My first step!

The sun rose slowly in the sky. You could see its glinting gaze through the clouds, like the eye of a lazy dragon in a manga anime. It felt surreal. It was over an hour since the six thousand women including myself had all assembled on the grounds. The guy leading the zumba routine and his two female sidekicks were now on a fast beat and their rhythm was catching on, much like the fun Mexican wave he'd taught us a little earlier.

And then it was our turn—the 3k participants. Like skittish livestock we took tentative steps out of the ground and on to the street. Here I was, participating in my first run. Finally. Well, I walked mostly, but also ran much more than I ever have. There were so many first timers like me and of different ages, shapes, and sizes, and we were all determined to finish what we had undertaken to do.

I had signed up for the easiest, not wanting to stretch my capability and also because my goals for 2014 had not detailed any specific target. Maybe my confidence in my effort was at a low when I was writing my goals. Well, I must admit that finishing felt good. The medallion on a pink ribbon would be a reminder that I had kept my word indeed. To myself. 5k next?

Travel Mania

I dream about traveling the world. Well, who doesn’t! Who doesn’t love the adventure and serendipitous discovery that travel provides? However, I’d like to think my yearning is much more and it stems from something deeper, and is inexplicable, even to me. So you can imagine my delight when I came across a slew of words that came close to describing this inner hankering.

Sehnsucht. It means the inconsolable longing in the human heart for we know not what, a yearning for a far, familiar unearthly land one can identify as one’s home. While I do consider Pune and India my home, deep down, I always feel I am still looking for a place where I truly belong … see, I told you it is difficult to explain this crazy dichotomy of restlessness and yearning for stillness! (There's a word for this affliction too—Alexithymia, which means the inability to express emotions in a verbal manner!)

Then there are Saudade and Hiraeth, which are related words that explain the nostalgia associated with the yearning.

So here’s the weirdness… I don’t know what I’m looking for in the first place or whether I will find it or even if it exists! Anyway, I like that the last word, Fernweh, sums up my travel craving without being overly dramatic or profound like the other three. It means being homesick for a place I’ve never been! Go figure!