Pages

Saturday 23 February 2013

Embracing the Past – Part I


Déjà vu sensations apart, she became a bit euphoric when she got down from the bus and stepped into her home town… a town where she was born, bred and lettered… a town that had witnessed her childhood idiosyncrasies and intellectual feats.’ Gosh, I’m back in my place… my home town after ages. It’s going to be a great rendezvous with my past,’ she thought, slipping into whirlpool of emotions.
 
 The evening sea-breeze had set in already and she inhaled a whiff of it with a flourish. The salty -breeze had its aroma in tact – the scent of the home town. She giggled - her eyes reflected an overwhelming joy of having at last come to her hearth to embrace her long-last past.


 The new grandiose bus-station - until now it was only a silhouette shot due to drizzling - was the first object that came to her view soon after she landed her native town. It seemed quite a new structure, disclosed the marvels of modern engineering. However, she sulked to see the new bus-station looked odd, awesome and alien. She thought of the old one, which though was crammed and indolent, gave her a sort of belongingness. Its quietude, its not being so ostentatious was so remarkable that it had left undeletable marks in her memory.

 She looked out for the vast playground that had nestled by the side of the old bus-station. It was one of the cherished landmarks of the town - her all time favorite hang-out too. If you could rewind the ‘Time’ a bit, you could see her aggressively playing Badminton with her friends; you could also notice the ebb and flow of emotions on her face when she was playing a losing game with balls going past her racket. The playground was no where to be seen. Instead, there sprang up a sturdy mall in its place wiping out a familiar ambience… cutting the chords of her connectivity to her roots.

 She got miffed, started walking toward ‘Hotel Minerva ’- a three star hotel where she had earlier booked a suit for her. Exhausted by the arduous bus journey she had had all through the day, she plopped into the bed staring at the ceiling full of cob-webs and peelings of paint. She woke up in the mid-night with a bang when the sea-breeze with a new momentum rattled the unfastened window doors. She didn’t close the windows - she had no mind to do so, for the sea-breeze was familiar to her- her old acquaintance. The breeze sneaked through the window blinds, soothed her frayed body. It had its old rhythm in tact, stroked her hair like her mother. ‘Welcome back home, my child’, she heard the breeze whispering into her ears, but she knew it was only hallucination of an excited mind.

 It was late in the morning when she started her expedition up the town - she grinned as the very thought of it gave her exhilaration and a sort of euphoria. She chose the main-thoroughfare, walked thorough the pedestrian pavement stinking with uncleared garbage. The road was clean, but was getting strangulated by traffic snarls. High-rise buildings accosted the road on either side. They looked fresh, painted with potpourri of colors. Though they defined new sky-lines with grand ground plans, they were a far cry from the old settings. The buildings were strange, simply the outbursts of speculative minds, but lacked the soul… the homeliness.

 She sighed, astonished when she saw the whole town looked quaint, not even a blur of the old one. It had razed down the past, stood on its grave wearing a halo of modernity. The roads were freshly laid, but still groaned under heavy traffic, making the old tranquility a victim. The old tar-topped roads flanked by avenue trees came to her mind.

 There was not much of traffic then. On her way back home from school, she and her friends would vie with one another in picking up the tiny, olive-shaped neem fruits that had fallen down from the trees and littered on the road. Troupes of Mynas, Koels, Squirrels and Crows were seen perching on tree tops and their chirping were music to her ears.’ Where had gone the trees? ‘Who had shooed away the birds’. She wilted seeing the bare road without a single tree. The roads were as flat as the modern human minds. ‘Is this the road where I rode my bi-cycle once?’ She asked herself, paused and moved further on her way.

 ‘The new avatar of the town is perceptible everywhere even in the lanes and alleys’,she thought and looked out for some prominent landmark spots and buildings she once knew and grew up with: the square well [ its water was always potable] at the corner of the East Car street, the small, but prominent ‘Anand Vinayaka temple’, an old antique choultry where the tourists took refuge, her favorite cloth store, a road-side restaurant where her dad and she would take their evening coffee, the manually operated railway gate at end of the South street and above all the Balakrishna theatre[ a small structure roofed with asbestos sheets] where she had watched all most all the Sridevi films.

 Among the precious landmarks, AVT [Anand Vinayaka Temple] was on the top of her itinerary. The temple was in every inch part of her childhood. Those days she would frequent the temple both mornings and evenings and help up-keeping it. Come, Vinayaka Chaturti, she along with her friends would sweep clean the temple, mop its floors with cow dung and draw beautiful Kolams [beautiful diagrams created by using colored rice flour] on the prahars of the temple. She was so devoted to the Amanda Vinayaka that, even after her migrating to Chennai, she would have the elephant god coming to her dreams and calling out to her to visit His temple.


[To be continued]
Image Courtesy: Google

30 comments:

  1. which place are you refering to in this post.?
    the way you are describing both past and present is really good.

    As you say we have lost the past which created a sense of belongingness in us.

    thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lovely write up...there's always a feeling of deja vu when we visit to a place which is very close to our hearts after many years...loved the description of even the minute little things which was described... eagerly waiting for the next part...!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Aurmugam ji

    it wouldn't be out of place if say this is a touching post ---because I can relate with her feelings and thoughts --this always happens when we visit a place or a people and find things have changed and so have sentiments and emotions

    looking forward to the next part
    regards
    rajni

    ReplyDelete
  4. That is a well written piece. Loss of a way of life is the sad story being repeated everywhere. Ugly, senseless urbanisation of beautiful towns is wringing many hearts. I loved the soothing motif of the sea breeze. The next part is awaited.

    ReplyDelete
  5. gud read ,,looking 4ward to d remaining parts :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Gripping! Wonderfully written!
    Look forward to the next...

    ReplyDelete
  7. I could feel a familiar tinge in this story, which is being replicated in every town and city. Great flow and words. waiting for the next part.

    ReplyDelete
  8. What I try to describe is the other side of development. But then, one can wish away development to one's own peril. Thanks Meenakshi ma'am for your nice observations.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Yep, you're right Umashankar. Bizarre urbanization destroyed the beauty and homeliness of many towns/cities. Thanks for your views.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Most of the towns/cities lose their ambiance in due course due to one reason or the other. But then, the missing of the old settings cause emotional depletion when we come back to our towns after helluva time and try to embrace our past. Thanks Rajni for your touching comments.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thanks Anjan Roy. This story is the result of such intense feelings.

    ReplyDelete
  12. It is a small port town, which was once decrepit and sleepy, now gets all the limelight. Thanks Rajee ma'am for your nice observations.

    ReplyDelete
  13. wonderful narration sir. looking forward for the next episode..

    ReplyDelete
  14. Waiting for more. It has been more than 10 years since I visited the town I grew in I wonder if I will go back and if I would feel the same.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Sometimes this happens Mridula. Thanks for your views.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Excellent embrace of the past!

    ReplyDelete
  17. excellent start of a journey everyone can relate to,

    ReplyDelete
  18. i am in awe at the details you have chalked out ! superb !

    ReplyDelete
  19. Irresistible..Your narration is lyrical and dreamy. Feeling of deja vu is mind blowing!!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Arumugam you have described it so well-time kills a lot more than living beings.It smashes the check-posts of our memories of a pleasant past

    ReplyDelete
  21. Time cant wash away some memories. Thanks Indu.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Thanks, Panchali. Honestly excited about your appreciation since it comes from a horse mouth.

    ReplyDelete