Some travels are meant to be....

My recent travelled to Europe through the streets of Germany, Austria, the beautiful alps of Switzerland, the majestic Eiffel and the silence of Fontainebleau was indeed an experience! A journey that went back 20 years, a journey that brought the families together, journey created by the journey that started together. At the age of 18, when Ratnesh and me first met at the corridors of JIIT, Noida - little did we know our kids will meet, bond and create memories together, after 24 years in Munich. Two decades is enough time to bring in a sense of hesitation but small enough for true friendship to fade. My daughter today fondly says "Ratnesh Uncle hain na.. lets go to Germany alone" (Ratnesh Unlce is there for us, lets go to Germany alone). She fondly tells the stories of her new friends Swara and Shavi to her friends in India. A confidence, sense of assurity, sense of togetherness seems to have passed through the genes of friendship. True friendship does not disappear with time. You may not meet every day, but you still know each other. You still understand the person beyond roles, careers, and worldly success. Friendship, after a passage of time, becomes about watching each other grow — with care, pride, and togetherness.

Munich & Salzburg were fun and a beginning to the nostalgia going beyond 13 yrs through the Swizz Alps together with our daughter. Switzerland remains picture-perfect in every sense and it always surprises you with its beauty. The white peaks, the blue skies, the falling waters, the lakes, the shades of green and the punctuality of its trains - every aspect preserved by the country. Though our second trip to the country but it was different with our daughter. The innocent smile and the surprise on her face walking through the snow will be the most cherished moment, fore-ever. Time seemed to have stopped when we walked through silence of Iseltwald, hikes of Zermatt recalling the days spent there long back. We live with time and in our case we have grown and learnt through it, together.

But somewhere between the snow-covered peaks, the silent lakes, the train rides, and the familiar hand beside mine, I realised — love too grows with time. Not in grand declarations, but in shared journeys, familiar smiles, old memories, and the comfort of simply walking together after all these years.

And there we were — in the land of romance itself — doing the Shah Rukh pose, laughing like time had never passed, and quietly falling in love all over again.

What followed is another chapter of life - college days at INSEAD, Fountainbleau. It is certainly the knowledge that teaches but it is the experience that stays. Experiencing the INSEAD campus through the eyes of a student in itself is a pride, a quiet “aww” at the possibilities life unfolds. Walking through the corridors, sitting through classes, listening to professors, and sharing conversations with friends felt like reliving a version of youth but with the perspective that only time can bring! The strange beauty of life is in revisiting moments you feel you have lived before — yet realising they are never the same.

And perhaps there could not have been a better place than Fontainebleau for it.

Its wilderness, its silence, the echoes of laughter from evening hangouts and vintage wine — everything seemed to teach something. To admire. To stay curious. To live in the moment. To understand that perfection often lies in variation.

For one week, every little moment at INSEAD felt complete in itself — thoughtful, humbling, nostalgic, and quietly unforgettable.