Someday

About two years back, I had a Facebook conversation with a couple of friends centred around a quote from the Tom Cruise starrer ‘Knight and Day’. Not exactly the kind of movie to throw up quotes worthy of discussion or much thought. But surprisingly, it did have one – moving, thought-provoking, enigmatic and slightly frightening if I may add.

" Someday. That's a dangerous word. It's really just a code for 'never'. "

 So many of our dreams and desires revolve around the distant but sweet promise of a ‘someday when’. And here was this thought which was robbing us of that precious comfort and hope. I was scared, wondering if my ‘someday’ will ever come, if at all. The conversation with my friends gave me encouragement though. I was not the only one who believed in the possibilities of a ‘someday when’, for it gave us the impetus, the urge to strive towards our goals, and not give up midway. And then as we spoke, we realized that many of our ‘somedays’ had indeed come true; from small to big, we have had our trysts with wish fulfilment.  Two years later, as I write this, I am a firm believer in ‘someday’ more than ever, but there has been a change to the theory, quite an important one too. I have realized that I should not be so lost in waiting for my ‘someday’, that I miss out on seizing ‘today’ and turn it into my ‘someday’.  There’s a long, long way that I need to go, but I think I will manage it just fine!

So yes, I am not exactly the same person who left home in October 2011. I have had a great life experience and feel fortunate to have had the opportunity. In a way, I feel more confident and empowered now, ready to embrace more of life, and a happy victim to ‘wanderlust’ for ever more. I am back home now, and really wish that the sojourn had lasted a bit more, but as all good things in life must come to an end sooner or later, it had to be over. But the gifts it brought me are for a lifetime indeed. And the icing on the cake - by one of those happy accidents of life, a lot of these 'someday' moments were experienced in the company of the friend who was part of the Facebook conversation I mentioned right at the beginning of this post; life had indeed come a full circle!

Many of my ‘someday when’ moments greeted me in the past eighteen months and it was sheer ecstasy! To others, some of these might seem downright ordinary and insignificant, but for me, they were all major milestones.

For the first time in my life, I was completely on my own, an unadulterated sense of freedom! Initially it was all homesickness and loneliness, but I got over it soon and learnt to enjoy the experience. Oh the feeling that I could do exactly as I pleased! Most people wondered if I would get bored living alone and suggested that I get a room-mate, but I was anything but bored. On the contrary, I was relishing the chance to be Robinson Crusoe but without a Man Friday; I was looking forward to being marooned and then find the shores on my own.

So I learnt to live by myself, do the groceries, laundry, cleaning, and most importantly for me, learnt to cook! Till then, I had not even boiled an egg by myself. Yes, yes, on hindsight, I’m not proud of it, but what to do; there was no need for me to step in when mom’s kitchen functioned all day long.  And the toughest trial surely was to come back from office and immediately set to work to pack lunch for the next day. Anyway, we are all slaves to habit and eventually I adjusted. On weekends, I would quite often labour to prepare an elaborate lunch as a treat, like all of us are used to at home. Small, ordinary homely tasks, but they did give me quite a sense of accomplishment.
 

Speaking of weekends, they were solely dedicated to the purpose of wandering about the city, in keeping with the spirit of one of my most favourite quotes ever – ‘Not all those who wander are lost.’ And it was during these wanderings, that I fell in love with stunning Stockholm! Before I came here, I didn’t have much of an idea about how beautiful a city this was, and that’s why my wish list of cities to visit on a European vacation had never featured Stockholm. Now eighteen amazing months later, not only do I wish to go back again, but it feels like Stock-‘home’, and I carry it in my heart always.   

Stockholm has something to offer to everyone, it has something to cater to a multitude of interests. For the connoisseurs of art, culture, photography and history, there are a plethora of museums covering a wide spectrum of subjects; for the music and theatre aficionados , there is the Royal Opera, the Royal Concert Hall, the Royal Dramatic Theatre to name just a few, with regular open-air concerts taking place in summer featuring different genres of music; for the bookworms, Stockholm has the most amazing and efficient free of cost public library system, it kept me from pining for my bookshelves back home; for the outdoorsy types and adventure enthusiasts, Stockholm is a veritable goldmine – running, cycling, hiking, rafting, sailing, skating, skiing, rock climbing, hot air balloon rides, you name it and it is there. And even if nothing else, just random roaming in the weekends, unplanned bus/metro/train rides were so much fun! A water bottle, a burger to pick up on my way, and armed with my camera and the monthly travel card, I would be off exploring the length and breadth of the ‘capital of Scandinavia’! This was undoubtedly my greatest source of joy while living in Stockholm; it gave me such a high, the sense of freedom, the rush of seeing new places and new things, and quite often, overcome with happiness I would exclaim ‘It’s just like in the movies’! Living in a place like this, which enlivens and excites, which is charming and interesting; being happy and content seemed like the easiest task in the world.

