Udantya**dwelling beyond the boundary

Welcome to the fourth issueof Udantya!

________________________________This month on Udantya, we explore ‘Nostalgia’

and what it means to all of us!__________________________

Backstage Pass The Essence of Udantya

Megaphone A Word from the Editors

Spotlight Four Hours and Counting

Belle Epoque

Darkroom A Photo-Reel

Armchair Critic Anne of Green Gables

Jam Session Poetic Justice

Beat Box

Around Town

Cameo I Yearning for Yesterday

A Memory Forever

Cameo II Big Metal Trunks

Of Black & White

©Aparna Vidyasagar

**Update from last month’s ‘Coffee’ issue:

We talked a lot about ‘fair trade’ in our video. JJ Kilmer, the owner ofIndie had a good point to add to the discussion on coffee and its journeyfrom bean to cup. Here’s what she had to say.

“The Fair Trade Cooperative has a ton of rules and high cost of ownershipthat excludes a lot of coffee farmers. You might have a small plantation upin some mountains owned by a family that cannot afford to give thecooperative $1,000. But they might have the best coffee in the world, andthey can sell directly to roasters. Our roaster pays a dollar MORE perpound than the Fair Trade Certified price. I like to call it “Fairer Trade.” Most people don’t know this, and think that if coffee is not Fair Trade-Certified, it must be evil. Quite the opposite in many cases.”

We encourage coffee lovers to inquire as to the origins of their coffeebefore they write off all non-fair trade coffee. Thanks JJ!

© Udantya 2011

BACKSTAGE PASS

The very essence of artistic expression is that, it is captured in many different ways.

A picture, a word or a tune.

Your rebellion, your journey and your destination.

Here, we aim to capture it all. Join us or explore with us.

Welcome to Udantya.

Welcome to our creative space!

Udantya aims to be a collaborative effort. If you have any articles, photos or music you would like to share, please email us atudantya@gmail.com. Future themed issues will be announced a month in advance.

© Udantya 2011

MEGAPHONEFrom the Editors

Before you read this month’s Udantya, make yourself a hot cupof coffee or tea or cocoa. Snuggle up in a favorite spot whereyou can let your memories carry you away, because this monthwe are nostalgic about-

Nostalgia

Need we say more?

This month’s ‘Spotlight’ features two pieces. Namita narrateshow a single sport-cricket has filled her with a lifetime ofnostalgic memories, and established a part of her identity. Aparna explores how traveling to the past in your mind, canactually propel you forward.

‘Darkroom‘ this month is a photo-reel of pictures that awakenwithin us memories, stories, poetry and joy!

In this month’s ‘Armchair Critic’, Aparna introduces thereaders to Anne Shirley, popularly known as ‘Anne of GreenGables’ who just happens to be a very special kindred spirit.

Namita kicks off ‘Jam Session’ with a wonderful medley ofpoetry and prose describing all that makes her nostalgic! We

also share with you, our list of five of our favorite classicHollywood films.

We have some wonderful cameo appearances this month,peppered throughout our various sections!

Raashi Srinivasan contributes a beautiful picture from herchildhood, ‘Bessy Beach’ in Darkroom. She also writes‘Yearning for Yesterday’, a wonderful piece exploring thescience of nostalgia; that feeling which binds us all!

Virat Azad shares with us a beautiful poem describing theyearning for true love and the wonders of such love.

We are very excited to showcase returning contributors AmanKhanna and Samar Khanna.

Aman writes about his childhood, filled with travel and movingfrom place to place. ‘Big Metal Trunks’- symbolize hischildhood and carry his memories.

Samar ventures into poetry this month. ‘Of Black & White’explores the nuances of our memories captured in photographs.

Journey with us this month, through time and a vault ofmemories!

