NostalgIndia...

Yaadon ki bochharon se jab palkein bheegne lagti hain
Kitni saundhi lagti hai tab maazi ki ruswaai bhi

Ek puraana mausam louta
Yaad bhari purwaai bhi....

Its something about India – the feeling of nostalgia is so much more intense here. Whether it is that smell of wet earth immediately after it rains, or the oddly musical cries of the hawkers selling corn in the streets, or songs from yesteryear playing on some beat up radio nearby – every moment reminds me of another moment so lived…

In this little apartment which was home once, there is so much of the past. The baby albums that mark the start of the journey. The story books I lived in as a child. The school year books that my gauche adolescence is trapped in. The trophies that stand in mute witness to long-ago glories. The diaries scented with sweet memories.

When outside, the soft cool breeze of June evokes such well-remembered pleasure. The old haunts, the old routes, the old coffee shop with the old table we always sat at. The way my deserted college campus looked that evening – as if it too was haunted by the laughter of our past.

Not all of the nostalgia is beautiful though…

There are the ghosts that must be laid to rest. The remnants of disaster that must be dealt with. Some battles that must still be fought…

There is just so much…

So much life left behind. So much life left to live.