Time flies...

Time flies like an arrow... fruit flies like a banana....

ha ha and all that...

To get back to the point, time has been flying... faster than I've realised. I find myself longing for weekends on Monday mornings - and before I know it, its the middle of the week! That's the power of work, when you have enough to keep your mind occupied, that is.

Its been 2 years since I moved to the city-that-wakes-up-early, and as much as my initial posts bear testament to the fact that I hated it here, I've begun to call this house Home. Its this home that I think of when I'm away, this place that I'm constantly thinking up improvements for, this house that I find myself looking at curtains, lamps and cushions for. Strange feeling, this. But a good one, nonetheless. I still miss my bustling Maximum City (I think I always will!) and its incredible speed and the freedom that I feel in the air there... but here, this, doesnt feel as bad. The heat saps me, and I scurry to switch on my blast of coolth! (yes, COOLTH - I like that word... if there's WARMTH, then there's COOLTH... why? cos I sez so!).

I find myself taking powercuts in my stride, calling the Electricity Department and in terrible, awful, hideous local lingo asking a man (who's trying to contain his laughter!) why I'm being deprived of electricity when the sun is at its hottest. And then having the man, (still reining in his laughter!) tell me that there was a notice in the paper about a 9 am to 5 pm powercut - to which all that sheepish me could say was "Oh!"... I'm dealing with the heat, my being language impaired, autorickshaw men who see me and hear the "KACHING!" of cash registers... I'm dealing. And what's sweeter than knowing that I'm dealing remarkably well! (Aye, its very satisfying!)

Its a good feeling to walk down my road, having a flower seller smile and wave at me (I buy a bunch of yellow roses from her once in a while), having street people like vegetable vendors and shopkeepers that know you.... its like home, just like home. And it makes me smile. Its taken two years and lots of tears, but now, whenever I come back from whereever, I know I'm coming home. Home is where Serenity is, in more ways than one (and yes, serenity - the noun, does vanish from our home periodically too, when a hot-headed Gemini and a mule-headed Libran clash swords!) and I find myself wanting to be back here, though I know that he's the only one for whom I'll say this or be here for. Its a good feeling, and that makes me smile.

I do miss my bunch back in Maximum City though... I miss sitting on a sea-facing balcony with just one of them and lots of "talk" with a lot of vices thrown in for good measure. I miss my best boy buddy and I miss the evenings in office. I miss being around those people who know me, know when I want to be asked "whats wrong" and know when to just let me be. I miss conversations with Toe where I can just spill my guts and not have her say "eeugh". That non-judgemental love that some people there have for me, I miss... and I miss them every day. If I could just pull them all here to be with me, I'd be the happiest person in the world... and then the sorriest for all the abuses they would heap on me!!

But for all of that, I'm happy to say that I'm happy in the here and now. I'm happy to be where I am, with different groups of Serenity's friends, who are slowly but surely becoming mine as well. Its a wealthy person, one who can just let the people in their lives grow, connect and form that safety net that I've been yearning for since the day I came here. Some of them amaze me with their ability to assimilate another so seamlessly into a circle that's existed for them since boyhood. I'm a territorial beast, I dont think I could be that way. But the paintball gang shows me how its possible to grow that circle without breaking it.. and whenever we sit around a table and share a meal, I am just really really happy to be counted as one among them.

I'm growing my own safety net now... and this, for me, is the most poignant sign that I've put down roots here. City-that-wakes-up-early, Calamity is here to stay.