© Udantya 2011

SPOTLIGHT

Four Overs and Counting

It is the final of the cricket world cup. India versus SriLanka. Four runs off of eleven balls remain; the sweat soaksup the bright blue shirts of the the captain, Mahendra SinghDhoni, and his team-mate member, Yuvraj Singh. Yet both arecalmer and cooler than they have probably ever been. Minutesaway from possibly the biggest day in India since I’ve beenalive. Spectators impatiently stand at edge of the stands; mostof them with their eyes closed, asking for all the supremepowers to focus their might on Wankhede Stadium at thatmoment. The only colors seen are green, orange and (mostly)the Indian team’s shade of blue; nothing else. Songs like‘Vande Mataram’* and ‘Chak De India’* blast through thespeakers, lifting the Indian spirits even higher. At this momentIndia stands together, not divided by language, culture or sect. Cricket is the only religion today and the entire Indian worldcup cricket team is God!

The last six hours are filled with slip catches, fours,sixes, inside edges, dropped balls and stumps being blown off. Sri Lanka has put a challenging total to chase on the board. The first two big wickets of Virender Sehwag and SachinTendulkar have fallen and the pressure has built for the Indianbatting line-up. At this point, the title of word champions andthe world cup can go either way. And in the blink of an eye,Nuwan Kulasekar runs up the crease and delivers what provesto be the last ball of the match. Mahendra Singh Dhoni hits it

for a six! A clean sweep, deep into the crowd. India becomesworld champion for the first time since 1983!

Sunil Gavaskar

This felt like the biggest moment in my cricket history. And just like that my entire childhood, immersed in cricket,flashed through my mind. Growing up in Botswana, cricketwas the most popular sport in that part of the world. SuperSports, the sports channel that we subscribed to in Botswana,was by far the most popular channel in many homes includingours. After many unsuccessful attempts to fight my dad for theremote, my brother and I gave in, and let the cricket madnesstake over us. It made no difference whether it was a testmatch**, a one day** or even South African county cricket;each was followed with equal passion.

Cricket is not only a game that brings back fondmemories of my childhood but is what, for the first time, mademe realize I was Indian. I knew instinctively that the ‘men inblue’ were to be supported unconditionally. Yet I had noreason to be an Indian supporter; I had never lived in India andthe country where we would vacation and visit our extended

© Udantya 2011

family. If anything, being a supporter of the South African orZimbabwean team seemed more obvious. That however wasnever an option and the only chant that roared in our home was“Let’s Go India!”.

Us supporting India wearing our tri-color designed t-shirts!

My most memorable cricket moment was in 2001,when I saw my first live match of cricket between India and theWest Indies in Bulawayo. A childhood of learning about andwatching cricket deserved a climatic turning point. And so, forthe the tri-series between Zimbabwe, West Indies and India,Dad planned for us to watch the game between West Indies andIndia live in Harare, Zimbabwe. T-shirts in the Indian tri-color(orange, white and green) were designed; banners were madefor each player and cricket memorabilia were bought for theplayers to autograph. After many sleepless nights due touncontrollable excitement, we made the drive up to Harare tolive out the most vivid and memorable times in my life. Theevenly trimmed, round field and side stands filled withspectators holding flags from both nations; the huge blackscore board, the stumps put up on each end of the pitch and the

commentators starting to get the crowd excited. My brotherand I watched as the players stepped out. Our eyes nearlypopped out and our jaws dropped! There stood cricketingstalwarts, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid just meters awayfrom us. Harbhajan Singh who had just joined the squad andwas a huge sensation at the time was standing such that wecould easily shout out to him. I had grown up seeing themonly on a television screen and for the first time these playersseemed like human beings. It was simply surreal.

Harbhajan Singh

Today, when I sit and watch a game of cricket whereIndia is playing, the emotions are still as high and the passionis only growing. I will continue to wear my blue team jerseyany time India plays a match. Every morning, I will glance atmy mini Slazenger cricket bat that is decorated with the 2001Indian team’s autographs. Dad and I will still wake up at oddhours of the night just so we don’t miss the toss at thebeginning of the match like I always did growing up. And, theexcitement that comes whenever Sachin Tendulkar scores acentury will never feel old. My love for cricket that has grown

© Udantya 2011

up with me and has filled me with a lifetime of nostalgicmemories. It is the quickest ticket back to my childhood!

