Do not check Google maps.
Or go back to your geography professor.
There is no island in Gurgaon.
Or is there?
Narcissist me at his best :D
I AM the island of Gurgaon... Here from 20th July to 5th August 2011. On business (with a tad of pleasure).
All alone in my air-conditioned and wi-fi enabled hotel room. Not a soul in sight. I see the four or five hotel staff members daily and apart from that and work hours (I am actually on training here), I am totally isolated from people. Yes, the mini-fridge and large television do provide company, not to mention my laptop and the perennial companion - my cell phone.
But no other humans!
And by the time I get back from work, it is usually 7 or so in the evening.
Yeah, I go for a walk to the nearby mall, aptly named "The Shopping Mall" (as if it were necessary not to have misnomers here!), but would you believe it - would any of you Puneites believe it - the place is desolate after 9 p.m.! All I have is the occasional mutt on the streets or the beautiful birds in the morning.
Now tell me, doesn't this qualify me as THE island in the city of Gurgaon?
Thank the heavens for Internet and television. And of course the cyborgish attachment (real cell phone) that we all have these days.
Man! How did people manage before all this!!
But hey, it's kinda fun being alone.
You are suddenly conscious to every moment and breath. Every bite that I eat at my solitary breakfast or dinner is truly appreciated and I am aware to every breath that I take. I suddenly realize the deficit in the average number of words spoken in the day! Yeah, so i do go to office for 8 hours a day, give or take a few hours. But there's no scope for talking there! I'm in training, for heaven's sake!! Barring the occasional doubt in class or the offbeat joke in the cafeteria, I AM NOT TALKING!!
Well, I gotta admit, I am talking a bit everyday, but with whom and what about is not something I will mention here.
It's fun being an island for a change. And if you look closely, you are never really alone. Or should I say we are all ALWAYS alone. I open the balcony door and the view is serene. A few tress, the silent street below. The only sound I hear is of the nocturnal insects or the chirping of birds at dawn.
Feels nice :)
It's good to be alone once in a while. Kinda makes you think a lot about your loved ones.
Makes you ponder about why you hurt such people occasionally...
I can't wait to go back home and hug all these beautiful people, most of all my sweet li'l parrot whom I miss ever so badly... My family and friends - at least I could tell them how long I'll be gone and when I'll be back. But how do you tell your parrot that you'll be gone for long...
I just petted his beak, told him I'll be back...
He didn't understand...
He looked at me as he always does...
I cry when I think of him...
He doesn't know why I am not there right now, petting his beak and calling him sweet names...
I wish he knew... I really do...
You know what, I have this all wrong... I am NOT the island here... Physically, I may be away from everyone, but they know why and I know why... So I am not the island in this picture...
But there is an island... In Pune. One who is physically amongst all the people who love him and care for him. Except one person, me. He is the real island. He is he one who is constantly wondering where I am and whether I will ever return...
He is in for a nice long weekend of beak-petting when I go back home... Till then, I just hope he carries on as always, though I know he won't be the same until he sees me back... I know I am not the same without him.
The sweetest, most sqwacky and tiniest li'l island on earth, my parrot Tinku :)
