Music- Vinyl Stories

S invited me over coffee to chat and share stories. As I walked in, I felt home. I pondered on the question of what makes us feel home? The familiar patterns, the familiar aesthetics. Does familiarity brings us closer to home? Also, as he got the Vinyl, he began to play Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Saab's music. 

Thoughts- Authenticity and flow

At every situation, we have a choice of being ourselves or block ourselves from being what we believe. I realised that it takes a lot of energy to not be ourselves and it doesn't even make us feel better. The world needs us and what we bring into this world rather than fit into other's expectations.  

Being authentic seems to be a presence of flow. There's no point of blocking the flow and suppressing ourselves. 

Travel Tales- Flaneur

I have travelled a lot of places for a different reasons. And everytime I've been learning different ways of traveling. Just before I began to travel a bit of Europe, I attended a lecture by Brindusa on 'Contextualising ME in the world' by Brindusa. She emphasized on the concept of Flaneur, the act of strolling the spaces being an acute observer, without any other purpose. Also she suggested to create some rules on our own to follow and immerse onself in the act of strolling. 

I began to contemplate on the act of strolling and sensing the spaces in our own ways. When I landed in Leuven, I decided to create a rule on my own and stroll around. 

1) Turn Towards A- Whenver I notice the first alphabet of the word to be A, I turn towards it. 

I didn't think much about creating a rule and I began to contemplate on how I may immerse myself in noticing only the alphabets. In the beginning, I was always noticing the text and ignored anything around as I walked. As I began to notice the alphabet-A and turn towards it, I was wondering If i'd be missing out other places because of the rule I've created. As I turn towards new streets and look for the alphabet-'A' again, I was sensing the place, people, texture of the buildings with keen attention. After a little bit of distance I noticed 'A' again and turned. There were times where I had to turn thrice in less than a minute and such turns/changes were too fast to grasp. I was feeling my discomfort with the quick change. Where will this take me? Why can't I visit any famous monument and sit there? I thought. I continued walking and didn't force myself to look for A. I immersed myself to observe the place and ran into different sculptures, garden and got interested in it's stories. Eventually, I forgot the pressure of looking for A. As I kept walking, If I looked at A, I turned and if not, I continued to walk as my feet took me. There seems to be an act of surrender in this type of traveling. Had fun and explored the place in different way. 

2) Take a turn whenever there's one 

As I reached Ghent, a port and university city, it has a rich history as it was capital of flemish region. With port on it's side there are a lot of Canals in the town. With little bridges, there are a lot of junctions and connecting roads. Walking in the town, I came up with the rule- 'Take a turn whenever there's one' Spending some time on Ghent, the rule came very naturally sensing the turns and connecting roads. Following the rule, I visited a lot of bookshops, thrift shops, cafes and old buildings. I realised how our idea of success is always straight. All the rules seems to teach me the act of surrendering and navigating in life. I never felt I'm missing out experiences and important monuments due to this travel, as I embarked on the famous cathedral and market squares naturally. 

3) Song suggestions and Stations

I have a travel pass where I can get on any train in Belgium for a limited time. I had an option of traveling to a certain place and spending time or hop on trains and arrive at any town and stroll around. Why do we always have to reach the famous places, who makes places famous, I pondered. 

I hardly use social media when I'm traveling. To be more open rather than judgemental about anything, I decided to use social media in this trip. I asked my friends to share their favourite songs. Whenever, I notice the first alphabet of the song, I'd get off the train and take a new one. Seemed very interesting. I received my first suggestion and got off the train. I also realised, I can't spend much time waiting, I need to get on the next available train. Thanks to my data network, I was solely relying on the train wifi. Hence, I was not keen to check social media whenever I was on train between the stations. I checked my phone only when I reached any particular station. I changed 7 trains while I got a chance to meet my senior by coincidence. I got off the train,went ahead to meet my senior and spent 3 hours catching up on our journeys and resumed my journey. It seemed worthwhile rule as I met my senior, serendipituously. 

4) Don't wait too long. Move forward. 

I began my journey in the wallonia region of Belgium and was amused to travel through the hilly region. As I reached the border of Belgium and Luxembourg, I walked out of the station and got on to the bus provided by Luxembourg. In Luxembourg, the public transport is free for everyone. I got onto the bus at Gouvy and traveled through Luxembourg. I was amazed by the nature and weather. It's a small country with places that can reached within 40-50 minutes. Everywhere I went, I waited less than 4 minutes and got onto the bus that's heading to a different place. Like that, I ended up entering Germany as well. I met interesting people and travelers on my way. It's another story for another day. By evening, I ended up at Bastogne, the place where battle of bulge is fought. Watching Band of Brothers- HBO Mini series on war, I have a lot of affinity to these places. So happy to end up here. I'm glad I kept moving forward and embraced the experiences.

In retrospect, all the rules seem trivial but, they are very close and relatable to whatever is happening in my life. Very intuitively, listening to the inner voices, I came up with these rules and explored the places. Now, it's time to travel inwards and outwards trusting our voices rather than relying on some external fears and standards set by others. 

