Sunday 26 June 2011

"Can I sit by the window, please?"

I have always liked sitting by the window whenever I travel, be it the car, bus, ship or air-plane. This attribute which was easily granted when I was a kid, gradually fades as age advances. It so happens that when one is an adult, one is expected to give up the window seat for a kid in the family. I find this quite annoying. I liked sitting by the window when I was a kid and I still do.



Whenever a child (while on a trip) is crying or throwing tantrums, the first pacifying act would be to take the child to the nearest window. If all the window seats are occupied by other children, the window seat that is occupied by an adult (in most cases, me) is politely demanded. How I dread those demands? As one grows older, one is expected to always let go even if the individual holds a passion for the same.

All adults invariably accept to let go when one is asked to. I wonder how this change happens. Are adults people with no preferences? This sacrificial attitude of adults is something I cannot come into terms with. While children are given whatever they prefer, adults are supposed to be passive when it comes to express their likes and dislikes. This is more common with the womenfolk, who always let go (for their husbands, children, elders . . . the list is long). Sometimes the chicken thigh (another preference of mine is always given to a smiling kid who makes it clear that she/he can eat nothing else).

The cycle goes on when that demanding child grows up and lets go for another child. I wonder what happens to preferences as one grows old. That window seat is always my preference and somehow I try to get it (carefully negotiating the seat from children).

Do you like the window seat, in particular or are you a no-fuss person who can sit anywhere? Sometimes small things like a window-seat gives moments of happiness and joy. It almost seems like watching the world go by while one is sitting cocooned in another world.

Image: Internet

Wednesday 22 June 2011

Sojourning in god's own country and other things

It has been a long time since I ventured here. Among the many things that I did during this long break, one was getting married. Getting married has landed me for the time being in a state in South India known as Kerala, which is called as "God's own country." The slogan that has been used by almost everyone to describe this state is not without reason. The whole state seems to be one grand village such that one cannot actually draw a boundary between the rural and the urban. Covered with coconut trees and rubber plantations, this place is a perfect getaway for the urban citizen. I am not here to describe the state of Kerala. Google can do that for you. I am here to describe my sojourn in the place.



Getting married also gives one a passport to many luncheons and dinners hosted by kind relatives. Since I am relatively new to the place, I am given many smiles accompanied by hugs and wet kisses. I'm not complaining. Getting married in India is after all marrying large families. A repetition of food items has now become my greatest nightmare.

The abundance of green cover and sweet water makes the place a sought after one by tourists. The houses are palatial with lovely wood furniture and door frames but they are empty of people. The houses have spaces but the sound of chatter is not there as the children and grand children are away in foreign shores. They come down once a year. Most of the houses we visited had only aged parents with children living ten thousand miles away.

A thousand thoughts mated and spawned a trillion blogposts in the crevices of my mind. I did not write them down as I believe that the thoughts which remain will be written as a post. Since the place was new, my mind was teeming with ideas and observations. I hope to share some of them here in the forthcoming days.

All said and done, I MISSED interacting with you. I should have written a note of absence but I did not. My apologies. I look forward to catching up with your recent posts and bang! commenting also shall begin. Hope you have been well and happy.

Joy always :)

Image: Internet

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