Folding Clothes, Filling Boxes

Just came back from Allston Market. Got myself a packet of maggi, some frozen parathas, a couple of good days and buttermilk. This is a very unusual shopping list of mine, since I make my own rotis and dough, along with buttermilk. And rarely do I get myself maida (maggi and cookies). You might have guessed. It's my final week in Boston. There's no point of buying a 10 kilogram aashirwad atta, or basmati rice pack. 

Also, I stuffed all my clothes into one large cardboard box. The jacket from banana republic, that black t shirt i never wear, the cargos and linen pants, the 3 tommy shirts I got, my favorite pair of denims, and this list goes on... While packing, I realized I don't wear 90% of these clothes. It's the same 3 tshirts, 2 shirts and 3 trousers for me. I can (an am) surviving without those 'extra' clothes. But for some reason, I cannot throw them away. It's not about the material value associated with them. Heck, I couldn't care less about their price or the way I look in them. Rather, it's about the memories associated with each and every piece. That is something that has kept me from donating them right away.

Hopefully I will. 

Reading Walden by Henry David Thoreau. Must say it's one of the few books I can never stop recommending. Reading Walden just feels like the scent of gulaabjal that used to come out of nagpur coolers during afternoons of summer vacations. It's comforting. Thoreau wants you to  introspect. He wants you to be conscious of your time, of your words, of the things you own, of your life. Walden makes you look beyond material things.

Thoreau writes in his commentory on Economy - "I see young men, my townsmen, whose misfortune it is to have inherited farms, houses, barns, cattles, and farming tools; for these are more easily acquired than got rid of." I'm going to leave Walden here, else I can go on for a thousand more words. BTW, I have been to Walden Pond in Massachusetts, where Thoreau stayed for 2 years 2 months and 2 days some 200 years ago. That's a lot of 2s.

Ashish, Him, Kanishk, Anant, Devesh, Saurav, Kedar left Boston. The city doesn't feel like home anymore. Its the same jungle of bricks and cars that I saw when I first arrived in the US. That is the sole reason why I am apathetic to the fact that I'll be leaving Boston. Cities are more about the people, memories and places; rather than the food or tourist spots.

Maybe it's just me. Maybe it's the memories that I made at Charles or Harvard or Prudential or Downtown that whenever I look at their videos or pictures, I am more drawn to the memories I have than the spectacular architecture (trust me - Boston is beautiful). I've been to DC, NYC, Philly, Miami. But Boston's architecture gives it a personality. Just like you have a persona of every Indian city. Jodhpur will be different from Kolkata. Chennai would be different from Indore. Delhi from Mumbai and so on. Similarly, Boston is different. But you won't be able to differentiate NYC with Chicago if you leave aside Hudson, or the infrastructure (ykwim).

By the way, I love my shoes. The blundstone laceups, onitsuka tiger mexico 66, new balance 550s, asics lyte classic and the clarks sandles. I can wear them for life. Now I need to pack them in boxes and move to a new city, a new state. Which reminds me that I have to thaw the parathas that I kept in the refrigerator. I am hungry. It's 1:43 PM now. 

Love this life. Grateful for it.

S.