The early morning alarm sounded by a cock,the chirping of the birds,the sweet smell of the wet earth(which in this case is due to water being splashed on the patch of land at the front door instead of the rains),the 'muggu'(a rangoli kind of a thing drawn only in white chalk powder on the wet earth every morning as a ritual),my grandmom's voice waking me up with a hot cuppa tea with cardamom in it......these li'l memories were enough to lure me to take a train to my native village,Eluru,the very second day of me landing in India.
Did i forget to mention that Eluru is situated in the state of Andhra Pradesh?It is the headquarters of West Godavari district and has a population of 189,772.anyways,enough of the facts and figures about it...let me go back to boring u with the fresh memory of my trip to my roots.As it was quite cold when i left in the train to Eluru from Bhubaneswar,i made sure to wear a sweater,expecting the same kinda weather there too.But then if it is as humid with a temperature of 34 degrees celcius,one would look like either a fool or a malaria patient with that sweater still on won't he/she? he he! not to mention i had taken very few cool summer clothes and had packed around 7-8 woollen pairs for a 4 day trip!cursing myself for acting too intelligent,i started searching for an auto at the station which could gimme a ride home.Finally after managing to grab one while struggling my way through the horrenduous crowd,i got myself involved in a verbal brawl with the rickshaw puller for the injustice he's threw in my face by asking me to pay Rs.30 for a short distance!well, i will not lie here by saying that i managed to win the fight.yes, i resigned to the injustice as i was devoid of any energy to continue the fight any longer than the 15 minutes that it had already managed to last.
Needless to say i had a stupid smile on my face when we started riding home....everything around me was making me smile-the ubiquitous tea stalls,the yellowed walls,the torn up film posters,the billboards carrying jewellery ads by South Indian "Mega Stars", the kids sitting with a 'lota' on the roadside,the buffaloes and cows blocking our way,the smell of cowdung...everything!it didn't matter how i looked anymore or what anyone thought about the stupid smile on my face....is why i named this post-'it whispers it does not shriek'.village life is way different from the hustle bustle of the city life which always seems to scream....and what mattered most to me was that i was back to where i belonged and was about to meet my family after what seemed like eons!
I was broken outta my reverie when io felt the rickshaw slowing down n realised i was close to home.i got out of the rickshaw when it came to a halt and was about to take out my wallet to pay the fare,i heard squeals of laughter behind me and turned to see my 6 cousins of all shapes and sizes rushing to meet me with broad grins on their faces.The fight for the unfair rate demanded by the rickshaw guy was continued by my cousin who was enraged when he heard how much i was being charged...letting the other cousins take care of my luggage,i proceeded toenter the house into the welcoming arms of my other waiting family members who hugged me tight n kissed my forehead wet(even though i was all sweaty from the trip) and snatched the remaining handbad and airbag out of my hands to instantly replace them with my newly born nephew...awwww he was damn cute man!Life had never felt better...it's a bliss...to be loved so deeply by so many people :)
Thus allowing my family members to hover around me worrying and wondering over my shabby stae and as to why i had put on so much weight inspite of staying away from home and that i should take better care of my skin(all the things that a girl living in a city would get to hear once she goes back to the village...only here the 'weighty issue' is different.tee hee!),i continued my smiling session and decided to enjoy this vacation even though my staying there longer meant long lectures on my weight ;).
