The short hot stopover in Singapore was much needed. It was a break from the world, spending a full day at home, doing nothing, curing my ‘jet lag’ and talking with the mother. In less than 4 days I unpacked four months’ worth of stuff, dumped what I needed into another bag, and was off to the land of curries. Of course in between I squeezed in romps with my dear oyster omelet, Rochor tauhuey, wanton mee with heaps of chilli and Korean BBQ and caught up with friends ^^v

Throughout my exchange I was yearning to go back to India (especially towards the end). Long bus rides reminded me of India, a cup of Chai would spring forth so many memories that I longed to go back so much. Those little nuances, little motifs that appeared so subconsciously made my heart ache to go back.

So here I am. Back in India, and the past six days I’ve been staying alone, settling down and getting into the routine of life. Yet something feels so different, so empty, and I realize it’s not India that I fell in love with; it’s the company I met here. India merely provided a backdrop for us to have fun and create memories that have been embossed in my mind so deeply I felt the need to do something about them. You see, you can’t erase memories; not when they have been etched in your heart like that. The only thing you can do about them then is to overwrite these memories with new ones. The scathes of time will slowly weather its way and erode the memories from the previous trip and new ones will take their place. I hope.

4^th day at work and I haven't been assigned much work yet, but I’m reading up a lot on public relations and this world is so different from what I have been cocooned in.  It seems like I bring a lot of internet disruptions wherever I go though (thank God the internet is working here but the intranet is down so my colleagues can’t access their emails. That is really a boo boo for a PR agency since you communicate with your clients primarily via email). So I walked around and asked my colleagues what they do on a day to day basis, and I think I would like to work in the PR industry. I've been reading up about the industry, getting informed, correcting any misconceptions I've had thus far, and in my opinion, the PR industry contains more substance than marketing (oops). I’m not writing marketing off my list of future options, but I would definitely re-arrange that list and put PR ahead. Writing is a main bulk of the job and that’s precisely what I would love to do.

All the time I have on my hands have also opened up a world of discoveries. I’m reading significantly more than I expected to, and I've been thinking about living alone in future. I wonder what life would be like when my parents pass away, and I try to push those thoughts out of my mind but they come back with a terrible vengeance in my sleep. I think I am missing them too much, and all this time abroad has made me think of them more. A 180 degree difference from last year’s stint where I could nary be bothered to Whatsapp them. Now I find myself texting them on a daily basis, regardless of whether they reply or not and bombarding them with words I could never bring myself to say. Perhaps this is what time does to us, and how I have to learn to deal with this hugeass pride that I've been lugging around. I've been too proud to say words when they are needed the most. That I want to change.