October 04, 2006

The Rolling Stone

I am currently in my twelfth home and I am not in software or in the "services". And no, I do not feel a lack of roots.

Appa had a transferable job and we moved from Tanjore to Guntur to Vijayawada and then Bombay. In Mumbai, we moved houses depending on the lease arrangements. Twelve, not counting the stint in Ahmedabad for my PG and the new "own" home in Mumbai (which is a story in itself- like the movie "Veedu").

Amma- Appa never cribbed about shifting. I think they looked forward to it. Boredom would set in if we were in the same house for over 2 years. We never had professional packers. It was a family do, with me chipping in by being out of the way. Later I was given small tasks like labelling boxes, I would run around getting the tape/ scissors etc - being the errand girl. Then I was promoted to pack up the large glassware and curio collection into papers wraps. The organizing, the packing and the unpacking, the care, the timing- all taught me a lot.

I looked forward to new friends, new neighbors, new schools. Contrary to the opinion that I had a disruptive schooling, I developed a curiosity and affinty for more things new. The experience came in handy when post marriage we moved 3 times in Chennai ( based on proximity to my work place) and now reside in our own place.

Maybe the only set back is that I do not have any bum chums from school. And I never got to eat the Banganapalli mangos from the three seeds I sowed in Vijayawada. I do recall touching the big Nandi in the Tanjore kovil through the enclosure grill. I love the moon through the woods as we went to Prabodha library in Guntur. My introduction to aloo patties in Mulund, the naan kattai at the bakery in Dombivli, the valley view in Powai, the buzz and convenience of being near the station at Santa Cruz house, the video library near the Andheri house... but these are memories I treasure. If ever I revisit and relive them they may not be as sweet.

A less romatic, more purposeful vagabond than RL Stevenson's.

17 comments:

Itchingtowrite said...

very well worded reminiscents...u have a good flair of transporting one to places u r talking of

Am I Who said...

beautiful post... i went thru a lot of relocating as well.... and the part i hated the most was leaving behind all my 'bum chums'.. totally!

and hey.. my songs are uploaded on hariniram.multiply.com
my demo songs.. you could listen to them... :)

i'll try and post a clip of our (OT band) performance on blogger..

Am I Who said...

beautiful post... i went thru a lot of relocating as well.... and the part i hated the most was leaving behind all my 'bum chums'.. totally!

and hey.. my songs are uploaded on hariniram.multiply.com
my demo songs.. you could listen to them... :)

i'll try and post a clip of our (OT band) performance on blogger..

Artnavy said...

thanks itchy & twice over harini-
will listen to you over the weekend- think u shld think of RJ ing . Do you?

Sree said...

well.. you seem to be well-adapted to change and that is really good.. I just cannot imagine myself doing that though... am really scared as to how to cope with change after wedding :-(.. gives me shivers at times just thinking I would be relocating across the contintents for a while :-(.

Sree said...

PS: I read the post "till death do us apart" it was a good one.. coincidentally I too had posted about wedding and relationships just a day prior and this one seemed to be like a sequel :-).

Rebelzz said...

Hey tho i have not shifted places as much as you have, I too have had my share of moving from one house to another.. And I simply love packing.. Maybe bcos we ve done it a lot when were kids, I like packing and moving even now.. I get bored of a place if I stay there for quite sometime..

Itchingtowrite said...

tagged to do heights of... as per my post...

Anusha said...

Amma- Appa never cribbed about shifting. I think they looked forward to it. Boredom would set in if we were in the same house for over 2 years.
That could very well describe my parents...they continue to find an excuse to move every 1.5-2 yrs :) I like how you picked one thing that represents that place in your memory...
I think moving offers you a wide range of perspectives and makes you highly adaptable....nice to see you prefer to adapt to the flow rather than fight it :)

Anonymous said...

We are in the process of moving homes right now - well not home exactly, considering we've been living in a hotel for the past 6 months. I am sooooo apprehensive - but am also looking forward to seeing a new city.
So your post comes just in time to give me a positive push :)

Hip Grandma said...

Hats off to you.I am happily stuck in the same neighborhood for 33 yrs.I can still see the two flats we occupie before moving into a third of our own.

Hip Grandma said...

BTW I missed responding to the tag story abt weird aspects.I've now mde it up.Welcome to the 'Podi eaters club'

Cloudy Musings said...

Damn interesting!!
And a really well written post!!

MJ said...

good one...really intresting.And so was 'till death do us apart'..:)

Usha said...

I am terrified of changes and would have been a wreck if i had to change places like this I think! I know only 2 houses in all of the 19 years i spent in Chennai and 3 houses in all of 26 years in Bangalore!
But after reading your post, I think it might have been fun to live like that!

mommyof2 said...

We will move soon too and thinking of packing every unnecessary thing I have collected over 7 years gives me shivers..

Anonymous said...

nice post!

moving frequently ensures you dont have junk collected over years i guess. you automatically chuck off unwanted stuff.