A Bird's flight in City light

I have always been strangely drawn to the site of birds returning to their nests as soon as twilight sets in. It seems like the sky becomes like a railway station at a rush hour.. different flocks flying in different directions, separate destinations maybe but that one theme in mind : Homecoming. This strange attraction may be because when I see them heading home, a tiny part of me wants to spread my wings and fly home as well..

But what if twilight never happened? What if the sun never set? What if the birds had longer time to venture out in the blues?

I think I have found an answer to that. No, the answer did not come from a complex dream analysis like so many great men, for I am but an ordinary little woman and I found the answer in the Indian Land of Sweets ~ Gujarat. I am not saying the sun never set, but compared to the last twenty years of sunsets that I have seen, it almost felt like the sun did not want to set. I understand it's reluctance because anyone who has ever seen that place would never want light to abandon as beautiful a place as this.

To the normal human eye, it is no ordinary a place. But deep down, that is the real magic. It is ordinary. It does not make you feel foreign, and you feel at home! The ease of adjustment is the hardest obstacle to overcome in an unknown place, and Gujarat offers you the comfort you seek.

I had been in a Summer Internship Programme in one of the major players in the pharmaceutical arena, Cadila Pharmaceuticals Limited. I had never before, been to  a more enormous, elaborate and aesthetical amazing campus. When we (I had my cousin for company, by the way.. so loneliness stayed far at bay) first entered our workplace, we were two scared chicken - unknown and unaware. When we left, it felt like it flying away from the nest.

The people, their behaviour and their art of living reflects 'Gandhigiri' in its purest essence. Nobody fights with anybody. Everybody seems to mind their own business - some poking around is human nature but that can be easily overlooked in comparison to the rest of the world. It is a place no less than a shrine because there is serenity in the air, simplicity in their style, and peace is the motto.

It is not odd for pure non-vegetarians like me to feel nervous or have serious survival questions on the first few days, but when the salty air rubs on you, the materialistic cuisine cravings are effortlessly replaced by the surreal  culture. The Gujarati platter is as appealing  as any international cuisine you name because it is a plate full of balance and flavoured with a hint of sweetness. The variety of food that I have had during my one-month stay has been far more in number than the dishes I have had in my past twenty years, and just for the record, I may not have tasted even a quarter of the plethora of Gujarati cuisine!

It goes without saying that what went as sparsely-filled vessels of our minds have taken away more than expected. Not only was it a learning experience in terms of knowledge but to me, a personally enriching exposure.

I often stood by the huge window in my room, there and stared at the eagles hovering over the hustle-bustle of ordinary city life, and the pigeon-heart in me gave way to the ambitious hawk wings that want to soar higher and higher before the sun eases down and twilight sets in. ~ A Perfect Summer. Eleven on Ten!