Memories ?

I was in the US for slightly more than 7 years. After being in Bangalore for the past 3-4 months, I have just realized that I miss the Bay Area.

The thought of the Bay Area naturally came back when I listened to a net broadcast of KQED (www.kqed.org). This was a station my wife and I immensely enjoyed when in the Bay Area. The radio broadcaster was going on about the Thursday weather and how it was going to be a sunny day. I felt a kind of void though I am back amongst my own people.

Humans are weird. While in the US, I was missing Bangalore a lot. On every trip to India, I rued getting back to the US. I decided to move back just for that. Now that I am back, I suddenly am missing the US. I recall the evening walks with my wife, my car (a nice Lexus - which I really miss), a certain set of friends and relatives there. I suppose they miss me less or not at all because I am just one person gone from there with the rest of them left there. I miss my Uncle - who unfortunately passed away just after I left. I miss the wonderful library system there and all the nice movies. Can you believe that I miss calling my parents ? Though we live with my parents and I can still walk with my wife, it was something I was looking forward to every weekend.

In traffic-ridden Bangalore, coming to work itself is a big pain. Now, is that the biggest reason for my grief ? Thinking further, I conclude that it is definitely a major reason.

But it is plain human nature that is the cause of suffering - this stupid idea of 'greener grass on the other side' and all the other junk that makes our conditions pitiful.

As Sri Krishna declared in the Gita - 'mana eva manuShyANAM kAraNaM bandhamokShayoH' - the mind itself is the cause for human suffering and emancipation.

As I wrote this blog, it has almost been like emptying my mind and I am feeling relaxed now.

Life is life wherever we live. As humans, we need company and as long as we have that, we should be fine.

An amazing rant, isn't it ?