I have this habit of ‘Paraakku paarthyfying’ (a colloquial term in Tamil) which means looking around and observing places and people. That includes observing myself too :-). Many times what I see brings a smile on my face and also with it some thoughts and reflections.  A recent solo travel to Delhi and back caught me ‘Paraakku paarthufying’. Sharing some of those ‘paraakku paathufying’ experiences in this blog.. Happy reading and smiling!!!

Solo travel – something that I have done quite many times, long long ago so long ago but never found an opportnuity to do it after that.  When the opportnity to attend a wedding in the family presented itself, it felt too good to let it pass. There was a shade of nervousness of travelling alone to a not so familiar place after quite many years and to a place where the spoken language is one that I smatter in. I stepped out of my home with loads of excitement and some nervousness.

As though showering me with all the necessary blessings for a wonderful trip, enroute to the airport, a light breeze that blew brought down a whole lot of dry leaves. As the leaves landed on the roof of the car, came the pitter patter sound – light and calming and setting the rhytm for the trip.

I had to have my much needed tea after I reached the airport. As I was seated at the restaurant, saw some having a breakfast at 7 pm in the morning –  a mini tiffin that had idli, vada, pongal and a dosa on the tray. Oops, that’s a heavy one that early in the morning, was my thought. It looked tempting but the breakfast packed in my backpack stared at me, quite invisibly.

Settled for having a cuppa!! Saw this lady at the table next to me walking out of the restaurant with no luggage in tow. No luggage? Oh wow!!, was my thought. WIthin a few minutes, she walked back into the restaurant and wheeled her luggage out with a smile. Looks like she forgot her to take it with her when she walked out. Lucky that she found her luggage safe and sound!!

It doesn’t matter what job you do but whatever you do, do it with a smile. A lady doing housekeeping in the washrooms, cleans it and greets whoever walks out with a “Happy journey, ma’am”. The twinkle in her eyes, the smile on her face and this greeting from her heart was so infectious that I couldn’t but smile at her and return the wish; interacting with her lifted my spirits, bringing with it a spring in my step. Extra blessing!! :-).

I realised that traveling with friends or family means that one of them will lead the walk in the plane and indicate the seat to sit in. This time with no one with me, I looked around to see where the indicators for the seat numbers are. Found it and breathed a sigh of relief only to look puzzled in a few seconds. There was some L shaped drawing next to the seat numbers and I didn’t know what that indicated. Which was the window and which was the aisle seat and what did the L mean? Whew!! Now what?? My latest mantra is “When you want help, ask!!” I asked the young  gentlemen who was seated in the row behind, if my seat number was the aisle one or the window one. With a wide and cute smile, he answered me. Help begets help – he missed hearing the announcement on which belt the baggage will arrive at, when we were about to deboard; and asked me the belt number. I also smiled widely and cutely and answered him. Strangers connecting with one another, though fleetingly!!

Save the best for the last – though this happened almost at the start of the journey, this experience still brings a smile when I think of it. The coins in my wallet got picked in the security check but this time something else also caught their attention. When my bag went into the ‘extra check’ belt, the person checking the baggage told me that there was something like a tube and asked what it was. I dug into one of the compartents of my bag and took out what looked like a tube. He looked at it and then at me and asked, “Ma’am, what is this?”. When I told him that it is a chalk holder, he asked me if I was a teacher. I smiled and said, “Special educator”. His return smile spoke volumes and I walked from there with much pride!!! Being a special educator is not a profession, it is life!!!

A trip that was very very special in more ways than one – attending a wedding in the close family circle, meeting many many relatives and meeting some after many many years, enjoying watching the breath vapour or steam coming out of the mouth (due to the cold weather in Delhi) and the solo travel that brought out the free child in me, savouring each and every moment!!!

Joys in life are not just in those big achievements.. it is also in those experiences that brings out the free child in us, making us savour moments and memories!! Life is certainly a celebration!!