Contributed by Abhignya V
Have you ever been to a trip that changed your perspective on life? Me neither and I can’t wait for that to happen because I hear so many of my friends mention that and I can’t wait to feel that feeling. That is why I, in the beginning of 2019 took a resolution that I stuck to successfully throughout – To visit a place every month (Small or big). This definitely did not include high-end touristy places like I said because I think mind awakening doesn’t come with just traveling to such places but the experience you go through. In one such process of living up to my new year’s resolution, November’s getaway was a trip to Pondicherry with one of my best friends. Now I needn’t explain how happening a trip can be when two girls best friends get together over a lot of tea spilling and exploring a whole new place. So let’s start this trip-
DAY 1 – I MISSED MY FLIGHT: I knowwwww. As sad it gets, I had to run an errand and I strongly believe that work is worship :P I was terribly disappointed but what I did was spontaneous. I booked a flight to Chennai next morning and took a cab to Pondicherry from Chennai. That morning I was definitely sleepless but I was looking forward meet my friend who has been waiting for me for almost a day (since I obviously missed my flight day prior).

My question for this day would be: What would anyone do at this point? Would you cancel on your flight for work or bail on work to make the trip happen?
And then, I had to come to Pondicherry to visit this:

My question for this day ended up being - Is travel really all about visiting new places and experiences them? Or taking a break and just chilling?
The very next morning, we woke up to a little regret as we killed 24hrs out of a 2 day trip and we had to do so much in such less time. Here’s something you need to know about me. I have a trademark hairstyle and I am comfortable in that. But I also believe that one look should represent that one moment of your life so we decided to change our rather decent look to something different so that each time we look back at our pictures, that look/hairstyle would remind of the trip to Pondi. (e.g., wedding outfits to remind you of weddings, that special date-night outfit or the epic school braids to remind you of school times). So, our first plan for the day was to visit a nearby salon and how? We just walked are way through Whitetown that is famously known for its colorful buildings. Oxymoronic Pondi :P

Coming back, we walked around for 10mins straight and reached the destination and got our braids together.

It was time for lunch and we walked further for 14mins to reach Coromandel Café that serves amazing food. That’s when I realized, we are missing out on so much getting lost in our day to day lives. Would you do the same amount of walking if it weren’t a new place. We would definitely not walk/explore at/around our homes and we’re missing out on so much.
Why is it that only a new place brings out a new side in you?
There we were, walking furthermore to reach the epic Promenade beach. Here’s one good thing about this beach – No vehicles allowed! There was so much peace and serenity just because of this one reason. Two insane things at this beach I have witnessed and I’d never forget.
Be it Delhi or Pondicherry- girls get weird stares and they make us really uncomfortable:

Sorry not sorry for taking this to another level, but if only there was one rupee for every stare we received- we’d made at least 31,401/-. Don’t get scared on the precision, my observational skills are definitely something. But here’s my BFF scaring and shooing all the hungry men stares but one word “Ey! Loose-aaa?”. Did I forget to mention that this one’s Tamil based who’s so strong in her presence that she could beat 10 men with her aura? Too much? Come on, got to be for the amount of rather crippling approaches that came our way. But that ended with the view mother sea gave us. I’m a beach lover and I can say enough about my obsession with beaches as such. I just sat there for 15mins straight and thought as to why everything in life is as sane and insane as the sea. And suddenly how everything becomes poetic right next to sea :P
Grandma's love:

I saw this little kid having fun with soap bubbles coming from somewhere. At first like a regular blogger, I thought of going around and clicking pictures but but but as I went close, I notice an old woman blowing out bubbles and running along with him. I couldn’t figure as to how unconditional motherhood is. She was equally enjoying doing what she doing for him, beachside. I am pretty sure her body wouldn’t support to do so at that age, but she was more than happy doing that. Grandparents- They’re not from this generation, their body/mind isn’t as quick as youngsters, they love their kids and now they equally love you. That patience and love is beyond the sea!
All’s well that ends well. To top this day off, my BFF took me to socials that night. It was dancer’s hub and as it was Halloween week, the party’s theme was the same. There was some scary face painting that went on side by side so we could witness scary dancers, dancing their way out gracefully.

My question for this day was: Why is everyone nice to you when they meet you at first? Why are they extra nice when they know they might never meet you again? :P
LAST DAY: Let’s rush! Truly. Since I’ve had a history of missing flights, we dint want to risk this one again :P One travel tip I’d like to give everyone here is to carry cash especially when you’re travelling in this cashless generation. In the process to clear off the hotel bills, we had to run to the nearest ATM withdrew cash and found this little one in his own little world.

Weren’t all of us there? Innocent, happy, coy and unaware of how life turns out to be? This boy rather unfortunate has a smile that can lighten up everyone’s mood. The best part was when I switched my camera on, he was already posing no less than a Kylie Jenner. I was definitely taken aback. Then I heard my BFF exclaim “Eyyy loose-aaa, wanna miss the flight again aa?”. And then I ran like a little puppy took an auto and left Pondicherry with a heavy but a happy heart.
My question for this day was: Don’t we all need a small trip to somewhere? Do we? Hmmmmm!! So all these thoughts summed up as I landed back to Hyderabad and the first thing I did was to pen them down. Comment below if you could relate to any of these and also try addressing these questions because I am still lost in that zone. See you next Friday lovelies <3