On a recent trip to Turkey with my family, a stranger changed my life.

Our first stop was Kusadasi which was an hour away from Izmir where we first landed from India. The next morning, our driver took us to the Kusadasi city center to exchange our money to Turkish liras.

While my father was exchanging the money. I was standing overlooking the mesmerizing blue waters of the Aegean sea. The sea was crystal clear and the sun was glistening over the sea.

I heard a voice from behind from where I was standing. A middle-aged man, with deep green eyes, wrinkles on his forehead, his beard, and hair in the shade of pepper and salt was standing behind me. He was beautiful. I could sense his positivity from a distance. He was beautiful. I could sense his positivity from a distance.“Hello, I am Ali and I will be your guide for the next 8 days”. He said.

“We are all going to see Turkey together and are going to get to know each other very well”. His smile deepened his wrinkles on his forehead and around his eyes, which made him look beautiful. We got into the mini bus, and he got in along with us and introduced himself to the rest of my family.

As we started talking. We got to know he was 40 years old unmarried and single. It came as a surprise to us and especially the aunties I was traveling with. As we Indians are not used to someone not married at the age of 40.

It had been long since I had met someone new. My heart skipped a little when he said he was single, as I had already developed a little crush with his entire salt and pepper look. Antalya, Cappadocia, Konya, and Istanbul were beautiful cities. The positive and fun energy of Ali made our trip even more amazing.

From the past few months, I had been a little depressed about life not taking me anywhere. That is why his charming nature was attractive to me. His life was pretty much perfect I thought, he get’s to meet new people see new places all around the year. Travel all the time with expenses paid. He pretty much had a sorted life I kept thinking.

He was honest with himself and others, he accepted who he was, and when he laughed he would look so wise and happy. I had taken an appreciation of him. Everything he did made me smile. So what was it that made an impact on my life so much?

Love and genuine curiosity:
In a conversation I had with him, he mentioned. “Always be learning, Zaineb”. “Education never ends”. I was impressed, as he said, he practiced. As I noticed he would always be curious about our language, our music and he was excited to show his culture and country to us.

Being stuck in a cubicle and in the same city has narrowed my perspective on life. The trip to Turkey and to meet Ali was a refreshing inspiration that jolted my life. I hope to meet many more of him and get out of this small city where I have stopped growing. His life has inspired me to make a few changes in mine. I hope that I have the courage to work on that change and inspire someone someday by being so kind and radiate love as he did.