One Year of Solitude
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Barapani Diary
My job as an air traffic controller needs me to be posted at small and very small practically non-existent airports for a certain duration of time. In year 2011, one such posting led me to Barapani, an airport around forty kilometres away from Shillong. An entirely different world where from around thousand arrival departures at Delhi airport there was a lone flight to control, that too the flight played truant and missed our airport many days! In the place where my toddler grew up amidst nature, I read, wrote, introspected, reflected, and missed my husband at times!
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One Year of Solitude (Part 10)
Dear Ninni,
It is over, our time at Barapani and we are on our way since I could not complete it on the go, I just thought I would finish it in the sweltering heat of Delhi. Yes, this has been our home for a year. You, me and your Pishi and sometimes your grandpa grandma. Nestled in between hills, bathed by rains, swept over by clouds at times and lush green all around was our ‘ home’ a year.
This is how you looked when you followed your Maa to office with the invisible umbrella in hand.
You were closest to earth as you ever could be..
Gudia was the first friend you made in your life. Some months elder to you, moody.. she looked just like a doll. And both of you spent hours playing. I was so happy that Gudia was there and I could leave you comfortable with her and go for some badminton in the evenings.
This black one.. she gave birth to twins.. one black as her another grey.. they were so weak. We fed three of them – fish, rice, biscuits..
My office was the best place for you to hang out
You loved Shillong.. you could always blackmail into getting unnecessary stuff for you
Taken at Elephant Falls Shillong
We had several visits to Orchid The Lake Resort
This is ‘ Gungun’ another of your friend
Thanks to the few jigsaw puzzles and cards ..kept you busy
Baba was there too sometimes..
She brought you up.
At Barapani
It had been a short stay maybe but eventful for you and me, from a tiny two-bedroom apartment locked from inside. We were somewhere stepping outside, where being close to nature, the hills and the greens, where getting daily vegetables and groceries and keeping sufficient inventory level was a matter of awesome management, ‘managing’ a trip to the nearby army shopping complex in the office vehicle or hand over a list of groceries to anyone going to ‘city’ or shopping complex.
Aww! it required some management, the place where there is no other option but to walk two kilometres for public transport or procure a decent packet of biscuits. And you know after many days I talked the way I used to.. the languages I have known throughout my childhood. Though I don’t know how you picked up Hindi so well… Grandpa and grandma ( my parents) made regular visits here.. they won’t anymore. But this is life and we have moved on from Barapani to Delhi in the maddening heat and madder crowd.
Just tried to assemble some pics so that when you grow up and look at me blankly when I speak of ‘Barapani’ .. that magical land where we stayed for a year. I have something to remind you.
Love
Yours Maa