Getting back to routine

After almost 6 weeks in India, i am having a hard time adapting back to my life here. 6 weeks sounds like a long vacation, although the last 2 weeks were ruined by some anxieties due to some visa issues. However, all is well that ends well, after each testing situation, we come out a little stronger than before. So getting back to life here has been made challenging due to homesickness, contributed by the memories formed with parents and sibling over 6 weeks. I wish there was a way i could always have them around!
I havnt cooked in like 2 months now, since around mom & dad thats never needed. This might have been my longest hiatus from cooking in the last 5 years, when i started cooking for the first time in my life. Ofcourse, i could prepare excellent maggi noodles since i was practically a kid. Now i need quite some motivation to stir the ladles and get back to the old days when i used to cook to get some refreshment and enjoy it as a creative activity. Other than the cooking woes, jet lag has been another misery keeping me away from getting into my routine. Social life here is composed of some friends, however its nowhere close to India, where you have your family sticking out for you all the time. So it seems, i again have lot of time for myself, and should start indulging into my old hobbies of reading, cooking, playing guitar...
An India trip always has some soul awakening elements to it. Every time there is something new discovered in your own soil, around your own people. I hope i can implement my learnings from this trip without letting them get tarnished with time.

She

She is the one who worries about me relentlessly. She takes care of me so well, that around her i find myself in an utterly surreal place. I never find an opportunity to ask her for anything, since she knows it all and gets me the right things at the right time. In her world, there is nothing about her and all about me. She still thinks that i can get lost in the crowd, or get robbed at the airport.

She comes from work early for me, and calls me many times a day if she has left me alone at home. She is amusing, innocent, selfless and very cute. She is someone who hasn't changed over the years. If i look at her, i find myself an extremely selfish person. Time with her passes in the blink of an eye.

She
May be the song that summer sings
May be the chill that autumn brings
May be a hundred different things
Within the measure of a day...
(Notting Hill song , ofcourse in a completely different context)

You should have guessed by now, who else could it be ...
Adorable Mom..This one is for you..

In your old town

Your thoughts sing in my mind,
of the good old days,
when the weather was kind.

When we walked the streets,
and bought fresh flowers,
and watched the sun go down,
in your old town.

When we saw the minars,
and ambled down the beach,
When the clocks ran fast,
The next day appeared before the past.

And now i stand miles away,
watching the sun go down,
in my old town,
The time crawls like a snail,
while i compose this song of bale.

Your sweet words reverberate my ears,
when you called me your moon,
and i hope to be on your side soon.

Winter Nostalgia

The cycle of seasons through the year is gradually preparing to enter the winter in the Northern Hemisphere. Winter means different things to different people. It could be the omnipresent white snow, the red Santa and the christmas carols, the joyous time of New Year, foggy days with scanty sunlight, the cashews, raisins and almonds, the warm bonfire and chilly winds, the fragrance of moist days with the early onset of darkness, the hot corn made on the coal fire and covered in lemon and spice, the walk in the evening dressed in warm clothes from head to toe.....
For me winter brings back some very fond memories of some very fond places and people. Delhi, Madison both get a fair share of winter every year although of different magnitudes.At first i welcome Winter with a bittersweet feeling every year, which eventually gets transformed into an acceptance of time rich and replete of cherished memories and also a time to form some new ones...

Usual Unusual

Its been a long time since I visited this part of the web. There were multiple things going on, and some lack of enthusiasm to pen down the thoughts.
It was an interesting Monday today, irregular in-fact. Usually Mondays start with a morning sickness for work after the weekend, and end with the usual chores at home after work. Today evening, B & I decided to go watch Inception which has been outstanding in our list for many weeks now. A brilliant intriguing movie with a stunning performance by Caprio. So overall a nice & different Monday after a long time.
On the life front, activities planned and unplanned have been consuming the last drop of time from my jar. Hopefully, in a month or so, there will be fewer activities and more time to fulfill some hobbies. To end this post with a nice note, here is something that needs to be practiced:
In busy times, days tend to look alike with the mind concealed in its own little world. Lets still learn to admire, adore, love, laugh and rejoice in some of those busy moments.

