Monday, May 25, 2009

Airports are strange places..

Airports are strange places. So are railway station and bus stops. But for the sake of completion of this post, I will be limiting my observations to Airports.

Airports are like tossed salad. Of what you may ask, of EMOTIONS says Professor Iya.

Sitting in the lounge, and too tired to go shop in the duty free store, I had an amazingly interesting time noticing people

- A young girl and a young boy. The girl still has her Mehndi intact and so are her Churhas. She mustn’t have been married for more than a week. All excited. Boarding pass tightly clutched. The boy on the other hand looks so love struck. He is unable to take his hands and eyes off her. No points of guessing that this is one smitten newly married couple off to their honeymoon.

- Exactly next to them is this group of 3 men must be in their early 40’s, engaged in some very energetic discussion. They are dressed in formals. Each pause from the discussion is spent in stealing a glance to the blackberry’s.

- At a little distance is this old lady, sitting anxiously. From the look of it, I think she is traveling outside India for the first time. She has her hand bag clutched close to her chest. Has to be a mother who is going to meet her child settled far far away.

- Then there is this lady sitting right next to me, busy giving instructions on the phone. It’s to her husband is my guess. All mechanical, without a single iota of emotions. Mundane stuff. She is finishing her duty before she looses connectivity for some hours.

- There is this couple standing in one corner, in a heated argument. They are trying to keep their voices low but still it’s evident that they are fighting. To save them the embarrassment I quickly look away but not before seeing accusing look the lady is giving the man.

- There is this man, must be in his 30’s and an elderly couple with him. My guess, it’s his parents. He is going all out to make them comfortable. He gets them coffee. He is constantly talking to them, trying to explain stuff (so it feels from his gestures). On the other hand this couple looks cheerless. As if they are being forced to leave the place that they so love and go somewhere else.

Then there are some lone travelers like me. Either on the phone, or immersed in a book or tapping away on a laptop.

In a radius of a few meters I see love, romance, monotony, career aspirations, fear, regret, hatred and a lot more.
Each one is traveling for a different purpose. Some happy, some not so happy. That’s life. We start and end at the same point but go through something so unique in the midst. That’s what makes it special and that’s what makes it worth it.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

And I don’t know what to do..

(You might want to skip this post, its depressing)

I think I am loosing my mind. I haven’t been this angry and irritated in months. Someone very close and very important to me (and before you jump to conclusions, it’s not AMAN) is driving me up the wall. Reasoning and logic are not getting me anywhere with her. I have never seen her so adamant before. It’s like banging my head against a rock.
I have tried being soft, being conversationalist. I have tried talking to her. I have had zillion discussions. But nothing seems to work.

She is just not ready to understand. She is hearing but not listening. And she is not talking. She is speaking but not talking. There has to be a reason but she insists there is none. If she doesn’t have a reason why can she just agree to what I am saying.

I am unable to take my mind off all this. I tried thinking of the nicer stuff, getting immersed in work and then IPL. But this is like a constant thought knocking my head off. Last week has been so heavy. It’s like letting the wrong happen. And watching it.


Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Love comes to Darling Harbor

I have realized that I suck at writing travelogues. Have tried a number of times before but haven’t yet finished any. And if you don’t write a travel update as soon as you get back it looses its Zing. My draft folder shows me this reality.

Coming to what I wanted to share with you folks through this post is what I saw at Sydney’s Darling Harbor. Now Darling harbor as the name suggests is this nice place along one of Sydney’s water front, replete with Cafes, Restaurants and Bars. Throw in the museum and the theater and it’s a perfect place to spend the evening.

After a long day I was etching for good sea food and I landed there. While walking towards this particular Italian restaurant I saw this guy not more that 16-17 years of age, busy putting up a floor mat right on the landing of the steps that lead to water. There were also a couple of boxes next to him. Me being me, thought to myself “now who the hell will come and buy things from him at this late hour”. Thinking that and not any more I went ahead.

The meal was fantastic. Delicious and plush. The satiated me had to get back to the hotel and I took the exact same path to get to the taxi stand. And then what I saw moved me beyond words.

The same guy had now set up the place. The floor mat now had a comfy mattress on it. It was lined by beautiful candles all around it. There were flowers all over. There was a small table and on that stood a tall bottle of wine and 2 glasses. And there he sat with his girl, hand in hand, her head on his shoulder, staring into the water, oblivious to people like me standing awestruck behind them.

It was one of the most beautiful sights I had seen in Sydney. I stood there for a good minute before realizing that I was in fact being a spectator to someone’s very special moment. Thereafter I walked off with a very obvious smile on my face.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Quick Update.

Off to Sydney in a couple of hours. Packing still in shambles. It’s a week long trip. Have been very busy lately and I guess some of you might have noticed my absence from the Blogsphere.
There are just too many blog posts to be read. And there is even more that needs to be written. But all that will have to wait for another week.

Tata for now. Miss me friends!!