Experiencing the familiar afresh in the unfamiliar..

Ever felt the relaxation that comes with stepping on new ground, before even actually stepping on it? Yes, that can happen.. I was excited to feel the relaxation that was painted in my mind about the beautiful and serene place that Bali is. Quite paradoxical, isn't it? How can you be excited to feel relax. Yet that is what exactly I was feeling about my first ever trip to Bali. Since my parents live there, I wasn't completely alien to this majestic, peace-offering island. I was told about day to day accounts of how even the minutest gestures of people here feels like receiving rain while standing under scorching sun. Yes, that's the relaxed feel you get when you walk on the streets here. My gait became more relaxed, body less tense.. as I walked among smiling people. There was something about the people that wasn't hurried or nerve-wrecking. They seemed to go slowly about their lives, sometimes may be too slow.. But that was a welcome change from the frantic, robotic lifestyle I experienced in my own country, where I know that a smile to a stranger will be reciprocated with a perplexed look.

There is one color that splashes your eyes when you look around on the streets - Green. Bali is full of greenery. Lots of plants, trees. You feel like actually slowing down to take the juice out of the visual delight that your eyes are soaking. And imagine experiencing this delight in double measure as you move into villages & less urbanized areas..pure ecstasy..

And then I had never felt so child-like, except pre-teenage years, moving through winding mountain path to reach a waterfall, taking in the cool pleasant air like I had never experienced it before. Your senses and ability to enjoy somehow just soar high. Standing a few feet away from the waterfall, feeling the water droplets showering on me, I screamed. I screamed like I hadn't screamed in a long time and felt tremendous joy. That's when you know that your senses have heightened beyond normal & you are soaking in the feeling of actually being in the present and not just reading about it.

I wanted to be a child again. I wanted to feel raw, wild, untamed...relaxed.. that calm rush which makes you feel younger. Bali is a place where I felt my juices flowing, where I could see all that we still need to polish to actually live. I saw contrasts in the familiar, I gained a vantage point and that meant new perspectives. Isn't that we all want..to experience both familiar & unfamiliar & still scream "Eureka"!!