Oct 23, 2008

Ol' Man River silently keeps flowin'

Brahmaputra, Guwahati, Assam, India
It was already twilight when I reached the Sukreshwar Ghat of the Brahmaputra river that flows through the heart of Guwahati. One could see the 4km long Saraighat bridge which connects the North and South Guwahati and Umananda Island (world’s smallest river island)… and dotted along the scenery were numerous small boats carrying dark shadows… resembling people… but faceless, nameless and with a sense of purpose that was perfectly alien to me.
The silent waves of the mighty river were such a sharp contrast to the fury it unleashes in Assam during Monsoon… but I can’t imagine Assam without the Luit criss crossing through the heart of Assam… it has inspired romance, poetry, nationalism, courage and prosperity and is one of the most potent symbols of the Asomiya identity.
I adjusted my new DSLR camera to a distant boat which was swaying in the gentle waves like a paper-boat and just then a few birds flew over the river with such mighty grace that I remained transfixed at them long after they disappeared into the distant sky… everyone returns to their home, to their roots... sooner or later… and we are all blessed to have something called Home. What is a human being without history, without roots we won’t know from where we are coming from and where we are going… this sense of earthiness overwhelmed me and I made a huge effort to detach myself from those thoughts for the moment and concentrate on clicking the fotos.
After clicking fotos to my heart’s content I went to the park on the banks of the Brahmaputra and sat down for a while… in introspection… about our lives in the Big city… my longing to come back to my home-city… I always felt that I belonged there. 
And in the stillness of the night in my room… I slept off.. still thinking of the man rowing the small boat and disappearing into the fog...

Oct 7, 2008

Winter must be cold for those with no warm memories...

Winter came down to our home one night
Quietly pirouetting in on silvery-toed slippers of snow,
And we, we were children once again.

~Bill Morgan, Jr.

As I waited for my Infy bus in the morning I was tingled by a cool gentle breeze. Winter has surely put a foot on nature’s door and waiting for the chance to welcome itself in.
Winter… ah… it always manages to bring such sweet laid back memories from the “Land of the Red River and Blue Hills”. The winter school holidays after the exams… the “chor-police” games in the nearby jungles…   the night badminton games in our backyard replete with blazing lights and a motley crowd of country cousins cheering to their heart’s contents.
As we had a huge backyard in our compound we always hosted the ‘community feast’ during the New Year and “Bhogali Bihu”. It was a mélange of traditional Asomiya/Assamesse delicacies like masor tenga (Sour Fish gravy), poniya maangsho (thin gravied meat curry), bengena pura pitika (barbequed Egg-plant), homemade pickles and a host of other lip smacking items which were as much visual treat as for the taste buds. The mirthful time spent in front of fire-logs where we were told so many anecdotes and vignettes of Life will be there in my memory bank forever. And not to forget the sweet potatoes baked in the glowing ambers!! One story I vividly remember after all these years is-- how my dad’s best friend (during the mid-70s) was shot dead by a rickshaw-wallah due to some animosity while he was sitting next to my dad smoking cigarettes.
I remember my Mom knitting sweaters for myself and my 2 brothers (no sister) and the only difference (if any) would be the color of the yarn but the design would invariably remain the same. Maybe that was her way of showing her impartiality!!
I recollect myself sitting in the mid-day Sun after a bath and with the oil-soaked hair and all… I used to like Oranges very much those days and I always counted the number of slices in an orange and more the number of pieces the bigger was my childhood grin!! J
As I grew up I spent some years in Shillong—which being a picturesque hill station always gave me a sense of eternal Winter… the thick jackets, the hot jalebis, the small variety of chilly which always makes your nose to water… and the breeze that blows across one’s face.
I am eagerly waiting for the winter to set it in Bangalore … which will be a break from the sultry climate that Bangalore has witnessed the last few months.
When I visited Bangalore in 2000 I remember wearing a jacket to college in mid August… the weather was so pleasant then… the traffic was less… no malls… no multiplexes… but now things have changes for the better or worse.

Postscript:
1. My Birthday comes the week after New Year Eve and hence my love for winter season may be a bit biased!!
2. But now winters will also mean that I’ve grown one year older than last year!
3. The post title is a quote from the movie ~An Affair to Remember~