Farewell Hyderabad

When there is a lot to do, there isn't enough time to experience, to feel. When the movers and packers arrived early in the morning everything became chaotic. Starting with handing over the car, to the rest of the goods, numbering packages, keeping a track of contents, putting a value on them, determining insurance amounts, etc, etc. I am very grateful to D, who arrived to collect my bicycle and stayed long enough to help with getting things done. He has had a lot of experience in shifting and helped me with the details, when I was a bit confused and even helped me in getting the cab booked. I hope he didn't get delayed for his other commitments.

Once everything was done, S & I had a quiet lunch, checked for all those little things we might miss out on until Adda and a few more of my friends arrived. It meant a lot to me that they came, despite the scorching afternoon heat. The last moment conversations, the delicious parathas smudged by heat, the molten Lindt... and all the tastes and smells that get woven into the fabric of memory... They were very good company and there is no other way of saying it than I would miss them all.

The ride to the airport was swift punctuated by an electronic voice monotonously repeating "You are exceeding the speed limit!" Adda messaged saying LSP and he would be visiting the tombs - once upon a time our favourite haunt for photography. The flight too was comfortable though my expectations from the meal had been higher. One of the lasting images would be the sunset on a clear horizon, graduated shades running parallel to the horizon. The last clouds were silhouetted shapes of a battle tank and soldiers crouched beneath with their rifles. Gradually, the fading rays were replaced by a glittering Delhi below. Even when the day ended and plans to get the new phone, broadband and cable connections were done, the time to feel, for which restfulness is a prerequisite, had not yet arrived.

I was once reading in an essay that Bengalis are accused of living on a metaphysical plane. Silly as it might appear to some, it is true for me. I wanted to write a bit about some of my reasons for the change, about Hyderabad as a city, but for now, it is just the facts, so that I can recall them later. Now I have to rush!