I started my travelthon with a vision of meeting different people, absorbing their stories, learning from their diverse knowledge and understanding their culture. A year back, I was roaming the streets of Dharamshala chatting to monks trying to understand the history and fate of the Tibetan people. It was then that I bumped into a cute couple from Texas, USA. They were seated in a cafe having breakfast. I sat on the same table and started chatting. I found our conversation on God, fate, religion and spirituality. It was so engaging that I wrote it on my blog. I was not lucky enough to see the Dalai Lama, but Debbie managed to shake hands with the big man and also received words of wisdom from him. The chat in the cafe and our time together was very memorable for me as I explained to them the vision of my travelthon and the reason for travelling the world. Then we parted ways only in a hope that we will see each other again.
Fate, indeed, is a funny thing and destiny plays its silent, yet, sure part in our lives. Just a few days back I got a message on my messenger from Debbie that she was in Delhi. She had been following my blog for a year and had also been actively commenting on some of my posts. I was thrilled and it was great timing as I had just landed in Delhi after celebrating Diwali with my friends in Mumbai. I asked her to send me her number and the next morning, we decided to meet outside her hotel in Lajpat Nagar. Debbie was happy to see me as I took them for a tuk-tuk ride around New Delhi, India Gate and Connaught Place. We had a meal at the Kake Ka Dhaba where we dived into some delicious no-nonsense Punjabi food. Butter chicken, keema and roti were heaven as both of them relished the Indian food. We had ice cream at Naturals and I treated them to a special banarasi paan.
Luckily for me, a fan recognised me as a Bollywood celebrity and even took photographs with me. It gave me the added boost in front of my foreign guests. After all, they were being shown around the city by a Bollywood celebrity.
By the evening, we headed for their hotel where I thanked them for their company. Debbie invited me over to Texas when I decided to go to the USA. She even promised to help with the visas. Surely, I had struck a good friendship with them which will continue as I move forward in my travelthon.