Home is where the heart is: Day 1

21st December 2010

After so long i am home and it feels like nothing has changed here. this place was as if frozen in time when i left and now that i am back the ice is melting and the place, the people, the city is just the same..... nothing has changed

standing in the queue of the taxi counter at the airport i saw my dad bouncing up and down outside the glass separator of the taxi counter. I couldn't stop a silly grin from spreading over my face. once out of the airport (after struggling with lazy, tea deprived bengalis at the taxi counter) we hopped into the bright yellow cabs....ambassadors still exist!!

i noticed the fake seat belt, like all other make-do things in cal, this too was just a thin strap of cloth buckled to the car! in case of an accident, most certainly it would either snap or strangle the driver who is forced by the police to use this namesake belt!

once we hit the road i was greeted by a blast of dust and smoke that floated still in the air, the lazy policeman who couldn't care less for the maddening traffic around him, the bored office-goers and a sea of heads walking around in random disorder, nothing moved.... cars stuck in traffic, people on the sides of the road staring into nothingness, queues frozen in space, the soot covered leaves of
ill-fated plants on the sides of the road, still and lifeless as if made out of wood.... it was like watching a black and white film of in slow motion!!!! only the beggars at the signals seemed to be the ones most enthusiastic about their duty :-/

i looked out of the window of the cab, nose screwed up, face covered with a tissue, eyes blinking more than normal.. i looked around with the usual disgust with which i greet my city of joy.... ah! this place is so dirty, said I. look the drain is overflowing, ah there is too much noise, ewwww, the garbage is on the road!! i was critical like a phoren-return-NRI who comes to India after a few years in the US
perhaps and can't hide his disgust for the place which was, not very long ago, called home!

My dad sat patiently next to me and listened to my cribbing and finally with a confused look turned to me and said... but it was always like this, nothing has changed! :) that is the beauty of this place thought I, we all succumb to the tide of time and get washed away, this city has deep roots that spread far and wide.. and it will take more than time to wash it away!

However, once you settle to the background levels of dust, pollution and crowd, you see that actually a lot has changed, i see so many fly-overs, more cars on the road than autos (which is remarkable for calcutta), several high rises, more flats than independent houses, more people wearing nike and adidas shoes than the usual hawai chappal ;), more colourful showrooms and malls with neon lights peeping out
from the gray and black background of the rest of the city. Oh yes! a lot HAS changed...

yet, it somehow feels the same.

I reached home and the cab driver unmindful of the rest of the world parked the taxi in the middle of the road to ensure that we are dropped off right next to home. as we are off-loading my luggage from the cab i hear a familiar sound of ting ting ting ting.... the tram!!
:)
my face lit up like a six year old and i see the tram car waiting patiently behind our cab, not hurrying me or shouting abuses, no one is in a hurry in this city.. take your time.... we off load everything and then the driver gave way to the tram that moved forward like a caterpillar... disappeared in the dust and soot, leaving behind the familiar ting ting ting, ringing in my head :)

Ah mount Everest is here, I said to myself!! No, my geography has not gone bad, it is what we call our building. 6 floors to climb (there is no lift in this 40 yr old building, one of the earliest high rises in cal i suppose), just the thought of it makes me go breathless!! the porter lifts my 20 kgs suitcase like a trophy and marches ahead of me, swiftly climbs the stairs. I try in vain to keep up with him but before i know he is floors ahead of me. i look at the damp-ridden walls painted with beetle nut spat out by the same old man in the building, at the same spot! It is amazing how great is the perfection of their aim! spit after spit at the same spot!! wow!! i remember monisha's dart board and how pathetic i was with the dart when i was throwing them with my hands! imagine these men can do something similar by a mere action of a gentle spit!!

I finally reach the top of Mount Everest and the smell of the plants greet me :) We need to reach the terrace and cross it before climbing down to our home. as i step on to the terrace i am greeted by a fantastic view of the Hooghly river, meandering its way lazily to the bay of bengal (not in view). mom comes up to the terrace limping slightly, she has aged a bit more! a warm hug make me feel like a
school girl

i go down and drink water from the earthen pot :) and i look at the wall clock, it has been around for more than 20 years now, it is alive and still ticking ;)
so is the white orient fan, now almost pale brown in colour, worn off and faded but still working.... ah! i am happy to be home and happy that while so much in this world changes every now and then, there are thing that have not changed :)

home is where the heart is
<3