I have just realized how infrequent my blog posts have become and I am ashamed to admit it even to myself. Neglect is the greatest cause of guilt. And I do feel guilty.
May was the craziest, busiest, most intense month of my life so far in India. I have just finished one year exactly in this country...and it has been that same amount of time since I left Canada. My parents have just returned from a grueling trip to London, Ontario, where they have packed up our old home and shipped everything back to where our journey first started. Another chapter closed. Another page turned in our rather nomadic lives. I just hope that this is the last stop for them.
So while my parents were away in Canada, my house in Calcutta was filled with a lot of good dinners, debates, loud music, water fights, flowers, revelations, temptations and friendships - old and new. It has been a month of trials and errors, accomplishments and abandonments. Outside of my home, I was working my ass off at Starmark. With 6 major events in the course of three weeks, I had my work cut out for me. From two book signings by the most successful gossip columnist India has produced and the most successful cricket coach of all time, a vocabulary/spelling, puppetry and interactive science workshop to the largest event I have ever had a part in organising - a full fledged album launch of a film soundtrack releasing nationwide called Chalo Lets Go!....I'm completely knackered and I can barely believe I made it through it all..
May was also the month of shit hitting the fan. Marco lost a dear family member on the last day of April, and then subsequently had to return to Italy, incidentally on the same day as my parents departure to Canada..I was alone for several days, until my dear Lana arrived in Calcutta for the long awaited trip to India..I also swam for my club in the Saturday Club Inter-Club Sports Carnival, where my club actually WON in swimming (beating all 10 other clubs) for the first time in 18 years! Marco & Alessandro have given up their old flat and have just moved into a new home. It's amazing, it's as if we are all shedding old skin, the monsoons are just around the corner, and I think most of us are anxious for the first real rains, to wash away the past..
After a long and tiring month, I am spent. Mentally, physically, emotionally drained and I need a vacation. Where to next? I'm not sure, but I'll keep you posted (no pun intended, of course).
In June I have a lot to look forward to, my dear friend Ashley Marie Anastasio will be arriving in Calcutta this Sunday! I'm damn excited to see her again after one year, and equally excited because she was someone I really wanted to spend more time with, but never imagined that she would come all the way to India and make it so possible. This Sunday is also the 9 month anniversary of Marco's and my togetherness. I can't wait now that the monsoons are almost here, with a new home, old friends in a new world, exciting new places to discover, and so much more of myself left to explore, I'm excited for life and what it has to offer..
Ok, so these are just a smattering of photos of the last two months. As you can imagine, I haven't been shooting so much...
The Wedding of Two Colleagues, Chiranjib & Anindita!
Madhubanti & Me - Old Colleagues
Roadside Gatherings...Weddings!
The Magical Salima
All in a day's work...
A Spotted Owlette
A species of crane
My "Startrekkers" on our Nature Walk to the Botanical Gardens
Dragonfly
Centipede
Male Hanuman Monkey
Home of the King Cobra - The Nagalingam Tree
My GayaTree!
Lunchtime
I wanted to add these photos for comedic relief. These were taken by a Times of India photographer on a funky night on the town with Marco, Lana, Alessandro and Me.
Love.
the completed RoBo.
