Looking for the Past

Last week was particularly hectic with back to back travel from one end of the country to another with a short stopover at home in Bangalore. Flight delays, increased travel time and lack of sleep had started making my body sore. But I was eagerly looking forward to the last leg of my travel-destination Trivandrum! The work that I had come to do in Trivandrum was significant and therefore exciting in its own right. But the fact that I would get an opportunity to revisit my childhood memories (something that I did not have time to do when I made a day trip to Trivandrum last month) was what actually kept me going. Arrangements for my stay were made at Kovalam and I could see the expansive Arabian Sea, high and mighty waves behind the silhouettes of curved coconut tree trunks, right from my room. Heavy rains made the place look unbelievably charming. As soon as we wrapped up the day’s work, most colleagues naturally headed towards the beach. For me, the beach could wait, and I headed towards the city. I was on a mission to locate the house where I spent my early childhood years.

About twenty years ago, I had gone on the same expedition with a friend and had managed to even visit the family living in that house at that time. They had graciously allowed me to look around their home, touch and feel the nooks and corners, the pillars and the coconut trees that still stood upright.

The cabbie was not too happy to hear the inadequate address he had to take me to but agreed to help out as soon as he knew the purpose. After a couple of inquiries, I realized that the address which was sufficient forty years ago for directing someone totally new to the city may not be adequate now. After some more fact finding, I actually found someone who knew the compound. With great expectations I made my way there only to find nothing that matched what I was looking for. Tall residential apartments now stood where my home used to be once upon a time. Asphalted roads had come in place of mud tracts. I wasn’t disappointed; I was actually heart-broken. I took one long look at the changed landscape, wondering if I had been wrong in expecting to find my quaint old home hidden by the coconut trees. I got back into the cab and asked to be taken back to the Kovalam beach. Sitting on the rocky shore, I watched the huge waves rising distinctly and merging seamlessly - an endless and timeless process.