My Thoughts

It's oh so cold today outside! The sun is out, but he cannot do much about expelling cold. He is so weak and inconsequential in the scheme of things out here.

I now know why they must have needed fires and hearths in the house before electric heaters. I now understand the fears of Mr Woodhouse regarding droughts and cold air. I now understand the importance of March, spring, and the change in the weather as depicted in English literature.
We tropical people can hardly understand the need of the westerners or North Asians, for that matter, or Australians, to talk about good summers. Summers for us are extremely harsh. You would hardly find anybody back in India who claims to actually like summers. Over here, summer heat can be had only for 3 or max 4 months of the year. Otherwise, it is just cold and bleak. There is hardly anyone on the roads. You would also venture out if and only if you need to. I had to go out yesterday for some grocery and I was caught in snow. It was so cold, and wet, and uncomfortable! All my romantic notions of snowfall and stuff vanished in a moment.

I am so happy to sit at home today, and stare outside at the snow on the rooftops melting. I can see some people venturing out...these people do not have a choice - they have to go to work. They are so cold...I can only see their faces; their cheeks are red with the cold, and the rest of their face is blue. I certainly do NOT fancy myself going out in this kind of weather.
There is only one corner in the house that the sun does come in at - only for 5 minutes at around 8 30 in the morning. It is only the rising sun, with no heat and no power. Nevertheless it is sun. The sun is so rare out here, that I usually look upon him as my nearest, closest friend whenever I can see him. How I hated him back in India. Out here, he has a habit of waking up late, and going back to sleep early. He keeps strange hours. He is up only by 7 45 in the morning and disappears in his bedroom at around 4 in the afternoon.

I hope the summers will really be warm and nice over here. People have told us that the summer months are fabulous. There is sunlight right till 10 at night, and there is a mood of celebration all over. Christmas would have been such fun in the summers!

Christmas also was kind of a disappointment for me. Back in Pune, the atmosphere is so vibrant! The young and the old alike get out of their houses on Christmas Eve to see the decorations in and around the Camp area. The whole country celebrates Christmas in such a wonderful way! Goa goes crazy over Christmas and New Year's. The mood is so different, so beautiful.

Out here, they did have really nice Christmas decorations all over, but that was about it. There was no one on the roads - of course, no one is foolish enough to venture out in this kind of cold. People did go out for the Midnight Service, and they must have celebrated Christmas Day in their usual way. But the one thing missing out here is the sharing and the bonding between people. Back in Pune, when you are out on the streets wandering around Camp on Christmas Eve, you can feel the happiness and the cheer around you. You can feel that the next person beside you is enjoying as much as you are. There is a special bond that develops amongst everybody, so that, even if you are a christian or not, you start enjoying the festival as if it were your own.

Out here, there is no one around for you to bond with. Even if there is, the person is really not interested in you, and doesn't give a damn to you. That is what I miss the most about India. The number of people and the feeling of oneness with the crowd. Inspite of eve-teasing, and murders, and thefts, and what not, it is the very nature of India that can't be seen perhaps anywhere else in the world. I like the polluted environs of India better than the clean, empty streets out here. I like the mismanaged MSEB better than the faceless company that provides electricity around here. I like the BSNL better than the phone companies out here. You can at least see the people in BSNL and MSEB. You can always scream at them and abuse them when they don't provide service. Here, if they don't provide service (and beleive me, it does happen) and if you use even one unaccepted word, they will sue you.

I like the potholed, indisciplined roads in India, as there are people around you all the time. There is life around you all the time. You are never isolated in your own world. Even if you are home alone, there are insects everywhere to keep you company. There are various sounds and noises and voices around to make you aware of a world around you. Out here, you just have the sound of the refridgerator for company. And of course, someone walking above you on the wooden floors.

Boy, I miss India.