The Next Bend

Come 19th May, and I'll set out on a journey which takes me to a life which was long awaited, had been dreamt of in the past, then forgotten, virtually given up on at a point in time, but one fine day emerged from nowhere and presented a sweet surprise! The journey which takes me back to a life where I won't need to wait for the third day of the month to receive my salary slip, where I won't need to worry about the income tax returns, where I won't need to invest a huge amount of money in investment plans to save on some of my hard earned money which would have otherwise helped pump the government's treasures!
For the next year, I'd officially be a student again.

The last day at work this Friday, launched the countdown to the big day, when for the first time I'll leave the luxuries that come with being at home with family, to search for a space for my head, not only outside the bounds of this city I'm so in love with, but also this country that I feel strongly rooted to.
Going away from the friends who were always around in the good and the bad times and some relatives who have always been special, the restaurants that have given me reasons to honour their tables time and time again and the coffee shops that have been the homes for some of the best conversations I've had, the occasional photowalks that kept my Sunday mornings busy and the more regular, beloved post-dinner walks in my own company!

!!SNAP!!

Putting the sadness to rest, there's a new world to look forward to, and my word am I excited! I feel like a kid inside, who's promoted to the next grade in school and is waiting for the new session to start. Awaiting a new set of people that I'd call batchmates, some of them who'd become good friends, some who'd add their names to the ever overflowing list of acquaintances, and some who I might never see again after a year, but all adding to the experience of learning from each other, of togetherness, and contributing to each other's personal growth. It'll be the year that will finally give my career the direction that I had been longing for. And hopefully, at the end of it, I'd finally be having a good time at my workplace for all the right reasons. And for someone who loves travelling, spending quality time in two new cities, meeting their natives, getting an opportunity to immerse into two new cultures and maybe managing to pick up snatches of their local languages, it all suits me perfectly fine!

As promising as it sounds, I can expect this year to be highly taxing, as is characteristic of B-schools. But as the saying goes and I do believe, "Once you're in it, you'll get through it!"
I hope that this will turn out to be one of the most memorable years of my life. Insha-Allah!