to chennai, with love

I am home. I am in heaven: I can walk on carpets, take hottt showers and use good hair products and brushes. I can rejoice in roast dinners, marvel at my Christmas tree, and sleep on a wondrously thick mattress. I can feel the peace and quiet, turn up my bass speakers, and hear the sweet laughter of my family.

Yes, I am home. But India has not left me. She ravaged me with sickness yesterday and made me throw up 13 times – perhaps it was her final send off! Thank goodness, I feel stronger today. Strong enough to be able to reflect on the last five months of my life, and put some of it into words.

I learnt so much. I can now tie a beautifully neat sari in 20 minutes flat, and squatting into Indian loos is second nature (a must have skill for every world wanderer). I learnt to stop shaking when faced with bigwigs in the Taj lobby – enough to give a first class check-in to the president of Uruguay!

I took lessons in selflessness from handicraft shop owners, who followed me around the city to return a credit card I had left behind; from dedicated rickshaw drivers, who had stickers with my name on their windscreens. From warm and friendly strangers, anxious to do what they could to keep me safe.

I learnt to have fun. I realised how much I am attached to vodka, and I might even have started to like beer. I fell in love with the sand and the sea, and the crash of the waves on the Indian shore. I realised that I want to own a house with a rooftop, because rooftop parties simply rock.

There is so much that I will miss, too. Breakfast on banana leaves: poori and coconut chutney, and hot chai. The joy of indulging in fresh fruit on roadside stalls. Long (and bumpy) bus journeys, where friends and time become your own. The magical sounds of the monsoon rains beating India’s dirt paths clean.

Rhiannon, for being an awesome buffet and Mocha buddy! For giving me the courage to reach to South America. Tessa, for your neverending good humour, your love of shopping, and your straight laced attitude towards life’s woes. Leevin, for the best parties ever, and for being a rock of strength.

Pasha, for your ceaseless compliments, your giant bear hugs, and for being there from the start. For your absolute selflessness, and for making our flat a family! Filip, for your love of good times, your brilliant mind, and for teaching me to chill out. For your sweet romance, and for being my bad boy convict. 😉

To Chennai, with love: I will miss you.

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a thousand thank yous

 I write this through the eyes of a newly turned 22 year old. I wonder if I am any wiser, but I know that I am very blessed.

 To my flatmates, thank you for turning off the lights at midnight and for the ‘lighter cake’! For singing my first Happy Birthday and making me feel so at home. To my workmates, for a hundred birthday handshakes, and for gleeful birthday hugs! For giving me an easy day and letting me run off early.

 To Magda, thank you for the beautiful purse, and for being home to calm me before I left: to advise me on what to wear and offer reassuring words. To Pasha, for saying wow! To the T Nagar flat, for jumping on me in the lobby and turning up first. For lounging with me on the corner bed while the rains raged overhead (if only we had had longer).

 To the wonderful management at The Park, thank you for so calmly moving us to club, and for giving us umbrellas. For the beautiful birthday cake and the extra bottle of champagne. To Ieva and the Shenoy Nagar family: for ‘swimming’ to the party (!), and for the beautiful jewellery. To Brian for the Chinese gifts!

 To Vikas and Brammanand, thank you for the perfect present and the beautiful flowers. To Nienke, for being my friend as soon as my flight had landed; for our ladies toilet gossip, our matching necklaces, and your beautiful smile. To Amelia, for all your generosity, for that special present, and for being my piece of home!

 To the AIESEC boys, thank you for the forbidden photographs, and for chilling with me on the balcony. For all night dancing, for Indian dancing (!), for keeping me so safe. For the pink rug! To Leevin: for making it all happen, for answering your phone, for the flowers and the cake and the DJ birthday wishes. Thank you, truly.

 To everyone: thank you for coming, despite the terrible rains. Thank you for a hundred Happy Birthday songs, for spinning me around on the dance floor, and for holding my hand to steady me. Thank you for such warmth and friendship, though I am so new to Chennai: I am away from home, but you are making this home.

 Thank you, a thousand times over.

 —
 See the carnage here!

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because i love india

 Before I left England, a colleague at the bank queried me about my decision. “You could have gone anywhere, right? So why not Dubai, or the Maldives?”

 My answer was: “because I love India”.

 This morning in my rickshaw, I struggled to remember this. Holding on for dear life (and in great need of a sports bra), all I could smell was petrol, and all I could hear were horns. Dust was in my eyes, I was sweating in just a shirt and my curls had taken on a distinct Planet of the Apes look.

 Arriving more than slightly dishevelled, I was still welcomed warmly. Within minutes of meeting me, one colleague gave me his number and made me promise to call him if I needed anything. Since then, a friend of a friend has helped me to get a mobile connection, and has even bore the (great) pain of shopping for work shoes with me.

 I remembered: this is why I love India.

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