Hey folks!
Hope you are all doing well. The last blog post was quite long and I doubt people have even read it. But that's fine. My activity has gone down which isn't my fault either. Once my activity level, hopefully, that blog post will get a good enough reach.
Anyways, I have mentioned how it was after I arrived here and how I am still getting adapted to it. Now that I am far from India and there are no chances of doing things I wanted to do. But I am glad I get to do some things before leaving. And at the same time, I also regret the things I didn't do before leaving. So this blog post is about those things. Which one should I start with?
Things I am glad I did before leaving:
1) The solo trip on my birthday
This is something I am very glad I did as I had been wanting to do it ever since the pandemic happened and we were locked in for months. I initially thought of end of 2020 but I wasn't in India then. I decided to do on year end of 2021 which didn't happen as I wasn't prepared enough and also that year end was bad. And so I didn't think of another year end but rather on my birthday as I didn't think of any other available opportunity. I broke the news three days before I was leaving after having booked the tickets and did the purchase for Manali trip. My father suggested that I could go at a later period and I was certain that later was never going to happen. I am glad I went for the trip to celebrate my birthday which was six months ago and it feels like it has been so long. This is one thing I am glad I did and I am so proud of this.
2) Visiting Bangalore One Last Time
The city I loved; or the city that changed my life. The first time I visited post pandemic wasn't exactly pleasant one even if I enjoyed it. But this time, I had to say goodbye and be there one last time. A lot has changed since I left but Bangalore is Bangalore and there are many such memories. I went during the time, my visa application was being processed, in the sense, I haven't gotten an appointment yet but there was gap and I wanted to go. Again, I was suggested I could go after all this is sorted. I was pretty certain that it will never happen once I get the visa approved and this was a good time as I needed some time off to free my mind among the tension and stress. I didn't miss out on any while being in Bangalore and got the visa thing sorted while I was there. I flew in less than a week after I got the visa, so visiting Bangalore at that time would never be impossible and I would have regretted if I hadn't gone then. But I did and I am glad I did. Bangalore Days! Farewell. You will always be close to my heart.
3. Spending time with my best friend
This wasn't planned but rather happened out of spontaniety. When my best friend came to Kerala for a treatment, I suggested him to come to Kochi for a few days to which he agreed and stayed at my place. Reminded of the times we stayed in PG during the Final college year. We didn't explore much of Kochi on the first trip but it was fun enough. He came a month later for his entrance exam in Kerala and stayed at my place and that time, we had a lot more fun. Same happened a month later for his interview but we stayed home most of the time and that was fun as well. I stayed at his place in August when I came to Bangalore and we roamed around together and we returned together to Kochi as he got accepted at an institute and had some documentation work and so a fourth visit happened. Again, that was a balance of staying at home and going out but we had the best and perfect Finale, not like the ones we always said while we were leaving for the holidays for when I left Bangalore and he left Kochi. It was the End of an Era that is leading to newer beginnings. This was the first time we met frequently after the pandemic as the last year was a very short one though. And this was definitely the first time as there were no tensions or pressure like it used to be while in college. But we are way past that. We are of course in touch and glad that we are busier than before. And we vowed to meet in five years from now. This wasn't planned but rather happened and I am glad it did.
4. Spending time with my nieces.
This thought occurred much recently when I happened to check some pictures of me with my nieces. Again this wasn't planned but happened out of spontaneity. My cousin lived in Trivandrum with his mother, wife and two daughters, 8 and 4 and I had to go to the capital city to collect a document. I was told I could stay there for a day since I was coming from very far. But I didn't want to and later relented to it as I didn't see their place yet. And I am glad I went there not because of the place but also because of my nieces. They wanted to play with me all day; in the evening. They made me click selfies and try some games which I played along. That was the first time we bonded well as usually, they would play with the other cousins close to their age or older sisters even if I was there, but I am glad this happened.
Okay, the list has gone long. But I will brief the other parts as those won't be detailed.
Things I wish I had done before leaving:
This is before I left India and I thought I would come to the UK from the Middle East as that's where my family is. But that didn't happen as it was all a last minute thing and I couldn't afford to pay for another visa just to be in the Gulf for few days. Also the ticket rates were high and only my father had come to India to help me out with leaving. The last time I met my mother and sister in person was in May when they all came for vacation and I didn't really say a proper goodbye. We didn't know then. But the goodbye and hugging and kissing was all done hurriedly as they had a flight to catch. I am glad I held on my father a little longer before I left and I am glad I did. But I wish I was with them all for one last time before leaving. Of course, we will meet again but I don't know when. Maybe next year.
2. Not taking care of myself
This is something I hate about myself. I have been procrastinating a lot of things I intended to do but pushed it away mainly due to laziness. I had a good enough time to get in decent shape but I wasn't keeping well ever since I recovered from covid and I couldn't push myself then as that led to out of breath and almost fainting. I joined the gym for a month and later after I returned from Manali I didn't join and was pushing it either due to the horrendous weather or I was feeling unwell. I know I can work on myself here and I kind of regret wasting the time.
3. Not utilising the things bought for needs
There is absolutely no excuse for this. I asked for this and I had it purchased I didn't really use it as often as I thought I would. An induction stove for cooking and a second-hand car for pracitcing driving. I did drive once and that was a daring one but I didn't take it out much because of the weather and of the potholes as being a beginner, I couldn't risk it. I think this is a valid reason. But I have started the car and moved across the garage once a week. And what about the induction stover? It remained there unopened unused. It would have really helpful after I came to the UK and we have to do the cooking by ourselves but here I am struggling with the same. I regret it.
I am sure there are a lot more. These might not be bigger regrets but make use of the time before you lose it forever leading to bigger regrets. On the flip side, I am glad about the other adventures and events that happened, and it makes 2022 a really amazing year.
That's all for now, thank you so much for reading. I will see you in the next one.
