Today, as I sit in a beautiful restaurant at Lake Pichola, Udaipur, under a tree, overlooking the magnanimous palaces and sipping my wine, I can’t imagine how life would have turned out had I continued on the path I was treading, had I not escaped. Although, I was successful in my career as a lawyer, my mind and the passion

inside of me, asked me to venture on a different road. It asked me to write. The bigger mess was my personal life and my heart.

Well, as they say, every cloud has a silver lining. It was the mess that got me out of my rut. It was the mess that made me run away. It was the mess that made me finally leave my job and my city, a city I have spent my entire life in. It gave me an opportunity to work on my dream, work on something I love, I have always

loved.

Some might call it running away from the problem, but I am so grateful for my decision to leave everything and escape. Today, it’s been over four months since I have been travelling and writing. I have felt more at home, hopping from one place to another in the last 4 months than I have felt in a long time.

And today, I can see an end to my journey, atleast of writing my first novel. The journey of travel and the journey of learning and life will continue perennially. I am finally at the end of the first draft of my first romance novel. Facing a few ups and downs and a few non-productive weeks, trying to bring twists to the story, was expected. The travelling definitely inspired me and finally it is time for ‘the end’.

I notice him first when I look up from my laptop to order another glass of wine. He entered the restaurant with the air of a prince, along with an entourage. It is ironical, considering that I am in the city of palaces and lakes and just this morning I had the chance to see the actual prince and I know this handsome man is not one.

At around 6 feet of height, a wheatish complexion, hair like a full grown bush and very sharp brown eyes, he is one of the most handsome men I have seen in my entire life of 29 years. His beatific eyes and his evil smirk make him exactly the kind of guy mothers ask their daughters to stay afar from. He is so charming that I can’t take my eyes off him. It seems as if god took his own time creating this master piece, especially carving out his chiselled jaw. I stare at him unabashedly, that is until he looks back at me and out of embarrassment of being caught staring, I turn my eyes back onto my laptop.

After fifteen minutes of arduous effort at ignoring this handsome guy, I am able to concentrate back into my story. I am determined to finish the nail biting end to my story today and hence, filing the handsome face of the stranger in a different compartment of my mind, I start typing away.