Paths in Life

There are mainly 2 types of paths in our lives. One that we control and the other one which we do not control. There are many instances of the paths that we control, for example our career (to some extent), our choice of partner, our hobbies etc. There are many things that we do not control, and i believe its unnecessary to cite examples of those things. They are omnipresent, like a sudden reward or an unexpected illness, or an employment loss.
As an individual our life is not only affected by just our own state, but by many people who are key players in our life. The closest comes the family , and then friends. A new situation from the uncontrollable sector is often challenging, and due to lack of experience can leave you very helpless. Eventually the course of time, keeps shaping & re-shaping the situations around us. A certain situation can lead to gigantic changes in your perspective towards life. Life includes everything, your personal diurnal activities, your loved ones around you and their well being, your friends & family and sundry other things. Life is always an open ended discussion.
Sometimes it might leave you awe struck with a huge load of happiness , at other times at the trough of distress. You might complain, thinking why in the world you were chosen to suffer, whereas other people around you are living a normal life. But such is life, a wave on which you ride with choice and no choice. Its absolutely irrelevant to compare your chapter of life with some one else's. Every chapter is unique just like us. Even the left side of a body is not similar to the right side, so how fruitless it would be to attempt to jot down the comparisons between my chapter and your chapter of life.
Usually when bad times come, we retrospect about the past joyful events, again comparing the present & past. However, in the past did we enjoy those moments as much as we should have? Most of the times, No, since we took things for granted when everything was normal and only the aberration in the present made us realize how wonderful the past was.
Small things can be a bag of profound happiness, if felt from a warm heart & an alert mind. So , its irrelevant to live your present in a trance, and miss out on the beautiful things only to reach the relatively unpleasant other end. Thus , stop living in a trance, feel the present, however it is, you will find some reasons and someone to make you feel happy, and do return the favor to that or those someones.
Have you ever pondered upon, why we only remember those with a smile when they are not around, rather than telling them everyday how much you love them when they are living with you in the "present". Or why do we lose track of our present for months, giving importance to superficial things more than the elements of life around us, waiting for life to happen once you get done with those superficial things. Why do we waste our precious present, in comparing our lives to the relatively better ones according to our perspective, in treating people like machines sometimes that we dont even feel their "human presence" around us.
In a nutshell, we should attempt to live in the present, enjoy the people around us and be sensitive, not live in our own little world full of trance. The things you can not control, there is nothing you can do about them beyond a point. If not today, someday you will rendezvous with them, and you will have to deal with them with inner strength , faith , knowledge and compassion.

Wordless

Small old things, which in the past used to seem regular, now when retrospecting, seem so joyful. The green grass outside the campus, hanging out in the ECE Dept, waiting for one professor or the other more than i used to in my own ICE Dept :-). Waiting sternly for the DTC buses inorder to use the student pass, and sometimes spending more time waiting than on the actual bus ride. Other times, feeling extremely lucky on getting a direct bus home. Sulking after such a long day at college, and coming back home famished & worn out with the heat in summer. Mom greeting me with a glass of neembu paani followed by my self made grilled sandwiches for everyone. Spending hours in my room on the roof, on my computer, studying, doing engg drawings, listening to music. In the night spending time on the roof just staring at the glittering stars in the sky & dreaming about the future. Before the exams i would just sit on my bed with the books scattered everywhere, and would get my food delivered by my brother to my room.
In the winters, Mohit, mom & I would bask in the sun on the roof, and mom would bring a plate of salad to munch on. She would be extremely excited on a bright sunny winter day, and would spread all the quilts in the sunlight so that they become crisp & fresh.
On Sundays Dad & I would go to buy stationery from our favorite place, Jain Book Depot, and we would even go for our driving sessions on Sunday morning. He would make me drive till Dhaula Kuan & come back home. On hot summer nights, we all would fit in my room & sleep there, since thats where the only AC in the house was.
Good old days!