The Traveller I am— When it started?

The Traveller I am— When it started?

payel@Turtlegotwings

#SpeakEasyWithRuchiNDips

‘About my dream!! Rest of the answers will be easy.. I know my hobbies.. but dream? What is my dream? What is it that I can call to be MY dream?’ As I was listening to my colleagues answering one after another, I was getting lost in my thoughts in between as I didn’t know what to say about my dream!!

We all were shivering at the sudden drop of temperature in that basement banquet of the hotel in Madanpura, Mumbai. Outstation staffs from Delhi and Kolkata were specially called to Mumbai office on those specially-operating-for-the-corporate-clients’ flight; when we got to see the sun still yawning at the horizon, the passengers however already bathed, combed and at their very best formals to crack the hard day were buckled inside the aircraft looking at the airhostess performing the hatha-yoga at the instruction of another fast forwarded voice of an airhostess; and all these blood-sleeplessness and tears (speaking for myself) were to attend this special sales training over the weekend which was being held in a banquet at the basement of a hotel in the city of Mumbai, which seemed more like a freezer was converted into a rectangular classroom as a last moment of running out of arrangement!!

Though the temperature outside was nothing less than 38 degree that day, but any temperature below normal (actually close to minus in that basement) thickens my as-it-is-below-the-average thinking capacity than any other logical being considering the age, height and weight.

So coming back to the whole situation, our trainer for this work-call on a weekend, was a slim-trim medium height corporate HR with a little round tummy sticking out in comparison to his otherwise okay body shape; with a strange name which was hard to pronounce very fluently at a go for me, asked for an introduction from each and every one of us before starting his highly expensive coaching to these corporate geeks (by the way one of the bosses also took part in this training!! So it’s just a joke okay?? Just forget that line!)

‘I want all of you to tell your name, where are you from, about your hobbies and what is your dream? We will start with the row at my right, then we move to the left and like this with the other rows. Okay? Let’s start with you then.’

‘… I like listening music, shopping.. my dream.. I just want to be with my family, I love spending time with them.’ one of the 20 in the group started.

‘What do I want? Do I even have a dream?’ ‘Everybody has a dream.. Then where’s mine!’ ‘May be you forgot it at the womb!’  ‘I don’t have a dream!! I don’t have.. even one single dream!!’

‘… I love reading books, long drive, travelling. My dream is to be an entrepreneur one day.’

‘… I love spending time with my daughter, every Saturday we go to the park together, this is what I like.’

‘Okay, next.’

‘I DON’T have a dream?’ ‘But I saw a mouse chasing me this morning because I was looking like a big triangular yellow cheese!!’ My inner-self was about to set me ablaze with a glaring stare.. ‘Yaa right.. that’s not what I want in life..’

‘…. I love baking’… another cuddly cute girl was speaking.

‘What do you want then?’ ‘I don’t know..’ ‘What do you like?’ ‘That’s part of the hobby..’ ‘Answer..’

‘I love music, reading..’ ‘Stop copying others.. talk about yourself..’

‘…. I love to travel…’ ‘And..??’ ‘And!’ … …‘AND.’

‘… I like playing video games, cricket, I want to go to Antarctica some day.’ Said my chasmish buddy and bench partner for the day.

‘Oh that’s nice, your turn.’

‘My name is Payel, I am from Kolkata..’

‘Oh Kolkata, how’s the weather there?’ asked the excited proficient trainer.

‘It’s monsoon time!’

‘Oh, I will be in Kolkata next week, is it raining there?’

‘Not much, some frequent showers. Nothing serious as of now.’

‘That’s good. Continue.’

‘Food, music and books are something that helps me to spend my leisure time. About my dream.. One day I want to travel all by myself and see the world.’

The Proficient trainer didn’t say, Okay next immediately! Rather few heads from the front rows turned towards me and then to the front again.. Was it that weird!!

‘That’s a dream to look at!’

Really?? Yes really.. Because this dream of mine had been Maleficent’s sleeping curse since I first spoke about it to my parents couple of years ago, only my own kiss of true love could awake it.. and that’s why I kept forgetting this dream of mine…

This training I am talking about was 5 years ago and it was finally 3 years after that training, I broke the glass bed, kissed my sleeping dream still shining yellow and won it against the world.. I became a Solo Traveller…

*** This writing challenge is a part of Speakeasy season 2, organized by Ruchi Verma and Dipika Singh. The theme this year is ‘Travel’

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