Off to Mars…

Tomorrow evening, I’m off to Mars. Well, not Mars, but at least that’s how it’s starting to feel. For the first time ever, I’ll be leaving the comfort of home and the ‘taking for granted’ness of home. It was all fine until I started packing and that’s when it started to sink in that I’m not going to be living here any more for quite a while. No mum to wake you up in the morning, force you to study, threatening you that if your grades are not proper – no girl will marry you. ( I still never got the logic behind this…maybe she wants me to marry a school teacher) No more of the so many little things that you take for granted. Clothes would be washed when you got home in the evening, you never have to worry about ironing stuff, food was always available at any hour of the day. It’s all the little things that I am surely going to miss from home. But most importantly, Mum and Dad were always there for you. Anything from a bad day, to a tummy upset, there was someone to take care of you.  This is exactly the reason I believe it’s high time this (over-grown and plump) bird left the nest. I’ve been pampered way too much. But I am going to miss all of this.

I am pretty sure I’d be making a whole new batch of friends. Some for life. But I’m going to miss the old gang no matter what. The evenings spent discussing mundane topics, yelling at the late-comer, all the leg-pulling, hours of football, time wasted checking out girls at the bar, times you’ve got drunk and so much more. I’ve grown up with this gang and we’ve been through so much together…loss of family and friends, heart breaks, failures, exams, school and all the things in life that teach you about it; and there’s always been shoulders you can use to prop yourself up. I’m going to miss all these guys. But Amen to the internet, skype and Fb. At least we can still stay in touch. 

The fact that I’m moving hit me when I began packing. It’s a really tough choice to choose what you want and what you need. Like a good friend put it, ‘I’m putting my life in two suitcases’. You literally want to carry everything in your room along with you. But, alas. Until we can find some technology that can shrink rooms into tiny boxes, like in the Jetsons or Bugs Bunny cartoons, I don’t see that happening yet. I’m feeling very weird leaving all the comfort of my room behind. I’ve stayed in Bangalore for so long that I’ve just gotten so used to everything in this town and at home. The streets, the people, all the familiar sights. But this will all change for one year. Maybe even more if I get placed somewhere else.

I’m going to miss everything for sure. I’m going to miss all my friends, the comfort of home, and most importantly the support of Mum and Dad. But it’s all for the best. It’s high time I learnt to fly. I’m looking forward to everything from here. The sleepless nights analyzing case studies, cramming at the last minute, new friends, football and gaming at odd hours. I am looking forward to re-learning my guitar again. And get back to actively making music. It’s all up to me as to where I can take life from here. And I am just hoping I  make all the right choices. Blogging will be sparse for the next couple of weeks as I try and get my self set up. We have some out-bound training and stuff for few days. My next blog will be from the new home in Chennai. Thank you everyone – my teachers, my friends, my foes, everyone…it’s been an awesome 15 years. But this misfit must fly. I’m signing off this entry with some lyrics from Pink Floyd’s ‘Learning to Fly’ :

Into the distance, a ribbon of black
Stretched to the point of no turning back
A flight of fancy on a windswept field
Standing alone my sense is real.

A fatal attraction holding me fast, how
Can I escape this irresistible grasp? 
Can't keep my eyes from the circling skies
Tongue-tied and twisted Just an earth-bound misfit, I .

Ice is forming on the tips of my wings
Unheeded warnings, I thought I thought of everything
No navigator to find my way home
Unladened, empty and turned to stone .

A soul in tension that's learning to fly
Condition grounded but determined to try
Can't keep my eyes from the circling skies
Tongue-tied and twisted just an earth-bound misfit, I.

Above the planet on a wing and a prayer,
My grubby halo, a vapour trail in the empty air,
Across the clouds I see my shadow fly
Out of the corner of my watering eye.

A dream unthreatened by the morning light
Could blow this soul right through the roof of the night .

There's no sensation to compare with this
Suspended animation, A state of bliss
Can't keep my eyes from the circling skies
Tongue-tied and twisted just an earth-bound misfit, I. 

Comments

Ani..... said…
Good Luck buddy...Fly high!!!
Wow, I never thought that you'd actually go to Mars!;-)
hmmm.. this is gonna make me cry!!! :(