There is a restlessness inside the heart of an Indian. Observe them at airports, they will push and swerve to get ahead. They struggle with lines. They will stand before the seat belt sign eliminates. And, they seldom give way, they only butt in. Pardon my stereotype, but my first domestic flight out of Chandigarh unfolded in this manner. And somehow, I had forgotten to be pushy and anxious at the airport.
The airport officials understand this anxiety about Indians. They ask you not to come too early to the airport. Imagine the population explosion of anxieties. They do not start boarding before ten minutes of departure time. Because of the anxieties, magically, the full plane boards with luggage stowed away, seat belts buckled, the door disembarked in less than ten minutes. Calmness moves through slowly. It is only anxiety that propels people to such manic speeds. Maybe, it is in our blood, or in our history or simply in the population of the country. A baby must compete from the time it is born. Scoring well in exams is not a concern for hardworking Indians. It is making it to the top one thousand to land a decent spot in an engineering college (or corresponding college, but engineering and medical will beat the others easily). The anxiety keeps teenagers up at night, shoving fellow classmates at school during the day. Also, Indians do not make one queue. They make ten simultaneous queues. It is a game for the survival of the fittest.
The commotion unfolded as I stood at the end of the queue even though I got up at the first call of boarding with three brats, Ali, and Nana, Nani. We were leaving Punjab and the memories, the smell of ghee in the streets of Amritsar, the smell of mothballs from the sweaters Mama took out from old suitcases which is a smell my kids will forever now associate with Nani, the sight of peacocks en-route to Chandigarh. And the smell of burnt crop.
At home, we chatted, kids played non-stop, and the home was as warm as ever before, as though nothing had changed. When we pulled in to my Bhuiji’s street, it was dark. Sahir said, “This is the best neighborhood I have been to so far.” I replied, “Kiddo, how do you know? It is all dark.” He just knew. Six hours we took to reach Chandigarh, kids kept asking every ten minutes, “Are we there yet?” Their cousins were too strong a wait for them.
And, at the end of it all, it was a hard goodbye for me because this was the end of Punjab and home. I left a part of my heart behind with my aunts who are the pillars of strength and inspiration. Here are a few memories from the experience.
Chandigarh Trivia:
1million+ population. Capital of both Punjab and Haryana. A Union Territory (federal ground). Reported “one of cleanest and the wealthiest city in the nation.” Was designed and developed by Albert Mayer (started until he died in a crash) and completed by Le Corbusier in the mid-nineties following partition.