Aboard the flight!

I’ve always wanted to say this. Aboard the LH 441 from Houston to Frankfurt (though it isn’t my aircraft, it sounds nice when read aloud :P), I am doing what I wanted to do from a very long time. The only thing is that this would be published as soon as I get access to internet.

Any other circumstance, any other day, I should’ve been extremely elated about the fact that I’m over the North Atlantic now, about to land in approximately 3 hours at Frankfurt, en route to Bangalore. Not today. I didn’t say I’m not excited, but not as much. For one, there is the anxiety of not finding a job back in the US and going back to India for good. It is anxiety but not repenting on my decision. I was never too keen on staying here in the US for a long term. Just didn’t know how long the ‘short term’ would last for. The second reason why my excitement is getting masked is because I hate bidding goodbyes. Few relations made, have withstood against the test of time and as most of us would have experienced more often than not, few would just obliterate in oblivion.

I’ve never opened my laptop in a flight. Just thought it was clumsy to type in such a small space with so much constraints. Moreover, I didn’t have anything life threatening nor thought provoking to an extent that I make a record of it. Today is however different, though it is neither. Maybe a little of the second one.

No matter how bad the place is, no matter how much I cribbed, no matter how much I expressed disgust, no matter how much I relished just the thought of getting back home, few people just change the short span of time spent with them that all of a sudden, nothing matters anymore. 

This happened of course, to a greater extent when I left hostel. 4 years of engineering, 4 years of fun, everything just seemed to go away in a jiffy. Memories are all that remain. I so wish that I’d taken more photos. Now that I look back at the photos that I’ve, I remember more, maybe each single thing associated with each photograph. Maybe that is the beauty of a photograph, maybe that is why its said that it ‘captures the moment’.

The same thing happened when I left India to go do my Masters. Coming to the US in hope of a better life was the only way I assuaged myself. You know, Masters - ‘apparently’ a big deal, then finding a job, making money and the like. Come to think of it, though it all didn’t happen to an extent I’d expected, (the greatest mistake of mankind - Expectation) there were a few people, a few incidents that I’d probably never forget. I was just skimming through my photo albums on my iPod and that is when I realised how important photos are, in anyone’s life. From the trips and shows in 2007, to the various airports I went around, from the first snowfall to the hurricane evacuation adventure, about 4 graduation ceremonies, the first fun trip to San Antonio/South Padre (boy, what a trip!) all the cars I drove, the parties at home and basically all that. Hell, I don’t even know if I’d meet all these wonderful people I’d been associated with, for these 2 years in my life again. Again, there would be few relations which will strongly brave the odds thrown around by time and few will just collapse over time, but it will always remain etched in my memory.

Only qualms were the bed bugs and the cockroaches which I don’t think I’d miss to that an extent. :P

Probably the best statement that I’ve heard in these two years is by one of my room mates, Dhrubo. We would have these engrossed discussions about life, about how people change and stuff, about how things that happen are so unreliable and the like. At an apt juncture, he just said, ‘A person who tries, never fails.’ I can’t forget that. It just came at the right time and was effective enough. 

I’ll miss being a part of all those discussions we’d have endlessly, Dhrubo and I initially, till we shifted to another house, when the rest of the gang joined in. It was fun. 

Anyways, I still have about 2 hours to land in Frankfurt. Maybe I should be excited, maybe. And boy, someone was right. This is the first time i’m flying Lufthansa, and the legroom sucks. Can’t imagine how someone tall can sit here!

The BitterSweet symphonies of September!

I'm glad September is almost over in this part of the world. What did poor September did to me? Actually nothing. Frankly, I am not superstitious or anything. I don't believe that there is a lucky pair of clothes or a lucky date as such. That said, Tuesdays and Septembers are always special in their own unique ways. I was born on a Tuesday, and more often than not, out of sheer coincidence, either my final practical exams at college, or the date on which I pay the exam fee or some such important thing would happen on the Tuesday. If I went on Monday, there would be some problem or the other and it would surely work, the next day. Tuesday is still special to me, though I don't initiate any thing consciously on that very day. It just occurred to me now, that the planetary ruler of Scorpio is Mars, and Tuesday is named after Mars.

