The Kolkatta Trip and a few realizations

Its been sometime since returning from Kolkatta and I have been thinking about writing about the trip. So here it is ...

I boarded the train from Delhi - Rajdhani AC 2 tier. As I was travelling in AC 2-tier after a long time I thought it would be fun but it turned out to be that there's not much difference in the 2-tier and the 3-tier except for the money :(. I had brought 3 books with me for the whole journey including the train journey so the journey wasn't too bad. We were to reach Kolkatta on shashti. My uncle there had some work so he couldn't come to the station. But we (I and my mom) took a pre-paid taxi and reached my uncle's place. The protima (idol of goddess Durga, goddess Saraswati, goddess Lakshmi, Ganesh ji and Kartik ji) had already come and was placed in the terrace where the Puja was to take place. Bodo Jethu (tauji or uncle) and Jethi (taiji or aunt) had already come. In the evening many relatives came - Bodo Pishi and Pishe, Mejo Pishi and Pishe, Tulu didi and Dhruva da along with thier kids, Rinku didi with her son. It was good to meet them after a gap of 3 years. Over the next 4 days met many other relatives as well - Debu Jethu, Choto Pishe, Babli didi and Probal dada, Joy dada, Mimi didi and Raja da, Mom and Shyamal, Tinni, the kids, et al. This time I also watched a lot of pandals there but unfortunately couldn't click any pictures as my camera memory somehow got full :(. But it was fun watching so many different pandals.

This trip also brought in new realization in me which maybe hadn't dawned on me till then...

It felt strange to see the kids - nephews and nieces - having grown up. They were playing around and making noises, the kind of things I used to do with my cousins. Seeing them do what I used to do not so long ago - or maybe it is that long - I went back the memory lanes where in I was called the 'dada' (as in gunda style :)) of my generation. Now I was old enough to scold the kids and just see them play instead of joining them.

On the other side I had my uncles and aunts who were aging and it showed. From the times when they used to run after me, used to play with me, do the daily chores so actively and participate in all the activities to today where in they get tired easily, can't run after the kids so just scold them, do only those things that are necessary; it has been a complete change.

Time flows and it takes in everyone. Of course people grow from kids to teenagers to adults to old people doing all the activities each age demands passing or rather rushing through each phase. I am also doing the same. But what stuck me this time around was that you don't realize how quickly you are rushing through life. When I look back, what seems like yesterday is in fact many years back. Most of us are so busy in our routine lives that we often forget the things that makes us smile, the things that we should give a high priority to instead of taking it for granted, the things we remember the most and wish we could have done more of it, the list goes on...

The last time I went to Kolkatta I thought it would be boring meeting my relatives after a long time as I wouldn't have much to say or do; but it turned out to be great fun. This time around the expectations were high which were not met but it made me feel that I should be in touch with them more often. The trip also made me see certain things which I won't be mentioning here but yes they made me sit up and notice and think.