I went for a three day retreat to this hill station called Mt. Abu in Rajasthan, India.
We stayed at this exceptionally beautiful property, The Palace Hotel- Bikaner House. Which happens to be owned and run by one of my uncles, from my mothers side of the family.
Though my mother had spent a reasonable amount of time there, and though my parents got married at that place, I never before had the opportunity to visit it.
Believe me, it is one of those places you just cannot forget. The road climbs up the slope to where the palace is situated, with flowers and creepers springing up along the side of the road. You wind your way up to the huge palace building with it’s tennis courts, which happen to be the highest in Western India, huge grounds along with a lake at the base of the hill. The towering coniferous trees seem an anomaly in the dry deserts of Rajasthan. All in all, the entire environment is one which calls for people to have a silent get away; tucked away in one of the quite corners of the huge estate with a book and a glass of wine, champagne or beer, at any time of the day, enjoying the magnificent views of the hillside.
Though, this may have started off as a description of my three day holiday, this is not about that, it is in fact about of the of realisations that dawned on me while I was staying there.
I met this uncle of mine, properly, for the first time this time, and I really hope it isn’t the last. He happens to be one of those people whom you just love being around, you could spend your entire life with them without getting bored for one second. He’s annoyingly intellectual (a quality I absolutely love in people), but doesn’t make a huge show of it. He’s obsessed with working out and has a six pack at the age of forty (yes, he is inspirational), and he’s just extremely fun to talk to. Personally, he is one of the people I wouldn’t mind spending lengthy amounts of time with. His wife is a beautiful human, who despite everything remains humble and down-to-earth, one of those pure souls you don’t happen to come across very often.
So anyway, last night, when the fact that I have to leave this beautiful space dawned on me, I couldn’t help but feel sad. I haven’t felt so at home at any other place for a very very long time; because once in a while you come across certain spaces that somehow manage to have the same sort of frequency that you have, something that just feels in balance for no actual reason.
These spaces, when brought together with the correct kind of people, happen to make for the most beautiful memories that happen to strike the right cords in your heart and soul, and this exactly what I experienced in Abu.
It was pretty much the same feeling I experienced when I was leaving Bombay last year. Great spaces+Great people= The most beautiful of memories
On my way back home, I felt the urge to cry as I left those mountains behind me, left those spaces, left those people, with the lurking shadow of uncertainty because I have not the slightest clue of when I’ll visit those beautiful spaces again or when I’ll meet those people again, because the relationship which brewed between us is something I want to cultivate and take the lasting memories with me to my grave.
Maybe there is something miraculous in store for me, I just want to be ready to receive it.
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