Nevermind

Wish I was a lonely traveler. Yeah, I was always fascinated by that discovery channel show, Lonely Planet. Where Ian Wright would trek the globe at his will. Europe, Asia, America, Africa and even the icy Antarctica. I used to envy that man as he could taste delicacies of the world, could mix with people whom he never knew before and who'd treat him like a guest with well-mannered hospitality. And then he'd move from a place to another, always with happy memories. May be because they only showed happy ones on the screen, but heck who cares? He enjoyed being a traveler. 

And wouldn't it be fascinating to be one? Just travel, experiencing the cultures around you and not sticking at one location for long. Not letting yourself become too obvious to the people around you. Meeting new people, making new friends but for a short time, leaving them only with happy memories. No broken promises or misplaced sense of trust. No responsibilities or no trespassing over anyone's freedom. No select band of people to be called as your group or nothing that you can claim as yours. Pass and move. Sounds good. You become stagnant when you stay at a place for long. You might fall for someone and get hurt, or you might kill someone who has enraged you or you might kill yourself to get some thrill out of all that regularity around you. Your thoughts become reflection of the people that circle you. Their style unknowingly changes yours. And then you start forgetting who you were and then you have hear Hey, you've changed a lot. Indeed.

Someday, maybe when I'll reach the twilight of my life, I'd like to leave everything and everyone to search myself. May be an icy peak in the Himalayas. Or may be it's just my mystical belief that you can find yourself. 

Not sure what I meant

Summer has come again and cobwebs that settled over memories of the past are dusted away. I get into this hit-by-past mode every summer when I retrospect the summers that I have been part of. Yeah.. Pleasant memories. Of making tree-houses, playing 8-bit video games till the thumb numbed, playing cricket in the evening or perhaps a game of hide-n-seek? The Powerzone on cartoon network and yeah, The Mask, Dexter's Lab and What a cartoon show.. We knew not who Raghu was or that cheap girl on roadies whose mother would be cursing god for giving a child who disgraced all the virtues taught to her. We made Rasna, sipping 1/- Pepsi and enjoying the wafts of heat-beating coolers straight in the face. 

Things were simple back then. Mother was the only woman we loved. We loved our friends and they loved us back. No favors or hidden charges. Kulfi was the only affordable luxury as we didn't dare to ask our parents more than Rs. 2/- Kulfi-wala used to signal his arrival by playing those Akshay Kumar-Shilpa Shettysh type of songs. And our face used to lit up as we licked that half-salty, half-sweet stick. Bliss beyond belief. 

Then started the modernization. Kulfi-wala was shoved aside by the clown, Ronald McDonald and Colonel from Kentuky. A zero was added at a wrong place while pricing our beloved summer delights. We were disappointed but like monkey-see-monkey-do, we gave in to changes happening around us. And hey, these fries aren't that bad. Nor is this bucket of wings.

Yeah... then our feet turned to Cafe' Coffee Day and similar high-end hang out places. Akshay and Shilpa were harmlessly replaced by Bryan Adams and late Britney Spears. And then everything began to reek the odor of Yeah-baby-I-am-getting-modern. Girlfriend and her tantrums.. Mother, where are you? Chaotic the world has become.
Maybe I should stop now. Yeah.. Today, mourn over your glorious past that can only be revisited subconsciously. And be strict on your children. Make them a cup of coffee when they ask money to buy one from Cafe' Coffee Day. And be sure to track them as like father-like son.