If only I could turn back time...

When you’re ardently and excitedly looking forward to an event, occasion or day, often when the day finally arrives, your expectations aren’t quite met. Sometimes, things fall short, something goes wrong, or it simply just doesn’t feel right. This is exactly what I did NOT experience in the month of August. My sister coming home after five years and our family reuniting at home was something I had been looking forward to for, well, five years. And every moment of it was blissful and even far exceeded my expectations.

We travelled, we ate, we shopped, we talked, we cried, we laughed this August. Eight flights in one month—though I’m tired of aircrafts, if I was asked to jump on a flight to be with my sister and family right now, I’d be on it in a Mumbai minute.

From Bombay to Calcutta to Bombay to Goa to Bombay to Calcutta to Chennai to Colombo to Kandy to Colombo to Bentota to Colombo to Chennai to Calcutta and back to Bombay. Phew. I took my sister eating and shopping in Bombay; we relaxed and strolled on the beach in Goa; we took in the sights and sounds of beautiful Sri Lanka, and we were home in Calcutta. Home. One of my biggest realisations this month was that blood is indeed thicker than water. People may promise to always be by your side, but after these people are long gone, it is only your family (and a few friends who are family) who will stick around, no matter how turbulent or dysfunctional familial relationships may be.

Sri Lanka is a wonderfully gorgeous country – a must-visit for all. You will be impressed before you even touchdown at Colombo. The people are warm and friendly, the streets (and bathrooms) are clean and spotless, and there’s much to see and experience. Our stays both in Kandy, the hill station and Bentota, the beach destination, were luxurious, informative, exciting and super fun.

It’s not that the month of August was completely blemish-free. There was a downer, but perhaps the blow was softened because I was around the people who loved me unconditionally. I met some interesting people, too – inspirational even. I also came back with a fuller wardrobe of clothes and shoes.

Back in Bombay for a week and the depression hasn’t quite lifted. I keep thinking, if only I could turn back time, ten days ago, this time I was with...

All your life, you expect it to take a certain direction, and you make choices that will push it further in that direction. And then, most often, life will take a complete detour, with you realising only too late, and then you wonder, where the hell am I? Something like that, this feeling.

There were certain things I wanted, I thought would happen—I thought I’d be happy. But life has its own way of showing you who’s in control. Yes, point taken. The mind understands and is willing to concede, but yaar, iss kambakht dil ka kya kare? All the heart wants to do is, what if...