The Last Pun

Sun Aug  7 09:10:19 EDT 2005

I had a dream. I was leaving. It was some hostel, and I was packing up and leaving for good. There were other things happening all around, but what was becoming increasingly clear was that I was leaving. Every now and then I would return to my room and pack a few more items; and every now and then I would notice how the place -- the room, the corridors -- was getting emptier. When I woke up, I was (in my dream) choking with emotion, as I was putting away the last of my items -- some trinkets -- trashing some, keeping some though I knew I will never use them...

I am leaving Princeton. Tomorrow morning. Finished my defence yesterday, shook hands and was congratulated ("Congratulations, Dr. Prabhakaran!"), said good-byes and thank-yous and am ready to leave. Almost.

It is not very hard. I was staying away from Princeton for almost a year. Still somehow, the hot summer days, the empty campus and my bags all packed stir something somewhere. This is not the first time. And this may not be the last time either...

The excitement of moving to the new place has not yet kicked in. Or may be it has given way to the sober sensation of moving out. A few days back, when I took leave from Los Angeles (where I spent almost a year) an old song had come back to memory:

"Good-bye my friend, it's hard to die
When all the birds are singing in the sky
...
We had joy we had fun,
We had seasons in the sun,
But the hills that we climbed
Were just seasons out of time..."

Well, it's not that I am dying, but some good old days are over, for ever...

Epilogue

Wed Aug 10 21:52:12 CDT 2005

It rained heavily that morning. Out of the blue, as it were. Let's call it a good sign, suggested my friend. Yes, seemed like a tearful farewell, holding me back a little longer. Delaying my flight by two hours, to be more accurate. Ended up missing the connection flight to Champaign. But no serious damage done. Kind friends are around.

Now, two days into staying alone in my new apartment, things are not as melancholic as I feared :-) Life is good here. Friends, work and other things. A little surprised... But then, moving to Princeton was not melancholic either.

So long!