Solace in the Old. Distress of the New.

Familiarity is said to breed contempt.

To be honest, I always wondered what the person who created this supposedly enlightening quote, ACTUALLY meant by this. Even though noted scholars (self-proclaimed ones, I’m sure), defined this idiom as the more you know something or someone, the more you start to find faults and dislike things about it or them.

But what if the person who coined this confusion in my head, actually meant it to be really just plain and simple? Not liking anything that is Old at all. For example – Bread. No one that I know likes old, mouldy bread. Unless it’s converted to French Toast (the actual reason behind the existence of French Toast, by the way) Do you?

Again to be honest. I actually prefer the former meaning.

There will never be anything contemptuous about the smell of old books, the warmth of a familiar embrace, the comfort of the old blanket, the glee of meeting a long lost friend, the use of an ink pen, the clickety clack of a typewriter, the smell of your mother’s cooking, or even just feeling and knowing the oldest form of love you, as an individual, would have ever known - that of a parent’s.

The New, on the other hand, causes my skin to crawl. Like the onset of an allergic reaction. Meeting someone I haven’t met before causes me so much of distress, I’d rather run a mile away (I am THE laziest person I know) than face him/her. There exists so much of unwanted stress. The obligation of making small talk. The struggle to find something to say. Uncomfortable silences. Attempting to keep in touch. Discovering at a later date all those faults in him/her. And in the end ALL that effort went to waste. The same goes for someTHING New as well. Like a fashion trend. Or a new pair of shoes. (They should have Statutory Warnings on them - Beware! They BITE!!)

The New just makes me want to hibernate in the Old.

Which makes me wonder.

What was I like when the Old was New at some point? Tolerant, perhaps?

Spurt! Cough! GASP!!

There’s something about excessive time on your hands that makes you WANT to do a lot of things but also temporarily reduces you into a coma like state where you end up doing NOTHING worthwhile.

Which is exactly what has happened to me.

So this is me, poking my head out of this coma like bubble that surrounds me, for a gasp of fresh air.

My vacation in the Andaman Islands was fabulous. I have returned as a Brown Beach Bum, with sympathetic glances from all those around me, including my over critical mother. Those glances scream ‘TAN!!’. My deliciously lovely boyfriend (it seems juvenile to use the term boyfriend but manfriend really just sounds like dog to me), on the other hand, thinks I look ‘healthy’ with some colour on me. Living under the same roof as my mother, has subjected me to the application of tan removal gunk on myself, which she thoroughly monitors. I, on the other hand, will never understand hers or the greater section of this country’s baleful view of fair being beautiful. It is just easier doing what she tells me to do rather than willingly subject myself to her constant nagging. She is actually quite a sweetheart. I just like to complain a lot.

Those of you on my Facebook friend list have the opportunity to view my vacation photo album. For those of you who don’t, this post will be followed by some pictures attached. If there’s paradise in our country, it’s the Andaman Islands. Next stop for me… Spain…well…hopefully.

During the course of my vacation, I was accompanied by Haruki Murakami’s ‘The Elephant Vanishes’ and Elizabeth Gilbert’s ‘Eat Pray Love’. While Murakami’s short stories calls for a huh! (the novels are more captivating), ‘Eat Pray Love’ was intensely visual and written in conspicuous detail. Needless to say the latter was relished with great fervour.

Being back in Bombay, after a quick stop over in Gurgaon (where the deliciously lovely boyfriend resides), is comparatively dull. Dullness, which is all too consuming, has reduced me to a pile of goo. A state which I am happy to be in, since a lifetime of employment and responsibility stands before me. So until the next post, have the pleasure of viewing the following photographs.

Xoxo
P

The Andaman Islands

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