Bachelorhood: Rise of a banjara

When I was growing up in Doon, the banjaras of chakrata road fascinated me. I thought they were cool people who lived a free life. Most of all, their women were tall and well built, and when they walked in their ghagra-cholis, they looked really graceful to me. When they worked with the big hammer, beating on hot metal, they looked surreal. Their men mingled freely and chatted and laughed the whole day. The busyness of chakrata road didn’t seem to impact this carefree attitude of theirs. And this vision, subconsciously, inspired me throughout my life. When it came to choosing college, I made sure that I went to the farthest place (not that I had much of choice). For jobs, as well, I opted for the farthest and the most fascinating places.

But this last few weeks, after the family left for India, I got a chance to take this idea to another level. I literally moved out of house and took it to the road. Weekdays, I have been living with a friend whose family also went to India, and then if weekends permit, we go to my house. I keep 4 bags in my car - one for my clothes, etc, second for tennis accessories , then a bag for gym, and finally my laptop. Then I am carrying 3 types of footwear, 2 types of socks, 3 types of pants, and various types of t-shirts.

So on a typical day, I get up early in the morning, put on my tennis dress and shoes, pack my office clothes in the tennis bag, and shoot off to play tennis near my tennis friend's house. Later on, I take a shower at his house, put on the office dress and shoes and go to work from there. In the evening, I change into my gym dress and shoes in the men’s room, stuff in my office clothing in the gym bag, finish off gym, and then somehow manage to drive back to my friend’s house. Sometimes, I will go to another friends place and sleep there, wherever I find a place to rest my body, basically, and then in the morning, back on the road with my bags all packed up.

And, for a while I loved it. I was always out of my own house and therefore I was always doing something, and there was no guilt about not doing anything. But lately, I am growing out of it. I am already missing family a lot, and mentally I am already half in India. I leave on Oct 17 which is only a few days away. But this routine was worth trying.