Farewell Thoughts. (Karnataka Journals, Part 4)

          Every trip teaches you something. And this trip taught me a lot. Doing the dreading thing is the first step out of your comfort zone and I'm so happy that I did that. I had so many concerns about how this trip was going to be. These are a few lessons which I learned from this trip:

1. Actual industrial visits.

          We visited two industries. It was nothing to do with our course but I guess that's how it is. I tried to get an interest nevertheless. At HAL, I saw some aircraft models. At DMS Technologies, I learned some engineering stuff about production of Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) It was some good knowledge addition.

2. Second class isn't as horrible as I thought it would be.

          I have always travelled in AC trains. So when I first understood it was going to be non-AC 2nd class, I decided on not going. But, it wasn't that much of a horrible experience. Because all my friends were together, we managed it well. Rather, they managed it well and I just sat there doing nothing. (I had my occasional rants, of course, but I made it through the tedious 22 hour train journey, twice!) If you ever find yourself at such an impasse, just go with it. Cheaper flight tickets or moderate hotels. You'll always find that not everything is as hopeless as it exists in your imagination. 

3. I wasn't homesick.

          I remember the last time which was the first time I travelled without my family and got horribly homesick. I had expected the same this time. But, I don't know how, I didn't miss home at all. I kept messaging them and talking on the home but it wasn't like I won't survive a week without them. I managed pretty well, I think. The weird thing is I missed my best friends, Priyanka and Suruchi more than anyone else!

4. Travelling with strangers is better than travelling with friends.

          No offence to any of my friends here. You all are amazing people and I loved spending time with you. I'd have loved travelling alone especially when we were in the bus. Everyone wants loud music to which they can dance and you can't even hear your own thoughts at such times. So that just sucked. The travelling part I'd have preferred doing alone because there's no one to please, no judgements and no need to try to fit in.

5. Living with friends.

          Travelling with them was not that great. But living with them was fun. We were 12 people sharing three rooms between us. You really get to know someone when you live with them. So yeah, it was fun. I loved our Coorg resort the best. We had a big balcony where we spent a lot of time.

I made some new friends too. I understood a bit more about everyone. It was nice to be there.

The guys!

The girls!
Photo Credit : Omkar Vaidya

6. But first, I won't take a selfie.

          Let me just say it. I'm sick of selfies. People take selfies while eating candy floss. People take selfies with elephants. People take selfies while swimming. I think the addiction is too much. I take selfies too but I get bored after some time. There should be some limit to it. You go to see a palace. Then just see the palace. If your hobby is photography, take some great clicks of the palace. Why's there the need to put your half head and the half tomb of the palace in it to make it an imperfect picture? Anyway, I'm no one to say that. Do what makes you happy, whatever. This is one of the three good selfies I took.

7. Being myself.

          I realised that I cannot be myself with everyone. There are a few people whose wavelength matched mine. Some of them understand my thinking before I say it and can play sarcasm with it. That's fun. But some people I don't think I can ever match with. I'm not awfully silent with everyone. I do have a say and if I'm not comfortable with you, I won't say it. So yeah, that isn't ideal but that's how I function. So I'm glad I could find some friends who understand that. It has been a great journey with you all. Kripali, Omkar, Shreyas, Amogh, Omkar, Devashree, Nupur, Ankita, Avanti, Pritam, Shikha; you people are awesome. Thank you for all the memories! :)