Travel Tales- Amsterdam

Friends ask me how people strike a conversation deeply the minute, they cross paths with me. I don't have an answer but my experiences push me to continue to trust as I cross paths.

On a windy day, I strolled in the streets of Amsterdam, just returning from a windmill's place where I was intentional in celebrating friends' birthdays who are far away across the sea.

Passing the canals, I kept strolling, absorbing the space and the sounds it had to offer. There's a lot of hustle and crowd. I kept walking watching around. Suddenly, I saw an art gallery and entered it without a second thought.  I was awestruck by the paintings.An intimate experience to see the paintings all by myself without any distraction. Later, a lady walked in striking a conversation.

We began our conversation on how intimate and vulnerable the works are. Proud of her husband's work, she shared the stories behind the paintings. 10 minutes into conversation, Amy shared her teenage love story of how she met Tim when she was 19 and how she decided that he's her man.

Trying to be as attentive as possible, I listened to her and was keen to know her honestly.

She said,"you are the first person to witness these works of Tim before it's out for the exhibition. A lot of them are already sold. None of the buyers got to see the originals. You just saw the originals and read his words."

Besides being the kindest, humble soul, he's the art director of Imagine Dragons. Imagine Dragon's works and concerts has his works. An acclaimed artist. Having a chance to interact with his work in such a special way, Amy&i knew it's a special moment. Why did she trust me to check his work before the exhibition unveils? I don't know.

I felt grateful to have such an encounter. As Tim arrived when Amy and I were into conversation, we exchanged a lot of heartfelt conversations. We spoke about their early days, inspirations, frame hunts, lonely nights spent in paintings and a lot more. Before I left, I got the first copies of his works in print,signed.

Again, do they need to gift me before the exhibition even gets started? I don't know.

Having such heartfelt deep conversations, I intend to interact with utmost honesty and attention whenever I cross paths. It's sad to miss those in-person conversations with the loved ones for strange and range of reasons.

Friends- A Catch up after almost a decade

It was during our matrixing session, I was surrounded by a group of seniors. I met Nikitha, Sowmya, Sravya, Krishna and other seniors. I didn't get a chance to catch up with Tejaswi on the first day but, in my third year, I got a chance to catch up with her and met just a day before my book launch, Aug.18.2015

We caught up over coffee and shared our journeys. Tejaswi shared about TEDx and how one can start it in our college.  I was sold by the idea and took my own time to see the purpose of it and the we eventually managed to begin and take the journey of setting up the TEDx community. 

After almost a decade, I'm meeting Tejaswi again in Europe. She's currently working in Mechanical engineering field and has invited me to her place- St.Etienne. 

I travelled through Lyon and caught up with her on a friday weekend. Strolling in the streets of Lyon, we walked to the Korean food joint. After a long time, had a hot chicken and rice. Talking of the life in Europe and India, we caught up on what's happening in our lives. 

We strolled to the famous Gelato shop at Lyon and I tried Ginger icecream and T had her usual. At late night, we got on the bus to St.Etienne and walked to home. 

We were welcomed by Dwai and their pet. After a long stretches of conversations, we called it a day. I was woke up by the pet. Got startled a bit but, began to hang out with him. We had Poha for the breakfast and proper telugu dishes for the lunch- Rice,Dal, Pickles. I began to relish the food and brings me a lot of  comfort.

Dwai and I were busy playing video games on playstation discussing our journeys. Before the day gave the way for the night, we went on a walk at the near by national park. Watching the blue skies and flowy lands, I got reminded of Uttarakhand. The only difference I felt is that, the land seemed to be expansive and spacious. 

We reached a small cafe at the entrace and had a hot chocolate with local herbs. We began our walk and was amused by the weather it has got. Tejaswi being the elder is more aware of being present and I was trying to capture the memories through phone at times. After a walk, we had 4X spicy noodles with Sojuka. I gave up after trying out a little of it. It was burning hot. 

The next day, we began our day by walking the pet outdoors, searching for Croissant and coffee. We walked across the town and found that people hardly work on sunday. We returned home and I headed to Lyon. Had a lovely time Dwai and Teju akka. Hope to see you soon. 

Geneva Journals- The Jardin Walk and Coppet Train

Over a leisure, we walked to the near by garden and got amused by the trees. Jardin Botanique has been my go to place whenever I have to unwind and stroll amidst the trees.  I got on train for the first time from the Graduate Institute, Geneva

Memories- April 15

Now a days, every date reminds me of a memory. On April 15,2022 I was heading to Uttarkhand and that's when I've decided to work on Colourless. A strong wish to publish the work. Azhar, Shankar, Aman were present at my place and before I leave my home, I was continuously painting and when I met Jeet to board bus for Uttarakhand, I shared my desire to create a work where my poems and paintings are published. He keenly listening and a year later, the dream became a reality. Grateful for these experiences. 

Universe of Music- A R Rahman

 He's always evolving and emptying his cup. Grateful to have him and be a life long learner.