September. Ever since I was a kid, I simply detested September. For one reason, the freakin' month seemed to take forever to end and wouldn't let October start. I was mighty kicked about my birthday in October but it seems funny now to think so, because my birthday is almost in November :P. The super brain that I'd, failed to notice this. The other thing being that September was the month in which most inactivity was rampant. I'd no friend who had a birthday in September and I didn't know of the birthday of one family member which was in September too. The moment October would start, I'd get all excited. October seems like the best month to me, for obvious reasons.

Only now I repent that I've not had any written account of all Septembers in my life, but I couldn't. I don't think I even knew about blogs till about 6 years back and my first blog entry was probably (had to check) in the OCTOBER of '07. October is such a 'happening' month. It of course reduces one year of my life every time it comes, but I somehow choose to not credit it for that :P.

Just recently, owing to my utter state of joblessness, I went a little back in time to see how the past Septembers were. Turns out that till as back as my memory can go, September has always been Bitter - Sweet. Now, this could've happened in any other month, for that matter of fact, in every month. But I care about beloved September :D.

September 2010. I'm at home in Beaumont, about a month's time after Graduation. The job market hasn't helped me in any way, so far. Sitting at home applying and calling companies all day long hasn't been too helpful either. Most people who've been through this would agree that its at least a little harrowing. With absolute house arrest, socialising, oh, one day, even getting out in the sunlight seemed very strange. That is when I decided to get out every day, at least once. But, on the brighter side of it, September 2010 also had AR Rahman coming down to Houston, giving me an opportunity to see the man himself, live, for the second time. September 2010 also was witness to me taking risk, something I wanted to do, but never mustered enough courage to do so. Situations forced me to. I'm talking about booking a ticket to Bangalore, to go for good. Was that decision Bitter or Sweet? Time will tell.

September 2009. 13th of September '09. One of the things of my big wish list saw light of the day. At 9.30 AM that day, I got my MacBook Pro. One year down and yet, touchwood, it looks new. One of the best things I've ever owned. Also, by then, my now famous dental episode had reached epic proportions and not finding enough options to treat my teeth here, I'd to rush to India for 3 weeks, after stopping eating for about a week or more. On a personal front, this trip was much better than the previous one in July - August. And importantly, I got to meet two old and very good friends that I'd not been able to meet since a very long time. Nani and Harsha. Most friends with whom I'd been going on treks were in Himalayas, and I made sure I met with them too.

September 2008. I was still fresh and new in the US. A month old. We were just back from an evacuation during Gustav. The news next day in the gym showed another hurricane, Ike, which would hit us in about 4 days time. The whole of Texas was asked to evacuate. We were rushed to interior parts of Texas. Houston lost electricity. There was large scale damage everywhere. Notwithstanding the ordeal of staying at a Gym during the evacuation, I flew from there to Phoenix, AZ. Adventures galore during this journey included getting lost trying to find the bus station, traveling to Dallas alone, which was about a 4 hour drive by bus, getting to the airport from deserted downtown of Dallas and spending the night at the airport. It was nice of course, once I reached my cousin's place.

September 2007. I was working at IISc. SIT and IISc have been the best phases of my life, so far. Hope more add on later. On the personal front, September was an emotional upheaval.

September 2006. Fresh after graduating, I was at home, jobless. I'm sure we'd started the band, but can't remember how good we were doing. Maybe, I should say, we were grappling to take a hold of the band, all of us.

That is all I can remember and that is the most I can go back in time. Wanted to have a written account of this so that I can add more to it in the September of 2011. Not that I would forget, but its nice to read it later on.

I'd still say if I probably look at other months too, I can draw something out of it. This 'grudge' against the poor 9th month is probably uncalled for. Who knows, maybe the best things in life later on may happen in the very month of September. Hell, even my birth - day 'Tuesday' could deceive me later on. Only time will tell.