I have been silent for more than a month. Feels really strange. I was not feeling inspired to write. Yesterday a friend of mine made me realize that this blog is more than a personal journal. I felt the need to go through my own posts and reflect on how life has taken turns since the catastrophe in August 2010. Writing and blogging helped me not only reflect but also to remain sane in the madness going on around me that time. But as I started feeling better, I stopped blogging. Almost same is the case when the patients stop their treatment when they start feeling better and symptoms are less.
I decided to start writing again. It is my last month in lovely Padova. The months have just flown by. Soon we all will part our ways and face the reality of working world. Saying goodbye to places and people has always been hard for me but this time i want to make most of it. In 30 days ahead, I want to absorb as much Padova and Italian life as I can. I want to live every moment and go home with bags full of good times, memories and experiences.
We woke up to a beautiful rainy morning today, I opened the window and spent five minutes staring at the rain drops making ripples in little puddle of water just outside my window. It was a magical moment to watch these ripples form, spread and then either disappear or merge into other ripples. Is life not the same? Everything happening, both happy and sad is transitory, like the ripples and it always makes a beautiful design and then fades away. I have a tendency to hold on to life events but only when i let go off them, I will be open to new ripples forming and new experiences coming my way.
I feel sorry that I did not make enough effort to connect with the locals here. Padova is a tiny student town, people are very friendly but language poses a significant barrier. I know that communication is not just about spoken words. What about that group of elderly women who enthusiastically tried to communicate with me with words, gestures and touch the other evening? They admired my black and gray hair, they were curious to know where I am from and what brings me to Padova, they were all talking at the same time. We were in chaos but there was a song of connectedness in that chaos. We were women, the young and the old, appreciating each others skin, hair, dress and smiles. I so wanted all silver hair like them and they wanted to have the tone of my skin. We took pictures, hands going around hands and shoulders and big smiles. I am sure if I hang around that piazza regularly, I will be easily accepted as one of them. I can sit there and listen to them. The elderly men were a bit distant but the ladies were just wonderful and beautiful. Elderly women inspire me, they make me want to grow old fast but like a mature wine, happy and content about life spent and optimistic and hopeful about the days ahead. I want to be a happy old woman. Did I tell you that Italian women are the most elegant women I have ever met. They may be young or old but they carry themselves so elegantly. The way they combine their dresses and accessories and off course their best accessories are their confidence and innate charm. I can spend hours together watching them walk by in public places. I have this immense urge to ask them, 'will you give me basic lessons in grooming and being like you?' Have you ever noticed this pair of twinkling eyes from the wrinkled face? I have no words to express that twinkle, that face and the story of life behind those pair of eyes. Each is like an open book ready to be read through the eyes of the individual.
This evening on our way back from Asian Grocery store, three (girls)of us decided to go for a drink. The evening breeze was perfect to relax and enjoy a drink outside and there are lovely tiny cafes all around the city. We had fun time, the girl talks, the gossips and hot chocolate along with the live music being played. We all realized that the time is slipping out of our hands just like the sand from a closed fist. We have to make sure to enjoy these little pleasures of student life in an Italian summer.. and why not? How many people get to go places like we did? How many get to be in Italy for 3 months in the best season of the year? How many of us get to make friends from across continents, fight and argue with them, cook and eat together and laugh and cry with each other?
I must say I am blessed. Life has always opened up beautiful opportunities in front of me. What made the difference is my attitude towards life and its opportunities. Every time I went and greeted life with open arms, eyes and mind, I got ample love, warmth and affection in return, more than what I probably gave. But if I was skeptical and closed for whatever reasons, things always turned out differently. I have every reason to believe in goodness that life brings and that is what I am going to do for coming 30 days.. embrace the life with an open mind.
My wishes for 2day are.. I want to grow into elegant, mature and beautiful woman like the Italian ladies, the young and the old. And I want to take pleasure in small joys of life, like a hot chocolate with girl friends or a smile from an elderly woman just crossing the path. It doesn't cost a penny but it is the best therapy to feel happy...
what is your wish for the day friends....
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