Damn! Its really been a long time since I last blogged! With many a people subtly and not-so-subtly reminding me of how I am wasting their time of visiting the blog and not finding anything new, I finally decided to stop making excuses (Z's heard the most classic one - "I hate my keyboard at home, and so I prefer to spend minimum time typing anything on it!") and get down to it!
So its been a very long time and of course many many things have happened since the last time I posted my random meanderings.. not the least of the events being my going home, and discovering my ancestral roots in deep rural India, and some more..
"Home" can be best described as a small city/big town, just like any other non-metro in India.. tropical high humidity hot climate place... with LOTS of insects!! Its like a bloody breeding ground for all varieties of creepy crawly thingys! And one of these decided to attack me! No not one, a cpl of these! I mean here I am, peacefully brushing my teeth, my eyes open just a slit.. at 11 in the morning and I'm humming to myself when suddenly I find this freakin' frog just below the sink.. its poised to leap at me any moment, looking at me with this dreamy and bored expression meant to throw me off guard because it was actually very alert, studying my every move... I stifle a scream (its a flying frog for christ's sakes! I am allowed my moment of feminine outburst!) and start towards the bathroom door and it moves in the same direction... its a disgusting piece of yucky god's creation and I dont want it anywhere near me! But.. but.. there is just no escaping these creatures man! They are smart, quick and high-spirited! So it leaps at me, flies through the air.. I do some of my own flying around, jumping out of my skin and hoping out of its way too, but no.. eeeaaawwwww... it landed right on my hand and I felt my skin crawl with disgust! Oh god.. I have no idea what happened next.. its a blur... next few moments are a blur and god knows I prefer it that way!! Uuugghhh!! Hmmm... I hate these insects... !!! Why do we have to have them in this world?!! Eeaaw!! Needless to say, our helpers at home had a hard time thereafter.. made them catch and kill that little creep! Sorry if I sound heartless.. I just dont see why they should be left alive to scare innocent harmless going-about-their-work-peacefully kind of people like me!!
Anyways, with that horrifying experience behind me, I ventured into a small journey to our ancestral house in a village (this is really a village, and not just when compared to Delhi!) about 100 kms from home.. and it was lovely!! The expansive fields, abundant tree population, hills in the backdrop, the play of light and shade amongst the trees... our ancestral house... old time, vintage, charming, little bit in ruins and little bit restored... heaps of hay stacked in the large fields in front of the house, villagers living a truly natural, healthy life in the way only rural India can, untouched as it is by the fast-food fast living culture of metros... I loved every bit of it... the simplicity as well as the homeliness, the feeling of continuation, the delight of discovering the simple and interesting ways of the village... marveling at the way a small field in rural India grows food for millions of people every single day.. how this small crop here translates into food on someone's plate... I was enriched by every moment spent there!! Of course I'd seen rural life closely while in school in South India... on some weekends, our teachers used to take us to the nearby villages to familiarize us with their way of living... so this trip was not a surprise, but a very gentle and pleasant reminder... of what we may have lost in our journey towards industrialization, modernization and globalization..
So.. now I'm back in Delhi, enjoying my time back in civilisation (as some of my Delhiite friends would love to say!) before I shoot off into a whole new world..
Here's a passing thought to muse on - Can you miss someone when they're sitting right in front of you, enjoying a cuppa coffee together, talking about everything under the sun except what you really want to say? Or is it just super-sentimental me!?
* Make time to live a little
Don't let this moment slip by tonight
You never know what you are missing till you try...
-- 'Save room', John Legend
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17 comments:
Going to these villages maeks you see how it takes very little to make people happy. A far cry from the attitude's we carry.
As far as the missing someone thing--shouldn't one also take an initaitive to broach a topic he/she wants to be discussed-- but yes, if the person had changed totally from what he/she used to be i think its very possible to miss him/her or rather your memory of him/her
Welcome back after a long time....
Was there electricty in the village?
Yah! you can very much miss some one, while sitting across the table having coffee...
welcome back to the blog world... of all that u wrote today... ur point to ponder is amazing!
and yes, i think u can.. in fact, i know u can.. and its no fun...
`Anshul
Yup, have deleted my profile.. Yes, I am THAT psycho! ;)
P.S Cant call... dont have ISD :(
`Shantanu
Hey... are you still in Paris btw?!
Yes so true.. life is simpler, healthier and even more wise!
Yes, thats exactly what I am referring to - the memory of someone haunting you, when you're right with them!
`Cool
Heheheh.. yes cool, there was electricity! Though we cooked our lunch on a gobar gas stove and it worked really well!!! And yes, you can.. thank god its just not me who feels that way!
