Its alright, alright...just dance, gonna be ok...

My social calendar, surprisingly, is filled with events every night. Surprising because, hullo, I just got here? So, this weekend, I met a girl friend from High school, whom I had not seen for 12 years. My change of location popped up on her FB feed and voila, we had a I-haven-seen-you-in-ages-but-I'm-so-excited-to-see-you!! date on Saturday. It was amazing and a lil bewildering to meet someone from home in Chicago of all places. Since we got on so swimmingly well, we decided to go bar hopping in Lincoln Park and went to this speak easy bar called "The Violet Hour." This bar was totally hush-hush and there was no sign or anything and we actually walked passed the door a couple of times, before a portal opened that sucked us into a weird, strange land. Very Alice in wonderland like, and yes, it even had Tall High-backed chairs. This place had magnificent drinks and both of us were chilling, awash in the glow of general goodness, when this Indian dude walked up to us with the strangest of requests.

He told us, he was hitching hiking is way from Seattle to New York and could we please point him towards NY? Now, I'm normally wary of weird guys but decided to give him a chance because he was a nerd and I'm sympathetic to the plight of nerds, being one myself. He told us (atleast that was his story) that he was tired of his work and just decided on a whim to Hitch hike (and risk getting killed). He seemed like a tortured soul, who one day woke up to find that his life was terribly out of track. More drama ensued that night but the thing I was stuck with, was evaluating if my own life was on track.

The answer to that is a resounding "No!" My life has never gone on expected lines from the age of 18 but my life has been more fun that I could ever fathom for myself. I never expected to be in Chicago after my MBA, I never expected to be in the US for my MBA, I never thought I'd study engineering, I never thought I'd never use my engineering..so yeah, my life has always taken unexpected turns simply because of my eagerness and willingness to do the unexpected.

It was Wimbledon Sunday yesterday and in my family it was always a tradition to turn on the TV at 6PM on Men's Final Sunday, with a tray of leftover Idlees and mint chutney. Oddly enough,I will always associate Idlees with Wimbledon Final. Yesterday, I just saw highlights and wondered how Wimbledon had ceased to be significant in my life? Or how college basketball mattered to me more? The milieu I was born into no longer existed or was rapidly fading and instead, I was in a milieu that I had created for myself. Isn't that awesome or is it?

In a reminder that there is always price to pay for living life on a whim, the ex called to tell me that he was getting engaged to somebody. We probably would have gotten hitched had I not decided to come to the US. While I was truly happy for him, I never thought I'd be single at 27. That depressed me for a while, till I realised what I had gained - new experience, tons of travel, new friends and a job that's got me excited to pins!

I've come to realize that, as long as I continue to be curious, as long as I continue to push the envelope and take risks, my life is never going to be "on track." It is never going to be "normal" but it sure as hell will be interesting. Amen to that!