-Namita

*Vande Mataram is a patriotic song written during the Indian struggle forindependence.  The song was a given a modern day makeover by popularcomposer A.R. Rahman and continues to buoy the collective Indian spirit tothis day.  Chak de India is a popular film number, from the acclaimedBollywood film, Chak De India.  ‘Chak De’ specifically emotes the idea ofrising with passion.**Test cricket is the longer version of the game where each team has two setsof innings and it  typically lasts five days.  One day cricket is a fifty over gamewhere each team gets a single batting inning.For more information on the game of cricket refer to the EncyclopediaBritannica.

© Udantya 2011

Belle Epoque

Nostalgia is the poetry that memories are made of. Itmakes dull rainy days uplifting, gives music more meaning andturns a quiet moment by oneself into something magical.

© Aparna Vidyasagar

I have a theory that nostalgia can be much more than afew special moments from within a sea of memories. I believethat this feeling, which draws us so deeply into the past, canactually propel us forward.

‘”I just can’t get out of bed” days’: I often find mylife progressing like a sinusoidal wave. I have pleasant daysand days where even the most mundane task seemsinsurmountable. Those days all start exactly the same way; “Ijust can’t get out of bed today”. Usually it takes a lot ofgoading from myself or sometimes my friends to finish the firsthideous task that’s in order and then the rest usually falls in toplace.

Occasionally, those blues practically turn indigo. I findmyself wistful, remembering a time when I was better orstronger; a time when I tackled all of which I find myselfincapable of tackling. At this point I only have two choices. Ican remain wistful or I can remind myself that, that person wasand still is, me.

“It’s never too late to be what you might havebeen”: When I read this quote by George Eliot, I realized thather words summed up, most beautifully, something which Ihave often pondered.

Have you ever been nostalgic about a younger, moreearnest self? One who dreamed lots of dreams? Why mustthat person remain a memory, to be smiled upon fondly? Ifyou had a dream to travel, learn a language, volunteer yourtime, teach a child or anything; do it! All the time you have isnow. Challenge yourself. Tap into your nostalgia to transformthe self who wanted to be, to the self that simply is.

‘Now I understand’: Sometimes moments of quietnostalgia take an unexpected and unwelcome turn. We getdistracted by other memories, memories that may not be sopleasant; incidents that are somehow linked to your happymemory. Your mind has decided to play a terrible trick onyou.

You may find yourself wondering why you did this ordid that. You may wonder why you were the way you were. Why did you choose those ‘friends’; why were you with ‘thatguy or that girl’? It’s an ugly ride, but don’t get off till it’s

© Udantya 2011

over. This is a twisted path to introspection, one that begins sohappily. Once we can look those memories squarely in the eyeand say, ‘I accept and now I understand’, we can grow andmove forward, unhampered and unhindered.

‘Collective nostalgia?’: I do not however, believe thatnostalgia is meant only to be a soliloquy in one’s mind.

If you chance upon memories of your childhood andchildhood friends, pick up the phone and call them, or trackthem down. Give them the chance to reside in your life todayand not just in your memories. A life filled with kindredspirits is wonderful but one can always keep the door open tolet in more!

Nostalgia can also heal. Sometimes love begins todisintegrate and sometimes the pieces can be put back together. Just like a favorite ceramic that has been repaired, the cracksmay show; it may not be perfect but you know it is still intactand it won’t shatter again. Let nostalgia be your glue. Remember what was beautiful and why it was so. Maybe justmaybe through those conversations, will the pieces cometogether again.

This love, can be any kind of love. The love for yourpartner, your family or your friends. We are all fallible. Weare fallible to moments of anger and hasty statements; fallibleto moments of hubris and ego; fallible to believing perceptionover instinct. As long as we remember that we are bound bymoments together and our shared memories, our collectivenostalgia can build bridges.

As I ponder a conclusion, my thoughts seem to only besummed up in verse. And so it is with these words that I leaveyou.

© Aparna Vidyasagar

I sat by my window and looked out to see,

a wistful looking person,

who turned out to be me.

In that image I saw it all;

moments reflected and thoughts deflected.

I sat by my window and looked out see,

a new beginning- for me?

For me!

-Aparna

© Udantya 2011

DARKROOMA Photo-Reel

A stash of photographs-monochromatic memories of days gone by.

