Re-inspired!
To begin with, life’s taken quite a turn from my previous blog. Well, it’s only obvious- 9 months later, one obviously wishes not to be stuck at the same desk, does one? Right now, am amongst the alps, and having spent the weekend exploring the country, am possibly one of the happiest souls around.. phew..being a back-packer has its own pros I guess.. the immense happiness on having explored a place on
In the last 3 days, I walked through the streets of
1st of all it broke the biggest conspiracy alive.. that women cannot travel by themselves! Well I know it’s a little unsafe, but I think with a country as safe as
I did take the step and get into the train to geneva.. had planned really well where to go, how to, when to.. Booked into those youth hostels and it seemed to work pretty well.. During the day I used to be perfectly fine..But with the sunset came this tinkering thought of being followed.. oh may be he knows am all by myself in this unknown place.. Should I just catch the train and go back to my apartment and may be start all over again tomorrow morning? LOL..Almost freaked out when a slightly druken man was going out of his way to help me out my 1st day out at Montreux.. Poor soul also thought I was being extremely rude and with the broken English he could manage in that inebriated state, assured me that he would pose no harm to me.. but still, a part of me wanted him to just leave me alone, which he finally did after helping me with the right bus route and the exact bus number!
That gets me to think, is this cos of the things we go through in our own country? May be, being swindled by the known and unknown all the time makes us too cautious and we doubt everything.. well there’s nothing wrong with it, but we really are a little less trusting than most other people.. well I speak for myself and a few others I know..
So once this challenge was conquered, another awaited.. how would the people at the youth hostel be? Being an inexpensive mode to rest your tired joints and having heard that thefts were pretty common, another yet obvious conclusion was drawn that I might wake up to find that there was no clothes to change into! But luckily that died too when I found that the other people who I stayed with were as decent as me, if not more adventurous, and the last thing they cared about was me or my belongings- frankly they cared about it no more than I cared about their’s. Having conquered my 2nd fear, I felt so light.. I really did sleep better the 2nd night at the youth hostel at
Of course not to mention the public transportation system which gets you where u wish to go at the time you planned to reach there, not where it wishes to take u when it so desires! Uff if there was one thing I could import back from here, it would be this luxurious system! You barely feel it’s not privately owned! But then we are talking about one of the richest nations in the world (in terms of per capita income, etc), but still having to pay 30-35% of your income to a guzzler called “government” the least I’d expect is something in return rather than it shining on some politician’s wife’s ears or necks (Duhh I mean the diamond jewellery these crooks buy their better-halves with your and my hard-earned money)..
Well, coming back to the story, I heaved a sigh of exasperation and carried on traveling telling myself I was lucky to see a part of the world and probably share the good things out here.. but then the minute u start talking about it, people think u are a show-off! Hey wait a minute! I am as desi as u are, in fact more than many pseuds out there.. and there’s really nothing wrong in appreciating what these people are good at! What’s wrong in being professional and calling things the way they are.. But of course u often get called a professional b****, but hey who cares! At least I don’t..and I know people who know me, know why I am the way I am.. Really, am better off keeping some people at bay and for those people who do think I have an attitude, I want to tell them, yes, and thankfully, I have a good one at it!
Food- the one thing we apparently work so hard for (kill for, etc) is sooo difficult to get in this foreign land.. especially being a hard core vegetarian (by choice of course!) and that too a super-fussy one at that, you can imagine how many times I go hungry.. if not for my mom insisting I learn to cook and clean, would’ve vanished into thin air by the time I was 18-19, thanks to my expedition to the US of A as a student.. But unluckily, none of these experiences have taught me to be open to the idea of developing a taste for the local food when am abroad.. Forget abroad, adjusting to college mess seemed like a distant probability and if not for Pratika's threat that she would complain to my family, would've missed millions of lunches and dinners..Friends n family almost bet that
Same's the case here during weekdays.. Yes I admit, am uncool and actually carry lunch to work, cos I am not willing to shell out CHF 7 (now that’s Rs. (35.8*7) for those who don’t wish to go to www.money.com to convert n stuff) for some inedible salad (rem I just defined it a couple of sentences above) and some slimy soup which you really wonder what went into, cos vegetables the way I remember them can never be soo slimy!
Argh, so the punishment was furthered by the immense walking, and soon the stomach went into a non-co operation mode until it was duly fed! Pizza was the only answer.. but of course these people don’t believe in smaller-sized pizza.. I was faced with a Pizza only my family could finish, but was left with no choice but to hog it all up cos the conscience wouldn’t let me waste food! Are u sure u want to throw food into the dustbin when so many kids go hungry to bed? (Thanks mom, but I wish I had learnt to leave things to the dustbin than my poor tummy!) so puffing and panting and slightly (well that’s an under statement) overfed, I walked through the streets of
May be I really need to learn what to eat.. but am not able to trust too many even back home with my food, forget these people who don’t understand the concept of vegetarianism.. they often ask, “Dich vegetarisch?” or something similar (are you vegetarian?) and then ask me if I eat chicken (no), may be fish (NO), not even eggs (no sweetheart.. back home you still call people like me vegetarian)..ohh okie.. then here u go.. and yet again am faced with spinach and tomatoes and of course the inevitable vinegar!! Arrghhh! So lessons fm the trip..need not say more, do I?
-Yours truly
Comments