Nostalgia

Time it was, and what a time it was, it was.
A time of innocence, a time of confidences.
Long ago, it must be, I have a photograph.
Preserve your memories, they're all that's left you...

I have lived in 3 cities. This is my fourth one. And yet when I think home, I think of the place I grew up back in Patna. The pretty place that my parents nurtured with so much love. My room - with all its childhood pleasures like stuffed and battery run toys, pink barbie dolls, little cups and medals and cute things we would pick up on our journeys.And huge posters of hearthrob cricketers :) The extended window sill where I would spend many late nights reading. And thinking! Yes, my 14 year old self used to do a whole lot more thinking than I can remember :) Waking up to Ma or Kishore Kumar when dad would be home from his voyages. The vacations that would be so full of guests coming home for dinner every evening. The neighbours who were always welcome, unlike our times. The laughter, the jokes, the fun... The "punishments" even! The long wooden trunk full of Enid Blytons and classics and Mills and Boons covered with brown paper hidden under them :)). Maths tuitions that meant friends coming over for chai pakoda and bakar with the super duper Chandrashekhar Sir. The music system (that used to play audio tapes!!) on a shoe box just outside my room - the one where I first discovered Aerosmith and Dylan and and the Beegees (And Backstreet Boys and Boyzone and Spice Girls :P). And my most prized possession - a huge computer set up, modem, HP printer et al that had cost my parents bomb back then. Our computers are now smaller, the world has shrunk a great deal since then. I wonder when our hearts got so small! Ok... I digress.

But yes, THAT was home. What brought this on today? My most vivid memory of home is my sister and I launching into an impromptu Bollywood music session as soon as there would be a power cut. It was never inconvenient. If anything, the power cut was much awaited. It meant a break from shaam ki padhai. Something that we could so do without! Ab jab bijli jaati hai toh log gaane nahii gaate.

But today is different. Today is one of those days when I know again that we could do with a lot less convenience in life. There's a power cut. There are candles all around. There's Simon and Garfunkel playing on the laptop. Homeward Bound (but obviously). It's a beautiful evening :)