We may bear witness and that tale we shall tell. Or tell the tale beholden as well.

Which ever it is, we welcome you to journey with us,

on a backwards path, to a wonderful place to dwell.

http://vimeo.com/24381695

© Udantya 2011

THE ARMCHAIR CRITIC

Anne of Green Gables

Long before I could travel anywhere I traveled throughthe pages of books. I traveled the world; I traveled throughtime. I gained perspective. I laughed a lot and cried a little. Idiscovered ‘kindred spirits’; and for the firm rooting of theterm into my vocabulary, I thank Anne!

© Aparna Vidyasagar

I got to thinking about Anne of Green Gables recently. When I think of my childhood and the years from roughlyeleven to thirteen or fourteen, I cannot help but think of Anne.

When I first read the book, I was the same age as Anne. I remember reading the book and being absolutely delighted. Anne was timeless and a girl whom I wanted to befriend. I

had always been an imaginative little girl but Anne was evenmore so. She was so alive and so present! I do not think shewent even a moment without appreciating her surroundings andthe people in her life. She would take in the beauty of naturearound her and dream up stories and adventures. Mundanenames for places or plants were simply done away with andwere christened with new, appropriate and ‘romantic’ names. Anne’s imagination prompted me to be more whimsical andmore alive! This sense of whimsy has remained to this day,though perhaps not in grand scale of my youth. I constantlyname and rename things- plants, people and places!

In Anne’s adventures and misadventures, I saw my ownlittle foibles. In Anne’s stubbornness to not forgive GilbertBlythe, the young boy in her class who had vexed her, I sawmy own reluctance to give my Gilbert Blythe a chance. Herfolly gave me perspective. I’d like to think I allowed for afriendship to blossom only because Anne showed me howdevastating it was to miss out on years of a good friendship dueto hubris.

The most beautiful thing about Anne of Green Gables isthat I can never think of the book without thinking of one ofmy best friends from school. As I mentioned before, Annewould not merely form friendships, but would discover kindredspirits. Kindred spirits- people whose very soul was entwinedwith yours; people with whom there was an instantunderstanding; people with whom there would be a deep,lasting, unconditional friendship. My dear friend was and is tothis day a kindred spirit. As soon as I had finished reading thebook, I shared it with her and together we discovered the entire

© Udantya 2011

‘Anne’ series. Books were passed back and forth, stories werediscussed and analyzed. Anne is a tie that binds us to this day. The books are almost a secret language and a short hand code;Gilbert Blythe has become an adjective and Anne’s adventuresare anecdotes. How wonderful it is, to have a single book fillyou with so many warm and happy memories!

When I first thought about writing this piece, it wasmeant to be a review of a book that made me nostalgic. Ifound a copy of Anne of Green Gables and set myself toreading it. The book is charming no doubt, but as I continuedto read, something magical happened. I found myselfremembering phrases and whole sentences that followed thosethat I was reading- a testament to how many times I must haveread the book as a child. What’s more, as I read, memorieswere awakened; memories of how I felt when I read a certainparagraph or chapter. Somewhere inside of me, my eleven yearold self was awakened and alive!

What is so special about books such as these, favoritebooks that were read time and again at pivotal moments in ourlives, is that the story of the book is far greater than the storycontained within its pages. Our memories are forever entwinedwith the tale told.

When I was younger, I would leave a memento incertain books that I loved. There they would be, waiting formy future self to discover. Memory is funny that way, itknows just how much to forget in order to make rememberingdelightful! If I were to go home today, there would be a smallsurprise waiting for me in the pages of Anne of Green Gables.

And so dear readers, I urge you today to go rediscover abook that was special to you. Think of all the memories andplace a memento for your future self!

-Aparna

Anne of Green Gables truly is timeless.  Published in 1908, the book is adelightful read for adults and youngsters alike.  If you would like to read it, youwill find it on Amazon, as well as a very very inexpensive Kindle version($0.98 for the first three books in the series)!

