Motion

Even when I am surrounded by family and friends, I feel dislocated. It haunts me...this itchiness of not belonging anywhere, yet being somewhere. I try my level best to consume my surroundings, be a part of where I am, but incongruably I can never feel static. It's motion that drives me, gearing for the next big challenge, the next big change...will there ever come a time when I want to halt, take a breather, live life in one place...I doubt if that time's going to be anytime soon...

Adios, London.

I leave London day after. I have been in this city for more than a year, and to say the least, this place has taught me, given me a new horizon to a life I had never seen before. As I head back home, I know I have grown as a person...I have actually blossomed into who I want to be, have realised what really makes me happy, and what brings me happiness. I would always be grateful for the opportunity of having been here. Exposure nonetheless, I have learnt to value the smaller things of life...value where I truly belong and value things that I have always ignored before.
I don't know if London has made me a better person, but it has indeed aided me to becoming more complete. Understanding priorities, being self-reliant, loving and being loved too...
Adios to one of the most expensive cities of the world, and one that you need to explore yourself to know what life here really holds and what you ultimately want...

MUM-LHR-MUM

So, I was just lazing on the couch, flipping around with a zippo and leafing through FB pages, when my partner asked this rather humble, but indescribably deep question: 'Your heart isn't here [London], right? You want to be in B'bay...that's where your heart is...'
My first reaction was: I wish even I knew where my heart belonged.
Will my heart, actually ever belong to a particular city, location, destination?
I grew up and so far spent the better half of my life in Kolkata, literally 'grew up' in Pune, matured in Mumbai, learnt and experienced in London...and now back to same old B'bay. The question is, this time around how much more mature will the 'city of dreams' make me?
Growing up, indeed, am sure will continue in B'bay...but is that where my heart truly belongs, then? I wish I knew. But until then, probably it's my next, but not last stop. It's only a stopover.
And the day I figure what I want/desire as my city, my destination, I will not be the same nomadic soul...

The calm

The sudden calm encapsulates you, driving you towards numbness. Do you like it, enjoy it, be one with the subliminal being of not who you are? Not really. But you continue, hoping that the storm can be stalled...forever. One can only hope that the gush of wind doesn't drive you away, from where you cannot be brought back...too far away...out of reach and out of sight....

Dilemma

It's strange...the ways of life and the very essence of living. A winding path that brings you to a threshold that you least expected. Certain ways of your very being will change forever, giving you a perspective of life that you chose to experience...will that change who you really are?I hope not.

A legendary date

The melee of people would have otherwise been claustrophobic. But today was a different day. If you are an admirer of musical legends, then this would be one of those days when everything's 'wonderful' with 'layla' and 'cocaine'.
For me, it was an impulse buy - a ticket to the concert at Hyde Park featuring Eric Clapton on June 28, 2008. I am in London and it's my first summer here, so I just wanted to experience the outdoors in the typically 'London fashion'. Be out in the sun, picnic-ing in the park with friends and listening to some classic music.
The doors to the Hard Rock concert opened at 1 pm sharp. It was an atypical bright and hot day. The crowd only got thicker with every passing hour. My friend and I were in by 2.30. We found ourselves a delectable location (it was right in front of the big screen!) and suitably positioned ourselves to experience the legend.
John Mayer came and so did Sheryl Crow soaking up the sun. By this time, unwantingly tanning myself (read: burning myself) in the utterly scorching English June sun, I waited for the Man. No money in tow (I'd overspent buying the ticket), all I could afford was a measly couple of beers trying vainly to beat the heat. And vain, it indeed was...I was dark brown by the time the legend took to stage.
But if you were to ask me, was all the gruelling pain and fun worth it, after all. Yes, it totally was! Coz it was a legendary date. The electrifying fingers and the mellifluous melody were enough to make it all worthwhile. Some people reign the world with only talent. Eric Clapton is one of them and to witness a legend perform live is an experience to be treasured forever.
It was 'wonderful tonight' with 'cocaine'.

Dancing to the beat

It's strange how you meet people and then there comes a point in time you know you will probably not meet them ever...in your lifetime. And nothing seems to change, you just move on with the flow, get back to normalcy and meet some more people.
In the last few months I have met so many such people, seen so many faces. And yet I know, only a few I will remember and even fewer I will be in touch with. Are we living in a superficial world imbued with cynicism. I know not if its generic. But it definitley seems relevant to me.
As I said earlier, life goes on...unstoppable...in its own rhythm and we all try too hard to dance right to that beat.