Some people embraced it and some people felt its brunt more than others. Either way goodbyes hurt even it led to a better place. The sounds that had once caused anticipation and excitement in Mayuri made her stomach turn now. She was hiding the dread and took pictures with her mother Valli, father Velan and brother Sai. Mayuri is at the airport to fly to Oslo and pursue her dream of acquiring a masters in environmental engineering. Mayuri had been inspired by her mother to conserve water and her drive to give back to the planet started in middle school. On her 17th birthday, Sai helped her to start a blog to voice her views, share suggestions and connect with like minded people. Since then Mayuri yearned for an opportunity to nurture the environmentally conscious side of her.
Her memories from the last ten months were replaying in her head. Mayuri was looking for good universities that offered education in sustainability and also affordable tuition. From the minute she saw the Norway immigration website, it felt like kismet. Every step of the way since the first confident decision had been riddled with speed breakers. The society and the relative circle posed several problems of sending a girl alone to a country that did not speak English. Then there was a problem with her application that was solved last minute. Thanks to her lucky stars, she found another woman Shanthi making the journey as well. Her parents felt encouraged after they met with Shanthi and her mother. Mayuri took a deep breath and waved at her family then walked to the airport desk trying not to burst into tears.
Shanthi went through the initial bag weigh in and got the boarding pass. However when it was her turn, Mayuri’s bags were overweight. She knew that none of the goodies inside can be taken out and when she offered to pay the exorbitant extra baggage fee, her card got declined. Shanthi helped out with her extra cash and she promised to make her parents pay the money back to Shanthi’s mother. Before she went to security check, she bid goodbye to her hometown for the last three decades and her family with a heavy heart. She cleared the security check and sat at the boarding gate along with some other students flying with her.
Her flight to Oslo from Chennai connected via Frankfurt. Mayuri is a fan of all cooking shows and a part of her was excited to step foot in Germany and enjoy a pretzel. She was also excited to try out her newly learned Norwegian phrases but like a thorn her negative voice rang louder.(‘What happens if they reject you at the border? What if you get lost in Germany and miss your flight? What if your parents are suffering because of your choice? Do you think you will amount to anything in this life especially with a stupid degree?’) The reflections of the worst personality in her whiplashed Mayuri making the tears flow incessantly. She constantly sniffled and kept wiping the evidence. Shanthi who had a good internet plan on her mobile was video calling a family member excitedly. Mayuri excused herself and left to wash her face in the restroom while Shanthi was still on the phone. The bathroom was busy as usual and for second Mayuri contemplated about leaving the place and going home where everything is safe with no unknowns. She did not have to worry about chores, grades or making the rent. (‘Your family took care of you and the gift you gave them was leaving their lives’) Her inner voice admonished her and she shook her head walking out of the bathroom before she did anything rash.
So far, her pessimism had won all the rounds since the journey had not been smooth before and if history is right, her future seemed hazy at best. Absentmindedly she bumped into someone wearing a batman hoodie then apologized taking a different route to her gate pulling the carryon with gusto. Suddenly she noticed something in her peripheral vision. A bright green shirt with yellow words that read (‘Don’t worry about what could go wrong. Be excited for what could go right.’ ). Her whole body froze trying to digest the words on a random t-shirt. She apologized to a person walking behind her who almost fell.
Mayuri finally made it back to the gate and there were still 90 minutes before boarding opened. Her brain kept recalling the serendipitous message and she felt as if her anxiety was slowly melting away with each ticking second. Millions of people make a journey like her to a new country in the hopes of seeing a new horizon and find a way to elevate their life. Amongst the bunch, some people succeeded more by putting their faith in a higher power. As a non religious person who worshipped nature, Mayuri felt the weight of the words guiding her to the the path with least resistance.
She vowed to stop moping and questioning the decision she had made so far as well as be optimistic about the next steps. Shanthi asked her if she was okay and Mayuri felt better than ok.
The boarding started on time and Mayuri trotted beside Shanthi to the economy class cabin. As the flight prepared to take off, Mayuri leaned to look at the window and said her temporary goodbye to the city and the airbus hurtled to the skies. Each second of the flight Mayuri kept recalling the valuable message to calm herself. Turbulence, bad food, abysmal inflight entertainment or small talk with an old lady on her way to visit her grandchildren in San Francisco did not make a dent on her excitement.