© Udantya 2011

JAM SESSION

Around Town

If you yearn for the simpler times when a Walkman and headphones were considered tech-savvy; or a time a when the ‘Geek Squad’was you, fixing stuck tape with a pen then this ‘Threadless Tee’ was made just for you! It simply screams nostalgia! In fact, thedesign is actually called ‘Nostalgia’. Check it out!

P.S: This one comes in a close second!

Beat Box

This month’s ‘Beat Box’ features a list of the songs and films that we are nostalgic about. We decided to split it evenly between theEast and the West with Namita’s top picks for classic Hindi film songs and Aparna’s favorite classic Hollywood films.

Top Five Black & White Bollywood Gems Top Five Hollywood Classics

1. Yeh Raat Bheegi Bheegi (Film: Chori Chori) 1. North by Northwest

2. Pyar Hua Iqrar Hua (Film: Shree 420) 2. Charade

3. Babuji Dheere Chalna (Film: Aar-Paar) 3. Bringing Up Baby

4. Pal Pal Dil Kai Paas (Film: Blackmail) 4. Twelve Angry Men

5. Aane Wala Pal (Film: Golmaal) 5. My Fair Lady

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Poetic Justice

What Dreams Are Made Of

I’ll give you a sprinkle of red and let you color the skies with it. Let it run down your dress and trace the lacing. Let it pierce throughyou and ignite all emotions and feelings. Let it imitate the crimson outline of your lips and seal the words all at once.

I’ll give you a dash of cloudy skies and let them pour into your blue soul. Let it dance with your slate colored bangles creating chimeswith the falling raindrops.

I’ll give you a stash of yellows and let you play games with the sun. Give it a dab of orange and spray the desert sands with envy. Letyou paint the old cafe walls and give them a reason to shy away.

I’ll give you a fleck of jade and let you run in it. Let it ribbon itself around you and take vows with the sounds of music. Let you dipyour shawl in it and shine like the stone that rings your finger.

I’ll give you drizzle of whites and let the rays play tricks with it amidst the sunny winter days. Let you run your nails on the pearlsthat run around your neck. Let you lose your troubles in mounds of whipped cream that sit on the mocha.

I’ll give you all this and a lot more if you dream on.

- Namita

© Udantya 2011

CAMEO I

Yearning for Yesterday

It was only the other day that I made a trip back to myhome, miles away. I sat at my table in my room, browsedthrough my collection of books, slept in my own bed and madean outing to the beach with my friends. Except, it was one ofthose trips taken in my mind. It was a usual day in my lab,sitting at my desk when something triggered the thoughts ofhome, where I had lived for twenty years. It got me thinking,why do we sometimes have that feeling of deja-vu and long forthe good old days, even though we know we are never going tohave them back? Why are the old days always ‘good’? Why isit that we are always reminded of what we deem to be thesignificant phases of our lives?

While nostalgia is now widely accepted as anexperience that many adults go through, in earlier centuries itwas considered a neurotic disease. Nostalgia in the 17thcentury was seen as a mental disorder leading to depressionand melancholy. The word was first described by a Swissphysician, Johannes Hofer in his dissertation. It was one of thefirst pieces of scientific writing to give importance to themental aspects of nostalgia. Hofer explained that nostalgiaaffected people both psychically and physically. The word usedby Hofer in his dissertation was ‘pothopatridalgia’- longing forthe native land. He emphasized the bodily symptoms ofdisturbed sleep, loss of appetite, fever, stupor and weakness.

The prescribed remedy included leeches, opium and even tripsto the Alps for some homesick Swiss soldiers! Sickness forone’s native land also manifested in other ways; aversion toforeign traditions, annoyance at the slightest provocation andpraise for one’s own native land. Despite the scientific natureof his thesis, Hofer believed that nostalgia was a diseasepredominant among the Swiss and caused by animal spiritsdangling in the brain fibers!

