Friday, December 18, 2009

Kidnapped to Retro Mode!!!

The phrase 'going retro' was used multiple times that day, but I never cared to ask what it meant! I just googled it up and I now understand why it was so apt.

I didn't ever imagine that a bike trip to revisit places which were a part of someone else's memories could be nostalgic for me. Maybe these are the trivial things which link human beings all over the world, because these are phases everyone goes through.

I was asked to guess, but I didn't want to. So, did it yield the intended results? Maybe I wouldn't be writing this piece of blog if it didn't. That evening is still fresh in my memory. I can smell the aura of calmness and feel the pure breeze on my face. When I close my eyes, I can play a video of the whole trip in my head.

Camp 1 involved the familiar line of trees on the roadside with their trunks painted in single stripes of maroon and white. With the orange and blue hue in the background dotted with the shadows of flying birds, I couldn't help but reminisce my college days. When I was deciding which college to attend for engineering, Bharatiya Vidyapeeth was also one among my options. Visiting the campus reminded me so strongly of Pilani. The roads, bicycles, trees, the ground, the cricket/football/basketball match, the canteen, students sitting with books on lawns and daydreaming...

Camp 2 was on top of a hill which showed me the city where I have been staying for the past year and half, all lighted up. But this wasn't all. The ancient walls of the Jain temple held me with another grip of nostalgia- of our sweet old Saraswati temple. The feeling of peace within me, the silent guilt of not making this precious gift of life worthwhile... I cannot help but remember one scene distinctly-a mother asking her child to offer money with his right hand and not his left. These are some habits which are best developed in the age of pure innocence and stay for our entire lives. They might be small and seemingly insignificant gestures to us now. However, I have realized lately that these gestures bring about some kind of control in our life. When we are out on our own, we feel that the world is waiting to embrace us and there are no boundaries to anything. While it is good to cross limits in certain aspects, I feel it shouldn't be globalized. There are still some boundaries to be maintained, some limits to be defined.

Camp 3 shot up to Level 9, giving me another breathtaking view of the entire city, this time with intermittent fireworks to accessorize the lighting. Somehow I felt that the entire evening was dedicated just to me. All we did on the 9th floor was chatting endlessly for hours over some snacks, unmindful of the couples and college gangs around us, who were as disinterested in us. I will go there again, but not with the same person to accompany me. Well, my former company knows what this means. That's where the suggestion came from!

I don't want to forget this day. It was a perfect amalgamation of emotions. Honestly, I didn't know that I'd enjoy being kidnapped!