2012 had been rough till then. It was only March but the year disappointed me in every way that it possibly could. Suddenly my parents were planning to visit Adilabad, my home town. We had an old house there, almost 150 years old. The very idea of visiting such an old house, thinking about my ancestors who had lived all their lives there, fascinated me. Perhaps I could re-live some of their memories !!
What followed then was packing clothes for the two night stay, a one night train journey and we landed in Adilabad, early in the morning. I spotted a huge difference between this small town and the bustling city almost immediately, right from the fresh cool air I was breathing to the vast lands used for cultivating crop. As soon as I entered the house I saw a huge Aangan with several small houses surrounding it. Our house was to the right. At the entrance there lay a weathered nameplate belonging to my grandfather in greeting. A small gate lead to a tiny room which I assumed was for entertaining not so close guests, followed by another gate and a door carved in the Old Persian style. This door opened to yet another Aangan which had a well at one end, two entrances to the main house and a narrow passage to another set of houses. All the wall space in the living room of the main house had been occupied by photographs, framed and arranged in order by my grandfather. The most magnificent of them were the three huge oil paintings of my great great great grandfather, his son and daughter in law. Almost everything in that house that I laid my eyes upon interested me a great deal. Once I captured in my camera all the photographs, I decided to explore the other parts of the house. In an old storage room, I found a rifle that was used to hunt birds and a device to pick up things dropped in the well which my mother called "Pathala gadiyaal". It was made of iron and spiked so that things like bangles, utensils could hook on to the spikes and be brought out. How times had changed!
That night after a delicious dinner made of farm fresh vegetables by Gangu, our family maid, (as her family had been serving ours for several generations) I went to the terrace to take some solace from the stars. The view of the Bada Talaab behind our house gleaming in the moonlight was splendid. I had heard that this terrace was a bonding spot for many a newly married couple. Just sitting there with the view of the lake and talking to the love of one's life was indeed very romantic. “How sweet and simple life was back then”, I wondered. After spending a long time, brooding over various issues on the terrace, I resigned myself to some sleep!
 |
| Bada Talaab |
The next day, we had to make it to a lot of temples. The first was the Pendrada Hanuman temple with a massive orange coloured statue of Lord Hanuman. Next came the beautiful black stone temple of Jainnat- a temple of Lord Vishnu. There, I spotted a construction of black stone under which is believed to be buried immense wealth! Last came Kelapur, a temple of Amba Bhavani! All these temples shared a common quality of peace and calm giving me a truly spiritual experience. The positive energy that I gained from them was inspiring, putting all my worries to rest. After this we returned home for a quick lunch and a nap. Later, early in the evening we set out to visit the local bazaar.
 |
| Door to library |
There was still one thing left to do. Have a look at the library bungalow that stood right near the entrance, a two storey structure that held its old form which had not been renovated at all. No one had lived in it for very long. The ancient looking door invited me, so I took the keys from Gangu and opened the door. The cobweb infested room was small and empty; all the books were donated to the district library. It had steps on the side to the room above. I mounted the steps making my way through the dust and cobwebs to see a pleasantly ventilated room on the top. Just standing there on the steps, I could imagine my great grandfather probably reading one of his favourite books. I had never seen him, yet the room held in it the power to transport me 100 years back in time. It was when I captured that moment in my memory that my trip was totally complete.
This trip made me realize that there was a lesson or two to be learnt from the ever so helping and warm people there. A lesson to take it slow at times, a lesson not to have over expectations on anything which is not in our power, a lesson to sometimes leave it to the higher order, a lesson to keep it simple and finally, a lesson to actually live life, not a race!