`Zoxcleb
Yeah, my point to ponder is a strange feeling.. no fun at all.. its like u're stuck in a moment between time.. you are thinking of that person but from the past, so you miss them! Hmmm..
ruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu........you're back!!!! yeah yeah! :) and now i shall comment in bullet points coz i have so much to say
1. u're right! the keyboard excuse was the lamest in history!
2. insects suck! if there were no insects there would be no lizards and god knows we'd be a happier lot if there weren't any of those
3. my first communication presn was on the insect wildlife in orissa. i cannot forget the big fat ugly father bugs. thank god they're only found there
4. rural india is beautiful! it's natural and pure and a great place to "visit" but not to live...but puts u so muh in touch with real life
5. yes u so can miss someone who's sitting right in front of u anyway...coz the person has changed...not super sentimental me...or maybe super sentimental both! :)
long comment but basically.......GOOD TO HAVE U BACK!!!
Hell yes..You can miss someone when that happens for sure....:)
Did u missed some one like that..
N yes WB! A cool read as ever!
Long time! And about, missing someone - oh yes! I have felt that so much! Whatever the reasons were, when adversity hits -people are lost and even if they are right next to you - you still miss them!
Shit! You should have kissed the frog! It was a enchanted one. But I guess we have been done enough kissing with the two-legged frogs expecting them to turn into princes to go after the hopping ones which at least seem to say: "Ribbit Kiss me! I eat the insects for you"
I am mortally afraid of spiders. Dunno why. Maybe coz I watched Arachnophobia as a kid and believed all spiders have venom that can kill humans. Maybe because they look so scary. But those poor things can only look weird sometimes. They hardly have any other defense mechanism except those predatory looks.
And missing someone while he/ she is sitting right in front of you. Oh yes. That has happened to me. Maybe I miss the person he/she was and sigh at what he/she has become. As long as I don't do it in front of the mirror, I'm ok. The world can change as long as I am at peace with myself.
Heyloo!
"missing someone while he/ she is sitting right in front of you" - too much said on that already! I shall move on!
Life in the village - well I am from a village (yes! yes! the village girl etc etc) and believe me its not quite as romantic when you live there all the time. On a personal note its always amusing to see the "sheher ke log" wax eloquent about rural India.
Truth is its a shameful reality which should be considered a serious problem! Its a simple life because the people living there have no other choice. There's electricity shortage, water shortage, basic hygiene hardly exists (u just had a frog in your bathroom for a day, there are people who live like that all the time), and thanks to things like Govt pricing controls the crops that feed the country hardly feed the people who grow them or their families! The educated Indian urbanite fears the Police, the bureaucracy, the judiciary .. can you imagine the terror these systems unleash on to your simple uneducated village farmer?
I guess I should stop here... I did get a little carried away I guess :)
its nice you went back to check out your roots, its always a good thing.
Its true that in all the progress we've made and all the industrialisation and all (as you pointed out) there are things that we've lost. but theyre not gone and its up to us to make sure they remain with us.
i feel bad for the frog though, i dont think he meant any harm and doubt be could have done any. Oh and frogs are not insects..
anyhow, nice blog...
cheers...
`Zee
yeah rural life is better seen than experienced, i guess! good to be back too... am also going to get back to Orkut in sometime.. when my paranoia reduces!
`standbymind
yeah, i did miss someone.. we were sitting together having a hot cuppa coffee on a beautiful sunday afternoon, and i cldnt help look at him, and miss him...
`candid confessions
i guess its all about change...
`aparna
hehehe.. my personal most-hated insect is the cockroach! btw, nice what you mentioned about not missing the person staring back at you in the mirror!
`nutty
wow, ok thats def a diff perspective, and one i totally agree with... am sure its becoz i was comfortable that i didnt realise the suffering of the villagers there.. i mean, had i been in a less romantic mood, had it been sunnier and hotter that day, had i not had all the comforts of visiting in an AC car, taking an afternoon nap in a cool room, having lunch served outside in the fields, i would have def written otherwise.. i would have written about the same concerns that you've touched upon, and I'm glad you thought of it for us! :)
`the dude
yeah, its up to us to respect and try and imbibe the simplicity... btw, nitpicking eh?! hehehe.. well actually i was also picturizing cockroaches when i wrote that statement about insects, so maybe i got a little mixed up! :))
it is super sentimental of you :) which is a very good way to live unlesss it starts affecting your health ;)
`inexile
it almost did!!
Aha.Are you aure that froggy wasnt actually waiting to be kissed and become a prince or something - we'll never know now that you have assassinated the could-have-been prince.hmmm.
And that feeling of missing someone when they are right there in front of you - ya, I've had it so many times.
why is rural considered natural,it is after all another "habitat" is it not,
no you are right ! rural is natural and we in the city are artificial,we have given in to our temptations
haah.. reminds me of teh time a small humming cockroach-like insect got into my ear.. ewww! had the hell of a time!
PS: I'm here thru standbymode's blog.. pl visit mine too
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