This day last year, 29th Aug, 2013, I stepped out
of my home to reach a destination more than 11,000km away. A journey full of
dreams and aspirations, excitements and fears. Honestly speaking, I was way more
excited than scared. I was going to Montreal, Canada. They say every Punjabi
should once visit Canada and I was performing my duty.. No kiddings!! ;)
Anyways, so there I was, ALONE on a journey that would lead
me to a foreign land across the Atlantic Ocean! I had not met the landlady and
had only seen the pictures of the house I’ll be living in, I didn’t know of the
culture there, I had barely started learning how to blabber some words in
French (Quebec is francophone after all) and I would have to survive on the
food I cook or at the expensive eat-outs (Can’t pick which one was the worse
option, back then). I had a long layover at Frankfurt, Germany and I was so stirred
up when I landed there. This was my first step in a country other than India.
Somehow I made my way through the long layover and boarded my next flight.
Immigration at Canada took longer than expected and all I was hoping for was my
bags to be safe! Of course, one priority at a time.. I can’t tell you how
elated I was when I boarded the taxi. I had to get pinched to assure me it wasn’t
a dream. I was wondering when did I actually get the nerves to go so far on my
own, while as a schoolgirl, I used to be so afraid to go anywhere alone. I had
surely come a long way from there! My journeys to Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune,
Ahmedabad were the stepping stones to this day.
I visited Canada and USA in the best season ever, September
to December. I got to see the leaves change colours (from green to red, pink,
brown and yellow), drench in the water of Niagara falls and feel the first snow
of my life in Labrador City. Such a myriad of experiences.! I went to Toronto with
my classmates, thanks to the sponsored trip by our professor and to Labrador
City in a Chartered flight as a part of a project work. I love travelling and I
loved it even more when I didn’t have to pay for it ;)
How can I forget to mention the back-crunching bus ride to
the USA, the short stay in New York and Washington DC. It was worth all the
effort. Though I couldn’t get to see the Statue of Liberty and the West Coast, they
are still there in my travel list. I hope to see them one day.
I lived one day at a time in North America for those 4
months, everyday learning something new and thanking the Lord and my parents
for giving me the opportunity to find myself. I’m so glad that I took that
trip, it made me a much stronger person from within. It gave me a better vision
to accept people from cultures different from my own country and to have a broad
mindset without being judgmental of anyone.
When I returned to India, I must agree that I was a
different person.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Hope you liked the post. :)