Saturday, November 19, 2011

Hello, I Love You

Oh, what joy it is to hear a beloved voice over the telephone after an unbearably long time! It's incredible that those familiar cadences can bring such a tidal wave of warmth sweeping over one's heart. It's like listening to a particularly intense piece of music. Without realising it, I had closed my eyes and was concentrating on every pause and every syllable as if something of significance would be lost if I did not imprint that voice on my mind. And if I did not manage to hold on to it in my memory, it would be lost to me forever. I feel so silly when I realize I am attaching this much significance to a couple of sentences that go, "Hello! How are you? Can you believe it's snowing here?"

And I happily lose myself to a voice that sounds like auditory perfection, mesmerised really. But then I relax. I smile. I can almost hear the smile in his voice and I marvel at the magic of telecommunications. I remember when I was a little kid and Dad used to attend conferences in Delhi or Calcutta and we would have to place what we called a 'trunk call' to get through to him and then it wasn't much of a real conversation but consisted mostly of yelling out niceties and assurances of safe arrival as if to someone at the other end of a small-sized football field. That scene from a Harry Potter book where Ron shouts into the phone to make sure his voice carries to Harry through the phonelines has me in splits every time I read it.

But now, I cant help exulting over how lucky I am to exist in this 'golden age' to put it in particularly purple prose. I wondered if my happiness was out-of-proportion with a mere phone call. But then, I realised I didnt care how daft my thoughts sounded, even to me. It was the most wonderful happy floaty feeling to hear G.'s crisp and clear intonations in his dear deep voice over the phone after what must have been months since we last talked. I was so overwhelmed that for the first several seconds I couldn't say anything of any real import. I think I just laughed a great deal because I felt positively giddy with joy.

It is amazing how vividly our minds can connect a unique phrase or a known peculiarity of wording with the exact expression a friend's face will bear at the time of uttering it.

M.'s text messages are much the same. I know the exact way she would scrunch her nose and screw up her eyes with that characteristic expression of puzzlement when her text contains the words "I simply dont remember where I kept my microbio journal."

And I know the exact look of cheerful delight that G.'s face wears when I hear him say, "It is wonderful to hear your laugh again." I wonder if it works both ways, this lovely little conjurer's trick our minds pull.

I once watched a rather fascinating anime film called Voices of a Distant Star that chronicled a literally very long-distance relationship between two close friends who communicate across interstellar space through their phones writing each other emails and as they move further apart from each other, the time-lag it takes for their messages to reach the other increases relentlessly, and towards the end they have 'conversations' poignantly spanning years.

And thus, there is great comfort to be derived from knowing that while those you love are distant in space, they are wonderfully immediate in time and that atleast while their touch cannot be felt, their warmth can.

I remember the same feeling flooding me years ago, when Dada made his first international phone call home and we were all so stupidly excited to learn a basic geographical fact, that while it was early evening here, it was dawn there and we spent the precious first few minutes enthusiastically acknowledging it, even forgetting to ask him about his first international airplane flight.

Thus, the vastness of our planet becomes suddenly obvious to one and the idea of a loved one sent out somewhere in that incomprehensible vastness is unnerving, even frightening. I must say, I am rather glad they invented satellites and email while I'm still alive. Carrier pigeons and smoke signals would probably just not cut it. :)

14 comments:

Sakshi said...

So am I! I wonder if I would have met my bf, had the internet not existed!

Tangled up in blue... said...

There's so many friends I've acquired over the internet that it makes me rather grateful to blogging and social networking actually. :) Then I remind myself in an older time, we'd all just be penpals. :)

Sruthi said...

aww... love.. and a fine expression of what you have in depth. can feel the joy from your words. wonderful reading experience. This love is a crazy thing right?
me too went through that phone calls that ron did. :-) ... awesome write up.. all the best.. wishing you more and more happy moments and a fantastic life with your G dear... take care..

Gustaf Valström said...

This is truly beautiful. And it made me smile right until the end. In fact, it makes my heart beat faster just to read it. Tachycardia. Really! And well yes. 'This lovely little conjurer's trick our minds pull' does work both ways. I assure you of that. :))

Tangled up in blue... said...

Sruthi, thank you so much! :) Your comment has put a big wide smile on my face! :)

Gustaf, and yours has made my smile even wider. :)

Unknown said...

Gentleman G. & Gentlewoman K., I envy you! Such passion! :)

And if you were to live in the age of carrier-pigeons, I'm sure that such passionate anguish and ecstacy would have inspired you to write something as great as 'Romeo and Juliet'! :)

TC

Tangled up in blue... said...

Rohith! I am glad you think this post is passionate. I just reread it and wondered if I was behaving like a lovestruck schoolgirl! ;) But I must say, for hours afterwards I was in a state that can only be described as euphoric. :D

R said...

Arre you're a lovestruck-nom-schoolgirl? This is news ;)

DocPriya said...

nice post.. And i just could relate to what you have written.. Very beautifully written.. Keep up the Good work!

Tangled up in blue... said...

Riddhi, well, it's not exactly new, I'm afraid. :D Just tend to act a little extra daft sometimes! ;)

DocPriya, Thank you! :)

R said...

Aiyyo. Now I'm going to be disgustingly curious

Ramya said...

inexplicable warm fuzzy feelings, warm fuzzy feelings

Tangled up in blue... said...

:) :) :)

Aayushi Mehta said...

You're adorable! :D