Page 47 - You Only Live Once [BooksLD]

People stand up as soon as we land and create a nuisance for the air-
hostesses. ‘Sir, ma’am, please be seated until the captain indicates,’ one of
them almost screams. After ten minutes, the entire pack is herded on its

own. I haven’t experienced such a huge mass of people this close! While
it’s nearly sinful to touch a stranger in Prague, people seem okay about
touching each other here as they move out of the aircraft in a haste.
I move towards the baggage belt and wait for my checked-in luggage.
The bags are either damaged by mishandling or plastered with poly plastic

to protect them. I am the kind who would cover her bag for the fear of
receiving them scratched. I get an inexplicable sense of satisfaction in
protecting it as if it were my child.

I continue to read ‘Lying by the beach in Palolem, Goa’ on my favourite
blogger Ramy’s blog—on the open road . It’s one of the blogs from India
that I religiously follow. Smartphones make sure that you never get bored.
Ramy calls them our Buddy .
When we were young, Alan and I, dad would take us on road trips across

Europe. The one I remember most vividly is where we were traversing the
Amalfi Coast with mountains on one and a silver beach line on the other
side. We had sent beautiful postcards of those vistas back to our hometown.
While Alan sent it to his school friends, I had sent it back to myself. I have
a thing for keeping things to myself. I don’t really like to share a lot. I
believe that if I will not hold on to something for long enough, or strong

enough, it will be taken away from me.
Gone are the days of sending postcards. Instagram keeps the world
updated. But I am going to disappoint my fans. Ramy says that when you
are listening to your own inner voice, you have to keep yourself at a safe

distance from the outer world. As a youtuber and musician, my work is
open to feedback. Though it is mostly encouraging, I am also faced with
nasty posts that ask me to quit singing. When in Goa, I wish to write my
own songs and keep away from the virtual world. Ironically, Ramy also
suggests that! Days pass and we eagerly wait, but Ramy doesn’t post from a
vacation.

I write, Off from social media this winter to focus on my creative work,
and caption it, Till we meet again! I hit the post arrow.

I switch off the phone and carefully place it in the front pocket of my
backpack. There are many smartphones in this world but there is only one