From being viewed as a medical disorder associatedwith sadness in the 18th and 19th centuries, nostalgia is nowviewed as a sociological condition. Today, nostalgia isconsidered an emotive state that is related to sentiments of thepast and not having to do with physical attributes andcharacteristics of melancholy. With society becomingincreasingly driven, one might think that people feel lessstrongly about leaving their country, home and family. Interestingly, the degree of attachment to the homeland is notany less with each passing generation. Instead, it is prevalentamongst many sections of society. Nostalgia is experiencedirrespective of gender or the stage in life, even if the triggersare different. Rochberg-Halton in 1981, studied the subjectmatter that triggers nostalgia among men and women. Theypointed out that the triggers of nostalgia for women tended tobe objects to reflect upon, such as art and photographs, whilefor men, nostalgia was triggered by objects of action such assports.

In today’s age, nostalgia is also used as a tool to overcomeloneliness. The more nostalgic individuals are, the moreresilient they are when lonely. Psychologists Xinyue Zhou and

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Ding-Guo Gao studied the connection between nostalgia andloneliness. They reported that nostalgia created a feeling oftogetherness as well as a sense of belonging in an unfamiliarplace. When nostalgic thoughts were induced in a groups ofparticipants, they perceived having a good amount of socialsupport when compared to those who were not nostalgic. Nostalgia could magnify feelings of social support, and hencenot trigger thoughts of loneliness. It could be a key to survivalwhen one is overwhelmed with emotions such as depressionand self-doubt or during times of loneliness. Have you noticedthat when you need a sense of inclusion, you tend to doactivities associated with old memories to relive the days? Youpick up the phone and talk to an old buddy or read old letters? In her book, ‘The Future of Nostalgia’ Svetlana Byom writes about concept of ‘Reflective Nostalgia’- now understood to behealthy coping mechanism. It is associated with old memoriesand offers comfort to someone by reflecting upon the past.

Why does nostalgia always relate to happy memories? Why is one never nostalgic about the bad phases in life? Asmentioned before, the mind reconstructs memories fromtriggers. It tends to portray memories in a positive light as theyare related to phases in our lives that are gone forever. Thesememories represent the past struggles that were overcome. Thesights, smells and sounds that evoke nostalgic responses in us,not only recall the emotions but also the events associated withthem. It could be a piece of music, or a movie that you lovedwatching as a child; a cake that you baked which turned outjust like your mom’s cakes; or a scent that reminds you of yourdad.

Nostalgia in the modern age has been exploited bymarketing agencies who use their products to stimulateemotional reactions in people. They build an association withthe consumer through a series of images, music and optionsthat the consumer can already connect to. Marketing agenciesalso exploit the good memories customers associate with theirown products. Kingfisher* is the king of good times for areason!

Even as I write this article on nostalgia, I find myselfsifting through the photographs I brought back from my tripback home, and it makes me smile. I don’t yearn to have thosedays back, I only want to reflect upon them and refresh mymind and eyes so it gears me up for what lies ahead.

*Kingfisher is a prominent beer manufacturer in India.  Their popular slogantouts the brew as the ‘King of good times!’.

- Raashi

© Udantya 2011

A Memory Forever

Days have gone by, months, years.Lifetimes have been wasted;

searching,waiting,

wondering.

Searching, waiting and wondering for when his life mightchange forever.

For when a life might change him forever.Hoping for the one, the one to make him whole.

Praying for the one, the one to make him truly feel;feel with all his heart that everything can be conquered.

That the impossible can be reached.

That a lifetime can be spent beside her with no regrets, nofears, and no shames.

Such a life can only be dreamt with her.Can only be attained with her.Can only be perfected with her.Can only be ruined without her.

Staring at the blank brick wall, so organized, so symmetric, soperfect, yet so unreal.

So unreal that violence can be drawn.Every ounce of effort drawn to rip the wall down,

to see who’s on the other side waiting;waiting to make him happy-

happy forever.

Days have gone by, months, years.Lifetimes have been wasted

searching,waiting,

wondering.

- Virat

© Udantya 2011

CAMEO II

Big Metal Trunks

It was almost ritualistic. Every three years we wouldbring in the dusting cloths and the manpower and meticulouslybegin distributing into big metal trunks. Each box was cleanedand left out to air. The biggest ones were reserved for thecrystal and china. The smaller ones were sent to our rooms.

