At my Grandmother's-II

I had hoped to take a few pictures around the colony but my walk proved disappointing. 

I started with the house. The garden that we share with our neighbours is scraggly and dusty beyond belief (though I must admit that my morning watering of the garden is one of few tasks I like). In spite of this, the first signs of the Mumbai spring (if one can call it that) are evident on this raggle-taggle, neglected bunch.

Part of the disappointment was because the old houses have overwhelmingly given way to the two-storeyed block which leaves little space for anything else.  The streets still boast a few odd trees but on the whole there is a dispiriting sameness, a tiredness to the landscape in these parts. The colony is far too tiny to make a difference to the world changing around it and in itself it is not sufficiently interesting, too many houses  are mediocre monuments to success. The timidity inherent in this robs the place of both elegance and an elegaic feel.

My uncle briefly contributed to wikipedia on the history of the colony, a decidedly more neutral take.

The numbering of the houses had always seemed vaguely confusing, I hadn't realised that a helpful map is provided at the entry (note spelling of city, the sign has been around for awhile).  Or that Tansa was a helpful marker.

In the tiny lanes, the dogs outnumbered people on a sleepy afternoon. And the desi badaam trees that dotted the colony have not completely vanished though the red pods we ate are still to appear.

Of the older houses that remain, many are in a state of disrepair. The only exception is the house of one of our acquaintances which is carefully and immaculately preserved.  After introductions I was invited in and their sun filled courtyard was sufficiently delightful for me to photograph a few flowers (I realise there is a monotony to flowers but cannot stop photographing them, besides these are so evocative of old Indian gardens).

Walking around, I thought a bit about my life.  I was born not too far from this colony and have been coming here through postings and moves.  I played on its streets as a child. My grandparents have always lived here, its the only fixed address I knew of for a long time. Properly, I should feel a deep affection for it.  But strangely it is already distant and a part of my past, I am already nostalgic for it even as I walk around. What it is now no longer belongs to me.