Interlude/When You Are Old

A short break from "heavy duty blogging" -

Robert Frost's Stopping by Woods.. used to be my favourite poem. Now I've found a new favourite poem. Sorry Frosty. This one's called When You Are Old and was written by William Butler Yeats. I'm not big on poems especially abstract ones and this one is pretty straightforward as far as I can tell but if you were to google it you'll find that its about "rich mythical imagery" and "an abstract image issuing from a more concrete description of loneliness and regret". Big words flummox me :). Let me enjoy the poem for what I feel it portrays. Love -

When you are old and grey and full of sleep,

And nodding by the fire, take down this book,

And slowly read, and dream of the soft look

Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;

How many loved your moments of glad grace,

And loved your beauty with love false or true,

But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,

And loved the sorrows of your changing face;

And bending down beside the glowing bars,

Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled

And paced upon the mountains overhead

And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.

Such a sad and beautiful poem .

Note: The 'imagery' in this blog entry was provided by U J-i .My constant pestering of her to take a picture of an old Mizo lady inspired her to blog about it :). You can go read about it on her blog -

http://calliopes-canticles.blogspot.com/2009/08/whose-perspective-is-it-anyway.html

A poorly written diary chronicling the events of my visit home to Aizawl

July 1:- "Meru City Taxi" arrives at 4 am to pick me up. Try to make eye contact with some pretty airhostesses at airport . Fail terribly. Tried same thing inside aeroplane - same results.

Make it in time for my Calcutta-Aizawl flight. Heavy cloud cover over Lengpui Airport . After about 40 minutes of trying to land and avoiding hills our pilot decides that he isn't highly paid enough to risk landing in this miserable weather and we fly back to Calcutta. When we land in Calcutta the fat Marwadi looking guy in front of me asks the air hostess if we've landed in Aizawl. Giggles all around. First time I've had a Cal-Azl flight cancelled. To top it all off I fall sick. Fever.

July 2 :- We try again. Great Success. I send a text message to a friend "The Eagle Has Landed". Friend don't care too much for Eagles I guess. No acknowledgment. Shop at the veg/fruit market on the Lengpui-Azl road. It looks like this - (pic credit: Xaia @ misual.com)

Reach home. Happy reunion with mom/niece/sis-in-law/pet cat,dog etc. Dad had actually left for Cal the same day in the same plane I'd landed in.

July 3: I visit friends; Fever worsens. Great way to start a holiday.(It wasn't actually great. It was terrible. This statement is an example of "sarcasm")

July 4: It being a Saturday I lie in bed all day and half of the night when I decide that enough is enough and the whole family drives to Durtlang Hospital. My doctor friend Chhana sticks some needles into me and decides that it isn't malaria. Whew. Instructs me to pop some funny looking pills.

July 5: Have completely recovered now. Attend church. Fell asleep. Must've been the pills I was prescribed. At night I attend the college chapel service. Notice a misprint in the hymn book "Take my hands and let them sing" . I giggle alone.

July 6: Did absolutely nothing.

July 7: I visit the Mizoram Public Service Commission Office. A friend's mother is the Chair(wo)man of the MPSC. Didn't see her. Sucks.Pic below of the office. MPSC Office.

July 8: I visit the SBI branch at Bawngkawn. Bank teller actually complies with my request without any hassles. Surprise Surprise.

July 9: Due to restrictions placed on me by the Presbyterian Church of Mizoram I cannot reveal what I did on 9th July.

July 10: A friend's daughter thinks I look like a "white foreigner". Guess she hasn't seen too many white foreigners and is also colour blind. I also re-pot* some plants. Fascinating.(Yes correct, this too is an example of Sarcasm. You guys are paying attention. I'm pleased).*(How to re-pot a plant)

July 11: I attend birthday of Family friend. Am asked 387 times "When did you arrive/When are you going back?"; I smile politely and poke them in the eye.

July 12: Church. Didn't fall asleep. Preacher makes some good jokes. I like him. Pic Below of Preacher cracking jokes. You can't see him . But he was cracking. Jokes.

July 13: I take my dog to the vet. Dogs are unbelievably obedient at the vet. Little did I know it would turn out to be the "Take your dog to the vet week".

July 14: I take my dog to the vet. Someone actually apparently brought a pet tiger cub to the vet. I see its face and I think it looks more like a wildcat with its face painted to look like a tiger cub.

July 15: I take my dog to the vet. Someone has brought a cat that weighed 7 kgs. Poor cat sits in the corner all the while looking absolutely pissed with itself. A guy suggests that his dog fight with my dog. His dog has a patch over its eye and a tattoo on its butt. I decline the offer.

July 16:I take my dog to the vet. A dog decides that it doesn't want to get an injection. Runs away. Owner chases. Hilarity ensues.

July 17: I take my dog to the vet. I cry a little. He barks a little . After a week of doing stuff together we've become really close. We promise to write to each other. It rains in the afternoon. Pic below was taken while it was raining. You can't see the rain but it was raining. Buckets.

July 18: Due to unforseen reasons I am unable to fly to Calcutta. Seeing my niece again makes up for it.

July 19: A push - a gangsta style handshake - a tiny goodbye.

July 20: Back in Bangalore. I open up Cleartrip.com ; start planning next trip home.