I AM SMRITI RAI

I don’t know much about what’s going on and what will happen ahead, what’s there to achieve or what's there to leave, where we are meant to go or where we are meant to stay and what we are supposed to be doing but I have cried in several airports (not enough) for now. I have laughed with my colleagues at the same joke for a month in Eastbourne as they served me a raisin cake (the only vegan option that was available). I have belly danced with Arabic ladies, who also showed me their beautiful wedding dresses. I have sat quietly in a random art studio in Bali where they were just painting and they didn't ask me what I was doing there or anything, which I loved. I met a Swiss girl in Bali and within a day we decided to go to Lombok together and had an adventurous time. These are some of the experiences that came to my mind just now. They are just that- experiences. Some are content with accumulating things and that’s great. I am happy with accumulating experiences. Either of them

Your soy milk swirls around your cup and your Illam tea matches the colour of your skin. To form those magical milliseconds, your aunt had to send the golden parcel of unorthodox loose leaves all the way from the country's westernized shopping mall to where you now reluctantly reside. Why the reluctance? because I miss the rooftop... Kathmandu, I was sitting at the rooftop The stars were having their usual debate, I was eavesdropping their conversations, everything came easy in my life, even then, I am not taking a single ounce of my experience for granted, just like this Ilam tea in front of me, I  have always been blessed and fortunate, Kathmandu, a different story you were sitting on the overhead bridge not eavesdropping, marvelling at the stars shining within the city. When you etched your name in each garment that bought your friends a cup of tea, I hope your friends know the pride swirling around in their cup, keeping them warm for a f

Lily checked in the bunk bed above me. It was before Christmas.   Every morning, driving in a lush green countryside to my work, back in England, I dreamt of being in a sunny Australia- Melbourne, to be specific. I have been here before and I loved it. So, there was a bit of certainty that I would love it amongst the waves of uncertainty my direction of life was heading towards.  “You must have really loved it to come back here, again.” - said John. John was to be my gym buddy during my last few days of stay in Melbourne. Yes, I really did love Melbourne, even though it was my first understanding of how the world is not carefully curated inside of your comfort zone and getting out of the comfort zone is not a pretty sight in any given situation. So many times, this city straight down punched me on my gut, slapped me right on my beliefs, and drowned me onto my fears. I walked drenched- soaked in thoughts of leaving the city- only to find a next laundrette, where I could dry an