Winds of Change

Time flies. I remember we use to have this ritual in school where every day one of us was responsible for writing a proverb or a famous quote on the top of the black board. Many a quotes zoomed by without, I doubt, any of us paying any serious attention. But, of late, the quotes have come alive… a la matrix like green code zipping down my memory screen. ‘Change is the only constant in life’, ‘Health is Wealth’, ‘Try and Try till you succeed’, ‘you cannot shake hands with a clenched fist’… well u get the picture.

Last six-seven months have seen a change like no other. Left the job. Opted for an entrepreneurial life-style by starting my own company. Got married. Left the bachelor pad to a settled ‘grahasti’ mode. Sold my beloved bike. The list goes on. Needless to say, Change has been the only constant in my life. And the work-life has ensured that every other proverb or quote I ever came across (especially some in lousy chain emails) got a chance to prove their validity (almost as-if to mock me ... saying.. ‘See I always made sense’ (smile)).

Well, the highlight was clearly the marriage. Marriage was, typically, hectic. But, it was a fairly elegant affair and was just the way I wanted it (minus the shoshaa). I enjoyed most of the rituals and some I thought were repetitive. The panditji of-course didn’t endorse my viewpoint. I had pre-decided that I will enjoy the occasion and not be overwhelmed by ‘spotlight-on-me’ syndrome, and, luckily I did just that. I could enjoy the occasion a trifle more as the parents seemed to enjoy it too. The one lesson I learnt during the occasion was the importance of getting both set of families on board. In love-marriages, when families initially see conflict, it is easiest to either overlook their concern and do your own thing, or, totally drop the plan. Both approaches lead to significant stress later. A middle approach of persisting till everybody comes on board and happily too, is the best approach and though this is the hardest and seems impossible at a point, it is the only one which will lead to lasting satisfaction. Trust me on this one! I didn’t know this but was luckily course-corrected at the right juncture by a wise-man.

Post-marriage, the proverbs/quotes in school were not the only one which came back to me after a ‘lost in eternity’ phase. The history textbook went all ‘live’ on me, when I went to Egypt for my honeymoon. Somehow, history has always fascinated me more than any other subject. In fact, I would go as far to say that History is equivalent to ‘Tests’ in cricket – timeless and sublime, while science and math are more like ‘one day’ and ‘T20’ versions delving on spontaneity and thrill. So I was saying history really fascinates me (sometimes I act like Calvin – super distracted). Coming back to history and Egypt, my choice of Egypt for the honeymoon destination was met with surprise, ridicule, awe and sometimes even ignorance. History thrives on memories and this once-in-a-lifetime trip just had to have the backdrop of history to transcend the experience to a ‘memorable’ status. Beautiful location and Privacy are apparently two most cited reasons for choice of a honeymoon location, but, I refuse to believe that those are the only two… history has its own charm and can be beautifully romantic too (smile). I know some of you must be feeling for my poor wife (smile).

We had a great time in Egypt (somehow this had to be the next line after what I said in the previous line). We seriously did. Apparently, there are few things money can buy (twisting a popular ‘MasterCard’ slogan... to make a proverb ...keeping around the central theme...you know). So we experienced - The pyramids, the cruise on the Nile, the city of Alexandria, the temples of Luxor and Aswan… Cleopatra stories…the eye-achingly green Mediterranean sea …papyrus… mummies... in short…I m high on Egypt!! The food was up and down (lived mostly of falafels and shwarmas) but for those who would enjoy the ‘thrill of exploring’ as opposed to sitting inside and staring at the ceiling fan or watching television, I thoroughly enjoyed the place…and by the looks of it…my wife enjoyed it too (I swear.. it does look like that (smile)).

The only grouse, and a minor one I had at that, was the gargantuan tipping culture prevalent in Egypt. The country’s economy derives a substantial portion of its revenues from tourism I hear, but that still is no excuse for ‘asking’ for baksheesh for every service rendered. But barring the tipping issue, and one freak incident, where a security guard at the Cairo airport refused to give us our passports without baksheesh, I would say the trip was excellent and truly memorable.

Post-honeymoon, it was all about settling down, both on personal front and professional front. And last six months, I did just that. Recently, a friend of mine asked me why don’t write my blog anymore. And I realized that I had totally forgotten about it. When I read the last few of my blogs, I realized that my life was so different then. The office-home routine, the bachelor-pad existence, junking on bike… time surely flies!!