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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!
