There are many people in my life who have touched my heart and soul in more ways than one. One such person is Monideepa Joydhar (Moni) and I love you Moni for the way you have been with me in good times as well as in my not so good times. Our friendship started with Uhde India and she continues to be a pillar of support and her zest, attitude and positivity is something that I still adore and will continue to do so. Moni called me up just the other day and was so happy after I wrote the blogpost about my Milan trip. From her voice and her enthusiasm, I knew that she just wanted to leave everything aside and rush to me to know more about me and my feelings and emotions, when I was on that trip. Few people can just relate to you just the way you are and even in silence there is a lot of communication. We may not necessarily call up each other, chat for hours and even see each other for months, but when you really want someone to talk to, there is this one person who genuinely is there for you, listens to you without judging you absolutely. It is important that each one of us try and identify one such individual. In times of anxiety, depression and days when we are down, this is one person whom we can rely completely upon.
Some more incidences from my Milan trip:
The Mumbai Istanbul Milan flight was good and I was absolutely comfortable with it. My friend in office Tejal had ensured that I got an aisle seat and a comfortable seat. Food was not on my mind as I had already convinced my brain that food is something that I would have adjust during my stay in Italy. A friend of mine had already fed a lot of information in my mind that. When you are in Rome, behave like a Roman or act like a Roman.
I reach the Malpensa airport, a pretty quiet one, unlike the Dubai Airport or even our T2 International airport. I liked it. Italians as such are very friendly and warm people as compared to many of the European countries (this is what I have heard), though am not quite sure about it, frankly I haven’t visited too many countries. The taxi was waiting for me and it was quite a big sedan. I had readily kept the sheet where the address was written. He spoke to me in broken English and all the while in the taxi, I was skeptical if he was driving me to the correct destination. But it was conveyed to me by my Indian office that Milan is a safe place and even at midnight women could travel alone. Having said all that, my mind would still have doubts. But somewhere I had read that the more you doubt, you are distancing yourself from your goal. Ultimately I reach the destination – my apartment.
The building or the hotel where I was put up looked like one of the old European buildings and I had seen something like this in Romedy Now Channel. I knew I would be missing out on my English movies as well and this was totally uneasy for me.
The chauffeur helps me get my baggage to the reception of the apartment. The receptionist Gloria was a very warm lady and instantly I could connect with her. I went to my apartment and kept my luggage, 2 big bags and a small bag where my mother had packed all the necessary eating stuff. I was really hungry and I opened the packet where my amma had packed theplas for me. My throat choked on seeing the packet. See how our mind plays tricks. I felt cold, I was not able to explain what was happening to me. The hunger vanished suddenly and it was taken over with some feeling of emptiness. It was not even 30 mints I landed in the apartment.
I pacified myself that I had to be here only for 30 days and in a jiffy it could be managed. It was drizzling slightly out and I stood near the window looking at the drizzle. It took me back to Sion where my room faces bang opposite the Sion Fort which is lush with greenery and when it drizzles, it looks sooooooo beautiful. I always enjoyed looking at the rain and sipping my chai or kaapi with some dry snacks. Every time the drop of rain fell on the sill, it would wet my face and I loved doing that. The rains were different here, the furniture was different, the feel of the mattress was different, the table, chair – you name anything, it was different. Nothing here was mine except for my body, mind and soul – now even that was not mine. I was only physically present here and had left my mind and soul back in Mumbai. It was getting dark and I had still not had the enthusiasm to unpack my bags and arrange my stuff. Never ever had I felt so sluggish and lethargic, I knew I had to do it though. The only good thing was that I could get to skype with Maddy and Jyothi and could see them. But mind said, you can only see them, you can get to feel them or hug them. I wanted to hug Jyothi and Maddy badly and tell them that how much I was missing them. But I knew that these were the initial days and within 2 days, I would get back to normal. Patience told me that I had to wait and watch and have patience.
More to come.
Lots of Luv
Rekha
p.s. : I sincerely feel all those people who leave their families in pursuit of their job need to be saluted. It takes a lot of guts and mental strength to live away from one’s family and friends and to accept the new changes in life, be it a new job, country, people, language, food..
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