So it’s official. I’ve got two days left in Dubai.
I know I keep saying “today has been fun” on this blog. And granted, perhaps it’s getting repetitive for you to read. But honestly, it’s difficult to use other adjectives to describe a genuinely chilled-out, fun kinda day. Today has been fun, and I’m absolutely glad it was.
After a bit of rescheduling, I managed to meet a fitness goal. After that I went and caught up with a really close childhood friend of mine, and his father. That entire family has been a very integral part of my life as I grew up. We grew up as neighbours – living in the same apartment complex and going to the same school. This basically meant that we spent our entire day together. Same car route, same route back, same classes, same portions, same cricket coaching. Same friends circle at school, and the same one at home.
He was the closest neighbourhood friend I had. The fact that he lived literally right below my house made things a lot easier. His was the first house I visited daily, when I wanted to check what we were doing that evening. His was the house I stayed at when my parents wanted to be out late. His was the house our house keys were always at – so I could collect them when I came home from school, and then when I came back from playing in the evening. I knew his family – his grandparents, his cousins, his caretaker, and he knew mine. There was a simple familiarity to our relationship, one I was very pleased to note hadn’t changed over the years. This is despite the fact that we now only meet once in 2 years, perhaps – and only wish each other for our birthdays.
I spent the rest of the evening in my mum’s high school classmates’ house. When she first told me about the invite, I was keen to go, but didn’t expect I would enjoy the evening as much as I did. The food was excellent, and the company was marvelous – across the age groups.
Time to enjoy one last sleep in Dubai.
Tejas Rao 