Punjab - In Retrospect : Part I

The first time I went to Punjab was when I had just finished school. It was a stroke of pure luck that I was able to make it. I should really thank my uncle for actually taking the trouble of joining a spoilt brat like me on a trip around the state to where my origins belong.

They say that a visit to Punjab actually changes your outlook and your mindset. At least it has a lasting influence on your thought process since the people and the atmosphere just overwhelm you. You just have to experience the place since no amount of praise can do justice to the feeling of actually being there. If there is one place where you feel welcome, it most definitely has to be Punjab.

Ever since I came back from that trip I had promised myself that one day I was going to return to my motherland. My fortune had other plans in store for me though. I did manage to go back to the mother ship once again but the occasion and the responsibilities were so hugely surmounting that I did not get any time to get a feel of that place.

Finally it took another stroke of genius from another friend to get me back to the Land of Five Rivers. That week of my life can never be erased from my otherwise amnesiac memory. I experienced so many emotions, lows, highs, troubles and favors that I actually was more mentally drained than physically fatigued at the end of it all.

The journey began with me having to go to Chennai to attend the marriage of two of the closest friends that I have ever known. They have actually made me believe that true love exists and their solemn wedding was just the epitome for me. No other marriage has ever made more sense to me than that one. I haven't enjoyed any marriage more than I enjoyed their's. Love was truly in the air and I could get a whiff of it being there. Chennai was etched into my memory forever.

Before I could blink I had to depart to join a highly anticipated and the second leg of my trip up north. As I was leaving all alone in that cab going to the airport I had only one thought in my mind which was "I should have slept earlier". More seriously, I was just thinking how some events change one person's life and I was wondering if this was one of them. That one day had changed a little bit of my cynical mindset. Chennai had already done what I wanted Punjab to do to me.

I had a hunch that the flight would also not be as uninteresting as all the others that I have been on and I was right. As I sat in the front row of that flight to Delhi, all I wanted to do was sleep and wake up only when I had reached my destination. Then all of a sudden this British gentleman came and sat next to me. I generally avoid talking to people on flights and I give such condescending looks to others that no one else bothers talking to me as well. That trick fortunately did not work on this Brit chap and we ended up talking about loads and loads of stuff on the flight. He was so impressed with my knowledge about Delhi that he gave me his contact and promised that he would show me around London in case I ever wound up there. Again I had ended up enjoying my time even though I detest flight journeys to the core.

Next stop was my nephew's house and no sooner had he seen me that the sweet little thing started raking his brains out trying to find that grey cell in that tiny little head of his, which recognized me. I never liked babies and especially the ones which cry, which, as a matter of fact all of them do. I dont know why though this toddler with his huge eyes and his chubby cheeks and his wafts of overgrown hair and his unrelenting innocence made me change my mind about babies. I just wanted him to like me as much as I loved him. His one smile was all that I wanted and it took me 8 hours to finally achieve it. Maybe it was a sign that he had registered me and my face in his memory. For me it was one of those timeless moments in life.

I wanted to spend all my time with him and my sister (of course) but I had a promise to keep and so I had to leave. The journey had not even begun and I was already lost in translation. I was physically present in one place but my mind was still trying to catch up with my physical being. The adrenaline was flowing and the heart was thumping. It happens when you expect the unexpected to happen and your future is all that you can see since you are oblivious to your present and your past.