Of sea and memories.

I am not going for that holiday I was supposed to go for today. It struck me last morning as I lay in bed and the alarm rang itself to a frenzy that my Manager will surely have a fit approving this holiday and that technically I have taken a holiday every month since June even if the first two were only for 3 days. I mean 3 working days. Hehehe! So no to Himachal and I am feeling a lil miserable. I mean I was so looking forward to my sojourn to the hills. I haven’t been to the hills since errrmmmmmmm 2005 and that was Kodaikanal. I realize I am a sea person. I love the sea. I think having lived in a hill station ( see Gangtok) as a child for two whole years some of the charm associated with hills and mountains has shorn off. I am the happiest child near water. Not that I am any water baby but I much prefer the spray of waves on my face and the salty after taste and the expanse of the wide wide ocean that stretches into eternity. Have you noticed how the sea looks different everywhere? In Chennai it can be this inkish blue in hot summer afternoons, in Pondicherry it was a sky blue that March evening, in Bombay it was grey and dark one morning in July as it rained incessantly, in Orissa that long ago summer day it was an azure blue, in Goa it was a delightful greyish greenish this August and in Pattaya it looked emerald green.

Everytime I think of Gopalpur on sea and Orissa I think of Dad. Guess I shall always associate those holidays with Dad and our long road trip that summer. All I can remember are endless roads, the pristine white deserted beaches, the prawn curry we had in that roadside dhaba and Baba in his customary black shorts, starched white t shirt and his cap. We were travelling in a white non ac ambassador off the coast of Orissa and it was the height of summers and strangely I don’t remember feeling uncomfortably hot. I was a little short of my 15th birthday. Little did I know Baba won’t be around 11 years later. I think sometimes we have a tendency to keep going back to our old memories. Guess it is human to do so. Everything associated with Dad has this novelty now. I am human after all. I am gonna miss him for the rest of my life.

Why do I have to sound oh so sentimental all of a sudden? Sigh! I was speaking to two old friends last night. One was the Economist and the other was Hazel Eyes whom I haven’t kept in touch with regularly after I left Bangalore. I was so happy when I heard Hazel Eyes got the job he did though he said he is being made to work like a dog but I believe Consultants have to work like a dog in their first project. So last night after keeping the phone I was reminiscing old times, Bangalore times, old Delhi times. Darn it has been so long but some days I still wanna go back to Bangalore and live that life fully and not leave everything half the way like I did. I hate these chapters that don’t have a proper ending. Or maybe that was the only ending that was supposed to be.

That was yesterday. This is all I have today and this is what I have to make do with. Good Byeeee people. Happy Diwali to all of you. :D