Category: Blog

I can’t believe it’s here.

I just boarded my flight back to Ahmedabad. This is one of my last flights for the start of the semester, and it’s going to begin a very, very long list of “OLT’s” which are popular on campus – “one last times”. I put out a tweet asking people what they missed from college and it yielded some fun results. I’m hoping to enjoy those, and several more things this year till it’s time to actually bid adieu.

It’s far too early for me to be doing any writing, so I’m going to pass out now.

Hit the gym with caution when you return from one month without using the gym.

Honestly, the trip I just took? It’s motivated me to get back to college and get into a routine right from day one. And I know it’s going to be a struggle, especially because I’ve made myself this promise every single semester since my second year, but I think it’s actually time to put it into action. Genuinely. Because if not now, then when? I’m literally in my final year now, and I think it’s a good year to spend time on the things I want to cultivate as habits to take forth with me as I leave campus.

I’m gaining clarity on what all that means. I know, for example, that I want to understand my faith more in the next one year. I also know that it isn’t something that is time-bound, because its something that’s ever-evolving and changing, but it is genuinely something I wish to understand – atleast at a level I’m comfortable with.

My faith is everything I believe in. Including Haji Ali Cafeteria’s Mozarella Cheese Pizza. I don’t know how I spent a whole month here without eating this, and I’m so glad my parents took me out to have the pizza. Genuinely – it’s one of the greatest times about visiting this city.

I found a show!

I found a show. I’m getting my parents hooked onto The Crown before I leave. It’s good timing too – the trailer for the third season, which looks positively stunning. And they’ve gotten hooked. Hopefully they catch up by the time the new season comes out.

I’m getting pampered a lot, being here. I wonder how I’ll cope with college when I do eventually return.

I’m truly blessed. I managed to plan the trip in such a way that I’m getting to spend 3 days with my parents before I fly off to University.

The only kinda sad part is that it’s after the Eid holidays. I’m grateful that the weekend here is Friday-Saturday, so my parents and I will get extra time together.

Nothing tastes nicer than the rasam my mother makes. And I’ve praised a lot of rasams on this blog in the past, including my own, and including Rasam cubes, but my mothers’ rasam is the first rasam I can recall tasting, and the only taste that lingers on my tongue throughout University.

Which is why the greatest thing my mom did was to make it for lunch.

Actually, scratch that. She made gulab jamuns.

I can’t believe she managed that. She’s been so so busy these past few days. I don’t know where she got the time, and I’m glad she had the confidence in herself, because I can’t remember when the last time was that I ate jamuns made from her hand.

I just need to find us a show to binge-watch, and this holiday will be perfect.

I spent one day on a flight.

That’s what I call, Airtime, Baby.

I’ve also fallen in love with flight reports, so here goes:

The reason the word count is reducing is not because I’m tired. It’s because I’m running out of adjectives, and it’s very, very difficult to adequately communicate everything I’m experiencing. This should help.

You should go, if you can.

Today I saw the International Court of Justice and made a new friend.

I don’t have words to explain how intensely passionate I am about public international law at the moment and how inspired I am to one day be in this city and hopefully have the opportunity of visiting the Peace Palace as more than just a tourist.

The kind acts of acquaintances have really touched my heart this month. Today was no exception.

In my first year, I participated in a moot court competition on space law, a field of public international law that doesn’t traditionally have too much literature. I was fortunate enough to do well at the competition. More crucially though, I got exposure and interacted with people I wouldn’t have ever dreamed of interacting.

Once I decided that I was going to Cologne, I ensured I got in touch with them.

They drove down to Cologne and spent the entire morning and afternoon with me. They took me all around the Center of the city and the cathedral, and were kind enough to spend time with me telling me about the history of the town and what its architecture represents. That’s all well and good, but they did this on a Sunday afternoon? With someone they met only once, four years ago?

I’m very, very blessed.

I’m also blessed that my University played host to a very, very kind person who has since become a friend, and I was able to spend the night at his place. I cherish the time he spent here in Gujarat – for he genuinely seemed happy here, and I was really happy to see him in his hometown, where he ensured my own happiness.

