Susegad..

Namaste!

Hello my dear friends!
Its been ages.. my apologies for that..
Hope you guys are ready for another story of my fairy tale life..
In my last story I was telling about the struggles in the outskirts of Mumbai..
Where I was confronted with the society rules, the dresscode, the poverty, the harshness of real Indian life, and the reality of the fast hard working city with its 17 million people, dogs and rats.
But what hit me most, was the boredom.

I had hoped and expected to spend a lot of time on my new school. They promised a lot of practical works and internships, but in reality the school was just 3 hours a week, and nothing else.
The classes were a lot in Hindi, and my classmates were 18-19 years old, so I felt like an alien. A school dance had to be organized (it was an event management school ofcourse) and all they could talk about was Bollywood songs that had to be played. Ofcourse I had no opinion about that, and when I tried to remind them of dances and decoration we also had to organize the topic went back to Bollywood songs.
I realized there was a big gap between them and me, and also the 3 hours of lectures that we had, didn’t really motivate me. They spend 4 weeks on super basic accountant sums that I could solve in 4 minutes.. So I started to wonder if the school was a good choice..

The fact was that the school was not teaching me anything, and I had way to much free time.
I looked for a job, but in a city like Mumbai were millions of people are fighting for jobs, its all about the papers you own.. Without a university paper, you are nowhere.. And simple jobs that I liked to do (waiter, forklift truck driver or whatever) are just not done.. That is for the lower people, the laborers.
So without fancy school papers, no desires for a highclass job, and with a Studentvisa, I got stuck…
And I got bored. Real bored.

I fell sick a lot, and especially in the monsoons I didn’t feel like leaving the house at all.
All the people that I knew where running around the whole week for their jobs.
It was raining constantly. So I had nothing to do.
I started to notice that I was disappointed if Akshat just wanted to have a drink with his colleagues after work or if he had to make longer hours on a Friday.. I started to wait for him, and had long boring days.
I felt useful if I had done the laundry and the dishes that day. And that is not me..
I realized that this was not good for me, not for Akshat and also our relationship..


So I had to change something..
I had many doubts, but realized also that Mumbai was not making me happy.
Maybe if I had more things to do, more things to keep myself entertained or even a party at times, it would keep me satisfied for a little longer. But this sitting at home all day made me feel like a prison.
So I decided to quit the school, and also Mumbai.

I was going to Goa..
With or without Akshat.
If he would not come, it would be difficult for us, but we were sure we would survive it.
Ofcourse I wanted him close to me, but I completely got his point that in Goa making money would be a lot more difficult for him. And letting go your securities in India is not so easy.
(They don’t have a government to support you here, when you are out of job and money)

So I went to Goa.. And I found a job in 2 days, and the best house of India.
I think my excitement and complete happiness also infected Akshat, and he decided to go for a new adventure, to quite his job and come with me.
And that’s how we ended up in Paradise..

The house is amazing, we have a big living room and bedroom, and a huge kitchen. But the balcony is the best spot in Goa. Its big and totally private. It looks out over the backwaters, and on the left side you can see the backwaters meeting the ocean. Besides some dogs and cows here, its super silent, and you can hear the gentle sound of small waves bumping into the neighbors garden.. We hear birds and have squirrels on our balcony. We bought a hammock to make this piece of paradise complete, so in the daytime we chill and look out over the river, the palm trees and the fisherman, and in the night we look at the bright skies and stars.. (Some pictures are added with this report, the rest is on my facebook..)

And the worries of having nothing to do, or having no job, seem really far away.
I wrote a line before in my last story that we had started to make decoration for parties.
But in Mumbai it was nothing more then just a hobby.
Here in Goa, where the party never stops, it suddenly became a job.
We got asked to decorate parties, but also dancefloors for the whole season.
Goa is famous for the Susegad lifestyle, which means chill-out and laidback..
But for us it was the opposite, we worked 12-14 hours a day, every day, non stop for more then a month. I kicked our asses, was a pain in the ass boss at times, and we had no time to party, or even take a dip in the sea..

But now, a month later, we have a big set-up ready, to decorate big dancefloors.
And our name starts to roll.. Visiting cards were printed yesterday.
And we realize, that out of nothing, we have a business!

We will have to fight for it, and probably wont make the same money as in Mumbai or in Europe.
But we are our own boss now. And we do what we love to do. And that is what matters.
We are living our dreams, in one of the most beautiful places of earth ;)

And the Goan lifestyle is good. Susegad.
Its such a huge difference between here and Mumbai. Nobody seems to worry here. Everything goes a little bit slower, or doesn’t happen at all.
Goans seem to do a little bit of everything, they drive taxi, rent out bikes, run a restaurant or make fishing nets,.. But nothing to fast..
If the people here think they worked hard enough for that hour, they just take a nap. Wake up, work another hour and relax again. Its hard sometimes here, when you depend on a carpenter and he just takes off when he has to work a little harder.
Or when you are working on your balcony and your neighbors complain because they need to sleep (at 4 in the afternoon, but also at 2.. and at 7..)

Now we have given ourselves a couple of days off, so we just drive around on our bike through the beautiful villages and nature. We have a cocktail at the beach, and take a dip in the sea when its too hot.
We will find the balance of working, partying and relaxing.
And everyday I feel that this is the best choice I’ve ever made.
And im more than thankfull that Akshat decided to join me in this crazy adventure.. Without him we would not have this company, and paradise would only be half as complete..

Now life is vibrating, new, adventurous, exciting, filled with love and blissful moments..
Im happy. We are happy. Extremely happy.

I have thousands of other things to tell you, but I want to go out, enjoy the sun.
So for more fairy tale stories you will have to wait.
In the meantime you can take a look at our facebookpage, and “like” it ofcourse:
www.facebook.com/hooksnropes

I hope the winter in Europe wont be to cold for you guys.
Im sending you my love, to keep you a bit warm..
And you are always welcome in paradise ofcourse!

Kisses
Loony