Blast from the Past (2009)

1/7/09

I moved to my apartment two days back. It's in downtown, and comes with all the downtown frills - loud noise 24/7, people from all walks of life walking around ranging from business-suited executives to not so well-suited bums. I've lived in this downtown for 3 years before going to Arizona for my Masters, so it was nothing new. But coming back to all this was surely... weird.

When I was leaving one and a half years ago, I wasn't so sure if I would ever see this place again. And that made me sad. Of all the places I've lived at in the States, I liked San Jose the most. It is just the right balance between a large metro city and a small town. Not too quiet and not too noisy. Though the place I live at right now, is in open defiance of the latter.

When I got back to this place, with all the familiar streets and landmarks, the first feeling to hit me was depression. I hate going back in the past. I don't like reminiscing about it too much, or missing it all the time, or wishing I could go back in time. I am always looking ahead, at the future and its uncertainties and surprises. So coming back to my past, although temporarily, was not a pleasant feeling.

My cousin's whole family came to drop me. They even go to the barber together. Or even when just going to get gas in the car. I know families sticking together is a good thing and it is the family's right under almost evey country's constitution to travel freely together anywhere they want, but some people just abuse that privilege.

That my cousin is just simply awesome and very caring was never under doubt. And she proved it again when, a hour before we were about to leave to drop me off, she started packing a portion of almost everything in her refrigerator for me to take with me to the new place and be well fed until I settle in and start cooking myself. She also clearly labeled each container and gave me another bag full of snacks ranging from microwaveable pop corn to these strange little cookies that look disgusting but actually taste delicious.

As is her habit, my cousin was chatting even while packing food in the kitchen. I, on the other hand, sitting in the living room in front of the kitchen entrance, was more concerned about fitting all my stuff in my three bags of less weight instead of two heavy ones. This was an effort to not give my bro-in-law a reason to take a month long leave from work due to a broken back and pulled tendons.

"At least tumhein khaana pakana aata hai, yeh achi baat hai..."

She chatted while I pulled out my books (the heaviest items, no doubt) from my suitcase and stuffed them in my backpack.

"..Meri to jab shaadi hui thi aur mein America aayi, mujhay to kuch bhi banana nahi aata tha.."

To fit the books, I had to take out some electronic items from my backpack first and put them in the other suitcase.

"..sirf anday banaanay aatay thay, bas.."

But that meant taking out some clothes from that suitcase first and putting them.. where? :S

"..Mein roz Zahid ko anday hi bana bana ke khilaati rehti thi.."

I spotted an empty tranparent plastic comforter bag lying in the corner. Apparently, my cousin was about to throw it away. I decided to utilize it instead. That brought my bag count to four. Five if you counted the backpack too.

"..Ando'n ke saath hi roz koi na koi naya experiment karti thi.."

I stuffed my clothes in that bag. There was extra space so I took out some more clothes from other bags and stuffed them in it too.

"..Kabhi fry kar kay, kabhi boil kar ke anday ka salad.."

At last I was done with all the packing and, after neatly arranging all the bags up against the wall, sat back and waited for the family to be ready and leave. And spotted my black T-shirt with the silhouette of a hoochie mama and the tag line calling her male friends in a not-so-family viewable manner.

"..kabhi alag alag masaalay daal ke fry karti thi.. phir ahista ahista vegetables daalnay shuroo kar diye.."

This was a T-shirt I'd gotten for free as a males-TV-channel promotion at the "Branding in Entertainment Industry" conference I had attended in Los Angeles last year. I slept in it sometimes when out of night clothes since it did not merit being worn openly outside in public.

But I doubted anyone would really care for such lengthy explanations in this family. The best thing was to just reach in the transparent bag and turn around the shirt so the logo wasn't viewable. Which I did. Right there and then.

".. magar Zahid buhat achay hain. Kabhi complain nahi ki.. chup kar ke kha letay thay jo bhi bana ke deti thi.."

Poor guy. He was probably going bankrupt in those days because of eating out at restaurants so much.

"..Phir aakhir kaar meinay ahista ahista seekh hi li cooking."

Apparently. The chicken karahi that day was fantabulous.

At last, everyone was ready and my bro-in-law came in from his garden outside where he was fixing some lights. Since he is bald as they just got back from hajj, he wears a woolen hat on his head to prevent his head from getting cold. It is one of those hats that have a woolen poof at the top. I always have to struggle to suppress a giggle when he comes in front of me like that.

We all finally got in the car and they dropped me at the apartment. The place looked real shabby, maybe because it was night. It looked much better the morning after. My roommates are nice and cooperative. Always a plus.

From the next morning onwards, the depression slowly started fading away as I started exploring the area once again and walked around downtown seeing all the familiar places. I missed the "Christmas in the Park" decorations that I used to visit a lot when I lived here. They have those up from the beginning of December till the 31st of December. I could still see the tents rolled up, ready to be carried away as I walked by the park yesterday.

After coming back from my favorite Korean snack shop across from my old campus famous for its spicy snacks and one of my all-time favorite beverages, coconut snow bubble with pearls, I looked outside the window at the dusty and smoky skyline.. and felt happy. For whatever duration I am here, it is definitely good to be back.