We chose October 12, 2021, as the starting date for Subarnajatra, beginning from Norway’s North Cape. It is Europe’s northernmost point—the last stretch of land in the north—and a place where the midnight sun and the aurora borealis, or Northern Lights, can be seen. North Cape is a popular destination for many other reasons too, but I will not go into those here. Instead, let me tell you how I got there, what I did, and who was with me.

I live in Toronto, Canada, and there is no direct way to fly to North Cape from here. Even if there were, it would likely involve several connecting flights. Since this journey was for Subarnajatra and our base was Rovaniemi, Finland, I began my trip on the evening of October 9, flying from Toronto to Heathrow Airport in London.

At the last moment, my friend Shakil—one of the members of our 97/99 Canadian group—came forward to help by dropping me at the airport. After loading a large suitcase and my backpack into the car, it took a little time to say goodbye to my family.

This journey had been planned for a long time. We had put countless hours of work, planning, and preparation into Subarnajatra. But at the very end, there was uncertainty around the involvement of a few important organizations, changing weather conditions, and perhaps a slight drop in excitement. There was also the anxiety of the unknown, the anticipation of seeing friends after so long, the thrill of an adventurous journey, and the thought of being away from my family for two weeks. In those final hours, all those feelings seemed to come to a standstill.

It began raining heavily on the way to the airport. Listening to the Subarnajatra songs throughout the drive, I arrived at the airport and became worried again when I learned that my flight was delayed.

I should mention that I had many dots to connect throughout those two weeks.

The first plan was to arrive in London from Toronto and catch a flight to Helsinki two hours later. Rakhtim and Lelin were to join me on that flight. At the same time, Kazi Chayon was driving a rented car from Stockholm, Sweden, and was expected to reach Helsinki Airport after a 12-hour drive at roughly the same time.

The four of us would then leave together around noon for Rovaniemi, our base station. Matiur would be there with our motorhome, affectionately named “Pigeon.” The next morning, after the Subarnajatra team and Masha Islam completed the premiere of our title song at 9:00 a.m., we planned to begin our journey toward North Cape at 1:00 p.m.

Before all this, I had just completed a five-day work conference in Las Vegas, returned home for only one day, and collected some papers for Subarnajatra from our local MP, Nathaniel, in the evening. I had several letters and gift items in my backpack. Between the conference fatigue, the flights, jet lag, and the effort needed to make another connection for the Subarnajatra dream, our ad hoc team research began again.

After landing in London, I had only 30 minutes in hand—nowhere near enough time to catch the next flight. While the plane was taxiing toward the gate at Heathrow, I read messages from Suman, Adnan, Lelin, and Rakhtim, and decided that I would not catch the Helsinki flight.