It's strange that I've never really thought of this as a 'city' blog, but it kinda is. I mean, the tag 'bombay boy' is just one of 11 other tags I employ to classify the posts here, and even though I do mention in the header of the blog , "This is me, Closetalk, your guide to the small, small, small world of gay Bombay", I never really took that very literally. Mentions of Bombay Life happened so naturally that I rarely gave them a second thought. So, when it's time to leave Bombay - at least, for the time being - after almost three years, I'm wondering whether that will involve TalkingClosets losing some of its sheen as well.
I do hope not.
Yep, things have actually turned out the way they were supposed to. Behind the scenes, while I never really blogged about them, I kept on with the study plans, then the applications, then the mailing part, then the waiting, the visa applications, and finally last week, I got my visa to the US approved. This morning, I got my flight tickets tentatively booked. And it all seems somehow terribly near. I will be leaving Bombay the end of this month.
For at least a year, I will don the part of terribly quintessential NRI on US shores. What a completely absurd thought. My brother has already started pulling my leg, saying that when I come back after a year or so, I shall be putting on all sorts of airs and hating the pollution and the muddy Monsoon roads and only wanting bottles of Evian and doing all my shopping at the Cottage Centre in Colaba. Urks. I threatened to hit him with my umbrella in retaliation, but that didn't really stop his jibes. :) A part of me has been looking forward to this trip for a long time - I think it's going to provide me with an excellent opportunity to study, and open up some really great windows for my career as well. The other day, I got a sort-of offer at one of the country's largest ad firms, and I had to turn it down because of my US plans - but then, my contact there smiled at me, and said I had a ready job with her when I came back from my year-long sojourn, so that sort of reaction does reassure me.
O, but I have to admit, I hate the idea of leaving Bombay. I never felt this way while leaving the other cities I lived in. Maybe it's because I never forged the kind of strong relationships there that I did here. I suppose one says that about every place when they leave and they hate leaving, but I'm glad I was here, and I'm glad that I met the amazing people that I did. And I daresay this sounds like some sort of silly sentimental leave-taking speech, but it's really not meant to be. Or maybe it is.
When I announced my leaving plans to Mizfit last week during my Delhi trip, she sent me a rather sweet sms saying she just wasn't getting used to the idea of me moving out of the country, and she hoped that it didn't mean I'd stop writing the blog. At the time, I was toying with the idea of doing a sort of Goodbye Bombay, So Long TalkingClosets kind of swan song and perhaps start a new anonymous blog from scratch, with invites sent out to a select few who knew about me and with whom I was comfortable knowing about me, to sort-of reclaim the anonymity I've clearly lost a bit here. But I changed my mind in the end, because being the egoistic prick that I am, I'm kinda proud of this silly blog here, and I don't want to end its innings prematurely. I'm already looking at a Prodigal Son Returns post, once my course is done.
So don't write me off yet, dahlings: we'll just treat this as an extended Closetalk Does the Cowboy post!
YEEE-HAAAAA!
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