Thursday, February 14, 2008

on the run...

its amazing how we get used to things.i always thought that i couldn't live without blogging,but here i am-not blogging for over a month and alive!
i have been traveling...Agra was good.i loved Fatehpur Sikri.It exudes a certain kind of mystery which is absent in the Taj Mahal.with all my respect to the monument,i feel that wasn't left spellbound with its magnificence-probably i was expecting a lot more of it.i remember Ma telling me that she had begun to cry when she saw it first.through some tv channel or the other,we have seen the Taj-within and without.that's why,perhaps,the sense of mystery,the experience of comparing the real Taj to the Taj i built up in my mind and the feeling of becoming speechless eluded me.it is undoubtedly beautiful,but somehow i had expected it to be something much more than just that.
Bangalore was fun...the weather was a welcome change from the sub-zero temperatures we are subjected to,here in Delhi.the weather reminded me of home.i felt a weird sort of freedom when i walked alone-down Brigade Road-M.G Road manoeuvring my stroller over potholes and relishing the huge tub of "Drath by Chocolate".in a strange sort of a way,i grew up.i loved getting road directions in a forced and heavily accented hindi-i realised that i'm not the only prospective cast member for the latest series of "zabaan sambhal ke"(if they decide to start one,that is) in the country!
delhi failed in all its attempts to freeze us to death.the NSD theatre festival was an experience in itself,and getting to perform in it still seems like a dream.the Delhi Book Fair started a few days back.it's nice and all,but not quite like the one back home.the collection of books is great,but a book fair is not a book fair at all without serpentine queues and chaos.
"Book fair",for me,has beem a dream which came true every year-it was a dusty dream,it was a dream where people sat on newspapers spread on the ground,the dream smelt of the faraway candy floss vendor spinning out pink webs out of his magic pot.they didnt let it happen this time,i heard.i dont know if the people there miss the young boy who sat with his friends and played guitar over endless rounds of tea,but i do.i miss the sudden smile smiled after bumping into a familiar face in the crowd.in this cold city,i miss the waft of Benfish fish fry mingling with the excited breath of a crowd which doesnt know how to stop.a book fair out of home,is not a book fair at all.
things keep happening but life,somehow,goes on-much like the images which zoom past your eyes when you look through the glass eyepiece of those big colourful tin boxes.i saw them at the Surajkund Handicrafts' festivalbut dont know for sure what they're called...i think they call it "talkey baksho" in bengali.i had seen children in old movies watching "Agre ka Taj Mahal aur Dilli ka Qutb Minar" trough them.i saw through one at Surajkund-watched those images zoom past the eyepiece till suddenly the guy told me that my time's up.
maybe life's like that too-maybe it will stop suddenly while i'm in the middle of watching the world zoom past my eyes.

19 comments:

onnesha said...

times like this,dont you think "home away form home" is just a consoling construct!there isnt anything like home,really!and though i crib about Kolkata drastically sinking into an overwhelming decadence and all people and things changing so rapidly all around me,i would still run back to them.for,thats where i know my 'home' is.and i guess nothing can ever take that feeling away...

onnesha said...

"home away from home"***

Lucid Darkness said...

It's nice to hear that you enjoyed your trip.

:)

The Mad Girl said...

very nice post! glad to come back to your blog for the umpteenth time and finding a new post!
the ending is beautiful, very romantic.:)

Neel said...

beautifully expressed. Home misses you a lot i'm sure. Home- where your thoughts are safe at, Home- where your music's playin, home where your love lies waiting silently for you.

What's In A Name ? said...

We all miss the Book-Fair...and the long queues at Ananda and Rupa and Penguin.

I miss Arambagh too. :)

Nice post!

Pravin said...

That sounded fun :D

little boxes said...

@onnesha:yup,you said it...and no matter where life takes me,i know home will always be cal!
@LD: thanks :D
@the mad girl:thanks for not giving up hope on me or my blog :)
@neel:you said that right...and i hope it misses me as much as i miss it!
@what's in a name:arambagh's...naah benfish is more boimela-ish
@pravin:yup,it was

Anonymous said...

u have been travelling the length and breadth of the country, i can see

Occasional Brilliance said...

i chanced upon your blog through raka's... i went to fatehpur sikhri a long time back with my mum and dad... i loved it as much as a a three year old loves lollypops... and the taj back then used to glow... its just not the same now... nice space you have here...

Doubletake, Doublethink. said...

shall i tell you a secret? the taj was breathtakingly, amazingly beautiful when i saw it, but it was fatehpur sikri that totally had me from the first red wall. i don't know if i'm a terrible person or just someone to whom the whole idea of a ghost-city appealed more, but my parents had to positively drag me out of the place and tie me to the car and get moving.

lovely post =)

Pongy Papaya said...

now we know jude not happening isn't the end of the world.post school we've enjoyed.cheers to us.
lame comment.don't mind this one.monami is dopehead for the day!

The Mad Girl said...

I took your avice and changd my blog name.[:D]

Poorna Banerjee said...

WHY DID YOU REMIND ME OF CORNER HOUSE!!! SHIT SHIT SHIT.


And well, good news! Book fair's on from 1st march at salt lake stadium.

little boxes said...

@inihos:u got it.
@bubbles:yeah i guess its not the same...but thanks for visiting this space :)
@doubletake:OMG!!!you sound like my cosmic twin...scary!!
@pongy papaya:welcome to blogosphere,twinnie
@mad girl:nice,nice...u never neede a muse.
@panu:really??thats nice...enjoy yourself

onnesha said...

ar likhbina thik korechhish?:O

speedpost said...

Never been to either,Taj or Fatehpur...sob sob.
And atleast you get a book fair. look at the lot of us left at the corporation's mercies!
But then again chicken is back!

little boxes said...

@onnesha:likhbo re.blogging from a cyber cafe is tough
@speedpost:u must come down to delhi sometime...i will take you to agra

weevil girl said...

it is, indeed, amazing and amusing when you come to think of it. how we get used to things.

beautifully put, as always
:]