yum sweet yum

i am back after nearly a fortnight home. Every time i go there, there is this voice inside that keeps whispering how nice it would be if i didn’t have to count the days i have to fly back. It is like an ache that refuses to go away, this pining for the place where i don’t have to stay in a chicken-coop, where i can hug my mother and not just do with her voice over the phone, where life crawls by and you can caress the moments as they glide by…i know i can complain about the status of the road, a flyover that does not seem to want to take off, a market place which looks like a dumping ground, bandhs and strikes, about the load shedding…about corruption, about the so-called “patriotic” naharols….But inspite of all the warts, i love the place, i love the way it refreshes my mind, my spirits.

i decided to give everyone a surprise so i went without informing anyone. i landed there, asked around if there was a prepaid taxi service (stupid of me, I know). Of course, there was none. i finally found a guy and he promptly led me to this auto and managed to stuff my jumbo suitcase inside, much to my amazement. Anyways, there i was feeling like a princess in an auto! Of course, i got chided by everyone. My initial plan was just to spend a week there as i still have the loan cloud hovering above my head. The day before i was supposed to leave, after a bout of emotional attack, i decided to extend the stay for another week. i had to call up the bank, the promoter, my PL to make sure nobody was miffed. My PL was like how could you think of it, everyone here is missing you…i managed to get my way, as always.

Our leikai does not get water supply (ha ha ha) so we have to pump the water from the Imphal river. We have this pump that weighs like an elephant. i nearly sprained my back carrying it (not alone, just in case someone takes me for Kunjarani). As always, i had a fabulous time playing gags on all and sundry, teaching bad things to my cousins and my sweetie pie of a niece (one of my fave pastime when I am home), gorging on all those delicious homemade food….i am feeling so nostalgic right now. i could cry buckets of tears..sigh…

I miss the sound of the “konung”’s gong heralding the start of the day, the chirping of birds, the chattering of my two small precocious cousins, the fights with my sisters, being the judge of the silly games my cousins insist on playing (like throwing their collection of pokemon cards on the ground and seeing who can pick up the most – the punishment for the loser being dancing with his pants down – hey, they are just small kids so there is nothing indecent about this)…….let me stop before I drown in the sea of nostalgia..