Monday, September 03, 2007

Linger?

This is a personal post.... writing coz i feel like and would rather write than talk ... pls to skip easily ..

I haven't ever been able to crack the science behind lingering thoughts. How is it that some incredibly memorable moments and good times fail to register in memory, short or long term? How is it that some completely forgettable experiences stay etched for way too long, way beyond expiry dates. Stark recollections are funny in the way they occur sometimes for the most inane incidents that have no significance whatsoever.

In reverse chronological order ...

This plays like a movie trailer ... The Village, Orchard road.... A group of people saunter out post dinner ... one stops as eyes rest on the Meritius Mandarin across the road .. suddenly an image of a running girl slamming into the front lobby door looking for a pay phone flashes in the mind ... Cairnhill Road was it? Unable to locate phone, runs past the ATM machine .. and the rest is a blur ...

There's the other one of hearing Robbie Williams + reading the Kite runner ... alternately closing and opening the windows .. fidgety and overwrought over choosing between paying attention to troubling thoughts and Hosseni's troubling words...

There's Galloping Gooseberries club sandwiches + Lime Mint coolers from Fruit Shop on Greem's road while stuck in office on Sundays for a terrible 2 months at Citi ... why i still loved those sandwiches i can't remember, but the taste of mayo + veggies in delicious bread I do....

Of opening the door to A 315 and walking out to a view of the tree outside A top ... Sehgal in the adjoining room playing Bhaage re mann ... pouring rains ... and heading down for hot chai with a content smile despite soggy clothes and overdue assignments ...

Of a whole night in C 302 with Nayak and Sohit spent discussing life, love, the gain and loss of both, missing Kunal, Ma and Dush and then heading out for breakfast at Koshy's after waking up a wildly protesting Papa just so we'd have someone to ride the 2nd bike :-)

Of prepping for the ConB Apex ... bonding with Sam :-), watching Mi3 fall asleep as the clock struck 10 pm and wake up as everyone else fell asleep at 3 am with a fervent "Chalo yaar, kaam karte hain!" :D

Sitting at the french window outside home in Mumbai, watching the hills, listening to Lagaan, wondering how the english lyrics could sound so corny when the rest of "O re chori" sounded so good ...

Hearing the latest gossip from the official VJTI housewives club - Lotli, Sirdesai and Sumit - over library tables while pretending to prep for the GRE/ CAT :)

Being a massive pain of a director through the making of Mukhauta's 2nd production - 'The Unexpected Guest' ....

Mugging through the train jourey from Borivali to Matunga while in class 12 so as to not waste 40 precious mins of travel time ... what's worse ... infecting Nutan with this habit too :)

Hanging out from local trains for the 1st time in my life ... Sharmili .. gracias! :) Or was it Tapi?

Mugging aloud, as per daily skeds all through class 10, while i sat on the window sill and it rained outside .. by sheer accident, touched a frog on the clothes line outside one rainy day .. hand soaked in Dettol for 30 mins post that ... cringing and wincing through the ickiness of it all :)

Sandy and me sitting down with our cups of bournvita and biscuits every evening at 6 pm to watch The Real Adventures of Johnny Quest, me with my secret crush on Race Bannon, him on Jesse Bannon .. :)

1987 ... mom being wheeled into the delivery room .. maternal aunts still pulling my leg about whether i'd rather have a brother who could turn out to become stronger than me someday or a sister who would borrow my stuff and pain me ... tough tough decisions i tell ya .. :)

1986 ... 5th bday ... being delighted when mom mentions post the morning bath that i can wear my new satin red 'frock' to school today coz its my birthday ... no need for the red and pink chequered uniform :)

The mind can't go any farther back ...wishing it to move ahead at the very least :)

5 comments:

unpredictable said...

Mr Shrenik, brevity is ur middle name, yes?

Atticus said...

a good one! yeah ConB memories were awesome. so were VJTI! amazing how similar our journeys have been, and yet how little have we interacted :)

unpredictable said...

Sam: hai na? Which is why i really wanna meet u soon .. i think we'll end up talking like 25 hours straight at the very least ! :D

amileforeveryshoe said...

It's 1AM, and im not feeling the compulsion to sleep. Managed to end up on your blog, after a loooong time.

I find it almost impossible to pinpoint specific memories in the far past -- like one exact incident, that happened at a certain hour, minute, day, month, and year. Though I have no problems recollecting episodes and general visuals of the past. Sort of like a tapestry or backdrop, but not a single exact moment in time.

Earliest 'episode' I can remember was me being taken to a mall by both my parents, when i was maybe about 4 or 5. I remember a garden, a bookstore, and cobble steps. No more.

There is only ONE distant specific memory that I recall with clarity from childhood -- and it wasn't even a memory, it was a nightmare (literally, not figuratively). Our old house was burning down, there was no one around. I ran down from the second floor, out to the street and down the street (our old street was uphill). And I was being chased by demons / monsters / nightmarish creatures. And I saw my own self (from 3rd person POV) running down the street, away from the fire, being chased.

Its the only dream in my entire life I can remember, up to this day.

unpredictable said...

Ad: Thanks for dropping a comment .. appreciate it through the blogging lull uve been in ... a lot of my own nightmares (literal and figurative) are very stark in my mind too ... but i think i chose not to put them down .. wanted it to end happy i think :) Can atleast control how my blogs go ... if not life :)