You often get yourself caught in the weirdest of situations when you least expect it. This happens invariably when you try to be extra-careful and when you measure every letter of the word that you are going to utter.
This happened during my Gokarna trip. I was sitting on a chair, in Kudle Beach, eyes closed, listening to the waves crashing, feeling the moist salty wind and enjoying the weekend away from the hustle-bustle. I heard someone come and sit in the chair next to me. I opened my eyes to see to find this thin-tall-tanned-shirtless-foreigner sitting next to me.
He: Hi, I am Steve.
Me: Oh hi, I am Kripa.
He: (After making funny sounds that sounded like my name).So this your first time here?
Me: Ya. How about you?
He: I have been here twice before.
Me. Whoa! That’s cool! You must really like this place.
He: True. True. It’s very relaxing and the cheapest among all the places that I have been to in India. I frequent here a lot.
Me: By the way which country are you from?
He: New Zealand. I am from a beautiful city called Cairns. Heard of it?
Me: Yes. A friend of mine had been there last year. He showed some wonderful snaps of Cairns.
He: So where are you from?
Me: I am basically from Chennai (he nodded his head in approval, so I did not get into the details), but I work in Bangalore.
At this he said something that I will never forget.
He: (With a frown on his face) So you work for a living?
Me: !@#$%^#$%#$@#$@#$@#$%@%
P.S.: He went on to tell me that he used to work four years ago and that he had decided to stop working and tour the world. He had put all his money into travel. He told me he has finished touring Thailand, India and Europe in the last 3 years. He was back in India en-route to NewZealand. He added that he wanted to meet his family (parents), and go on to tour Japan & China. Steve was planning to find himself a job in China again so that he could build funds for his future trips. I was perplexed alright, but I got the hidden message. There is a whole new world with a whole new perspective out there.
6 comments:
i decided about 4 years ago that i am going save till i am around 35 and then travel as much as i can. i am sure though, that life will interfere with my plans.
@ consumerdemon:
you are going to work till you are 35? No way.....and btw Today is March 1st..Not April 1st
Interesting perspective. Sometimes when i look around and see highly paid people pushing themselves harder and harder at their work and career, I wonder what prevents them from saying "enough" and and start enjoying life. Never found the answer. I wonder if Indians particularly find it tougher to retire voluntarily and take life easy.
Hi Kripa. In here from Usha's blog. Reading your post and the guy's attitude, I fully understand. Life is all about learning and nothing like travelling the world in search of enlightenment!
hmm, thought I left a comment here yesterday. then again, maybe just a monday morning hallucination.
for once, how i wish i was someone i never met...that guy on the beach.
sigh.
@Usha: hey, found your comment interesting. when i look at my collegues in ireland, they dont care about the"brand" they work for. as good as any other job.
maybe it is one of those things of living in a supposed third world country, huh.
If you don't do it when you want to do it....you'll never get round to doing it....
So when you feel like it... just drop everything and go....
You won't regret it...
Drop by sometime dude..
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