It was a typically warm and humid day in Mumbai and I remember my dad returning home from his daily morning workout. That morning in particular, I had been day-dreaming of all the places in the world where I could be – ordering a warm cup of coffee in the world’s first ever Starbucks, being rowed in a Gondola in Venice’s canals, walking up the walled city of Dubrovnik… and smelling the Sakura blossoms of Japan. I was teleporting myself virtually all over the world, and quite effortlessly at that! Most of these places had become etched in my brain either through the lens of the then famous travel-influencer Deepti Bhatnagar on her TV show “Musafir” or within the colorful pages of the weekly Gujarati magazine, ‘Chitralekha’ that used to arrive at our home.

Tired and exhausted from the workout, my dad sensed this zeal in my dreamy eyes and asked abruptly “Now what? What’s the next thing that you want?” Back then, I had only just begun my studies in architecture and drifting away from a sea of assignments and design projects into imaginative far-off places was my favourite escape from reality. Coming back into my senses, I answered “Daddy, I want to travel and I want to go to Europe.” Coming from a middle income family and saving every penny to educate us and provide us with the luxuries of life, my dad was visibly startled from my firm response. He asked me back “Paisa kya thi aavse?” (Gujarati for “Where will we get the money from?”) Sensing from his look of dismay and not wanting to add to his burdens, I replied “I don’t have all the answers right now. But you don’t need to worry. In five years, I’ll find a way and pursue a Master’s degree in Europe.” 

At that time it seemed to me that pursuing a Master’s might be the sole gateway to fulfilling my dream of traveling abroad. What my excited young self didn’t foresee however was that an endless stream of visits to banks, hard fought negotiations with NBFCs, reaching out to private sponsors and seeking help from well-off relatives would soon become a routine part of this arduous journey. But then, a girl can dare to dream, so why shouldn’t I?