Stockholm also served as the portal to my realizing my childhood dream of visiting Europe. History lessons in school had ignited the nascent desires, history of the ancient ages which told tales of the all-conquering Greek and Roman valour; of the medieval period, art, sculpture, architecture, literature, the cradle of Renaissance; then on to 20^th century and the wars which changed the face of the world. Europe was the melting pot, an amalgamation, a mirror which reflected the progress of the ages; in a way akin to India. On a lighter note, the burning desire to visit Europe was further fuelled by Hollywood golden oldies, most of which, more often than not, opened with sweeping, breathtaking vistas of Rome or Paris! Extremely elated to declare that both these places have now been ticked off my bucket list, though the irresistible charm of these cities demand many more return visits.

One of my very distinct memories from school was about an assignment that I was assigned in fifth grade, it required writing a short essay about the country you wanted to visit the most. I wrote about Italy. That was as distant a ‘someday’ as there ever was. Close to two decades down the line, one of my fondest dreams came true in the summer of 2012, when I spent a week in Italy. The Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, the ‘Mouth of Truth’, the Colosseum, the Vatican, the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo’s Pieta, ruins of a 4^th century B.C harbour city in Ostia Antica, a train ride from Rome to Florence amidst lush greens, rolling cliffs and sunflower fields, bringing me closer to another wish of being ‘Under the Tuscan Sun’, the leaning marvel at Pisa, the canals and bridges of Venice, the ‘gondola’ ride, the ‘gelato’! Many childhood dreams fulfilled, that amazing feeling when people and places only read about till now come to life vividly in front of the eyes; there’s a lot more still to experience and cherish and I can’t wait to go back.  Each city in Italy has its own special character, its own distinctive beauty, which makes the experience so enriching. 

 If it was a ‘Roman Holiday’ in the summer of 2012, it was a Parisian affair in the winter of the same year. 

Of the many high points of that trip, the breathtakingly beautiful Notre Dame Cathedral is right up there. Gazing at the magnificent structure, imagining the bells to ring out any time, and hoping to catch a glimpse of a forlorn, hunchbacked figure in the shadows - that was another ‘someday’ which became a ‘today’! The Eiffel, the Louvre, the Champ de Elysses, the Arc de Triomphe,  the evening boat cruise along the Seine, marvelling at the lights, the charming cafes and the vibrant pubs – Paris is another world altogether and worth every bit of the gushing admiration it receives. 

                                 

And adding some East European flavour to my travels was Budapest, a singularly gorgeous city. Go for a boat cruise in the evening, as dusk descends and the lights start twinkling, and you will see why Budapest is called the ‘Pearl of the Danube’. The Chain Bridge, the palatial Parliament house, the Castle district all lighted up at night is one of the most spectacular sights one will come across.   

                                     

 In a coincidence, my travels ended with a visit to that very country, a trip to which had initiated my European sojourn – Netherlands. It was pretty much all about Amsterdam in the first trip, with a bit of Utrecht; whereas the second one revolved around the Tulip Gardens and also included a visit to the Dutch city which is not typically Dutch at all – Maastricht. I had visited the Anne Frank House during the first trip, which was a very special moment; the dreams and musings of a young girl who had wanted nothing more than to be treated equally, to have the freedom to go out and see the world, to make her thoughts heard all over; years later, Anne Frank’s legacy makes us realize the power of the indomitable human spirit which triumphs over the ravages and inhumanities of war and stands the test of time.

Europe has been endlessly enchanting, beautiful and mezmerizing. Having been there has only augmented my yearnings to experience more of the magic, it’s been a couple of weeks that I have returned home, and I’m already dreaming of going back. Since I started this post with reference to a Facebook conversation, I thought I should end with another one. Just before I set off for the finale of my travels, the trip to Keukenhof, I expressed my feelings in this post. 

#Wanderlust #EnchantingEurope #EndlessMemories #UntoldStories #CobbledStreets #ShopsAroundTheCorner #WalkTheCity #BridgesTellTales #FriendsFromTheRoad #CallMeBack