Friday, September 15, 2006

Two down, three to go..

Repercussions of mind...
It's been years since I gave GRE and remembered this kind of weird and abstruse words (Sometimes I wonder how did I do that). But this phrase is eating my mind from last two days, so finally I decided to write a post on it. I know this post is going to be long since I haven’t written anything for long time and you are advised to read this at your own risk.

So you are ready to take the risk then. Fine. Now you may ask me why suddenly I started writing in English. Is the enthusiasm for Japanese over? Well, to tell the truth,there are two reasons. First, I cannot stick to one language for long. Second, eversince I was introduced to this new ‘Japanese’ friend I kind of started going away from the old school buddy, English. So, today I decided to have a little chat with this old friend. Have you ever experienced when you meet somebody very close after long time and want to say so many things but when you actually meet, words don't come out. Something like that is happening with me as I'm writing something from my mind in English. It is getting more and more awkward.

Today marks the second anniversary of the day when I first landed in this land of rising sun.Time for some retrospection :)

Two years down. Three more to go… Two years is not a very long time to forget the things, is it? When I arrived here, I remember very clearly when I arrived here as a guy with a typical strong Indian accent, who had lots of restrictions on food and drinks(some of them are still there), quite under-confident to try out his little Japanese skills and who used to cook everyday in home to avoid encounter with Japanese food. Well, I won’t say that all those characterstics have disappeared now. But it is interesting to look back to see how fast things changed. I remember all the wonderful moments I had in these two years. Nothing can match that fun. Those ski trips, those summer camps, picnics, long drives, hanami parties, karaoke nights, those more for sightseeing and less for education conferences and what not. I enjoyed everything to the fullest. I got some very good friends, went to some places far beyond imagination, tried some delicious food, designed some silicon chips and yes, I got a Master’s degree too.

But that’s not all. In these two years, I had just one trip to India. One and half years have passed since that trip and I've learned one thing during this long stay.. Never stay away from your home for so long. As the days pass by, I miss the things back at home. I miss the quarrels with my sister, scoldings by grandmother to get up early in the morning, conspiracies to buy surprise gifts to Mom on her birthday. I miss getting dragged by friends from home to watch movies and later cursing them for the pathetic movie. I miss long drives on the bike, all day long sessions of cricket, parties on the weekends, evening strolls on streets with friends for some ‘treat to eyes’. I miss going to a movie toghether with cousins on the first day of Diwali, the snaks, the sweets, the crackers and all night long trump card sessions. I miss HBO, BBC, Discovery, National Geographic, ESPN. Yes, I miss my home and the warmth of my wonderland everyday. You can call this homesickness, nostalgia, frustration or whatever you like. But I'm sure, if you stay away from your home for one and half year, you'll feel no different. But above all, I miss my stay at Hiyoshi International House; which we used to call 'The Heaven'. For me, it really was, until I moved out two weeks ago. One cannot stay in HIH for more than two years. The day I moved out, it felt like all the fun has come to an end, the glory days in HIH are over and life of solitude has finally begun.

But moving in a new house is a nice feeling as well. It’s all exciting imagining how the house will look like when you buy new furniture, arranging and rearranging it again and again in your mind and setting it finally. Everytime you come back in the evening all tired, a small maple tree is standing in a small garden around the house to welcome you with its fresh autumn colours. After taking the bath, you lay on the bed at night with a hot cup of coffee in one hand and a novel in the other. Well, what else do you need? From one heaven to another :)