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Be Careful What You Wish For; You Might Just Get It
If only we remembered it at all times
Once in a blue moon, when my mother sends me some photographs from my childhood in various places in India, I get upset. Mostly because I know I can’t be there due to the distance and cost, among other things. I also genuinely miss the wildlife there. Sometimes, I realize how much I took that for granted.
The last time I was on a trip with my mother in South India, I noticed a few Chitals (spotted deer) roaming around our forest lodge. They were grazing on grass, minding their business while the lodge keepers minded theirs. I didn’t want to be the typical tourist and go near them and destroy the serenity. And so I observed them from my room. Amid our whirlwind trip, just seeing those chitals brought a kind of serenity that I didn’t think was possible, especially on a trip with my mom and her million-place-to-visit itinerary.
Anyway, the last time I received some photos from my mom, she sent me some good ones from Rajasthan, a place that’s getting increasingly distant and utopic to me.
As often as all older people like to complain, Mom kept harping about how no place back home is like how it used to be. People, pollution, social media, influencers, and all the rest drive her crazy, as…