Thursday, January 25, 2007

So Long! Farewell!

Koh-i-Noor. The mountain of light.

As the Boeing 737-800 lifted up from Begumpet airport, it seemed oddly appropriate that a diamond coming from this very city centuries ago would have a name that would describe the city itself so beautifully today. The roads were glowing like lines of fire, the buildings like sparkling jewels. Further to the right, the Hussain Sagar shimmered under the moonless sky, with the Necklace Road's multi coloured reflection along its edge. The Buddha statue was only just visible.

"See how bright this looks? When you reach Kolkata, it will look like a dead city with dim lights", said the elderly gentleman who sat between me and the window. That brought me back to the present, and reminded me once again that it was not a dream. I was really going back to Kolkata. Since I left home on 13th July 2005, I have been waiting for this day, when I will be going back to Kolkata again. Not on a week long vacation but on a transfer. It finally happened now, a year and a half later.

It was not that I hated Hyderabad or even Chennai. On the contrary I loved both these cities. Yet somehow I felt I did not belong there. Everyone saw that the poster on my cubicle wall said "Focus on your goal". Nobody knew that every day, every night, every moment of my existence in Hyderabad was aimed at only one goal: getting transferred to Kolkata, the City of Joy.

Twice it loomed within reach, and twice it evaded me. I was scared to believe it was true this time, lest I had to face disappointment again, but it has finally happened.

And yet, as I left this city, didn't I feel a slight pang of sorrow somewhere? Over the last few days in Hyderabad, I have been reminiscing about some of the great moments that I have spent in this city, and some of the things that I did. It was an eventful time. There was a lot that I would have liked to do, but couldn’t do due to lack of time and companions.

Hyderabad was a milestone in my life. This was my first posting location on my first job; I did my first project here, learnt to stay alone, started cooking, took up blogging and digital photography, and became familiar with the dark side of the corporate world the hard way. I also had a lot of good moments, about which I wrote here from time to time. The first view of the ocean (Chennai), the first view of the Buddha on the Hussain Sagar, close encounters with the Veiled Rebecca and the Jacob diamond, coming face to face with a 3-dimensional Superman in the IMAX, watching night fall over the Golkonda Fort as history was recreated with light and sound were only some of them. I wanted to visit Ajanta-Ellora from here, and tour some places in South India. These remained unfinished tasks, to be completed at a later time.

But I am glad to leave. I hope Kolkata will be at least as welcoming for me as Chennai and Hyderabad were. I know the first few days will pass in a whirlwind of activities as I settle down in a new place. Or to be precise, an old place alienated by 18 months of unfamiliarity. Then I will start enjoying the next chapter of my life.

And "A Joyful Experience" will also enter a new chapter: the chapter beyond Hyderabad.

8 comments:

  1. Wish you all the best...this was something I always wanted to do, but failed due some reasons personal and some reasons impersonal.So in a way I am always happy to see people who complete this journey back home. Do tell me how different are the IT parks of Kolkata to Hyd. Heard that Dada-culture is prevelant even in IT. Do blogg about it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I can so relate with your experience..I was posted in hyd for my 1st job.I was in Hyderabad for a year. Hyd was lot of fun, but back of my mind, I always wanted to go back to Bangalore, my hometown

    ReplyDelete
  3. hummm.... My one eye holds the smile while other lets pearly tears go rolling down the cheeks. I cann't explain my feelings right now. But I can very well say that my stay at hyderabad was memorable and enjoyable only because of friends like you. Cooking, photography, window shopping,real-shopping, meeting on birthday parties, dinners, quizzes, orkut scraps,emails and what not. You were there every time. Right now only thing I can say is I have no reason to go to madhapur or manikonda campus. Spending time with you was always a 'value addition'. Our discussions on dedication/commitment, policies, society, people and anything were full of immense thoughts. You are a specialist in general knowledge, connoisseur of art. I appreciate your intelligence and logic. Word are able to convey just 7% of emotions/feelings. Anything more will be nothing less than just insufficient.(;-) call me is you are confused.)

    Distance doesn't matter anyway. We will resume our emails, calls, sms. You are JOY forever for me.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am glad you are able to go back to the place you love and had the determination to make it work out. Best of luck with the new beginning.

    ReplyDelete
  5. @bishu: Thanks. I'll definitely blog about Kolkata as soon as I find the time.

    @roopa: Thanks for visiting.
    Yes, Hyderabad was a lot of fun, but there's no place like home.

    @abhijit: Ok... OK, enough! Thanks!!! Only if you had showered this praise at the proper places, I'd have had a shower of marriage proposals by now. ;-)
    I'll call you soon.

    @shreemoyee: Thanks. Are you still in India?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Joy,

    Cogratulations Man. Left Calcutta after completing school, since then time and tide have thrown me all around India. Went through the same learning to live on your own, reality checks of work life. Somehow, with every passing day, it seems that Calcutta moves farther and farther away. Receding like a lighthouse on a dark night as life washes me to new shores.

    Somehow, I have reconciled myself to life away from Cal, but it felt really good to know that atleast someone else has gotten a chance to go home.

    ReplyDelete
  7. @prometheus_unbound: Thanks for your wishes. Kolkata is surely not the final destination in my life, but it feels great being back here once again.

    ReplyDelete
  8. In kolkata anyway you will get drenched with showers of marriage proposals.

    ReplyDelete