All of us in our school uniforms lined up at the pick up location for our school bus. We were going on a picnic. Which meant two things, one, you have no regular classes, two, a day with friends gallivanting through some park, dam, or some random place the school has chosen. Most importantly, no school.
There was always a nice lunch and snacks packed. We carried water bottle which always seemed to run out before lunch time and we were ready to head out and see Mukamboo dam for the fourth time. It did not matter as long as we were going somewhere. I am sure we went to other places but for some reason all I can remember is the dam. Kallanai was another dam we went to. It was always fun. The parks, the picnic lunch and the bus drive singing songs.
Thirty some years later, life has come a full circle. In a few weeks time, I will be escorting my daughter and her classmates to their Field Trip. This will be her first official school picnic and I am more excited than her.
Last night, when I went to bed, I started to see the images of me holding hands with a teacher-chosen partner walking through the gardens in Mukamboo or Kallanai. I don't know why the teachers taught that having a girl and boy hold hands would make them talk less, the logic was flawed and it never worked.
One image led to another and I remembered the picnics I went with my parents and their various clubs to different parts of Trichy. I am sure if I go back now, it will not be the same, but in my minds eye, all I can see is Green. That was the color of the Cauvery Delta. It was either green with paddy, banana plantation, mango orchards or just trees through which a green river would wind its way around. Every year, a little bit of the green was lost to houses, commercial or institutional. They could never win the fights...farmers never won.
Then, the mind wandered over to Plano, ranches that are now houses. You can still drive by and see a small ranch surviving putting a smile in your heart but at the end of the road you will see the unmistakable "For Sale/Lease" sign. It makes me sad, though I am one of those who bought a house in the once-ranch area. I pray that my daughter would see a lot of what I have instead of reading about them on wikipedia or text books. Oh Well...
Then of course, I fell fast asleep. It was too much thinking...deep and circuitous. Started somewhere and ended in a totally different situation.
Love
ART
There was always a nice lunch and snacks packed. We carried water bottle which always seemed to run out before lunch time and we were ready to head out and see Mukamboo dam for the fourth time. It did not matter as long as we were going somewhere. I am sure we went to other places but for some reason all I can remember is the dam. Kallanai was another dam we went to. It was always fun. The parks, the picnic lunch and the bus drive singing songs.
Thirty some years later, life has come a full circle. In a few weeks time, I will be escorting my daughter and her classmates to their Field Trip. This will be her first official school picnic and I am more excited than her.
Last night, when I went to bed, I started to see the images of me holding hands with a teacher-chosen partner walking through the gardens in Mukamboo or Kallanai. I don't know why the teachers taught that having a girl and boy hold hands would make them talk less, the logic was flawed and it never worked.
One image led to another and I remembered the picnics I went with my parents and their various clubs to different parts of Trichy. I am sure if I go back now, it will not be the same, but in my minds eye, all I can see is Green. That was the color of the Cauvery Delta. It was either green with paddy, banana plantation, mango orchards or just trees through which a green river would wind its way around. Every year, a little bit of the green was lost to houses, commercial or institutional. They could never win the fights...farmers never won.
Then, the mind wandered over to Plano, ranches that are now houses. You can still drive by and see a small ranch surviving putting a smile in your heart but at the end of the road you will see the unmistakable "For Sale/Lease" sign. It makes me sad, though I am one of those who bought a house in the once-ranch area. I pray that my daughter would see a lot of what I have instead of reading about them on wikipedia or text books. Oh Well...
Then of course, I fell fast asleep. It was too much thinking...deep and circuitous. Started somewhere and ended in a totally different situation.
Love
ART
No comments:
Post a Comment