time pass

I’ve been thinking a lot about time these days, and about the amount of time I’ve spent here and how it’s passed by. I’ve been here in Bhuj now for a full 7 months, and while in the entire span of things, it’s not such a long time – I think it’s fair to say it has been a long stay in a foreign place. At first I was nervous about time passing by, looking ahead from where I was then was actually scary and I couldn’t imagine how time would pass fast enough. But from where I stand now, I feel lucky to have been here and really to have witnessed so much in this period of time.

In this entry, I want to pay tribute to all that I’ve seen while I’ve lived here.

I’ve stayed here long enough –

 to no longer be the subject of neighborhood gossip, to watch a baby learn how to eat food, to notice the plethora of insects fade as the weather cooled in the winter and then make a sudden return with the heat of summer, to see new types of trees flower, to learn how to wash laundry by hand and how to clean with only bleach and boiling water, to discover that my neighbor’s husband cheats on her, and to know the noblest of reasons why she deals with it,  to eat exotic raw fruits and vegetables and not be sick, to create and love my own morning routine, to get sick and become well again, to learn the secret to making the best chai, to invite others into my house – and cook for them, to really appreciate the kindness of strangers, to wage a war against cockroaches, to see families move out and others move in, to know when to bargain – and when to just give, to love bucket showers, to meet a woman who migrated from Pakistan – and then to see her die, to be fed enough meals to feel your arms grow fat, to see  a young girl get married, to breathe pollution, to sing hindi songs, to make a home, to meet new neighbors,

to measure time in someone else’s context, to be just a speck of a human, to grow here just long enough to still be pulled away -  to frame yourself, and your growth on a totally different scale, is to truly feel the world a little differently.