We have been absconding since a while and it was high time to shout out a big - H E L L O - to all of you who follow us and like our work and let you know that we are alive and kicking!!
Also, this time again we thought of sharing a bit about us - after all everything is not about photography and weddings. We want to engage with you also as humans, sharing with you our thoughts and if you are keen to share your life, then listening to that too.
So. We shifted to Goa in the end of March. We had mulled over it about a year ago, gave it a much more serious thought around October last year and this year we spent quite a few days in February and March executing the shifting - from finding the Movers and Packers (who, by the way, were a disaster!!), finding Little D's school in Goa, a pet friendly home to stay in (which can be incredibly difficult here) and then finally driving down 1900 kms from Noida to Goa with Mini and Cooper (they are the unbelievably cute pugs we have) and our systems and equipments.
Reactions of people who we know to this move have been rather interesting. While some have felt excited at the very thought of us having a home in Goa - this place which is so synonymous to a totally chilled out and fun holidays - others though, have not been hesitant in asking us why Goa as life here is perceptibly slower and not as convenient as a metro.
Mainly three broad reasons.
I might sound a bit too philosophical, but we are in our mid thirties - having already lived about half of our lives, give or take a few years. Okay, maybe even a decade. Now, let me talk about the last seventeen years (since school got over). I mean, seventeen years should feel like a long time, shouldn't it? However, does it? It feels like it just zoomed by. Which is actually strange, if I think about it, as so many things have happened during the last seventeen years. Mili and I joined our Engineering and graduated, fell in love in the final semester, got our jobs, got married, went to Switzerland, came back, again went to Switzerland, became parents to Dhriti, started The Creative Lens, returned to India, quit our job and now about to complete 4 years as full timers in The Creative Lens. We have moved thirteen houses! We have stayed in seven cities across three countries. Now, that SHOULD have felt like a long time, but, it didn't!
So, we thought that at the end of the next half of our lives, we should not feel as if we hardly spent time living. We should be content that we spent a good amount of time in our life. In Basel, we had a laid back life and that is the time that felt the longest (in a good way) during the last 17 years. So, it was time to again move to a laid back life, where we get time for each other, where we spend time amidst greenery and not only bricks and mortar, where we can watch Dhriti grow into a fine lady and savour the moments.
* By the way, the previous photo has been clicked by Dhriti and the light streaming in is an effect of her composition and not an edit in Photoshop.
The next reason is not any less philosophical, perhaps. We had been realizing lately that we were no longer getting happiness out of even big things in life. The happiness of buying a new car was shortlived. Spending almost fifty grands on a sleek mobile phone didn't quite matter, a growing brand was just a means to fund our ever increasing expense and not something that allowed us time to feel good about its growth. When we started to think why, we reasoned that it must be because that even seemingly bigger things were happening so fast and so relatively easily or at times a few days or weeks or years late compared to our peers that they did not feel special. Our generation is spoilt with choices. The next generation probably will realize the value of things even lesser. For Dhriti - she already has all comforts of her life. At her age Shweta and I could name things we did not have in our house - a car, a colour television, washing machine, a landline phone (forget mobile, of course). Mobiles and tabs of course were not even existant. Why will Dhriti value things at all? She already has everything that she can think of realistically.
Hence, we wanted to move to a place with lesser choices, lesser options. A place where not everything is readily available. Goa doesn't have many glitzy brand stores. A lot of brands are not there here yet. Its a place where I have seen only 3 malls till date, across the state - two of which are small and probably ones which we wouldnt have even thought of going to when we were in Delhi. It has all of, I guess, 3 McD's, 2-3 KFCs, a handful of multiplexes that run not more than 2-3 movies every week. Life here is simpler in a lot of ways. At times, maybe also simpler in an inconvenient way. The internet in most places, is not reliable. There is no reliable public transport. Small tasks that got done on the same day when we were in Delhi takes a couple of weeks or more at times. However, for the moment, we can look beyond them. They are inconveniences, yes. But, not deal breakers for us yet.
The third big reason is something we felt most residents in Delhi NCR should now be worried about. The alarmingly high pollution! It was in October after Diwali when Delhi was hazy and almost dark at the afternoon and when it was a headline for days that we felt that this is bound to have irreparable impacts in the mid to long term for Dhriti's and also our health. We can all curse the government, the industrialists, or even ourselves as much as we can. However, things are not going to change in the near future. It's just not how things work in India.
It rather made sense to move - particularly since it was possible for us to move to this largely green state.
Of course we have to see how it plays out professionally for us. Goa does have nice weddings happening here. However, there is only just so many of them and a lot of photographers (locally as well as across the country) to vie for the share of the pie. Goa is certainly not as connected to the rest of India as a metro is, a result of which will be a lot of travels hours for us for our assignments outside Goa. Also, finding local resources in Goa is a challenge, which might tend to drive costs higher for us.
All said and done, we have taken a decision that is slightly unconventional and for the moment we are hoping for the best outcome.
What do you feel about a life away from Metro? Would you be able to adjust to it? Would you look forward to it? Let us know in the comments below.
