Note: Originally posted on Facebook on June 24
They were waiting for us in Hamburg. They knew when we were returning to the city after our cruise, and where we would end up coming. The Alster Lake, with its huge fountain, which makes way for a spectacular Christmas tree in December. The one place in Hamburg where every tourist was sure to end up at some point.
The instructions of their clan elders (equivalent to our Panchaayat) had been clear (a little birdie told us) – “Find them,” they had said, “and dunk them in the lake for glorifying our country cousins in Svalbard, while ignoring us entirely.”
So they were waiting for us in Hamburg. At the Alster Lake. But they made one fundamental error. Being creatures of water, they assumed we would be coming to the dock by boat, and so, they were keeping a close watch on all boats in the lake. But they were not aware that our transport pass did not cover the private excursion boats on the Alster, and so we had come by the S-Bahn. And so, while they were looking for us in full force, and with full concentration, we were behind them, tracking their movements.
They finally got tired, and distracted, and went off for a drink, while we, once again demonstrated the deep wisdom behind the age-old saying – Sabr ka phal meetha hota hai by eating a gelato.
And that is how we escaped Hamburg without taking a dip in the lake, and finally said goodbye to the city, marking the end of what has been a scintillating and utterly satisfying trip. But the journey will continue, because it never ends, because it can never end, because the journey is the story, and stories live forever.
jagahdilmein 