It’s been an year since I landed on Pondicherry. I clearly remember that lad having some expectations, landing on Pondicherry railway station on August 12th, just an year ago. But there’s nothing to be excited about the proficiency of my memory, to be precise I don’t vaguely remember the year passed by in between. Call it my fault of seeing delusions of grandeur but time has its own way to fly by, especially when you’re active. Several things on my lifestyle got improved on their own ways, I got a lot thinner (which is not always a good thing for health), tried to maintain a goatee, drank a lot of soft drinks (well, alcohol is not my stuff), banished a lone mouse from my room and most probably developed my own theory of nothingness. And about that getting thinner part, people close to me always cried foul on my reckless eating habits. Now, I won’t mind what the world is telling me until it really affected me, both mentally and physically. In this case, it surely did fleshly yet took quite a long time to hit psychologically. And I’m not the only one to blame here.

A man is born in certain place, takes some bits of cultural identity in him from the places of his being and has a complex set of characterizations. Definitely, he is omnivorous but the title does not always help in his well being. A swift change of place is very much possible these days, thanks to the technological wonders, but a instantaneous change of taste? That’s not quite easy as it seems, not for me who is certainly not a fan of acidic sourness. I understand that these guys live in quite searing conditions, but that doesn’t justify adding acerbity to anything and everything eatable. Having a lot of varieties in culinary here is a fool’s paradise no doubt, but being without any diversities is unbearable. Now messiahs of cultural identities can jump into the situation and have the imaginary delight of having my head on their dinner plates. “Either you honour the culture or ‘Eff’ off”. There lie some complications as I can’t leave this place, the only remaining thing is to shut up and have whatever you’re given. It’s an autocratic burden on me but I don’t have much choice. It has undoubtedly taken its toll on me, turning me into my present semi-skeletal physique. Therefore at the end, I’m compromising with the situation. SIGH.

Someday!