Autumn Cravings

I seem to have written about almost every season in my blog (enough to name it seasons change or something equally corny but I guess the present name suits well enough) other than spring and autumn. Since spring is a long way off I guess all I have to speak about is autumn, especially since it approaches. I can feel it in my bones, hear its whisper on the occasional chill wind, smell it in the morning, and of course see the changes that herald it… What does autumn mean to mean to me?? Apart from Pujas (that are the most important event on the Bengali calendar), the nonstop feeding that accompanies it (sorry L.H.O. cudnt help talking about food ;) ), Diwali and of course praying to the God of Death each year for a long and prosperous life for my brother on Bhai Phota. Strangely like most true blue Bangalis it means traveling… Anywhere will do… It is just an itch which won’t go away… Which is why I’m so itchy tonight, autumn calls me with its siren song to roam the world, to see new things, to explore and discover. And I can feel it physically, the need to go somewhere, anywhere overwhelms me, makes me feel like packing a bag and setting off. I spoke to Rajit and he called me a Ghumakkar, I guess I am… I must admit, the dingy smell of train stations, the sound of train on tracks, the feel of wind on your face as you stand near the door of the train or stick your head out of the car or even the breath-taking moment when the plane just rises off the land never fail to thrill me. Everything says “Come to me and I’ll show you things you’ve ever seen before.” Sitting by the Ganges and watching the aarti in Benaras, watching the moon rise over the sea in Goa, seeing the sunrise in Darjeeling or maybe just seeing the city light up from the hillock in Bangalore just thinking makes my heart beat faster. How about kissing your true love at midnight under the Cupid at Piccadilly Circus? How about climbing the Great Wall of China? Maybe even exploring the Sahara… or seeing the majestic Alhambra palace in Spain... Istanbul with the Hagia Sophia…Or the wilds of Mongolia… or the Carpathians with the wolves howling around you? How about Machu Pichu? So many places... so little time... sometimes I wonder if I should get a job to visit all these places… Live out of a suitcase and take your home with you... Maybe I’ve been reading too many novels of people having an extraordinary life so as to wish for one of my own. To be brutally honest, I find the mere idea of studying, getting a job, and spending my life worrying about bills and taxes boring beyond compare. Is there nothing to life other than that?? What about adventure, danger, risks?? Cos lets face it the only risk you take in real life is in crossing the road… People may call me impractical, living in world of my dreams and dreams don’t pay bills, but that’s the way I am. Normal is waaaaaaaaay too boring… I don’t want to be stuck in that same old life doing things everybody else is doing… I want to live the life of the Endless Traveler.