This happens to be the first ever time that I’m writing whilst aboard an aircraft. It’s been a while since I updated my blog – not that my life is seeing a dearth of noteworthy happenings- just that the afflatus never seized me in the recent past. A strange phenomenon- being unable to write. I’m thinking about doing a piece on that sometime but not for now.
Flying: An interstice. One of life’s many interstices – like riding on the elevator, or pretty much passively riding anything (passive being the operative word). I have no idea what this piece is about. Well maybe this could be considered a meta-piece that studies the very nature of it’s creation. I just need to get myself back on the proverbial saddle after about a month of not writing anything (noteworthy, at least). So I’ve decided to kill time on this boring flight (my phone doesn’t work! no music 😦 ) So, on that passing thought on interstices: Interstices have always been somewhat of an interest to me. I hail from a decade wherein one didn’t have easy access to either mobile computers or phones. i.e when you travelled, all you did was travel. You could read; you could talk, you could play cards but mostly, you just sat and waited to arrive at your destination. At least, most of the time, that’s what I did. I didn’t have a “walkman”, didn’t like reading whilst in motion and had an inexplicable disdain for card games. So, when I try to recollect travelling in that age, I remember just sitting with my thoughts (i mean, in a particularly active way) and ruminating on countless subjects, tirelessly. I grew up like that and Im fairly certain that these experiences have scarred me for life. Till date, the image of myself whilst on a trip, is best characterised by that of a junkie in need of his next fix. I have this incessant nag in my head and I just can’t seem to find peace until my destination arrives. nevertheless, as many know (but, for reasons I don’t exactly know), the act of travelling offers more scope than average to conduct thoughts of a particularly reflective nature in one’s head. I, for one, found the answer to some of life’s most pertinent (or so they seemed then) questions whilst on the move. That can be quite fun, especially when one can find means to channel/streamline one’s thoughts as I’m doing right now. This feeling of impatience that I mentioned is, a lot of times, juxtaposed by this feeling of excitement (one which I definitely do not have now) which is mostly caused by an anticipatory feeling of freshness/new-ness that being in a new place promises
I have always wanted to travel with someone I really cared for/ loved the company of. The very idea always seemed far-fetched to me, mostly because it has never happened. Offset that is, also, by the fact that there aren’t many people whom i love to the extent that i would love to be sealed shut in a metal container with them. I once took two really-long train journeys with my present-day best friend. The sad thing was that back then, we were different people and hated each other’s guts. He used to be snobbish and snarky and in hindsight, i can very well see why I elicited such behaviour from him. That’s the closest I have ever come. Even recently, There was a plan with somebody. I don’t think it’s happening anymore and it’s strangely left me quite stoic. Pardon the cliche, but it really just serves to prove that life can be really unsteady, transient, unpredictable and all that. Life as you know it today could stay the same or change. The changes can sometimes be so drastic that you are left reeling; Not quite as much by the specific impact of the change as that of this feeling of unfamiliarity with your own life. These feel like ends of chapters in the great book that is your life i.e the punctuation marks.
Personally, when I’m going through a major transition period in life- one characterised by a sudden, far-reaching change of huge consequence- I either am in a blurred state of mechanical semi-consciousness or in one of super-conscious perception where I’m overly aware/perceptive of pretty much everything. Sometimes, I oscillate between these states. I don’t, personally, subscribe to either ideas of being torn, internally, by changes or having to make efforts to “bring back a semblance of balance”, so to speak. In my case, extrinsic factors stopped having that much of an impact a long time ago. They do affect me but it’s never too long before I gain perspective. A sudden shift of positions. A small click and poof I’m looking at the thing with callous indifference. For instance, I couldn’t have imagined, say 2 months ago, the idea of living without a smartphone. I had become so used to enjoying the myriad ways in which it made my life easier/better and when I killed it, I was plunged into an existential limbo of sorts of the better part of 30 minutes. 2 months on, I’m surprised at how quickly I adapted. That’s not to say that I wouldn’t appreciate getting my phone up and running again or that I didn’t love it in the first place. It’s just that I, and IMO, pretty much everyone, can live without a particular commodity/person and not have my consciousness boil with internal strife.
I love it when my ears get blocked due to high cabin-pressure and I have to breathe through them to restore normalcy. It’s a weirdly pleasurable sensation. On that absolutely random thought, I feel I ought to conclude this meandering post. Nevertheless, I’m making a promise to myself to post more specific and relevant pieces up on the blog regularly henceforth.
P.S: This was fun. This aimless stroll of an article. The romantic in me would say it’s a photograph of my mind, flash frozen in time. 😀 😉 :O 😕
NAGHARAJ ABISHEK 