Sunday, August 13, 2006

home sweet home

I was thinkin of postin somethin recent here..write sometin poetic dreamy n unrealistic .. ..but m reminded of sucha piece i had written for the editorial of my journal, travel in Chennai. It was funny cos its more like a fantasy story than an editorial, wat can u expect on a travel journal, that too written by me.. as always i jus pen down my thoughts as they flow, mostly without a sequence hehe.. purpose is to bring out the possible fun u can have traveling in a city like Chennai.. also to make up a story to tell ppl how the idea of the journal came about .. So here it goes...

I closed my eyes to find absolute darkness until I got power from the skies and ran towards this beam of light I found at a distance. God knows where it is leading to but I go by my intuitions that tell me to keep moving on in this direction. Slowly I hear birds chirping and a sweet scent of wet mud tempting me towards this bright and warm garden filled with flowers of all colors and flashes of orange and red light from the sun. The green base with florescent rays and smell of tropical fruits were seductive. I wish I could fly in the sky like that bird migrating from one place to another. But I keep running through this place, I don’t know why, until I find this lonesome beach at a long distance. I run with excitement to this vast piece of land with just no one around. The hot sand, the empty sky and the sea at a long distance, which still seemed like a mirage to me, were my world now. Though the blue-and-blue-only life is a little depressing, the sea breeze and the hot sun were a nice contrast. I wish I could swim like those little fishes in there and reach the unknown end of the ocean. The grass has always seemed greener to me on the other side. I find myself pushing my way through the water rowing an invisible boat. The waves are getting higher and seemed like pushing me up to reach a snow filled mountain. The next minute am panting for breath reaching the peak. Here I stand as I find the sun slowly moving down the hill warming me and bringing me alive from my frozen state. The smell of medicinal plants and roars of wild animals seemed heady. My head starts to have a mild pain and am giddy. I ate the fruits from the garden, drank the water of the sea but still what am I hungry for? Is my thirst for finding people? Culture? Civilization? I roll down this green bushy hill down to the valley. My heart skips a beat. The silence is broken by the noise of traffic and my head is reeling with the speed of the movement of light here. Everything seems colorless and white. This isn’t the place I should be in. This tainted city, smelling of machines, is like the place I tried running away from…my home! But I find people dressed strangely speaking in a language that seemed like Greek to me. Thousands of people around me, am not alone, but I need to know where I am and who these people are. The busy city didn’t care about my arrival. Nobody was bothered about me when I went looking through the manmade gardens, beach resorts and hills and wildlife sanctuaries, museums and art galleries. The wealth of nature is still alive and fresh here. Actually it is packed and offered in a better way. The place had it all and a long history to tell. I slowly started loving this life as it had more comfort and pleasure. People here are so cultured and hospitable. No man is an island. Everyday is a learning experience when you travel. The thirst of human to travel has gone beyond just flying to the moon. Wanderlust is one of man’s primary desires but not discovered and established as one. I found my foot itching for more. But then I feel this sting of pain in my heart…I knew I was missing home. No place is like home and traveling is sometimes nothing greater than entertainment especially for lazy people. The huge door to get out of this dark cave I was traveling through seemed heavy and tough to open but then I had to try harder and harder and open it slowly. My eyeballs were rolling around this very familiar place. Yeah! I am still at home on my bed comfortably laying down and dreaming. I don’t think it’s just a dream …it made me realize the desire in me to travel and go places and the need and necessity of traveling for any man. It opened my eyes to the wonders in my own city… the place that I considered not more than a polluted piece of garbage stressing me out till now. I wish I could do something to discover the wealth of my home city and show it to the world especially for people with itchy feet like me………..

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