 'I love you' a hundred times over the phone because she does not want anyone to suffer from the feeling of not being love- something she has probably suffered in her life.

~ If ever you take her out to buy a gift, she will window-shop in every single store and settle for just one tee. You wonder, "So much time for buying one tee?", but what you do not realize is that she has already got her biggest gift ever- your time.

~ She is aware of the fact that her husband/lover lies to her about his smoking and drinking habits but she would not judge him because she knows the feeling of having one's freedom curtailed.

~ Sometimes, she dresses up in clothes which are not exactly comfortable when she steps out to meet you because she likes the way your face lights up.

~ She gives up the love of her life because her parents begged her to save their face in the society and forever live with a broken heart and shattered hopes.

~ She quits her job because she suffers sleepless nights after her kid injured himself badly while she was away at work.

And so on.....

Half of the men do not even realize the sacrifices a woman has to make throughout her lifetime and she never makes a big fuss about it. She silently endures it all for love-something which she might never get in her life in spite of all this. Now go hug the woman in your life- you cannot get any luckier!