A celebration that looks like a City!
Two weeks after I landed in Barcelona, a city that had captured my mind since I was a 7 year old, I had gone to Micheal Collins to watch the English Premier League and was on a night bus service heading towards Gothic Quarters, the neighbourhood where I lived in a 6 bedroom apartment with people from 4 different countries.
Night buses in Barcelona have a life of their own and I sat next to a girl from England witnessing the effects of alcohol on fellow human beings. Lis or Elizabeth told me her story about life in Barcelona.
After a lot of tears, some happy, some sad, She stood up and told me this
Barcelona gives you two options. It either makes you or it breaks you.
Two weeks later, I was sitting in my 5th favourite location in BCN. My reporting manager and good friend Vig’s terrace in Gracia, a beautiful neighbourhood in West Barcelona.
I had not joined for a role that had already existed at Glovo and hence I had to carve out a piece or engage with other departments to build out projects.
I did not speak or understood Spanish much and with everyone around extremely busy solving complex problems, it was tough to even nail down meetings.
Coming at the back of a few years of work packed with as much street level action as meeting room discussions, I told Vig that I came from a place that not only loved me but also celebrated me. Sometimes too much for my own good.
I said that it was not business as usual for me to sit staring at a screen daily between 9.30 and 18.30 with very little street level action and speak less than 10 words with people around me (Spanish woes). It was definitely not usual for me to play in the defence and get substituted just after 10 mins in a football match.
He told me something in my mother tongue, Tamil,
“Poruthaar Boomi Aalvar”
Which literally means, those who persevere, rule the world.
I say yes to Vig more than I say no, which is like never.
I persevered. I engaged. I listened and I learnt.
Playing football became a weekly affair thanks to an incredible team,
Colleagues became good friends and dull moments became scarce,
Work became impactful and interesting,
Shopkeepers became well wishers,
Bar managers and restaurant owners started caring for my heart as much as my stomach,
Camp Nou and her brilliant residents lit up my life every month,
Montjuic always stood up for me in times of need,
Sants was ready to roll her wheels whenever I wanted,
The hills of Vall d’Hebron played with me every Monday,
The two towers at the end of Carrer de Marina gave me high fives every morning,
Whenever I was lost, Chris Columbus stood tall and showed me the way,
The narrow streets of Raval, Gothico and Borne pedalled with me on my bicycle every now and then,
The quaint district of Poble Nou went down on one knee with several rings several times.
I wish I could go back to the terrace with Vig again and tell him that he never would have said something more correct and more impactful his entire life
I wish I could go back to that night bus again. The one whose occupants except for the driver were drunk and wet.
That rainy September night.
Lis was partially right,
Barcelona always gives you two options
You can either fall in love with Barcelona or fall in love with Barcelona hard!
To all my wonderful colleagues at Glovo and friends beyond,
I wish that she makes you all love her hard for I couldn’t have asked for a better bunch of people to spend my time here.
There is a level of happiness that you unlock when your dreams come true.
My 11 months here made me unlock a very different level, the happiness when life actually does one better, punches above its weight and goes beyond what one could have ever dreamt off.
As I prepare to leave this wonderful city, I would like to raise a toast
To life that goes above and beyond dreams,
To life that is maroon and blue in colour,
To a life that makes you love hard!
Blaugrana al vent,
Un crit valent,
Tenim un nom que el sap tothom….
Barca..Barca..Barcaaaa…….
