Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Paper Planes


Most suited when one is driving on the I-93. There comes a moment, precisely one, when the city looms over. Vehicles streaming into adjacent lanes. The cold air nipping through. The rough sea and calm skies with the sunlight bouncing off them skyscrapers onto your face and suddenly you’re underground. From up above, descending steeply into subterrainia. Speed. Lights. And a time flows liquid like, in slow motion as a million lights flash past by.

No bohemian atmosphere. Prudish and not ashamed of its intelligence. The subways teem of students reading Neitzsche and Proakis. Taking the “T”, walking among buildings whose collective intellect could shame some entire nations. Looking out the seafront, walking the freedom trail. Losing yourself in the north end among cobblestoned paths and ancient houses. Freezing in the cold longing for vendakkai curry and digging into hot clam chowder at Quincy market. Walking through its numerous squares with a gaping mouth, taking it all in. Looking down at the city from the Prudential tower at the brilliant autumn foliage. Cheesecake at Copley square. Gourmet Indian food at backbay. For a relatively young nation, this city oozes history. And snobbish aristocracy.

Suburbia is eye piercingly beautiful. Suburbs have no right to be so. Lakes with roads cutting through them, almost apologetically. Streams and forests. Homes, schools, malls are extremely incidental.

Cities like Mumbai and New York are made of real stories. Of grit and struggle and of hard life. These cities command a sometimes silent, sometimes bloody struggle and compensate magnificently. None of that shit here. No immigrants looking wishfully at plenty. No gangsters and pimps, certainly no one smuggling stuff into its exceedingly cold harbor. One is born rich, becomes only richer and dies in a golden grave. Buried amidst oaks and holly, on the Charles riverside.

Elitist. Cold. Old. Home for the past three months, and maybe for the next five. Boston, MA.

*Paper planes- ARR, Slumdog millionaire. Listen to it. More importantly, watch the movie. A lesson on how to laugh, cry, be shocked and be amazed. More importantly, a lesson on Mumbai.

17 comments:

Swatimala said...

wowww!!!

u have this amazing quality of making your posts sound rather poetic!

maxdavinci said...

wah huzoor, wah!

was like filling a coloring book with crayons in my head....

Liberal said...

Nicely written..you have become a bostonite now...though your endorsement of Slumdog is against my taste..the rest of the post is super!

Anonymous said...

Your post is as panoramic as can get, I don't need to see Boston anymore. Beautiful!

Anonymous said...

*Clap Clap Clap*

Superb, outstanding, mind blowing, brilliant post!

Gradwolf said...

Elitist is the word! I fell in love with it when I saw the opening sequence of "21" with Time to Pretend playing in the background. Breathtaking.....

The city deserves your class of dwellers. Really.. :p

Trivia:

Paper planes is MIA original. Not ARR.

Gradwolf said...

Here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-bGcPAZvtc

Nandini Vishwanath said...

Wow! You could make money like this!

Arun Sundar said...

Very well written. Should I say "Go Red sox!"? :)

buddy said...

@swatimala: :)

@max: u flatter me!

@liberal: i am a bostonite. Slumdos IS super as a film. it entetrtains.music kelu da...

@karthik: no no...u do! come over!

@kusublakki: u flatter me too! :)

@gradwolf: i stand corrected, and yes boston deserves, no needs people of my class ;)

@nandini: really? how? im listening ;)

@arun sundar: go red sox! and thanks!

chocoliciousgal said...

Bostonian snob huh ;)...but no I hv to agree with u :)

Prashanti :) said...

seriously !!!!! I've never read something so beautifully descriptive !!!!! Super !!!

Prashanti

Unknown said...

excellent its good piece on descriptive writing poetic picture

padmajav said...

oh wow!

Anonymous said...

i bows!! very cool

buddy said...

@chocoliciousgal: totally!

@prashanti: thanks

@shyamala: thanks

@om: thanks

@rosemilkinabottle: thanks!

Vivek said...

I agree, In fact New York is very similar to Mumbai.
Slumdog millionaire is a revelation in that context.
I'd however recommend the book instead of the movie! A colorful depiction not unlike your here!
:D