After going through security check once again and settling near the gate for their connection to Oslo, Mayuri felt like the peacock that flew its nest for the first time. Shanthi was visibly upset at the difference in culture while she tried the salted pretzel and bought a gift for Sai at the duty free shop after chatting with her family on the phone. The rest of the layover was equally fun as Mayuri got the opportunity to see a lot of flights land and take off. She cheered up Shanthi by locating a good sandwich shop and even ordered fries for her new friend.
A little while before boarding the Oslo flight, Mayuri heard her name and Shanthi’s name being called out. Even if the nervousness tried to throw off her gait, Mayuri psyched herself up to believe this name check was just some routine stuff. When they went to the desk, the airline staff just wanted to check her passport. The lady even offered her a business class upgrade for free since there was an availability and Mayuri had paid the extra baggage fees earlier. She had heard stories from a lot of her friends and some relatives but none of them had a free upgrade even if they paid for a whole extra bag. (‘That’s the power of optimism baby…I got excited about the next step and the Universe rewarded me to arrive in Oslo in style’) Mayuri mused and informed Shanthi about the change. Mayuri made her way through the priority check in line and her heart leapt out of her chest when she sat on the business class seat for the first time in her life. She always hoped to travel in business class but the fare difference was too much.
Once again when the flight took off, Mayuri sent a mental note of gratitude to whoever wore that shirt with the golden words on it. Her excitement was transported to the next level when the airline staff offered her a menu. She selected the spinach and cheese ravioli since Mayuri always wanted to try it. (‘I put up with the bad food from earlier and believed that everything was going as per plan. Now I got to try my first ever ravioli…Grazie Universe.’) Mayuri offered gratitude and spent the flight journey reading her favorite book.
Oslo exceeded her expectations at first glance and she waited near the airplane gate for Shanthi to make her way from economy. Shanthi was already complaining about long lines and asked a million questions about the customs declaration form. She answered the questions patiently and tried not to let it affect her newfound hope. Some of the online forums mentioned UDI was unforgiving to irregularities but Mayuri ordered her senses to not spiral while waiting in line. Shanthi continued to lament about standing in the wrong line and Mayuri requested an officer passing by for help with some Norwegian words.The office laughed and invited her as well as Shanthi to the newly opened customs desk and checked her documentation.
Mayuri could not believe the positive repercussions that seemed to follow her and she knew it was rare for the affirmations to work so swiftly in life. When Mayuri made way to baggage claim with a surprised Shanthi, she had yet another surprise waiting for her. The airport pick up that they had scheduled was confirmed and they shortly met with their driver who gave out fun suggestions along the way to their apartment near the University.
That night, Mayuri finally settled inside her room after thanking her parents for taking a chance on her and telling Sai about the unexpected message she witnessed. Before Mayuri went to bed, she noticed the half moon shined through the gap in the curtains. Once she fully opened them, her breath got stuck in her throat. Their apartment was near the sea and she saw the distant ship. Mayuri sat down powering up her tablet and wrote about the whole thing in her journal. As she was writing about her flight, Mayuri was reminded of other students in her place making a similar journey crossing tumultuous personal hurdles in order to prove something to the world and themselves. She wanted to broadcast the good message thereby instilling confidence in the people who dared to be hopeful in the face of adversity.
The next day Mayuri met up with some seniors in her college and she made the trip to a nearby beach. She could not believe even the ending of summer felt so cold and her new friends were sharing stories about their first year in college. All of her friends were lazing on the sand as she typed up the new post for her green blog. Mayuri knew that putting the message that made a change in her life would definitely reach any individual at the right point of the rollercoaster. The signs of the summer ending did not put a damper on her fellow Norwegians enjoying the day at the beach as Mayuri hoped to keep her spirits up for the challenging journey ahead. Mayuri looked up seeing a flock of birds fly to their destination as if a beacon was guiding them and vowed to keep the hopeful words as a guide in her heart forever.
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