Gangetic plains

It is the new year already. It does not seem so. At the stroke of mid-might this new year, I was chugging along in a train across the country to be with my family. There were no shouts of 'Happy New Year'... only condolences to be shared and tears to be wiped. It was a homecoming of sorts.. I do not imagine that all of us have been in the house together for more than a decade. The train journey also added to the nostalgia. Wind swept plains, bone racking bitter cold, countless cups of tea devoured to soothe an aching throat and 3 advertisements on the walls lining the railway tracks: sex consultants, underwear & plywood veneers.

I know this landscape all too well. But, I have missed it sorely too. Endless sarson fields that paint the earth yellow! I wonder how they look from high up in the sky.. Human caricatures propped against gnarled tree stumps with the all too familiar (and grossly) painted matka for a face & ragged inners for clothes. The yellow fields seem to be making up for the sun's absence but only so. Here and there i can see the villagers wrapped up in warm woollen shawls and mufflers walking fast to finish their ablutions. They know that the day will end early and they dare not waste minutes of precious daylight. Cakes of cow dung have been stacked neatly besides the fields to be used for 'smokeless' heating during the night. The mist from the Ganga still shrouds the plains and brings life to a standstill as it did aeons ago.

But some things have changed. For the first time today I witnessed village boys playing volleyball on a barren patch in the field. The clothing too seems to have undergone a drastic change. While earlier it was common place to see farmers in their traditional white dhoti, banyan & a turban (to protect their head from the cold), today I can see them in pyjamas and even jeans. Brightly designed shirts and multicolored mufflers complete the ensemble. Bullock carts have been replaced by modern day machinery and the easy farmers' walk is replaced by a steady pace.

I wonder when will I come back next. The plains seem to be locked by time unto eternity at each sparsely spaced marriage or death visit in the family. I wonder whether I will still call it home years later when all whom I know there have perished?

Resolutions ?!&*#!

A new year is coming up. Yeah, big deal!
Where are the cheap pay-and-go space rides? Where are the gravity defying cars that can wizzz around in dark tunnels?
Where are the mars colonies? Where are the personal robots and houses that adjust to your whims and fancies?
You call this the future???! HA !
And what about the floating cities? What about the chips that can cram up a billion years of information in your brain?
I mean, think about it! We still have to tie our own shoe laces?!&$#! Give me a break!

It is good to know that we are still around. That we have not managed, quite yet, to blow it up with our boosted fission nuclear bombs. That the Greenland ice mass still rests peacefully. We can't visit the rugged expanse of Mars yet. We can take a dip in the blue expanse of the Pacific. Today, we can jot down the 10 things to do and look at it every other day but sooner we have to understand the relationship between us and what is happening to our surroundings.

A friend said to me, "Don't tell me that not switching down my PC when I leave work the would actually cause the Greenland ice mass to melt and flood my home town. You can't be so big a nincompoop to believe this."

I know it won't tonight. It will a few years later. The Larsen ice shelf in Antartica melted due to global warming. But we were lucky back then - this ice shelf rested primarily on water so it's melting did not cause a significant rise in water levels round the globe. The Greenland ice is capable of raising water levels by 20 feet or more. That would give us enough impetus to re-write our geography books. Also, Santa will come from a land with no ice. Bums you out, dosn't it ? But then what would you say to the drowing of Indian coastal cities, Californian coast, Manhatten, Netherland and many of the British Isles ?

I was reading Calvin the other day and this is what he has to say regarding new year resolutions:
"Resolutions ? Me ?? Just what are you implying? That I need to change?? Well, buddy as far as I'm concerned, I'm perfect the way I am! For your information, I'm staying like this, and everyone else can get used to it! If people don't like me the way I am, well, tough beans! It's a free country! I don't need anyone's permission to be the way I am! This is how I am - take it or leave it! By golly, life's too short to waste time trying to please every meddlesome moron who's got an idea how I ought to be! I don't need advice! Everyone can just stay out of my face!"

Well, Calvin, maybe just a spiff bit!

2006

Another year is coming to an end. We ape the nature to break our lives into comfortable parts. years - yipee!! lets party! months - now where is my pach check? weeks - catching up with friends. days - slumped in bed.

But yes, 2006 was a great year. Okay, a good one.
Learnt that puppies look even cuter when they are born at home. You don't listen to people who say 'how can a lab and a german shephard cross possible be?'. Yes, they can. So cute you would gladly give up your room to all 6 of them. You still wudn't possibly give them to your relatives who come over and make mushy baby sounds on seeing them. Your mum won't allow eight dogs at home. You can still beg for one, or maybe two. Mommy dear?

Plan and resolutions for 2007?
Bruce almighty didn't consult me while making his so let him guess on mine.

Looking back 2006 was quite good. Bangalore roads choked me up. Smothered it up with dollops of old friends meetings, scrumptious food and my own apartment!! Taught me to pay my electricity bill on time. Crap! Forgot the maintainence bill. First thing this weekend. Honest.