My Trip to Wisconsin

                          I have been reminded of how beautiful our planet is. During the Labor Day holiday, my wife and I went to Wisconsin to visit some of our friends. On our way, we drove through the countryside of Wisconsin. I saw acres and acres of corn and soy beans. For some, it might be just a land of isolation, but for me as I strolled through the countryside, I felt serene, peaceful, and joyous. How beautiful it is to be away from all the chaos of the city life; how beautiful it is to hear the birds chirp in the trees, and how beautiful to listen to the wind as it swept through the trees. In the night, the moonlight filled the skies. I was able to see crystal clear shimmering lights of the stars. The stars were shining bright and the moon has never been so bright. How it reminded me of my native place, Kerala. Although far away, being in the countryside makes me feel that I am right at home.

- Tony Alapatt

Rewind

Every day is beautiful. The mornings brought me so much of energy for the rest of the day. Every morning is so vibrant with all the living things full of life from the tiniest of the organisms to the big blue whale. It was just like any other beautiful morning that I woke up with the same rays of sunlight falling on me. I curved my face and adjusted my pupils. The rays were my morning alarms. I walked unsteadily to the bathroom. I rolled up the end of the tube and took the brush in an effort to get the last blob of paste. Doing all kinds of funny expressions in front of the mirror to see my teeth, I began to brush with all motions from linear to sweeping and from inside to outside. A few minutes later, I took a deep breath to get the mint in me, which used to linger until my first cup of tea. When I turned to go from the mirror, I was caught off guard as my eyes caught my eyes. I noticed lines at the end of my eyes, which I barely noticed all these years. I felt a little alarmed. Everyone hated to see that little bit of network on their face and I was not an exception. I looked into the mirror for some time and clearly noticed lines branching out at the end of the eyes and with every shrink, it gave out more. It gave me a jolt. My once charming face now showed signs of age.

I took my cup of hot tea and sat on the old wooden chair, which was smooth with a waxy look from years. I sat and began to think about the lines deeply, which, I felt, it appeared suddenly. When I realized that I came thus far to see the lines on my eyes, my feelings and emotions played hide and seek. The lines told me that I am a little old. The lines on my face made me to think about my younger years. Silently I was reminiscing about my wonder years with every sip I took. My mind wandered to various stages of my life. It went from school-hood days to the recent days, which was very lucid in my mind. I thought about the days I went to school in the uniforms, remembered few of my classmates by names, the days I played in the hot sun, collecting coins and trading them for electronic gadgets at school, playing video games for hours, going to church with my family, the severe toothache, stashing snacks, stealing all the money that my hands could lay on and buying candies from the shops, etc. The exam holidays when I was in school doubled my excitement for the fact that I knew my parents will not ask me to study. Listening to the songs with my siblings and helping out mom in the kitchen, the days where our family sat together every Sunday for lunch came into mind and that gave me a pleasant feeling. My transition to college days gave me more excitement and I was taking things on my own. Never a day passed by without talking about girls and movies in the college. We talked less of the subjects and more of trivial things. I remembered the days where we used go to the restroom, comb our hair to look tidy and trim to win over the girls, who did not mind. When all these came live to me and was enjoying the feeling, I could hardly hear my own dog, Jimmy, barking. I took another sip of the tea and brought to my mind my comics which I read and enjoyed it over and over again. The Adventures of Tintin were my favorite comics. I remembered how we used to exchange and enjoyed reading it. The Hardy Boys were hot during my school days. I liked it thought I could not understand the meaning of the hard words. These books were a common sight in the library and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The Hardy Boys were hardbound then versus paperbound these days. I still have the whole collection of “The Adventures of Tintin, which I enjoy to this very moment and it always brought good wonderful old memories to me.

All these old memories brought joy to my heart. I could see myself smiling now and then. I felt happy when I thought about those precious times growing up. I still feel that I want to live in those days again. The thought of my younger years brought immense pleasure and made me light. I suddenly felt I missed a significant part of my life as a child. I felt I want my childhood back. When I remembered those wonder years as a teenager and the things I did, it gave me a wonderful feeling that I still now find hard to explain. I told to myself, “I want to be like Peter Pan,” where he does not want to grow up. If only I could. Those are the years that give me so much joy and happiness and I was wild free and cared nothing as I was under the wings of my parents. If only I could rewind my years, I love to travel back to those wonderful times and remain there forever where there were no Internet and mobile phones. When I took the last sip of the cold tea and saw Jimmy prancing around wagging its tail, I got up and tossed the cup in the sink and walked away.

- Tony Alapatt

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Thank you,
Tony Alapatt