Friday, June 24, 2005

Just like that..

What is the first image that comes to your mind, when someone talks about India?

For forign nationals, it's no big deal - Taj Mahal, of course!

But what about us, the Indians?

I don't really know - never thought it was even worth pondering over, suddenly came to my mind, making it's way through a lot many more important, serious and nearly decicive concerns. And I could not get over it!

The more I stress my brain to conclude finally upon something concrete, the more difficult it's getting! But one thing is clear - I am a medivial village man!

Most of the images that are making their way to my mind, are from villages - the same imaginary dream destination I fancied a while ago!

Rajsthan, Punjab!! Strange - these are the places I have never been to! May be, a lot of Hindi movie overdose! An overdose of happy paddy field scenes, or the vivid and colourful cultural depiction of Rajsthan! The sand, the rivers, the nature, the Himalayas!! (And yes, I know Rajsthan has no river and certainly no Himalayas - it's a different sentence all together!)

Crap - India is not only places! It has got inhabitants too! Think about people!

Again, too tiring - Can't think beyond a few unknown faces... No one whom I know, no politicain, no social worker, no artist, no friend, no foe - all unknown - a few wrinkled faces, old desperate souls, shaky hands, innocent kids, happy unknown workers!

God only knows, may be I have gone mad. Why do I need to think about this? What kind of fasciation is this!

I need to get away from thinking about this - I have piles of unfinished work, better stuff to read at home, countless movies to catch on, then why this!

Strange - I googled for image search with key India - expected a lot of Taj, India Gate, Gateway of India, Kashmir to figure in it! To my surprise, only Taj finds a mention worth describing, India gate figures on the 10th page, no mention of Kashmir or Gateway of India! What happened to Bangalore? No where!!

Rajsthan is a hot favourite, it seems! Has to be - the place intrigues me! So colourful and so lively, yet so dry!

Ok.. it's getting clearer now - I feel I love my roots a bit too much! No qualms about the fast pace of life in metroes, I love them! But I some how feel at loss with the cultural advancements in the cities - perhaps, I am a little too old fashioned!

I feel more at home in North - shameless acceptance, but true - it's mostly because of the food. I never appreciated the food in south in general, though there are quite a few Sothern delicacies I truly enjoy.

Food - it's the pivotal thing in my life - I live to eat may be! The aroma of spices, the heavenly feel of taste, perhaps, this is why I love cooking!

Whatever.

I feel, this is again one of those bizarre crap, I generally end up writing!
Certainly, has to be - lot of things going in my head currently, which I am frantically trying to shoo off!

Diverting my mind - you may say!
:)

7 comments:

Unknown said...

ya - interesting thought. even i never thought abt what is the first thing that comes to one's mind when thought abt India? this country is so vast in its culture and diversity that its difficult to settle on any one particular place/person etc. thoughts always goes like "no wait, what about this - then there's that too..."
interesting to ponder over it though. for me its about the villages and the green farms that bring us food everyday... nice post :)

Keshav said...

Yes Srinivas, it's true! I never ever thought about it myself! But the more surprising thing was, the google search.. you get all kinds of weird maps of India, and same Taj Mahal snaps, but nothing beyond that, which you would expect!

Thanks for the compliments!
:)

Joviel said...

Last sentence .. almost makes me think of tum itna jo muskura rahe ho, kya gum hai jisko chupa rahe ho song :) Of course I cant see you smiling thru that one..

Keshav said...

Koi gum nahin hai ab life mein! All settled!!
:)

Raju PP said...

well, i think its virtually impossible for an Indian to get a pic of any particular place or thing thinking about India. But i guess, Indians staying away for a long time, do get their native place in mind, thats what my frz told me ;-)
btw, y did u delete ur comment in my blog keshav?

Abdulla Syed said...

well well well, the picture upon the inward eye was mine. it cloud see myself clearly even with, open eyes. India is a***, a*** is india

KAD said...

You have been book-tagged!!