Have you watched the movie Queen? The movie in which Kangana Ranaut played the role of a young woman from a small city who goes on a lone trip to Europe to get over the trauma when her ex-fiance calling off their wedding. Well if you haven't, go read the remaining plot on Wikipedia, :-D
Anyways my point is travel really has the power to heal and transform. I was born in South India and I have toured 3 other states apart from mine, thanks to my parents. I was going through an emotional trauma when my parents were refusing to accept my then boy friend (now husband) into our family like any other orthodox middle class Indian parents.Cant blame them, honestly. It went on for about a year and a half and nothing was changing except my father was becoming more stubborn and so was I, after all same blood huh ?!. It is then I got the opportunity of traveling to London for work. Omg, that was the best thing that has ever happened to me (only next to my husband, cheesy).
My "first ever" visit outside India and I was filled with mixed emotions like anxiety and excitement. I got to stay with a Srilankan (by birth) family who rented out one of their bedrooms in their beautiful house. Loved everything about the house starting from the rectangular sash windows, subtle hues on the wall papers and that apple tree on the backyard. They welcomed me like their own family and made me feel at home. I had to cook for myself on regular basis which I was not used to, started making simple dishes and found comfort in having them with wine. It was July I believe so the weather was just perfect. The first weekday morning I reached my office with a colleague of mine. My desk at workplace was overlooking River Thames and the O2 arena located on the other side of the river. I met some really interesting people at work, to quote a few - one female who wore a nearly perfect make up daily, a female who dressed like a bombshell, an old man who kept staring at everyone and asked me out once.
I had to get on tubes to reach my office, which was pretty bad during peak morning hours. People literally pushed fellow passengers just like the scene back home and some even tried to open the automatically closing doors so that they can squeeze in, hahaha. Otherwise it was fun being on the tubes with the map in my hands. I started exploring the city on my own, with some input from my landlord and the tube map. No, I dint use google maps at all. I never felt lost or scared in the hustle, rather I felt confident and super good. I did visit places like Tower Bridge, House of Parliament, London eye, etc but my favorite was Oxford street which was adorned beautifully around Christmas. It was a white Christmas, my first ever snow which was mesmerizing to watch. The city obviously had umpteen number of food and fashion choices which most of the times intrigued me.
I must say my daily rides, my cooking stories, my lovely landlords, my colleagues, random people I met, the city as it is played its role in transforming me into a confident woman and gave me all the strength to face the challenges life has for me. So here's to the queen in me, Cheers !
Love, Bri
Anyways my point is travel really has the power to heal and transform. I was born in South India and I have toured 3 other states apart from mine, thanks to my parents. I was going through an emotional trauma when my parents were refusing to accept my then boy friend (now husband) into our family like any other orthodox middle class Indian parents.Cant blame them, honestly. It went on for about a year and a half and nothing was changing except my father was becoming more stubborn and so was I, after all same blood huh ?!. It is then I got the opportunity of traveling to London for work. Omg, that was the best thing that has ever happened to me (only next to my husband, cheesy).
My "first ever" visit outside India and I was filled with mixed emotions like anxiety and excitement. I got to stay with a Srilankan (by birth) family who rented out one of their bedrooms in their beautiful house. Loved everything about the house starting from the rectangular sash windows, subtle hues on the wall papers and that apple tree on the backyard. They welcomed me like their own family and made me feel at home. I had to cook for myself on regular basis which I was not used to, started making simple dishes and found comfort in having them with wine. It was July I believe so the weather was just perfect. The first weekday morning I reached my office with a colleague of mine. My desk at workplace was overlooking River Thames and the O2 arena located on the other side of the river. I met some really interesting people at work, to quote a few - one female who wore a nearly perfect make up daily, a female who dressed like a bombshell, an old man who kept staring at everyone and asked me out once.
I had to get on tubes to reach my office, which was pretty bad during peak morning hours. People literally pushed fellow passengers just like the scene back home and some even tried to open the automatically closing doors so that they can squeeze in, hahaha. Otherwise it was fun being on the tubes with the map in my hands. I started exploring the city on my own, with some input from my landlord and the tube map. No, I dint use google maps at all. I never felt lost or scared in the hustle, rather I felt confident and super good. I did visit places like Tower Bridge, House of Parliament, London eye, etc but my favorite was Oxford street which was adorned beautifully around Christmas. It was a white Christmas, my first ever snow which was mesmerizing to watch. The city obviously had umpteen number of food and fashion choices which most of the times intrigued me.
I must say my daily rides, my cooking stories, my lovely landlords, my colleagues, random people I met, the city as it is played its role in transforming me into a confident woman and gave me all the strength to face the challenges life has for me. So here's to the queen in me, Cheers !
Love, Bri
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