I’m writing this while I’m on a train to Cologne on the next day, early in the morning, around 6:45AM. That’s important, because it’s proof of the fact that I can wake up early when I really want to. How wild.

I was in Nuremberg all of today.

This trip has been planned to be an international law/history pilgrimage. I know there’s a lot I’m going to miss, and a lot I’m ignoring here – but I want to see Nurnberg, Koln, and Den Haag.

Nuremberg was absolutely beautiful. I had cats at my Airbnb: Gatto and Gatta, and after sleeping for 2 hours, I decided that the only way I wanted to explore the city was by foot. I mapped out my destinations, figured out that I could walk everywhere, and decided not to take public transport only because I wanted to see as much of the city as I could. Even while traveling. Best/Worst decision ever. I walked 22 kilometers I think.

But I saw so much. There’s so much different terrain here. That isn’t worth dwelling too much on, but it’s stunning! I ended up on a beaten forest path at one point, and another point I was in a beautiful park.

I spent time at the Imperial Castle, the Nazi Documentation Center, and I spent time at the Nuremberg Trial Memorial.

The weight of our history, as a species, dawned on me only then. We carry a lot of burden, and we don’t really realize it at all. What’s worse, is that we’ve sort of failed to learn from those mistakes.

Individuals perpetrated some really horrible things in the past, and we really, really need to prevent them from doing them in the forthcoming years. I don’t think we’ve done enough.

It’s very heartening to see people take time out to teach people. It restores faith in humanity for me. Why? Because knowledge transcends generations, and experience – especially experiences people aren’t fond of, are experiences that enable people to learn.

While over the entire month, I’ve interacted with enough people who have been kind enough to give me their time and offer me information about their own experiences in international law – and how they got to where they are, but today holds a special place in my memory, because my own boss spent time with us. He spent time with us over tea, answering any questions that we had, offering anecdotes, and suggesting ways to go about achieving what we wanted to achieve. It was a splendid afternoon, one I’m very pleased to have had.

On the whole though, today has been amazing. I managed to pick up UN memorabilia for everyone I wanted to, I left my suitcase with an acquaintance to look after, and I reached my bus stop on time. I got photos with Jaska and with my host, and I did meet my flatmate and spend time with her again. It’s strange, but this month appears to have gotten us closer than we were, something I’m grateful for – because we don’t speak much in college. She’s suggested we go out for meals sometimes so we continue being as close as we are right now, and I plan to take her up on it.

I’ve learnt so much. This month has burned several images into the fabric of my memory, and I can’t wait to talk to my parents about it. I’ve learnt a lot about myself – my own limitations, my passions, and what motivates me to get up and go to work everyday. I know now, more than ever, that while I’d like to spend time outside India some day, I want to go back. I know how important it is to me.

Off to Germany and the Netherlands. Time for my solo trip.

I’m packing up. It’s pretty ridiculous. I’ve done 3 countries over the weekends and I’ve seen so many things using a small suitcase. I managed to unpack completely and stay in this Airbnb like it was my own home.

Having to go through the place and check obscure places I may have left things like socks or even a shirt? It feels like I’m moving from my room in the hostel somewhere else.

The next couple of days promise some real adventure. I’m literally leaving this place tomorrow morning itself so there’s some pretty heartfelt thank you’s and bye-bye’s to be said. So many emotions.

How do you thank people who made your month away from home, and all of your homes, feel homely?

It’s Wednesday now. I need to put laundry and take a look at the stock in the fridge to figure out what to cook so we can finish off as many groceries as possible. I’m likely to end up cooking some form of channa + vegetables in the next two days. Going to be an exciting time!

There’s a really, really cute husky dog here. The first time I was introduced to the breed was through books and movies, but I understood more about the husky when my friend moved to Boston. He studies at Northeastern (Go Huskies!) and I ended up reading a lot about them.

I’m going to miss Jaska when I leave. She’s an ideal friend to come home to and relax with. Spending time with her in the garden and petting her when I went to hang clothes to try, patting her when I said goodbye for the day and having her poke her nose through the kitchen door to sniff what I was making? I’m going to miss that.