Julius Caesar famously said - "Veni Vidi Vici", "I came, I saw, I conquered". Similarly, I came, I saw, I conquerered, not in Julius Caesar's way of extending his empire, but extending my trip to multitasking various things like running errands, taking care of stuff at home and tying some loose ends. That's apart from meeting friends and family, eating a lot of sweets in this short and sweet trip.
One other things I noticed in this visit was conspicuously long lines (line is called queue here due to remnants of British English in America) in front of the liquor stores when I passed by them. They invariably have a standard name - "THIPI BAND MADA DOKANA" or "Sealed bottle liquor stores". Not sure why they write a prefix "THIPI BAND", why not simply "Lquor Store" ? Nevertheless it bears the testimony of the fact that consumption of liquor in Odisha in general and Bhubaneswar in particular has considerably gone up. My friends also tell me the same, though smoking is no more a fad. Part of it has to do with rise in awareness about smoking causing lung cancer and heart disease. Another part is the present generation movie actors don't endorse smoking unlike in our generation when from Amitabh Bachhan, Anil Kapoor to Rajnikanth championed on screen smoking, making youth of our generation emulate them.
Not long ago a gentleman was in quest for a pious daughter-in-law who should be strictly vegetarian eating foods free from Onion and Garlic, the two vegetables considered as "TAMASIK" or titillating food. He found the right candidate (in Odisha a prospective bride or groom is called a candidate) - A pretty, educated girl, a strict vegetarian fitting the bill whose food didn't contain a single trace of onion or garlic. But there was an issue. It was not her food but her drink. A la before hiring an employer does a background check of the prospective employee, in arranged marriages in India a background check is done on the prospective bride or groom by the respective families, scrutiny is usually more on the bride side. After background check it was discovered that the girl was fond of alcohol. The gentleman was dissapointed.
I told the gentleman - "I see nothing wrong here. Alcohol is purely vegetarian. They are made from grapes, wheat, rice, potato, rye, corn etc. I have not come across a single alcohol product made from onion or garlic, even they being part of any cocktail mix. Technically speaking alcohol is strictly vegetarian. Unless there is alcoholism and drunkenness involved, what's wrong with a girl getting occasionally tipsy ?" Not sure if the gentleman proceeded any further on the candid candidate.
What's the similarities between a vacation, a consulting assignment, a job and life ? All have a start date and end date. Like all good things in life a vacation has to come to an end. Before vacation one is rejuvenated and filled with energy. Towards the end of the trip one is jaded, somewhat depressed. There is always an inherently internal wish that you had a few more days to spent. Three, four or five weeks in India, however long you stay is never enough.
There are so many sights and sounds in India to write about. Eminent writer R K Laxman cited this reason for him staying in India when he had the opportunity to migrate and settle abroad being invited by multiple Universities in UK and US to teach creative writing - "Where on earth you will find so many variety of characters to write about !!!" He wasn't far from truth. No place under sun can match India in the richness of flora, fauna, chaos and characters to write about. Often chaos and disorder brings the fun and frolic out of life rather than orderly tidiness. India also has a huge range of wildlife. It's the only country in the world which is home to both tigers and lions (Africa though has lions, it doesn't have any tigers. Edgar Rice Burroughs, the creator of iconic jungle hero Tarzan made a glaring mistake of showing tigers in Africa. The reality is Africa has no tigers).
On the day of departure I went to a local bank, arriving sharply at 10 AM when the bank opens. I was the first customer in line. The staff arrived one after another, did some Pooja (worship) of dieties at a corner burning incense sticks in front of them which filled the hall with sweet smell. It took few minutes for the computers to start and get online. Suddenly a guy came in front of me, cutting through the line. I politely told him to go back in Odia. He retorted back - "AGYA MORA URGENTE KAMA THILA, I had some urgent work". This time I responded in English - "I too have urgent work. Every one here has urgent work too". The lady at the counter now raised her head and gave me a curious loom. My English words worked like magic. The guy immediately fell in line.
In the wee hours of the trip it's always an endless cycle of last minute shopping, meeting friends and relatives, running errands, packing, weighing, repacking and re-weighing of luggages. Now the time has arrived to bid adieu to my motherland. The American poet Robert Frost famously wrote - "Miles to go before I sleep". For me it's going to be the same, Miles to go before I reach my home in USA and have a sound sleep as I can barely sleep inside flight. Goodbye India. See you soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment