MellowDrama

As a child I was totally taken in by the beauty of these small, white pearls called sabudana, which I thought were made of soap. I don’t really remember where I gathered that impression but my interest in sabudana led me to find out more about it. According to an urban legend, a European settler in Kerala once saw a local man sitting and digging under a rather tall and a thin plant. The European gentleman asked him what he was doing. The busy man answered in Malayalam, “Thappiyoka” which means ‘I am searching...’ The poor European thought that he had been told the name of the plant and gradually it came to be known as tapioca. Sabudana or sago is basically starch. It is extracted from the tuberous root of the cassava plant. Tapioca or shakarkandi’s root is processed to gain a white starchy liquid which is then factory-processed into desired shapes. The white pearls are the most popular one though I am sure you must have savoured it as roasted papad, or as fried sticks as well.

I was so busy That I forgot to look at you And appreciate the strength your muscles have acquired I forgot to smile at you And extend to you the warmth that my heart feels for you I forgot to reach out to plant kisses on the scrapped knee And let you know that I am around I forgot to hold you tight before you left home And convey that I will be waiting for you to come back To see that you were waiting for me to get on with myself So that I could come back to you I was so busy But now I wonder what else I might have missed While I was too busy Did I sign the notes that your teachers sent? Did I get a hug for baking a cake for you? Did I read stories to you and sing songs? Did I win you friends with craft-work? Did I take you for the walks? I now wonder what do I have to show for all that time that I spent being busy I dread if you ever ask me to show something for being busy always I wouldn’t have anything Because I was so busy Doing nothing

Dear Sub I googled the distance from New Delhi to Columbus and I am told it is: 7562.9 Miles or 12171.3 Kilometers / 6567.6 Nautical Miles Approximate flight duration time from New Delhi to Columbus is 15 hrs, 42 mins but I know you have a longer flight. You must have been on a plane for more than half the time, as I sit down to write this. Initially I had wanted to write about how I felt about your leaving yesterday night but then thought that maybe I was too overwhelmed to do it straight away. I got up unusually early with the task on my mind but I spent my those early morning hours doing routine stuff. Then when Netra was out of the house in the evening, the usual time, we would have a chat, I again sat down with my laptop and I googled. Yet again something came up and I had to rush away. All in all it is almost exactly a day after you have left that I am putting how I feel about your going away down. First of all, and I should have told you this before you left,

It is a strange thing that I am slowly turning into a pessimist. I have been the one whom you could always trust to find you the positive thing in any situation. After being in Kolkata for more than six months, I can barely see any sense in the plunge that I took. I have nobody to blame. Unfortunately. I wish someone had forced me to do this but no luck here, not even the circumstances were such that I should have given up my life and come here. In my dreams I often find myself at various nooks and corners, simply standing, or crossing a road, taking a bus from PGI, or getting down at the Sector 22 bus stop, shielding my eyes from the sun as I hunt for some office in the over-crowded Sector 34 or is it 35, and then again sit down near the fountain at the Plaza for basking in life's glory. After leaving home for hostel I would dream of Palampur but I, as a kid, have not roamed about much in the various neighbourhoods. I still see Palampur in my dreams when the Dhauladhars utter

Ah! my beloved Palampur. I had meant to do two posts. One on the history of Palampur, some of which I dug up during walks this time and another one on the new-ness of Palampur reflected in things like the increased number of hand holding couples in Kanwar Sita Ram Park at any given point of time in a day. A sign that the town is growing and how! Since I stepped out of house for education and other mundane things like work and marriage, I have never had this kind of time to spend lavishly on walks around the town. The time I did not spend looking at the Dhauladhaars was spent in contemplating the changed town. What stuck me most was that Palampur is becoming filthier. I dread that it might turn out to be a Kullu or a Simla. Oh that would hurt so much. The sight of Neugal Park was heart wrenching. The beautiful white cast iron structures which form a large part of my memories at Neugal, are no longer there. Despite plaques claiming CM's inauguration of this (the khudd) and