Pens and Pages

It’s been days now since I wrote my last blog – not out of the lack of thinking-time but because sometimes I don’t find a charging spot in a train (my laptop battery sucks big time) or sometimes I am too sleepy when I reach my hostel after all the sight-seeing of the day.[Right now I am typing while sitting on the train to Paris from Stuttgart] Life has changed or maybe, I have changed. Only a few days earlier we were thinking of our student exchange program, planning of the places we would visit – Vienna, Paris, Santorini, etc; And now we are here living that dream of ours we had seen from before joining an MBA program. Oh, how I love myself to have dared to take this trip despite all the initial doubts of mine and worries of my loved ones. Oh, how I love myself today that I am almost a nomad traveling from one place to another, sleeping in trains, making a living room in train stations, with my backpack that has sufficient clothes to last me for two months. Of course,...

I have always been a loner; I have embraced living alone, visiting places on my own, eating to my heart’s content alone. However, when I reached my flat at Aarhus I didn’t feel as liberated as I usually do- mostly because I don’t enjoy cooking. There was no food in the house; I missed the coffee Harsh made for all of us in his apartment at Copenhagen, I missed Vinay’s home-made Theplas. That night I don’t remember doing anything else than just sleeping with my jeans on – something I couldn’t imagine doing back in India. Aarhus is a lovely place. It doesn’t have a lot of people and there are only a few places where you’d find crowd in the late evenings. The three major buildings that help you with your directions if you don’t have GPS are – AroS museum, DOKK1 building and another building called Garrison F. I am not a fan of using GPS and hence, I enjoyed getting lost and finding my way back to my house using some buildings and streets as landmarks. I remember my journey from ...

Sometimes it’s great to wake up in the morning and be ignorant about the proceedings of the day. You sit and enjoy your cup of tea while someone else plans the entire day for you. Day 2 at Copenhagen demanded only one thing from me – to get ready for the day. While Harsh’s acquaintance, who we became friends with by the end of the day, Isa Oli had the day planned out for us, while our only job was to meet her at the Copenhagen Station. Isa brought her friend and ex-colleague Stephanie along, and we went to see the famous bronze statue of The Little Mermaid. This iconic statue is more than a 100 years old, and it sits on a rock symbolizing Denmark – you may find its picture on many souvenirs in gift shops. Isa told us that the statue’s original head was once sawn off and a replacement was required to be made. It was a great day for us - although every place in the city is beautiful, right from trivial things like the traffic to the greenery around, we visited some really imp...

I have a lot to talk about – enough to not be allowed by the international calling charges to communicate over phone to my friends what I have to tell, enough that when I return to India there would probably be a lot more to talk about than the spare time I will get to do so. So here I am, for those who are traveling solo or with friends to a new country; here I am, for my friends and family who would like to know my story. I remember returning from Budge Budge, West Bengal to Guwahati, Assam alone once and then telling the entire story to a bunch of my friends while they sat in the hostel room listening to it patiently. That’s the exact way I usually like to narrate the events that happen to or around me. Anyway, I start this journey at Delhi International Airport waving good-bye to my friend Shikha’s parents as they hug her and me. Since my Visa arrived a little late, I had to manage all the packing, Eurail pass, cards and cash in a duration of a couple of days. My parents ...

I have a lot to talk about – enough to not be allowed by the international calling charges to communicate over phone to my friends what I have to tell, enough that when I return to India there would probably be a lot more to talk about than the spare time I will get to do so. So here I am, for those who are traveling solo or with friends to a new country; here I am, for my friends and family who would like to know my story. I remember returning from Budge Budge, West Bengal to Guwahati, Assam alone once and then telling the entire story to a bunch of my friends while they sat in the hostel room listening to it patiently. That’s the exact way I usually like to narrate the events that happen to or around me. Anyway, I start this journey at Delhi International Airport waving good-bye to my friend Shikha’s parents as they hug her and me. Since my Visa arrived a little late, I had to manage all the packing, Eurail pass, cards and cash in a duration of a couple of days. My parents ...

Author: Amit Sharma Publisher: LiFi Publications Pvt Ltd (2016) The title of the book quite intrigued me when I looked at it for the first time on social media- the cover did not. I hadn’t by then read any fiction that Amit wrote and hence, I was skeptical about spending my pocket money on his debut novel. I had no idea whether I’d like what he wrote nor was I earning anything to spend without thinking. Luckily, a few days later he asked me himself to have a look at his book – I knew what it meant – Free Copy!! I said yes to review his book, almost immediately.  He has been extremely patient with me post that as I promised that I wouldn’t read the book if I don’t like the first few pages, and I would take time to finish it even if I like it. It turned out that being an MBA student doesn’t give you a lot of time to read fictions unless you’re a fast reader and you can do with few minutes of sleeping – I couldn’t. My reading speed gained momentum only in the end of July when...

A world full of "certainties" All the plans, all the vanities. Where black covers the white Suited in "confidence"- the constant fight. A million roads I dream to take One destination, knowing not I turn where. A green veil covers for two years, some two decades. But the "plan" awaits, new roads to make. I pant, I struggle, I do my best While they say, "You are, dear, but so inadequate".