There Goes the Fear by Doves

Are we really that shallow and superficial? Or is the result of forgetfulness and the passing of time? It could be the latter, because sometimes, catalysts like a movie song you watched with them or the smell of their cologne or even the way someone laughs brings back so much, like an avalanche of memories. With no prior warning, you are suddenly buried deep in their thoughts. And you curse whatever it is that lets to things not working out. And you also breathe a sigh of relief, for avalanches are scarce. Once every 500 days, being buried deep in shared memories is even sweet nostalgia if not just downright misery.

13 comments:

rossbard said...

As long as the reaction to those avalanches are not in the form of a volcanic eruption that burns down everything in it's vicinity, you are gonna be fine.

raining words said...

Nah, it's never so intense to be destructive, but it leaves you wanting to feel numb. Sometimes we feel too much.

rossbard said...

If it's not destructive, it wasn't crazy enough. A good thing in the long run

raining words said...

Remember these are the dregs of what once was... A diluted, left-over version. Sigh.

rossbard said...

Remember eternal sunshine of a spotless mind ? That's what I am talking about. Madness. Desperation. Euphoria.

raining words said...

Stop comparing reality with your favourite movies. You gotta grow up Rosh! :P

rossbard said...

Life imitates art which imitates life that imitates art.

Deep said...

Nostalgia! In every ten people you meet down the street or on the local train or on the metro, you'll find five people shaking their heads in tune to the music in their earphones. Three will have blank expressions on their faces. Two will be busy chatting, and hey, I'm not complaining.. But out of those ten, you might just find one such person who will be staring out of the window with their distant and thoughtful eyes. Perhaps someone's crooked smile reminded him/her of someone long gone..

I am a nostalgic, and I totally get what you're saying. Really well expressed! :) And what I gathered from the other comments, speaking of movies, I relate more to 'Midnight in Paris' - I feel similar emotions in respect to the Western world of the 60s.

raining words said...

Thank you! :)
Nostalgia, yes! The 60s culture is so very attractive, not just in the western world, even in India. There is a cameo by a hippie in that movie, Rajnigandha, its a really nice movie. Check it out. And yeah, Woody Allen fans toh we are, I wish he would make a movie about Bombay too, although I'm assuming its not one of his favourite cities. Anyway, like Owen Wilson's character realizes in the end, nostalgia is great, but there's no place like the present.
Happiness is here. :D

Deep said...

So true! :) I really liked the ending, establishing the fact that everyone longs for the past. I stayed in Mumbai for first 6 months of last year and I can say that it is inherently very similar to Kolkata. I absolutely loved Mumbai as much as I love my own city (notwithstanding many differences, of course). They both have a rich culture and a typical society and very few books or movies actually fulfill it in entirety.. we always end up longing for a little more! :)

raining words said...

You know what, hardly anyone who's not lived all their life in Bombay, ends up liking it. I have friends, mostly from Delhi, who hate the city so much, for the traffic, and population, and et cetera. People don't really see the freedom and the opportunities (employment, I mean) and the spirit. I haven't been to Kolkata, but my mum was born there and she is crazy about sandesh.
I have read a few books about the city, The City of Joy and A Suitable Boy. There's a bit about Rose Alymer's grave in Kolkata in Seth's book, I want to visit that. I have an odd fascination for these places.

Deep said...

Yeah, even I've found people living in the capital hating both the Mumbai and Calcutta, while people from these two tend to have a feel good relationship for each other - a kind of kinship perhaps, who knows?! :) Both are nostalgic cities, if we try to relate to your topic. I have personally enjoyed the freedom there, the ease of travel, meeting a motley of people and of course, plentiful opportunities.
I dunno about Kolkata, but Calcutta is more familiar to me (just like Bombay is to it's people, over Mumbai) - many books have been written on this city. My personal favorites are Chowringhee by Shankar (originally, a Bengali book), Amitava Ghosh's Calcutta Chromosome and parts of Jhumpa Lahiri's Namesake. And speaking of odd fascinations, both of these cities feed nostalgia in plenty! :)

raining words said...

Haha kinship, maybe! But there's a friend, a very very wise friend, from Calcutta who tells me Bombay has a distinct stink, that Bombayite noses are desensitized to, but it hits him like a physical thing every time he comes back here from his travels. I think he's exaggerating. :P
BTW, I don't like Jhumpa Lahiri much, too hyped methinks. The Namesake was not a good book, no no, but a few of her short stories are decent to read. I think you like her because of the Bong Connection, no really, I just wanted to use that term. :P

Post a Comment

Pages

Powered by Blogger.

Social Icons

Popular Posts

Followers

Featured Posts