Friday 20 May 2016

oh, the trips we take and the memories we make...

the thing about taking a long gap from something is that it is all the more difficult to get back to it, or start doing it, once again. thats what happens when you take a long break from your blog - you actually feel clueless about where to begin and how to continue.

i could say the same thing about coming back to 'routine' or 'normal' life, after a long trip.

i was away from the end of march till the end of april, spending almost an entire month (except for a few days ) between my mom's and my aunt's houses, and being a part of my cousin's wedding.

there are a few parts about that trip which i wish i could erase out entirely, like the huge stress i had weighing on my mind because of some stupid paperwork which wouldn't get sorted out till the last minute, and some health issues. if these two hadnt been there, i would have enjoyed the trip and the wedding so much better - but well, there must always be some rain on the parade or it wouldn't be my life.

the good part though, it is always great when you get to spend time with mom, aunts and cousins. throw in a big fat indian wedding and it just gets better. when you look back, you always tend to take the tense parts leading up to a wedding lightly and focus only on the good parts... these are the ones which end up as fond memories, ones which will get talked about again and again, get told and retold over the years.

personally, i think i refuse to be an adult when im staying at my mom's or aunt's, and neither do they consider me one i guess :) - getting used to tea being ready by the time i brush my teeth, and having food cooked by someone else for a whole month, makes it so difficult to get back to 'adult mode' when you are back in a home of your own.
what makes it all the more difficult though, is the sights, sounds, colours and smells of the places you hold close to your heart. the bright morning sun that streams through your mother's kitchen, the neem tree in front of the house, or the banana tree in your aunt's backyard - with the passage of time, you realise that memories are more sensory than you think.

( in the foreground is the neem tree in front of my parents' apartment, the coconut trees behind are from the houses on the opposite side of the street... )

as i was saying at the beginning, it takes so long to get back to 'normal' after an extended home town visit. it has been close to three weeks and im still coming to terms with it :)
one of the things that make me feel 'back at home' and 'grown up', is making that first batch of ghee, first batch of yoghurt, and idli/dosa batter, to restock the kitchen. somehow these three seem to form the core of my existence, helping me get my bearings back, so to speak :)

so, is it just me or do you tend to have 'holiday hangover' too ? do you feel some memories hang more heavily over you than others ?