Happy New year! :D
2010. This is a big year for me. There are lots of things set to happen on many fronts. One of the 'happenings' is the India trip. I fly out to India next week. I am visiting Madras after seven years. 7 years. Long time. Over the past few days, memories from my childhood & early teenage, images of Coimbatore and Madras of 1990s have been swirling in my mind. A quiet excitement is bubbling within me. When I booked the flight tickets in May I told myself not to daydream about the India trip as the trip is far away. Now, with the D-day only a few days away, it is yet to sink in that I am actually going back home. The trip seems so surreal.
The 4 week trip is packed with events, rituals (for my late Grandma) and meetings with rellies/friends over many cups of filter coffee, lunches and dinners. I am really looking forward to it. However, I am also a bit nervous, a little anxious as to what to expect. 7 years may not be a very long time to be away from a place. However, with Madras, it seems like an eternity to me. "Lots of things have changed", they say. "Dei. This place is not as you knew it. Neeye vandhu paaru". Time changes many things. From the look of the place to the outlook of people. The question is to what extent I can identify & relate the present Madras to the Madras I knew from 1999. Once I do that, the extent of changes my friends were talking about will start to hit me.
Yea, whatever. As long Saravana Bhavan serves crispy Masala Dosai, the waves still foam up the shores of Elliots beach, North Mada Street is still as crowded as it used to be, Grand Snacks still makes kick-ass poli, we are able to play Street cricket without Visu Mama growling at us, and I do all the things that I planned to do, I am a happy chappie!
Madras, here I come :D
2010. This is a big year for me. There are lots of things set to happen on many fronts. One of the 'happenings' is the India trip. I fly out to India next week. I am visiting Madras after seven years. 7 years. Long time. Over the past few days, memories from my childhood & early teenage, images of Coimbatore and Madras of 1990s have been swirling in my mind. A quiet excitement is bubbling within me. When I booked the flight tickets in May I told myself not to daydream about the India trip as the trip is far away. Now, with the D-day only a few days away, it is yet to sink in that I am actually going back home. The trip seems so surreal.
The 4 week trip is packed with events, rituals (for my late Grandma) and meetings with rellies/friends over many cups of filter coffee, lunches and dinners. I am really looking forward to it. However, I am also a bit nervous, a little anxious as to what to expect. 7 years may not be a very long time to be away from a place. However, with Madras, it seems like an eternity to me. "Lots of things have changed", they say. "Dei. This place is not as you knew it. Neeye vandhu paaru". Time changes many things. From the look of the place to the outlook of people. The question is to what extent I can identify & relate the present Madras to the Madras I knew from 1999. Once I do that, the extent of changes my friends were talking about will start to hit me.
Yea, whatever. As long Saravana Bhavan serves crispy Masala Dosai, the waves still foam up the shores of Elliots beach, North Mada Street is still as crowded as it used to be, Grand Snacks still makes kick-ass poli, we are able to play Street cricket without Visu Mama growling at us, and I do all the things that I planned to do, I am a happy chappie!
Madras, here I come :D
