The celestine prophecy is true!

I stopped reading "Break ke baad" ka review and came here to quickly blog. Why? Because the review said something like this : "But this movie is not just about temporary break-ups or how time away can get a couple to appreciate each other better (as you would've expected). It feeds on the alluring idea of exploring the unknown within us while following one's dreams. And that is exactly what Aaliya wants to do. Having dated just Abhay ever since, her life feels incomplete and she needs a break. Not necessarily to date other people but to experience a different life in an unknown world. Gold Coast tourism board and an Australian university come to the rescue with some not-so-subliminal in-film advertising and Aaliya is on her way to the land of beer and beaches (and to pursue a course in mass communication) for a year."

Mass communication for an year in Australia... breaking up with the boyfriend to explore that unknown side. To connect with the insides... the insights spoken of in the book "the celestine prophecy" that talk about being full within instead of looking for someone to complete you on the outside.

Isn't this a co-incidence to find a movie on the same line of thought while I am reading a book which explains a similar phenomenon? It only proves the theories explained in the book right. The book asks people to read the signs, the co-incidences which happen to often, the people you chance upon so often.. they all bring a message which would be an answer to the current questions in your head. This concept is repetitively explained in the book and so believably, some of it I have read and almost shrieked that it has happened to me as well!!

The book has come to me at a very appropriate time. For starters it has come to me because I am ready. For a lot of reasons I can relate my current thoughts to what they were when I had gone in for STP in rishikesh. All those deep insights I had about my life, all the things I learnt from ordinary experiences, every weird thought I was apprehensive to share with anyone got affirmed in SM. The same has happened to me after reading The Celestine Prophesy. It is helping me unlearn, unknot and review everything in my life as one big story.

The beauty of reading words that are so simple and easy to understand is that you have already experienced all of it in motion.

Isn't it a delight to have someone describe your emotions for you and that too so flawlessly?

And when you find the perfect words.. the celestine prohesy proves to be right once again. Like the review concludes the flavor of the movie for everyone by these words "before finding the one for you, go find yourself. "

Perfect!

How Goa happened

The idea to go Goa and that too in a car was of a friends'. He, like a few of the close buds knows about my illogical travel desires, but that that he is an equally crazy traveller, I re-discovered when he called me and proposed this idea. Why I use 're' is because he himself happens to be a mountaineer, an expeditioner. 10 years back I first met him at a trekking camp where he was a coach and we have been friends ever since.

So yeah, he proposed the idea and instantly I connected with it. To drive down to the land of beaches, firangs and all things crazy with a set of enthusiastic friends seemed like a great idea. The coming weekend we gathered at Sahdev's house-the one who made the plan and to my delight he had got maps of Maharashtra and inside Goa. The vibe in the house was so amazing... I touched wood atleast 10 times everytime I heard them discuss Goa. We spread the maps on the floor we sat around it scanning the route with our fingers. According to the plan we would be leaving Ahmedabad and be reaching Lonavala that night, leave next morning and reach Goa in the evening. We would stay there for 3 nights, 4 days and start the return journey on the 5th day and be back home by the 6th evening. A few days later Sahdev called me up to give me another brilliant news. He had managed to find a flat not very far from Calengute beach. It had 2 air conditioned bedroom and a fully functional kitchen and it was costing us 2000 per night!! 2000 between the 5 of us seemed like a dream! This was beginning to be the most economical first travel trip I was ever going to get to be part of!

Why economical is so much of a turn on is because my life is still about priorities. Just 15 days back I got my 3 year old cell phone repaired because otherwise I would had to spend a fortune buying a new one and keeping in mind my current expenses plus the Goa trip, I could not afford that. So to have a flat in Goa definitely came as a good news. We quickly did the maths and concluded that the per head per night expense reduced greatly because we would not be staying in hotels anymore.

With the route and the stay sorted, the trip materialized in front of my eyes more clearly. To discover that your friends are crazy about travelling as much as you are is a boon. To have people who are eccentric yet organised is a blessing. I was besotted by the enthusiastic vibe which was brimming in the room the other night when we all sat discussing the trip. You know when you wish for something and it suddenly takes place you are sort of scared to touch it fearing it would crumble or it maybe your illusion. I had similar feelings about the discussions. I had planned a travel trip but one this perfect! God definitely heard my prayers!

Another interesting thing to know is how Goa has affected each one of us. Collectively, it has been a lot of getting together and re-planning the plan(only because it feels good :D). Individually we all have are different ways of expressing our eagerness. Sahdev, the one brimming with child-like enthusiasm has set Goa pictures as his wall paper. He sends me pics from his last visit to Goa and keeps pinging me on gtalk ever too often just to say in his typical style, "Darlingggggggggg, 5 days to go!!" :P. Laxmi is hoping she fits into the denim shorts Sahdev got for her(they are a couple btw) from janpath. She is the most level headed amongst us 5. Next comes Samarth, Aditi's husband, who looks docile at first glance but is fun loving. He poses along with us while we pretend to plan, think, plan GOA. Aditi, has gone on a diet spree, just to fit into those 'chote kapde' and me... I have begun to pen down details, I am gearing myself for all there is to come. I am mentally preparing myself to finally set out on a journey I have always waited to be on.

Goa and the way it makes me feel :)

Eat Pray Love is so close to what I have felt that it has made me cry. To read words that you have said to some one somewhere, to hear Julia's alter ego speak to her like mine has spoken to me at some point and time, to have those moments of realisation that I need to change, to set out on a quest to look within, it is all that I can relate with. Its like seeing my own life unfold scene by scene.

As I was watching, I thought of the moments when I told myself I would set out to travel, that I will travel solo. I thought of the number of times I swore to myself secretly that I would be a serious travel writer, the number of times I made plans to go on weekend trips or diwali hols only to see them go down the drain and then going to a supermall and buying shorts and tee and telling to my friends this is for my goa trip.. I have had it planned in my head so much, so many times, it had to materialise.

Today when Julia was telling her friend in the movie about how strongly she felt the need to travel to 3 places, I felt fantastic. When she relished on her pastas in Italy, when she piled on weight and dint give a damn, when she missed her love, when she sat in Augustine's cave and wondered about her own life, when she gorged on food and along with this learnt to speak Italian fluently, I felt that unquestionable faith re-instate inside me. Her stay at the secluded indian ashram, her awesome friendship with Richard from texas her meditation cum last dance with her husband and her purpose to come to India being fulfilled and at last the wild elephant coming to her was like Gods affirmations for all the hours of meditation she put in there.

Julia's lessons with Bali's medicine man Ketut Liyer, her destiny that leads her to meet The Man who she finally ends up being with takes me to another planet. The concept to travel solo is so beautiful from the start. The way the journey is laid out is so flawless. How can you go wrong when you consciously set out on a mission to search within you. How many do that? How many Elizabeth Gilbert's out there? I will hesitantly raise my hand here. I might not have plans to write a book on my own life, love and loss but I definitely want to go exploring the world. The nomad in me is always groping for those moments of solace, those times walking alone in flea markets in some hippie land, those lazy times sipping a cup of coffee sitting inside a shack while withdrawing my gaze from the distant ocean, of having to listen to guitar at night near the fire on the sea shore... hmmmm

I am already in Goa!!