The Creaking Chair - Part XVII

12th November 1999

One of the first books I picked up as a kid

was a random cover about the Greek Gods – and I was hooked

It was my first tryst with books other than my school books

and I was only a 11 year old kid, so obviously I was excitable

I used to go around asking people in the middle of a conversation 

‘what is your favourite book?’ – more like a hook for them to ask me the same thing, 

irrespective of whatever they answered 

And I would go on describing how I had found this book which described the history & mythology of Greek Gods

and how they should definitely pick it up – of course I don’t remember the author !

The sheer pleasure of getting hooked to words, I guess

coupled with the innocence of a child 

But somewhere my love for mythological characters, superheroes, Demi-Gods & super-villains with mythical powers originated from that innocent choice of book

And this is one of the reasons that I went to the Norway

well the allure of ‘Northern Lights’ came much later in my decision matrix to be frank 

I wanted to be in the land where the mythology originated

Two and a half months of travel through the Scandinavian land

And among other things which captivated me was the weather on some of those days 

the constant mist, the coldness and the sogginess of the day 

looking and searching for the sunlight and enjoying the clouded dampness 

I found it romantic in its own way and also mystic 

I think more mystic than romantic 

I was young and with a different temperament

I don’t know when did the transformation happen,

but I had started liking sunshine more than the constant cold of a misty day 

I could feel the lyrics of Beatles’ song in my bones 

the warmth of the sunshine hitting me and making me smile and cry 

not in a sad way though, like in a hopeful way 

but what is amusing to me is the shift from one spectrum to the other 

and the absolute love and joy for both when I was in those times

That’s what time does to you, I think 

experiences in life and your cravings decide how you feel about not just the weather around you, but so much more

and if you decide to stop and look back you would find it a fascinating journey

like for me the placement of my bed along the window side 

where I enjoyed the patter of the rain against the glass with an opened curtain 

while I drifted off to sleep

to moving my bed to the other corner of the room, 

closing off the curtain during the rainy nights 

and be content with the dim background noise of the rain pelting outside 

it was more symbolic of the shift in my temperament than I realized then

~Ashk

P.S. – The only thing which can put me to sleep though when nothing else can is the sound of Thunderstorms !

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