To a brand new (and a little broken down) beginning

So this is it. Im sitting on my bed, having just had a cold shower to try and get temporary relief from the suffocating heat - aka regular maharashtra weather. The flush only works as long as you hold it down. The cupboard makes me wonder which living beings it has lovingly nourished and raised. The auto driver who got me to Symbiosis in Pune totally ripped me off, having had the luxury of being the only available driver for a long distance, and me being the only idiot dragging huge suitcases across the Bombay-Pune highway. And lets not forget Bombay's traffic - it was enough to scare me out of my wits and convince me that I'd rather stand at the edge of a road all day long than risk stepping on to it.

The list can go on (and it really does).

But there is a feeling of being back in India, the feeling you get when you walk into the grocery store downstairs where you get everything from sim-cards to kurkure and good-night to maggie (try finding THAT in a Canadian store!)...or from talking to people in a weird mix of hindi and english without having to think of the switch...or from sitting downstairs enjoying the rare cool breeze that reminds you why you came all the way across the world...and then of course, is the unwavering enthusiasm of last year's Teach for India's fellows, who could single-handedly give Canadian frosh bosses a tough competition.

And this list could also go on (although it doesn't).

In any case, for now, I'm caught in a mixture of excitement, nervousness, confusion, anticipation and hunger. So I'm going to go hit the cafeteria for some breakfast (note time: 7:10 am)...and then I'm off to my very first day of training at TFI.

Cheers to that!

It’s that time of life again

At the age of 6, I left Dehradun, saying teary goodbyes to some very close people, telling myself more than them that I would be back in 2 years.

At the age of 12, I left Bangalore, quietly, without much fuss, excited at the prospect of starting life again in a new country.

At the age of 16, I left Kuwait, confused, wanting to hold on yet wanting to get away, scared of leaving home for the very first time.

At the age of 18, I left Bangalore again, trying desperately to hold on to the friends who had become closer than family, afraid yet again of stepping out into the unknown world.

At the age of 22, here I am again, packing up my things to leave Toronto, 

hesitant to say goodbye to the countless people who have come to understand me better that anyone else in the world, 

excited to go back to a country I have always been in love with, 

nervous about taking up a challenge that will shape not only my life but that of dozens of others, 

scared that friendships of the present will become friendships of the past, 

stunned at how fast the last four years of my life have flown by, 

desperate to hold on to everyone and everything, 

eager to try something new, 

unsure, still, of how to say goodbye.