The drudgeries of life

Since childhood, I've always fancied sitting by the window - be it at home where I'd climb atop the sofa, and look out the drawing room window at the lawn and what lay beyond the boundary wall; or during the several train journeys I've undertaken till date (and I used to hate traveling on those seldom occasions when a window seat was not mine!), where I'd want to do nothing but absorb the landscapes speeding by, tracking the wires that seemed to be keeping up with me, pole to pole, not to mention gaping at the railway tracks that made weird zigzag patterns all along the way... and at night time, the flickering lights would always remind me of stars that had been generous enough to grace the earth with their presence; then there are the various road trips, either via buses, cars, and what not (thank goodness I've hardly, if ever, experienced nausea on these trips) where I stare out at everything passing by and simply weave some dreamy story around them (with me as the protagonist, ofcourse!)... Of late, bagging the window seat in all the flights is top priority for me, and nothing matches the feeling of floating through the kingdom of clouds and looking down to see tiny specks dotting the world!

There are so many things about my upbringing that I love, but one of the favorites has got to be those annual trips with the parents and my kid sister. I used to look forward to these family outings more than anything... Ok, maybe Santa Claus took precedence during the holiday season for a sizable period during my childhood :p

Though till date I haven't been able to figure out properly what I want to do with/in my life, but those travels ensured that I'm confident about one thing: that I want to travel like crazy and see the whole world before calling it quits.
For starters, I've been living a part of that dream since 2002 by covering a major chunk of India! By the time 2011 gets over, I hope to cover 2 of the 4 remaining parts of our country that I've not had a chance to visit... Next step: Going international!
Wishful thinking? Oh well!

Talking about seeing, that was all I had been doing till a couple of years back. Then something fascinating happened: I started looking beyond what I saw! I fell in love with the camera. Blimey, a window seat person who courts a camera: that's a complete package! :p
My parents were more than resourceful in this aspect too... they loved clicking pics and have churned out numerous beautiful albums for various occasions! In retrospect, I kinda regret not having imbibed this love for the lens from my folks and thus, not having a passion for photography since the beginning... I could've captured so  much more! Glad that it's never too late...

Anyway got back from a whirlwind trip to a village (oops sorry! tehsil) for a very close friend's marriage... one year after one of my best friends' marriage! Despite the 6 hours late train that almost made me cancel the trip, and the slowcoach connecting train that was hellbent on making me miss the festivities, I reached the venue just in time for the baraat to take off! Phew!
Half of the times we do things at the last moment on purpose, and the other half when we start early, nature conspires against us to ensure a last second execution!
Saw Lalla after 5 years, and boy! He looked good... must've shed 15-20 kgs over the years in France!
The arrangements were the best I had seen till date, the food was yummy (though we started with the desserts, and pretty much didn't stop till we were full to the brim!), the crowd was nice, enjoyed the  company of cool small town people. Had an amazing time to say the least!

Many of my colleagues, friends, and relatives always question me on how the hell I keep finding time to travel! Subtle hypocrisy on their part... they never bother to notice when I'm slogging it off, but I can feel their envy when I'm up and about. Tut tut. So what if I publicize my outings more than my work life?! :p

It's ironical that I hate changes, yet I love the most classical manifestation of change: traveling! ;)
This is never going to change. Amen.

Anyway, I've become a pro at avoiding the drudgery of Mondays :p
Time to hit the sack! Back to work in 9 hours...
Good night!

P.S.: Read "The Last Lecture"... loved it despite it being about such a sad, sensitive issue! So much so, sent off one copy to the parents... watch out for it, folks :)

P.P.S.: 25th of January. Special day! :)