The sun was perhaps milder in Bangalore. I would walk out into the sunshine, and feel elated. The freshness of the morning lingered late into the day, and I felt as if I was bathed in dew. I loved the streets of that city. Looking at the traffic that glided across the streets early in the morning, I would feel the pace of that city within myself, and my heart would soar with optimism. The sunrays felt warm and heartening against the fog of the morning.

That city is tagged with memories, and as I drive along the streets, I am transported back in time to various moments that blur my present. It was a different world…. a different paradise.

I talk to the wilderness that surrounds me now and I tell the trees and birds about yet another enchanting world I had witnessed- a world that I belonged to, for hadn’t I borrowed from it tremendously? I feel torn between my roots and the place that I grew up in. Where is home?

Just as I begin to believe that I have settled in, a familiar fragrance….a familiar song….a familiar vision makes me pause and awakens a part of me that continues to belong to the cosmopolitan world I grew up in. I miss the ways of the city…. I miss the people and the conversations…. I miss the pace and the optimism…. I miss the inspiration and the freedom…. I miss the wide horizon that the city opened up to the ardent dreamer that thrives within me. There are elements of city life that are so hard to define and delineate, and yet they give character to life. (Yes, it is the same me writing!!)

Sitting in an outdoor café, I would watch the world go by. I loved the zest and the smiles I saw around me, for in them, I saw something of my own self. I do not know why it is, but the sight of trendy clothes, wrist watches, sun glasses, well-groomed hair, the fragrance of colognes and deodorants- they bring a certain joy to my heart. Life feels good. The damp hair always felt so fresh against my face and neck in the cool air of the night, and I loved the fragrance of the shampoo and the soap and the deodorant and the lotions that seemed to linger. It was like a halo of fragrance surrounding oneself.

I loved the people because they respected one another’s individuality. It helped me grow unrestricted as an individual. All I am today, I owe to the freedom of thought that the city offered me.

At the end of the day, life is fair. The fundamental principle of life is love. And if I can love, every world that I migrate to, will be a different paradise. There are things that I will miss of the ‘other’ world. But life will still be fair.
As I drive today, I smile through my tears. MLTR is playing in the background. The sun is hot, but what I feel is the tepid rays of the Bangalore sun. For the songs transport me to a different world and time. Passers by stare in amusement, but do I care?:)

Tags: nostalgia, bangalore, city, ways of life