Jan 3, 2011

Missing Thiruvananthapuram

A few weeks ago, when Ronnie Raj (the filmy friend in Online Detective and the Girl on Crutches) called me from the Capital city, I asked him in a tone of surprise, that what was he doing in Thiruvananthapuram. He said, “buddy, did you forget? It is now the International Film Festival. Are you not attending this time?”

Sadly I realized, yes, I was missing the film festival for the first time in the last five years. My shift to the Cochin city has attributed such irreparable losses to my life. I truly liked the kind of exotic atmosphere brought to Trivandrum through the third world films, especially, Latin American, Iranian etc, during the film festival time. Ronnie Raj or some other friends used to be with me in such situations. We used to discuss after watching every film, about varying topics, ranging from the camera treatment used, visual appeal, scripting techniques and the beauty of the heroine to the usual hot, steamy scenes.

During night times, I accompanied Ronnie Raj to one of the ugliest and most crowded bars of the city, where his childhood mate was working as a supplier. Though unwillingly, I used to give him company during his visits to the bar, passing the dirtiest parts of the city and climbing the broken and ruined steps to end up around a table in perished condition. As soon as the childhood friend sees us, he used to serve us with one or two pegs of his favourite liquor. Encouraged by Ronnie Raj, I also used to consume one or more pegs. After that I used to drive my sincere bike with him through the unoccupied city roads in the darkest nights aiming his hotel room. On the way, when seeing police jeeps patrolling, terrified, my friend would clutch me on shoulders and would say me in a shivering voice, “Don’t panic; these are simple cases; why are you speeding your bike up?” 

Recently, the director, who appeared in one of my previous posts titled ‘The Villain’, contacted me on phone. He wanted to know the address of the place - for his friend to dwell in a few days - where I spent some of my good times in Trivandrum. Over the phone I said him to go forth through the lane, till he reaches the end of it. I could hear him breathing, and I guessed that he was walking briskly through the same road, where my sincere bike covered 20,000 and 30,000 kms. When the director reached the end of the lane, I asked him to turn left. He is listening to me, I thought; and he is seeing the paths ahead. Does that mean I am seeing my favourite locations through his eyes? 

Following my directions, the director reached at the gate of the house to which I bid farewell just one month before. It was where the incidents described in the tale of the Love Messenger took place. Some more incidents like, the Science of Horoscopes and  the Inception Experience also happened at the same house. I was about to ask the director the new occurrences of the place, but he abruptly cut the phone. 

Now I miss many things, my usual evening visits to the Shankhumugham beach, the setting sun, solitary benches of the park, hasty ride through the streets, creative friends, the familiar paths, familiar faces, tea shops, the bakery at the second floor, theatres, teasing talks, everything. I don’t know how much time it would take to build up such emotional tie ups in this new city. 

16 comments:

  1. Dear,
    Another average range post...
    I could feel your emotional loss- missing of Thiruvananthapuram. But it conveys no creative idea. Style of writing is improved a lot. Very Good...!!!
    Expect another great post like "Little Plagiarist" or "The Girl on the Crutches".
    For an average writer - I would say, it's a good one, but as your best friend and a person who know your real talents - I would say - "Dear I want a classic... Not a crap"
    Yours Crazy friend...

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  2. i have been to trivandrum..its kind of my half native land!

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  3. Tomz... Migrating to another city is always difficult. The silver lining is TVM is not far away from COK. :)

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  4. Cities hold so much charm and memories for all of us. The beauty of India is that you get to attach memories and make home in some wonderful cities.

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  5. makes me miss all the places back home... home sweet home ..


    Bikram's

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  6. tomz bhai...nanni ya...wish u and yr near ones 2 a very happy 2011:)

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  7. I have lived in so many cities and still miss all of them.

    Wish you a very happy and prosperous New year!!!

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  8. Migrating to a new place does make you miss so many wonderful memories and things. But explore the new city :) ; very soon you will start missing it

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  9. Your attachment to the city is understandable, where you must have spent the best part of your life. But you've got a better part of your life left - to enjoy - different places, people, cultures, experiences and what not! So take life as it comes and hey...TVM is just 4 hours away, you can skip & hop to get there and you won't miss a thing!

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  10. @X-EN-TRic
    I hope to give you classics always..but you know creativity is very much limited..I have only a few of which is in store of me.

    @Madhu
    I am very happy to know that...

    @Nona
    Thats true Nona. But being the visitor of a city is entirely different from being a resident of the city

    @Rachana
    I feel that you dwelt in a good number of cities. So definitely you should have wonderful memories about them.

    @Bikramji
    I am very happy that my small post makes you homesick..

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  11. @Ramesh
    Thank You..Wish you the same

    @Renu
    Wish u the same

    @Insignia
    Thnks for the comment. Presently, I am in the process of exploring the new city. But you know, it takes time to generate an emotional tie up.

    @RGB
    Thats consoling. Yes, I have everything what you said in my mind. Exploring new culture, places, regional slangs, etc.

    But as I replied to Nona, a visitor gets a different experience from a dweller.

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  12. I totally understand the feeling....difficult to let go....even after 3 yrs in Coimbatore I badly miss good ole Mumbai .....the best you can do is explore, make new friends and dig food corners... Happy New year... ;)

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  13. It takes a while to get used to new surroundings. Pretty soon you will be building new memories in your mind and creating fantastic stories for us from your experiences. I wish you the best of luck and many new friends.

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  14. @rek

    I am happy to know that someone like you understand my feelings..and hey, the best part of your suggestion is the digging of food corners, and i am going to do that soon.

    @Walk2write

    thanks for that lovely comment. i hope to say fantastic stories for people like you out of my new experiences in this new city. and one of the interesting things about this new city is that I have to refer the google maps or bing maps to learn the cut roads and by roads here.

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  15. Home is where friends and family are. Happy new year!

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  16. It so true that we miss all the old places that we have been/lived in.
    I had been to TVM about 15 years ago and it was a good experiece.

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