Memories from Heights

1. Daulatabad Fort, Aurangabad: A devotional song was playing from somewhere down below.We had just made a really difficult climb to get to the top, and were looking out of a window-like thing at the whole city with the song playing faintly, in the intense near-noon heat.
2. End of the world, Parizaad Apartments: There was a party at someone's house, but it was beginning to wind down and so Richa and I were going to leave. But when we got to the lift we realised that everyone had gone to the terrace, so we went, too. A bunch of people were up on the water tank, smoking, listening to The Beatles. It was nice and all, but I didn't feel like making an effort, so I climbed down and sat on the terrace, which looks out to the airport - it's really close, less than a kilometre away. The runway was lit up, but there were no planes because it was 2 AM and everything looked so still. I began thinking of it like a dystopian world, because I'd just read Station 11. All the buildings on the other side of the runway would be the new civilisation that was coming up after the destruction of their world, all the people trying to build up their lives as they knew it. I looked up, and the sky was so still, too. Sitting there by myself, I thought, "What if I'm the only person left in the world?" There was something amazingly chilling about that thought, but also something beautiful. 
3. Leaving for college from Bangalore: I looked at the city as the flight took off and watched it get smaller and smaller. I was feeling a sense of dread because this had been home all my life, but also a sense of anticipation for what was to come. 
4. Honnemardu: We were trecking up a hill to set up camp at the top. It was late evening, and everyone was quite exhausted from all the physical activity, but in the best possible way. Surya and Deeksha were having an intense discussion with someone from the group; Deeksh was asking uncomfortable questions, but it was okay, because she asked them so earnestly. At one point, I stopped and turned around, and caught sight of the v Linganamakki Dam. The reservoir was lit up and it was all so overwhelmingly vast and beautiful. I remember wishing that Pa was there, because I wanted him to see the dam. 
5. Viman Nagar at a height: Sanjana, Sushant, and I stayed up the whole night talking and bitching and the usual at Sanjana's place, which smells like a mixture of cigarette smoke and perfume. At around 6 AM we got out of the house and walked through the early morning streets of Viman Nagar. It was August, so it was raining slightly. I remember sprinting up the street that slants slightly uphill outside Sanjana's building because I was that happy. We climbed up the stairs of the water tank that is near college, and when we got to the top we realised that it really was nothing spectacular - just dirty concrete. But the view from the top of the tank was so nice because here we were, looking at something as familiar as Viman Nagar, but from a height. And we could see the ghats that surround the city and it was drizzling lightly and we were a bit groggy with sore throats and wet clothes, but this was something special, early morning, a new perspective.
6. Lost on the way to Goa: This was the first time Pa was trying out Google Navigation, and it failed him, because we ended up on a completely unfamiliar route. It was a ghat road, and Simon and Garfunkel was playing in the car. Pa stopped the car to check the route, and Ma, Aadya, and I got out. It was a meadow in the hills, and it was so lush and so green, reminding me of an illustration from a children's book. The three of us just began running in different directions like little kids, but Pa was too stressed out to get out of the car. It's because of stuff like this that I love getting lost. You never know what you'll find.