Bye bye Keshod

This last Saturday I shifted out of Keshod and am now in my flat in Ahmedabad, where I plan on staying for the next one month. Leaving Keshod was a rushed affair but I managed to shift everything except my closet that is still in that room. I had a smile on my face when I said bye to that room. When I was making the last rounds to check whether I had forgoten anything there, I went in the room and just saw myself sitting on my mattress in that room, with a laptop in my lap and working away in pj's. It was a positive memory and am glad I have it. I probably will go back to say my final byes to the people there as I was not able to say bye to any of them. Which reminds me, I need to call them all. There are many people who made my stay there comfortable and helped me in a variety of different ways. I want a chance to acknowledge that to them. When I was leaving Keshod, yes I did have a few tears in my eyes. I cried for a while I was in the car, for many things actually. That place taught me a lot about my own country, sometimes the good side, and sometimes the horribly wrong sides. I recently met my uncle and he said something very important that holds true in this situation. I had asked him what is the difference between love and infatuation, how do you know what you feel towards someone or something. To that he replied, if you are infatuated by someone or something, you will only see it's positive side. That person or the thing can never be wrong, everything will always be rosy as all you are blinded by is the happy, positive things. But when you love something or someone, you very well know the good and the bad about that person or thing, and you love it in it's entirety. You don't love certain parts of a person or a place, you love it entirely. It's a package deal you see :P In the beginning of my journey, I was really happy to be here and I was really appreciating being in that place. But in a few discussions with people in Canada, someone pointed out that perhaps I am just going through my honeymoon phase with India, everything is beautiful, everything is positive and great because I have not had any negative experiences yet. Well, I have seen the worst side of this country, my home, and I still love it. I am still very happy to be here. I know this is not the last time I will be here. I know I will keep coming again and again because otherwise there will always be something missing. Yes I have a very comfortable and privileged life in Canada that I can just keep living in, no hassles, no problems and it is a very self centered life at that point, but I don't want that at this stage of my life. If given a chance to get another internship in India, I would probably take it up again. You can spend a lifetime studying and researching in India and you will still never fully understand it. But right now, all I know is, this is not the time to take up a 9-5 desk job. This is my time to move around, be flexible and see as much of the world as I possibly can. Right now, my decisions only affect me, no one else, and I love that.

In the meanwhile, I am happy to be in Ahmedabad. I was cleaning up my bathrooms in the flat with my jeans rolled up to my knees, an old tshirt and hair tied up in a pony tail, but still I felt good cleaning up the old dirt. This is my house that I intent on making my home over the next month. So it's worth it cleaning up your home. So that is my motivation to keep my jeans rolled up and my hair tied up for the next round of cleaning starting up in the next half an hour or so.

Love,
Richa