Saturday, April 21, 2012

So long...

"If I were another on the road, I would have
hidden my emotions in the suitcase, so my poem
would be of water, diaphanous, white,
abstract, and lightweight ... stronger than memory,
and weaker than dewdrops, and I would have said:
My identity is this expanse!"

~ Mahmoud Darwish, If I Were Another

These lines have often come to me in different times over the years, but mostly when I'm the most unsure about things. There is a certain flimsiness about them, the kind that stirs you but still somehow keeps the cascade of emotions from tumbling out in the open. And hopefully they will pull me through the painfully long, fourteen-hour flight to Mumbai tonight as well (I'm not even counting the six-hour misery from here to Newark!). The time has come at last and being the lost soul that I am, I never understood what is the good in goodbyes. Nevertheless, I'll have a go at it, however feeble and halfhearted it sounds.

I will miss Seattle, a city that I've been madly in love with from then to now and forever will, despite its notorious reputation of the nine-months-a-year rains. What I have for this place is a very first love sort of fixation, for this is where I had first come, after crossing the proverbial seven seas. This is where I had first felt that acute, empty moment of being a foreigner once and quite ironically three years later, this is where I felt the most at home. There'll always, always be bits and pieces of our life spent here that I'll be rambling on about now and then, no matter how repetitive and annoying it gets.

I will also miss being a regular here for sometime, the blog-land camaraderie in particular. Howsoever virtual it is, my fellow bloggers have been a very integral part of my life for the last couple of years. Here I've found joy, compassion and comfort from sharing and being shared, and I wouldn't let anything in the world change this. Not even change, the big old bully.
So this is not really a goodbye, for as soon as I find myself rested and revived on the other side of the globe, I shall definitely try to sneak in a post or two about our 'Incredible India' or whatever it is the cliches say.

So long then!


P.S. As a befitting resolution to my Seattle diaries, the azaleas did bloom and how! They now flourish in the foster care of a very good, equally plant-loving friend.



9 comments:

  1. Wishing you a safe journey, and a good rest upon arrival. Cheers

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  2. Godspeed, Suman. The trip across the continent and 'seven seas' sounds grueling, but there will be such loving welcome at the other end. I'll be watching for you here.....once you are settled......travel safely.

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  3. It seems like we all are departing with you from this place, and your future posts will take us to a new environment. You ll be missed on blog for the time being, Happy journey and safe one.

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  4. Have a safe journey !! I look forward to reading your new posts !! Take care

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  5. Hello Suman:
    We wish you safe travelling and shall so look forward to renewing our contact with you when you are in India, a country which fascinates us hugely.

    Leaving Seattle will, undoubtedly, be a wrench but then there is the excitement of India to come. Although we have not known you for long, we shall miss your posts but shall wait in anticipation for those posts yet to come.

    All good wishes for success in this new chapter of your life!

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  6. What can I say but "Happy Landings"

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  7. memories, memories...beautiful memories. A new destination will fetch you wonderful moments...
    www.rajnishonline.blogspot.com

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  8. I hope all goes well. Another adventure is to be had for sure.

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  9. I have come back many times to see if you are yet able to blog. I hope your journey has been a happy one. What a beautiful and complicated place the world is. I hope you will be able to share your new life with us soon.

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