When occupied with no work, even thinking of writing creates a vacuum when it comes to search for a relevant or (at least) irrelevant topic. I am here in Mumbai for two months, 3 weeks have passed since my arrival and I have been only to Juhu beach to see the stranded ship MS WISDOM. Helplessly the ship stands there with no clue of navigation, and no potential future. Headed for disintegration the ship sought for itself, through the winds, few more days
of survival. Helicopters are there trying to pull it out to its destination -- the scrap yard. Alas! They also fail. Huge crowd gathers everyday at that beach and for them this I suppose is a phenomenal event taking place. I was myself captivated, seeing the ship so huge standing with all its might on the beach unknown to it. Spend few good minutes on the beach, so dirty yet attractive to hundreds of people who were there to witness the sun set that evening and breathe in the air that came across the sea from distant place. Colourful as life is, I couldn’t help notice couples there holding each other looking for a place to be happily together. But stupid (or may be not) as I found them, how will there be peace when 100 people are around. Or probably they simply wished to be together in the crowd and not to get lost in it. Then there were families, parents with their ever bubbly children; excited to be
at the beach for now they could righteously play in the sand and make castles of their dream. There were of course few like me eyeing at the food stalls, waiting to plunge into the tasty pao bhaji, panipuri, gola etc. etc. I ate pao bhaji savouring its taste and the next item on the list—sev puri-- took away all that delicious flavour in mouth. Such is life, you get to experience something phenomenal and at the other moment you are filled with boredom. Hmm boredom is what I am experiencing now. Sitting , standing, lying, walking, eating, sleeping and typing away , my companion , the friend in times of now friends—laptop. The field work – surveys—are yet to start, will be busy with them next month. Perhaps, then I ll miss being at home, comfortable in those 4 walls which guard from the outside world. Right now, being at home the same 4 walls, day by day are creating a pattern which bores. Same as the ship I am grounded here until the work starts, and as it will, I hope I don’t wish to revert back to the comfort. Not that I am deprived of work. I have lots to read and review; I am putting breaks on it, to learn how to fight boredom. This is how certain things teach us. When at home I wish to run away breaking the shackles of ignorance and explore and when away from home I miss home. Home is home, even if you sit idle there , there is no feeling of defeat.
PS: And there will be a guidebook published (not very soon) on how to battle the boredom in comfort.
