Just got back to Bangalore from Srirangam after dropping parents. Quite warm it was in Srirangam as is generally the case during this part of the year. The heat is partially offset by a strong breeze across the open spaces of the river,Cauvery . It is specific to these months of the year when south west monsoon is quite active on the west coast and cauvery has some water in across in Trichy .
I am not sure whether our generation had a better childhood with very strong memories of the place we lived or is it just that our generation ( I spent early and mid 1960 s in Srirangam as a child) is more nostalgic than the current generation ?
The 5 and odd years there as a child and several subsequent trips have left a far greater impact than any other equivalent period in one's life. Old memories sometimes have a tendency to get enhanced ( by imagination ) , still giving allowance , one still feels great visiting the place.
Things appear quite simple even now and must have been simple even few centuries back. May be they appear simple, since we only see the relics of the past . We see the temple structures, the writings etc on the wall and the open spaces and the brightness of the place which all add to a sense of peace and happiness quite removed from the hustle andf bustle of the city/town and far removed from the real world. It is almost as of you are transported back in time to a world devoid of any conflict , physical or mental. Of course this could be and in fact is probably quite wrong. We go through the pain when we actually live through the period and get to see only the pleasurable aspects when we see only the symbols and structures of the past.
My rational side continues to suggest that , small temple town would be no better than any other city . People in such small towns would have their own pressures and possible desires to be in a bigger town and may feel missing out on larger things .
I still find it difficult to get away from the fact that , this place , Srirangam, the temple and the millieu makes one feel a lot happier than any other place.A great sense of longing for old times. To quite an extent, Chennai and Tambaram , where I used to spent summer vacation days as a school boy ( in Christian college ) and later when I was studying in MCC ( Madra Christian College ) makes me long for old times and no other place evoke such a feeling in the last several years . I have lived in a few other cities and am currentlty in Bangalore. This city has great weather , great surroundings , cosmopolitan people etc . I quite like the place , but this does not quite evoke the same longing.Maybe because I did not live here when I was young. Of course this city also has some great personal memories. I was here way back in 1971 for a couple of months.
In fact, every time, I go to Srirangam, I get quite put off by the weather and keep lamenting the fact that the gardens ( thoppu) across the town are all vanishing and giving way to flats/apartments. It is very fuuny, you want to come back to Bangalore not being able to bear the heat and mosquitoes in Srirangam but the moment you are out of it, you long to go back to Srirangam.
A nice childhood , your happy feelings are aroused in a place you spent happy days
Great and open and bright spaces. No better place than the insides of the temple for this
One goes on a holiday, naturally you have no pressures there.
Or is the usual syndrome, of past was great, future will be bright , present is the worst. Most of our problems in aliving well in the present are attributed to this syndrome.
Will continue on the next
