A Place Called Home...

A couple of weeks back i got to go back home to Shimla after a really long gap ( Well, 10 months won't really cut it for a really long gap for most people, but by my usual standards it is. ) . Unfortunately, it wasn't a really long trip, and to be honest , it didn't really settle in as it used to earlier. It seems the whole place has metamorphised into this completely new place that I just don't recognise anymore..and worse, it's home but still i feel like a stranger being out there. Of course, home is still good ol' home..and I still know the place like the back of my hand. But somwhere deep inside, there's this sense of non- belonging, that the people just don't know me anymore and they couldn't care less. So now here I am, wondering if it's time I start calling Delhi my home, but then that's what makes me realise, Shimla is still the only place that I can go to without any inhibitions, a place where I can be myself, a place where i'm always welcome. So, there's still one place I'd call home....

Btw,there were a couple of incidents on the trip I could share with you. So here goes!!

Well, the first one happened on the first day itself. My mum really wanted to me to make a trip to this temple while I was home, and being the long trip that it is I thought i'd get it over with as soon as possible. So, after a lot of huffing and puffing over the hill I got there. Now, I'd planned to take some pics on my camera of the really amazing view from the top once I got there, which gave me a slight motivation to make the trip. So after the usual stuff, I thought i'd get some pics..so I amble over to this garden at the back, only to stumble upon a couple, deep in the enthroes of love, oblivious to everything, so I beat a hasty retreat, disgruntled about not getting the pics. (That, by the way, was the best view!!! ). And then I turned to the terrace, only to have the same scene repeated.....and like a sad movie re-run, again, when I went to the other side. So, there I was, after a steep climb, and still without any pics. After waiting for about fifteen minutes, I decided to call it a day and walked back home. Now that I think about it, I don't know who to feel more sorry for. There's me, who didn't get any pics after all the anticipation. Then there's the temple priest, vowed to celibacy and having to watch all these lovelorn couples, must be kind of frustrating, it'd be for me!! But I guess, it'd have to be the couples themselves...having to come up all that way just to get some time alone to themselves. Now there's one guy who can truly say "For you Baby, I climbed the highest mountain..."

Now, the second one happens during the trip back. On my way back, my cousin calls me up to pick up some wine and cider for him (Ok!! Who am I kidding? It was for me too...) . So I do that and put the "stuff" in my bag. Later at the next stop, Lady Luck shines and this cute girl gets on and gets the seat next to me. So, we got talking and strike up a conversation to kill time up until Chandigarh where we' were supposed to change. And when we're getting off, this girl is standing next to me waiting for me to come so we can catch the next bus, and that was the exact moment my bag's zipper gives away and all the booze comes tumbling out....a six-pack and a couple of bottles of wine. I've never seen anybody disappear faster, she did mumble something about making a call though..... Not that I blame her or anything...