Time flies!

I had a set of scribbles and drafts from the past months, which I decided to condense into the CliffsNotes version(s) of multiple posts, with my retrospective thoughts!


November:

Diwali time! Another Diwali in the land where you are legally prohibited from bursting fire-crackers except when you can. The child inside me wanted to rebel so bad it was almost painful. The adult part just smiled a serene(?) smile and spoke about the need to reduce pollution. I am looking forward to attending the Euphoria concert and my first Los Angeles Lakers game. Go Kobe!


PS: The Euphoria concert was an unique experience. A small crowd of about 250-300 people, mostly Indians, a high energy band, listening to old favorite songs, standing on my seat and singing out aloud, overall pretty darn good! The game was predictive - Lakers had to win! For those in the know, and wanting to challenge my wisdom, they were playing GSW. Its a moot point - Go Lakers, all the way!


December:

Mumbai in 5 days. Home in a few days. It is a feeling that has not completely sunken in yet. I am looking forward to the sights and sounds of my absolutely favorite city. Getting to see my family and friends after a long while is exciting, and somewhat scary. What changed, what did not? I am definitely not looking forward to the customary "she has changed after going to America...." dialogues and the like. Also there is a marathon struggle to get done with (too much) school work before the vacation can begin; and that's the reason why I am writing a blog instead of a report.


There is something beautifully alluring about those then-common, now-special things which beckon to me so temptingly. They say "come home to us" - the simple pleasures of having chai at a tapri, with a garam cheese toast butter with extra chutney, company of old friends over old monk+coke and papad in the as creepily welcoming as ever Nimantran. Train rides with the breeze of the Vashi creek in my face, going to Colaba and having the freedom to bargain my way out, a cold Kingfisher, eating pizza from Joey's, coffee at my Juhu Barista, a walk along the beach, meeting school friends - those special people who keep me centered, meeting the newest members of my extended family; a very fast, very long ride on my Dio, and more. India, brace yourself - here I come!


PS: Those 21 days at home made me realize - time flies. It was a rude slap in the face, but brought along the comfort of knowing, for certain, that some people, some relationships and some places do not change. I don't want to imply that they are in status quo, but just that their essence does not change. I am quite sure that I have seen this before, but I guess this is a lifelong learning? Or maybe I like my illusions too much? Whatever, don't know.


January: 

Dee has faced a grand realization: Home is where there are no "well-wishers." Absolutely no one who is concerned about my life, career, marriage and child-bearing potential. Home is where I are comfortable with myself, and not under a highly judgmental microscope to be dissected by society at large.


I missed my Claremont "family" and was surprisingly happy/excited to be back here. Maybe time flew by too much, too fast and I lost my place in Mumbai/Ajmer in the larger scheme of things. I will take help from the wise - "All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another." - Anatole France

Free fallin'

I am falling and I am flying high....

I can't decide which! My brain switches from one to the other without warning!

For the past week or so, I was hit by the worst case of nostalgia/home-sickness/feeling sorry for myself in a long time; and then I had an amazing Friday. One hour and five minutes was all it took to flip my luck on its head! So now, Dee is going to spend her summer in San Francisco, and is super excited about it! But a part of me is sad, there were certain aspects of staying back in Claremont, which promised to be as much fun, though in quite a different way. There is this contradiction in me which I have not been able to figure out yet: I am so unattached to so many things/people, and so attached to only a few. I am not even sure what the selection criteria is; it just is!

The past couple of weeks have been an endless series of people moving in, people moving out, people graduating, and moving on. Two weekends = Two graduation ceremonies! Standing next to these fresh graduates (with stars in their eyes :P) makes me proud of what they have achieved. I am looking forward to when I will ask them to be with me for my graduation. There is change in the air again; it's exciting, fun and scary at all once. Then last weekend, we got together (B, C, K, R and me) to go to Solvang. It is a pretty little town with original settlers from Denmark. Yummy Danish food, great trinkets to shop for, a cycle surrey ride thru' the town and some wine tasting. Throw in a beautiful drive by the coast, a gorgeous lake and a waterfall; with great conversation, laughter and Skip-Bo --> supreme perfection.

My biggest hope amongst all these changes is that this tenuous thread of friendship should not die off. It's very easy to let time and distance do their evil magic; it takes a lot of sweat and effort to maintain relationships. It is something that is weighing on my mind. Not to say that I am an expert in this; actually, judging by the present state of events, I suck! But I want a chance to try, and (hopefully) to try again. Maybe I will get one, maybe I won't. This time, I want to make it work better!

So now, for my own sake: Fingers crossed. Also, I am putting the smile back on!

TwentyTen!

Hello 2010!

I must admit, I love the symmetry of "2010", sounds so funky! Makes me anticipate 2020, which I hope would still make me think of cricket. If it doesn't, shoot me dead. After all, it is my favorite spectator sport!

If all that sounds even more weird than its normal for me, pardon me. Blame it on the residual effects of intoxicating metabolites and the shock of having to do readings and homework again! And yes, I saw the 'Phir mile sur....' video just before this. The visual torture has effectively fried my brains, though I didn't mind the music so much. It was time for a change, and really, how many of the younger kiddos have even heard (or heard about) the old version. I also believe 'Mile sur...' is a classic, and that they should have tried to compose something new!

Holiday hollers: I love the cold, but January hasn't been my favorite month for a few years. This year, I think I might have made my peace with it. I was off to San Diego in the first week of January. It's such a lovely city, and the Seaport Village made me physically long for Mumbai. The coastline feels the same, but the sea smells different back home, for whatever reason. Ohh Marine Drive and a garam chai, how I miss thee (yes, I am addicted). The simple pleasures of life are the ones you tend to miss the most..... :)

So, I got back, the rest of my household got back, and then due to some quirk of the weather Gods, we had a week full of rain. Dull, deary rain. Arrrgghhh. To brighten things up, we had a mast(!) birthday party, with the guys putting up quite a show (yay!). And then we were off to Palm Springs for a conference (blah blah). It was a pretty place, sunny, slightly cold, with snow on the mountain peaks and so many shops with such pretty and expensive and useless collectibles. Oh, and possibly, there may have been partying. Lots of. Fun times!

And now, school restarts with a vengeance, and, surprise surprise, I am looking forward to it. Last year, this date, I was on the tender mercies of Western Railways while traveling to Ajmer. Time flies by, and it takes you along. The ride was crazy, fun, a bit bumpy, with quite a few very pleasant surprises and I am so very delighted to be half-way across the world in 2010!

Live, Love, Laugh. It solves everything!