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Of a Starry Starry Night

Change is a beautiful phenomenon- at least that’s how I like to think of it. It is alive and constant and this makes it very powerful. When the course of life treads a new path, and if the direction is something that makes us happy, the realization feels just like magic. I’ve always believed that change is possible if we live pro actively and not as passive bystanders in our own lives. This realization dawns upon us in moments that I like to think of as ‘milestones’ that become our defining moments.

A life of travel has been my dream for quite sometime now and it’s no surprise that my important ‘milestones’ are (and probably will be) travel related. Like the time I was on a ferry on the River Padha near Amdala village in Bangladesh, on my first solo trip ever to intern with the Grameen Bank. There was nothing particularly spectacular about the moment in the usual sense, but to me it was an extraordinary evening. I stood atop a ferry in silence and watched as the sun slowly descended as if into the river. Around me were my new friends and strangers in an intimate moment of prayer. On their way home from work, they knelt on mats spread out on the deck, offering the evening prayer under the open sky. As a million stars slowly lit up the sky, I realized 3 things about my life:
1. I was in Bangladesh, working with the Grameen Bank, something I had thought of endlessly over the past 5 months, but didn’t think I would actually do. Bangladesh is not a common choice for a newbie solo traveller, but I was never alone, lucky to have met some very inspiring people. I was living in the crazy city of Dhaka, then living in a village, you could say I was living my dream.
2. In that moment, I felt truly alive, just by being and not by doing- something I had never experienced before.
3. I had NEVER seen so many stars in the sky, no exaggeration! And I thought I loved stars, the truth was I had never seen enough. That night, I learnt the meaning of a ‘star studded night sky’.
There were tears in my eyes & just like that, I realized that my life was changing. That trip was full of moments like this, but I remember this one like no other- the sights & sounds & how I felt. Almost like I can go back & live it again.

I now know that I will have more milestones- another sunset, another starry night, another song in the back of a bumpy bus, a train ride through cloud forests and each one will teach me something new about myself and show me that I can push my boundaries a little further. And I believe that this is the true power of change that manifests itself into our lives when the Universe conspires in our favour.

“When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”
-Paulo Coelho

Rob

Tuesday 14th of March 2017

Hello! Great post, thanks for sharing! I am traveling to Bangladesh next month (entering from Myanmar). What is the visa situation with Bangladesh? Do they offer visa on arrival?

Rob

Natasha Amar

Wednesday 15th of March 2017

Hi Rob, As I'm Indian, there was no visa on arrival for me when I went, but according to the official website, Americans can get a visa on arrival. I'm not sure how it works for land borders, it's best to check the official website.

Aditi

Thursday 20th of August 2015

Your post gave me goosebumps! Thats the beauty of travel, the unexpected moments are so liberating!

Natasha Amar

Sunday 20th of September 2015

That's what some of us travel for. Thanks for the comment Aditi!

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