Dear Ma, Papa, Pranay,
I wasn’t able to reply to your e-mail yesterday because I was caught up with last minute details before I leave for Austin today. It is nice to know that you all are having a great vacation. I could hear the happiness and excitement in your voices when we spoke on the phone on Wednesday! I am very glad that Pranay is having tons of fun too. To be honest, I had some misgivings about his ‘Goa experience with parents’ but having heard your account my doubts have been put to rest.
It is a gray and gloomy day here in Detroit. A heavy sheet of clouds has completely blocked out every ray of sunshine. The trees are leafless. They stand miserably with their angular branches stretched out towards the sky. Like devout believers they are probably imploring the skies to clear up. I hope someone up there hears them and cleans the dreariness with a few large strokes of a strong broom. The warm sunshine back home in Austin beckons me with arms wide open. Although I will have to wait 12 hours before I get to savour it as I am reaching at 10 in the night.
Last weekend we had a snowstorm and every open surface was suddenly enveloped in a thick blanket of snow. At first the pristine whiteness looked pretty and fairytale-like but soon the snow started turning brown and muddy, especially on the roadsides. Traffic on the freeways became a nightmare. There has also been a slow but evident shift in the general disposition of people. Those who were sprightly during the summer months have become quiet and dull while those who were quiet and dull in the summer months have become outright sullen.
I am super excited today about my 12 day vacation. It is only today that I am realizing how much I have missed home in the past 4 months – both my India home and my Austin home. In the humdrum of everyday it is convenient for the brain to relegate emotions to a remote recess. Only the prospect of meeting loved ones or being separated from them brings emotions like excitement, pain, longing, delight and the likes to surface. I suppose it is one of the many defense mechanisms that the human body has been blessed with to battle all the varied experiences that life throws at it.
Today I get to traverse a shorter distance to be with one of my cherished people. In the coming year I am sure that I will conquer the 8000 mile distance as well to be with the rest of my favourite people. More on my India-craving in my next e-mail to you!! I will Skype call you tomorrow from Austin.
Lots of love,
Preeti
