Myriad memories,vivid colours of a well spent life.My ultimate pleasure is going through old albums.Yes, that is never done at leisure but always when I do some spring cleaning and stumble upon these treasures.Oh oh, now all else is forgotten and I settle down to browse,remembering sweet incidents,pleasant memories.

There is this young girl,staring self consciously at the camera,a few with friends stiffly posing to preserve this moment for posterity .Most of those old photos were taken on special occasions- last day of school, a cousin's wedding,some rare events,when someone possessed the rare contraption-the camera! Sometimes copies were made and distributed in the group.One's own wedding of course was very very special and there were albums,totally chaotic with the photographer clicking away to fill two albums, most of the photos out of focus,unimaginative and many characters now not remembered.So these are not actually memorabilias. But still held on with pride and occupy precious space in the cabinets,in our hearts.

Cameras became  household objects when the children came.We needed to keep track,needed to remind ourselves  that these monsters were the cherubs of yesterday. I remember the beautiful Kodak because that was the one we could afford.Then came Minolta,later Yashica.Cameras improved,we evolved as photographers!But also the impatience when waiting to finish the film roll,resulting in some very silly shots,all the same could not be thrown because of the cost involved! Filling a few albums,very simple mini ones, with plastic pouches to protect the photos.Yeah,now these albums also became treasures to cherish.Still are. And then the photos became so many even to put inside the mini albums. . Slowly they were put inside plastic bags .When there were too many plastic bags ,they were placed inside cartons.Even today  these are instrumental in throwing one off balance regarding household chores.

This was a beautiful hobby for a long long time.Piles and piles of photos stacked in cartons,to one day open and fill one's mind with nostalgia.Over the years,all got chronologically mixed up.There would be the snap of my little grandchild smiling beautifuly,the next one my son in his school uniform and then my daughter's wedding attire-so on and so forth.Why? Because snaps were compared to "establish" family resemblances, finally when much time had been consumed in this activity,realising other chores were pending , put back every thing in one carton for the time being (?)and then forget about this for a long time.And repeat the same months later.

Now my four year old grand daughter can pose for the camera beautifully,dozens of photos clicked every day,not much is thought about preserving these and if they want to,they do it perfectly "on the net".Browsing done in an organised way because everything is labeled and sorted out.Times have changed for the better but not before taking away the sweet disorderliness which was so much more fun!

  


We had just moved from an idyllic place to Bangalore,each of us missing our former sprawling house,the greenery,the calm,relaxed life style.Yet it was good for the children,we consoled ourselves,for now they could go to prestigious schools,life in a city would give them a broader perspective on life and though reluctantly,we all settled slowly in our new environment.This was more than three decades ago.

I remember how difficult it was for the children to adapt to their new life,the comparitive lack of freedom to roam about,the very different school curriculum and I would spend hours explaining how all these would eventually  help to shape them better equipped to face the challenges of the world.I myself was not convinced.I missed all that I had enjoyed till then.But slowly, very slowly ,Bangalore got to me.I started looking around.There was so much to fall in love with this place too inspite of extreme differences in our routine life.There was so much of simplicity in the local people,the city clean and traffic very disciplined.Very soon I realised that all of us were going to be very happy here.

We weighed pros and cons of various places and Bangalore won hands down in our choice of a permanent home.We would not be far away from near ones, yet could have our individuality and yes,the atmosphere was congenial for the children to grow up with the right exposure to other cultures.I still remember my father telling  me years ago,growing up in Kolkata,"Be very proud of your roots.But never become cliquish.Be friendly with everyone."I tried to instil this in my children,I did not have to do much.They grew up having friends of many cultures.Till today,we all have friends everywhere,who add value to our lives.We happily bought our home and settled in Bangalore to live "happily ever after."Could we?
 We  are  greatly disturbed that in times of crises,we are still outsiders.Looked down upon as people who grabbed a piece of earth in "their" land.We proudly proclaim that we are Bangaloreans but pained when we are not accepted by "natives".All because some people who have somehow become powerful,not always because of their merit,fan animosity between two very good neighbours.During stressful times,they become successful.We all stay indoors,fearing the worst.Constantly wondering "are we in an enemy country that is not rightfully ours?"

I know that we have made a right decision.No regrets.We will never be  ready to exchange our Bangalore to any other heavenly place in this world .There are elements out there trying to create doubts.But they are few,they are everywhere.We are fortunate that we are happy for the major part of our lives.A few days of horror cannot take away the contentment that we have been wise to choose a good home in our lovely country,most of the time surrounded by simple,sweet people.I still dream of the golden days before cheap politics set in,dividing good friends.Will we ever be able to have those sort of  days ever again?Or have we lost some precious values to self centred politicians,who in the name of governing,split people for their own gains?