Partly Yours, Partly Lost

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Some places stay with you long after life has moved elsewhere. There is something strange about destiny. You just cannot overcome it, but at the same time, you cannot simply do nothing because something is destined to happen. In India, it is not uncommon to have your horoscope charted about a year after birth. Grandparents wait with bated breath to hear how well the stars were aligned, and what remedies might be needed to appease the Gods. So when I was a year old, my grandmother took my birth date and time to Dharmaraja Ghanapadigal, one of the most revered astrologers in Pudukkottai. He apparently told her that I would do reasonably well in studies, travel to multiple countries, and eventually live abroad. Here was an old lady asking about her grandson from a small town. My parents were then living in Gobichettipalayam. This was the eighties, long before economic reforms had changed the country. My grandmother thanked him politely, but quietly wondere...
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Aaj ka vichar...

It was 6:30 in the evening. All of us were feeling cosy due to the warmth of the snug rug adorning the living room of the apartment. All of us were lazing around after another tiring day running between the university and the apartment. We got into a long conversation. Guess about what! The talks were centered on India, India and India. Politics, condition of roads, owning independent houses, fields, farms, temples, food served in South Canara temples, Dharmasthala, Sringeri, Udupi, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kancheepuram, Kanchi madam ( Mutt), Jayendra Saraswatigal, corruption, concerns, goodwill, railway lines in India, Indian economy, Impact of Chinese goods in the United States, textiles in India, Why Chinese bikes didn't hit the Indian market?, Assembly and Lok Sabha elections, Sri Atal Bihari Vajpayee's Golden Quadrilateral dream, state highways, national highways, use of local dialect in the respective states and what not!!!

An Indian atmosphere is certainly recreated here. A general feeling of being abroad is not evident at all, the way we carry ourselves. A lot of discussions on day to day topics in India coupled with the fact of being in the Indian hub has made it very homely till now here. Arguments, counter-arguments, facts, quotes, teasers and light hearted discussions has added an aura of Indianness in all of us to a large extent.

What fun to get into these animated discussions!! But there is a pitfall too! At the end of the marathon session, we happened to see the clock ticking. Believe it or not! It was 9 PM, which means that we had a Hard Talk for two and a half hours without realising what in the world we were upto. We were lost in this conversation.

Of course, the sad part after all this is we had to buck up to help ourselves with rice, dal and curd rice!!

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