Piya Haji Ali...

Another day @ work: The WalkmanTM is belting out one Sufi hit after another….The current song…Piya Haji Ali…takes me back almost a decade. Brilliant times: when the world seemed a tad bit fresher. Everything was a promise waiting to take off in the world of reality. Here are some of the things that come to the mind on this song…in no particular order…
1. Mustafa Rawat – The first person not from my family to share a room with me. Many have come and gone and am not in touch with this fellow anymore (like myriad others)…but he became family.
2. First Diwali away from home – The cold 2000 winter. I missed the warmth of Ghatkopar sorely. Home, Parents, a past….everythings there…and then..not quite!!
3. Khuzem, Sachin, Nandoliya….my “guardians”
4. The blue sleeping bag purchased for USD 20 from Walmart. My first bed in the land of Opportunities!!
5. The anxiety to do well in Masters and in US in general.
6. Balancing study, work and chores for the first time!
7. First taste of independence….only to turn into a longing for returning back to the nest I left back…
8. The “Fiza” tape purchased for Rs. 20 from Apna Bazaar…that was my piece of India!!
The Mustafa brothers and ARR probably would not identify with anything listed here… cause the song moves on a higher plane of spirituality…asks the Lord for a bigger salavation from all suffering…but that was my suffering….so be it!!