Today I went for a ride in our new Honda City :) Yeah, I can’t stop smiling… and by force of habit, I can’t stop my thoughts from straying to the past.
As a ten-year old, I remember gazing at the Maruti Esteems and the Fords, wondering what it was like to be inside one. I was actually silly enough to count the number of ‘big’ cars I encountered whenever I stepped out of the house. My brother and I actually managed to fit ourselves on our Bajaj, with dad driving and mom clinging onto one of us! Through rain and sunshine, we depended on our scooter to get us anywhere and everywhere and it rarely let us down.
As a kid, the plump packets of chips and tidbits were totally and completely out of reach; in fact after a point of time, I didn’t even bother trying my luck asking for one. Clothes were those that had been passed down from generations and generations of cousin brothers, and mainly my own brother… and it took me a really long time to figure out why the t-shirts I wore looked different from the ones the other girls wore. Right up to college, I’d never even dreamt of having a cell phone at my disposal, let alone a laptop.
A lot has changed; the scooter eventually gave way to a Maruti 800, which later made way for an Esteem. Somewhere along the way, a new scooter and my Scooty joined in and now we’re celebrating the latest entry which doesn’t really fit into our garage. Our living room’s no longer the football ground where 3 kids (dad included) tossed around a bottle-cap. It’s more like a museum now with objects from all over the place. Our dear old 486 PC has been replaced by a sleek HP Pavilion.
And as these little alterations, mere ripples in our lives, come together to form an ocean of change, I wonder if the change has really penetrated the surface to touch what we really are. We’re still the same people we were 10 years ago, we still love each other, we still can’t do without friends, still listen to the radio, and still miss each other…
>> and having lingered on for too long on this post, I can’t think of suitable ending, though I was basically trying to say price tags shouldn’t determine what we are and that we shouldn’t lose touch with ourselves.. I’ll try completing it later sometime…
And as I beg your leave, this poor, unintelligent soul begs forgiveness! Divine patrons absolve my sin or I shall drown in my own remorse… drown… helpless, guilty, lost, forlorn…
Oh Lord, Oh Lord!!
