Two Years Since

And it seems like just the other day when I was on the flight from Muscat to Gurgaon.

A city which I had heard only evil things about – so near the big bad Delhi (as most Bengalis perceive and teach their children), where everything is ‘unsafe’, extremely expensive, impersonal and positively scary.

Just the other day that I was looking for paying-guest rooms and people to stay with in this new city.

Just the other day that I was meekly walking through the doors of a company called Edelman India.

Today marks two years to that day.

What an extraordinary journey it has been.

I have learned much – in the business of public relations or about what we call life. I have met some amazing people, made solid friendships and sustained the ones I already treasured. I made friends with solitude and began to do many things which I previously feared. I have travelled on the expense of clients. I have become brave. I have toured in North India. I have cried quietly in the office washrooms. I have eaten what are probably the most varying and exhilarating cuisines available. I have experienced an actual winter and heard my teeth chatter. I have known what a real ‘team’ at work felt like and watched it dissolve into nothingness. I have celebrated Durga Pujo in office and visited the crazy crowded CR Park pandals, each year. I have watched probably every movie that has released. I have screamed aloud from the top of a building.  I have worked for upto 65 hours a week and loved it. I have attended weddings of three women whom I hold dear. I have walked in the rain. I have made myself English breakfast. I have stayed up night drinking and singing. I have shared intimate secrets. I have grown up.