Life is Beautiful

August 2011. A crossover episode in my life—where two very different women walked in from two completely different directions. It all started with the movie Magadheera . I loved the Golconda Fort scene and decided I had to see the place in real. That’s when the entire idea of a trip was born. I planted the seed, pitched it to my friends, and pushed everyone to join the trip. They threw around different location options, but I convinced everyone that Hyderabad was the perfect destination. Most of the people were my schoolmates, and a few were friends of friends—people I had met before and was comfortable with. That’s when one "cashew nut" from our group casually announced that he was bringing a friend from his office. Train tickets were booked. I was like, "It’s a week-long trip. Do we really need a stranger?" It was hard to make new friends as an adult. I was 25 (back then, when I thought being 25 was adulting, haha). Our group was a complete non-judgment zone, and ...