Sounds I Love...or I Thought I Did...

This is not supposed to be a depressing post. Not one bit. It’s just that, being light years away from home, makes me dwell upon a few sodding realizations...and sodding as they are, the post seems a bit off.
I always thought I was completely in love with a few specific sounds…extremely distinct. But I suddenly realize, these sounds are not so incredibly phenomenal when they are the only signs of life around me. Here’s what I mean…
I used to adore the sound of cooing pigeons…reminded me of sunny December afternoons in the by lanes of Calcutta, with everybody in the neighbourhood catching a quick nap after lunch. But suddenly, I don’t feel so romantic about the sound anymore. After all, it’s the only thing I can hear, as the wind plays around the turrets of the old London building that I live in.
I used to think, I like the crisp sound of keyboards and the vaguely otiose feeling that comes with it when you are typing something seemingly important. But I realize, it’s really not so great, when the laptop’s all you’ve got as your Hannibal-ish window with a view.
I like…I used to like the sound of distant trundling buses…somewhere down the high street, again on a forty-wink afternoon. But not anymore. Not when that’s the only thing you hear, with no other signs of human life and living. Life here, on most days of the week, reminds me a bit of Schute’s On the Beach, as if the whole place has been nuked, and I am the only one left, with a few banal belongings like a laptop, a toothbrush, Daddy Long Legs, and a picture of Tagore.
I’m not done yet…I used to like the sophisticated whistle of a kettle too, once the water was all boiled up and ready. But I don’t really like it all that much when I’m the only person who is ever going to make the Tetley tea, and drink it with a few raspberry cookies, as the evening falls.
And a few more realizations that just happened…I always thought I was an avid-to-my-butt reader,and a movie buff, and a lot of other impressive things rolled into a warm package. But hey, what a pseudo I have been! I just realize, I cannot watch movies and read books for hours together when these are the only two things I can do. Does this speak volumes about basic human yen? Or am I just a sad exception?

I Like...

Since life is gradually careening out of control, I thought I’d paint the ideal picture and keep reminding myself that this is what I need to go back to. It is a list of apparently inconsequential things…but for my benefit, and on Scribbler’s request, I decided to pen it down.
I like:
1. Fries of all sorts (Yes, it’s a pity that my list had to start with food…I have become an incorrigible glutton after marriage)
2. Dark clouds and the smell of a norwester
3. Getting under the blanket in a dark room when it’s raining cats and dogs and pigs and horses outside
4. Sun-kissed windows, with soft cream curtains
5. Winter afternoons
6. Rubbing my feet on the carpet on such winter afternoons
7. Late night movies with popcorn
8. Coke…plenty of it
9. Pudina Cha
10. Lebu Cha
11. Lemon and Gin
12. Beer on a hot sunny afternoon
13. Beer anytime
14. Money plants and sunrays on the leaves
15. Long drives to nowhere
16. Sea-breeze
17. Beef-steak by the beach
18. Smell of lemon
19. Squashing silver fish in between torn yellow pages of old books
20. Conversations with my father
21. Bitching with my mother
22. Johnson’s Baby Lotion
23. Wildlife
24. Wildlife tours
25. Horror flicks
26. Cheese
27. Pedicure with aroma oils
28. The smell of candy floss at the Calcutta Book Fair
29. The distant cry of a kite...up in the sky

30. Making travel plans

31. Heavily frothed cappuccino
32. All the Oxfords, the Landmarks, and the Higgin Bothams in the world
33. Pot-pourri
34. Evening skies
35. Smell of baked confectionaries
36. Barbecue on a moonlit night
37. Jacaranda
38. Neem trees on breezy mornings
39. Crispy clean pajamas for the night
40. Mint
41. Junk jewelry and boho pants to hide the flab
42. Friday evenings (This is the most obvious…why isn’t it there in your list?)
43. Kalyan Verma’s photography (http://kalyanvarma.net/)

44. Steve Martin movies
45. Dark chocolate
46. Mustard paste
47. Ham
48. The hard ‘thush’ of newspapers at doorsteps in the mornings
49. The Banana Boat Song
50. Taking off my contact lens at the end of the day

Now that’s a completely incongruous and lengthy list…don’t know where it’ll take me.