Evocative II

Was cooking yesterday evening and happened to open this sealed bag of dried chilies. The aromas that hit the nose on opening the bag brought images to the minds eye. Images of sun filled fields, the land baked to cracked pies. The red chilies drying lazily in the sweltering haze undisturbed by the disinterested crows.
A snap of one chili and more fresh flavors hit the nose. Reminding one of summer days gone by. Ah the Indian summer. How I miss you!

Fated

It was one of those things that was meant to be. Was running late for my flight - last minute shopping for gifts. Was busy calculating time remaining and alternate options to my green plans while I rushed home to pack finally. I open the door and who do I see? a friend, come visiting to check out the empty room for rent (he didn't know I lived there)! and he was gracious enough to wait while I packed and give me a lift to the airport. It was bound to be. A good vacation.

Met old friends and the new people in their lives, visited old haunts and the new looks they got. And then there were the snow flakes! magically floating down just when we got into the car. Early snow. Another wish come true. And the locked door that somehow opened and gave us access to the environs from days gone by. The lazy campus that would buzz with young blood come Monday.

I finally scored my hit. Only now I'm more addicted and already looking for the next one. The walk over the bridge, the heave of cars rushing past below us. The crimson Sun blazing out in glory - silhouetting the skyline. The yummy food, the multitude of people. The hunt for new boots. Meeting old friends, making peace with the past. The train rides, the maze of the subway. Insane hours and even more insane night sounds which just cannot keep you from falling to sleep. Hot air blowing out of the road, keeping you warm on the long chilly walks the city has to offer. Beautiful bridges over energetic waters. Streets throbbing with life. It is one place I will never get enough of. New York, New York.

PS: Thanks to my friend who magically appeared on my flight back home and circumvented the long journey from the airport and got me to work on time.

Ambience

Was just rising from the haze of sleep, when I heard the whistle of a train. And was surprised that I heard it - its all of a mile away. And then out of the haze, I wondered why that should be.

Back in my grandparents village the track is quite a bit further away and the train whistle is one of the things to tell the time of the day by (and be right on the rare days the train runs on time). Cynicism aside, that is how people there boarded the town bus too - they would wait for the driver to sound the horn and then scramble to the bus stand at the very edge of the village.

In my current environs most sounds are absorbed by the surroundings - a busy, chugging & churning commercial city; I rarely notice them. But maybe one day I'll go back to my village and cleanse my system of the ambient noise levels I'm used to (and ignore) and once again start hearing that gentle breeze rustling through trees.

Down Memory Lane

Dawn, the birds shaking out of their stupor, ruffling their feathers before chirping away to let the new day in. The gate being rattled - the milk man was here. Impatient to show that his bowl was empty and to get on with milking. The brush of coconut leaf spines against the damp verandah - our maid getting along with her work, arguing with my mother about why she was late again.

The pressure cooker squealing to glory, grinning that we would be getting idlies for breakfast again! That's what we woke up to most days. Then would follow a medley of groans and dragging feet. A mild chaos ensued while seven kids got ready for school. Shuffling feet, running water, gurgling throats, suffering knocks on bathroom doors, pleading for just five more minutes of sleep. The fan whirring a steady rhythm. Timmy barking away to glory - it had to either be the gas cylinder guy rolling one in or the neighbouring kid. Wonder what the kid had done; Timmy was always especially expressive when he came around.

Scraping chairs as everyone settled down for breakfast. Hurrying patter of footsteps while everyone got their shoes/keds on. The lucky ones got keds - PT in the time-table for that day! The rickshaw wallah would call out, let known his presence and whisk away the little ones while the older ones trudged to the bus stop. The house would settle down. Suddenly deprived of activity. In waiting for the familiar sounds which would herald the return of the batallion.

Life is Heard.

Trains

For the longest time, traveling was synonymous with a train journey for me. The very first memory I have of being on a train is from the day Indira Gandhi was assassinated. I remember there being a lot of commotion and discussions. At the time it had no significance for me.

I don't know why I should have remembered that now - I had intended this post to be a homeage of sorts to my love for train journeys! But atleast it sets a time-line to how long I've been travelling by trains! Let me try and capture my intentions here on :)

We'd mostly go and visit my Grandparents over vacations and this entailed about 13hrs of traveling by train. All those innumerous trips with family must have paved the path for this love of train journeys. The thrill of holding your face to the window; standing at the door of the compartments; feeling the rhythm of the engine (I had to add this -- to me the beat in O Saya captures the rythm to a perfection). Singing songs; eating the yummy yummy ullipai samosas (onion samosas) the vendors keep hawking; poories with kobbari podi (coconut powder all spiced up) Amma makes that are a must for such trips :); jostling for the window seat; falling asleep to the gentle sway of the berths. Meeting new people. Betting with siblings on the next station to come. Watching out for our uncles as our destination approached; being the first to spot them; the joy in meeting up again. I even have a hangover from travelling by trains! a sort of rocking feeling for a couple of hours after.

Even to this day I always prefer to travel by train if I have the time on my hands -- in the non ac compartments; you can't open the windows in the ac ones!

I've been told the Coast Starlight between LA and Seattle is a breathtaking journey. Looking forward to making this trip sometime soon.