When was the last time you set your feet somewhere and you are literally blown back by this strong wind of memories, pictures,that-happened-theres and you feel like just closing your eyes and wish someone would give you a free trip to the past !
And that is where I found myself a day ago, when I set my feet at SM Street ( ‘mittayi theruvu’). The Sweet Meat street. The shopping hub of Kozhikode city. The place where you are sure you’ll FIND something , even if it’s the most impossible thing to find in the rest of the world.
I wouldn’t claim to be the biggest fan of SM street during my graduation years. I used to inevitably return with my special ‘Kozhikkodan’ headaches everytime I spent more than an hour there. A headache I almost yearn for now. About the headache. As much as I blame it on the crowd or the sun, I know from within ( and always knew it ), that this headache was mostly my shopping-o-phobia playing with my weaker nerve. Those inevitable trips for the onam-saree-jewellery stitching and shopping. The farewell saree shopping.The last minute run for the Farewell-costumes and props. The shopping-for –the sake-of shopping trips. The birthday shopping for my best friend’s boy friend ( Trust me . I’ve never hated the stuff guys wear more).The lens shopping ( after the eye-infection and visit to Vasan’s eye care). The Ragam dance-group shopping( I’LL NEVER forgive you dance devils for making me do that picking-up-from-the-tailor’s job).The one-hour-before-the-movie shopping. Trust me. There was always a reason to visit SM Street.
As I stood there, in the midst of the bustling crowd, I was thankful for those memories. There was a time when I honestly thought none of it would come to an end. That May 2009 would never happen. And yet it happened. May 2009 did come. The batch of 2005-2009 did graduate. The proud graduates did make their way into life outside NITC. Yet , there is that invisible thread that holds us together still doing its job of holding us together. The thread which makes sure that whenever an NITCian meets another NITCian , there is never an awkward pause or a what-do-i-say-next dilemma.
Somethings should be just left unsaid. And the rest that was to follow shall remain that way. Unsaid:)