What were initially big empty metal trunks now heldparts of our lives; each labeled for convenience. However,they held more than just books, clothes and shoes. Thesetrunks held memories. The books with which I first learned toread and the baseball bats with which we brothers fought. They held memories of my dad’s bachelor days; memories ofmom’s years as a college graduate, when she she dreamed ofbeing a geologist. All of this was due to the fact that my fatherwas in the army. This was how we moved our lives to newplaces. In big metal trunks.

Ever since I can remember my father had a giant metaltrunk which, along with the rest, would be shifted from onetown to another. Every new town would see us unloading thatgiant metal trunk and meticulously arranging his amazingaudio cassette collection. When I was very young, I didn’tquite appreciate his collection. However, when my siblings andI grew up, Dad would take the time and introduce us to themusical legends of his time- Queen, AC/DC, Rainbow, PinkFloyd, Grand Funk Railroad and Black Sabbath, to name a few.

With these bands playing in our home round the clock, it wasonly natural for my eldest brother to pick up the guitar, only tobe followed by my twin. I have yet to follow suit but I believeI am compelled by a strong family ‘legacy’ to pick it up soon. But those early years of sitting around the dining table anddigging through that giant metal trunk helped me discover myown interest in music. Even though my musical interests havedeveloped greatly over the years, I still owe it to those rocklegends for introducing music as a medium to unwind. Withcassette tapes now obsolete and the tapes themselves defunct,the giant metal trunk now lies at the back of the garage. Butthe music lives on!

Me (L), my twin brother (R) and our best friend (center)!

There was one trunk different from the rest. It wasrummaged through more often than the rest of the big metaltrunks. It had photos of when we were all kids; photos fromwhen my parents learned to walk; photos from when I learnt towalk. I loved to go through this box. I would relive everyphotograph; remind myself of every story and laugh at all thejokes shared then. This giant metal box was never going to seethe back of a garage! Many years later when I was wondering

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what to give my best friend, it came to my rescue! We hadn’tmet in eighteen years and so finding that perfect gift became allthe more important. I rummaged through the big metal trunkand I found what I was looking for- a faded photograph of us,taken all those years ago. Today, it hangs on a wall in herhome and is symbolic of the fondness that has cemented.

It wasn’t very easy packing my life into one box afteranother. However, it did give me a sense of what wasimportant. Everything unimportant would be left behind. Thosebig metal boxes were my life in a capsule. The act of boxingmemories became familiar. Every place thereafter had a box ofkeepsakes to go with it. Each item was conspicuouslyinsignificant to others, but meant an immense amount to me. Today, when I am so far away from home in a new country itis another such box that gets me through moments of nostalgiaand yearning for home. And when I leave from here I willcontinue to add to it. All, in that big metal trunk.

- Aman

© Udantya 2011

Of Black & White

Packed away in some shoe box.

Of the letters, photos and dreams

treasured for their existence.

The faces,the eyes, the names

Of the sepia covered images,

lined with layers of dust.

The tears that dried up years ago

and the smiles that turned to rust.

The colors but fade away,

and the songs are forever lost.

But that slight tinge of memory

is the warmth in this night of frost.

They build up and they perish.

On every walk of life,

tucked away in one corner

trying so hard to survive.

Of every anecdote told,

of every memoir relived,

the heart travels to the land

where you get more than you give.

- Samar

© Udantya 2011

FAQ

We’ve had a few questions over the past few months, so wethought it would be a good idea to chart out our very ownFAQ page.

Do you have specific requirements to submit to Udantya?

Absolutely not! We love it all; the quirky, the unexpected andthe conventional. Share your ideas with us. We want tohighlight creativity and artistic expression in all forms.

Since we are a web-magazine, we have not yet felt the need toset any page limits or length restrictions. If that changes, wewill let you know!

How much time do I get to submit a piece?

We usually announce the following month’s theme when werelease an issue. Our rough editing scheme is as follows. (When you email us to contribute to a particular issue, youwill get a set dates for that month).

-We usually ask for a short summary of your idea for theintended piece by the end of the first week of the month.-The first draft follows roughly a week to ten days later. Youcan submit a first draft even if you didn’t tell us your overallsummary. Partial drafts are also accepted, so that we get anidea of the direction of your piece.

-We like to work closely with you and reserve a weekthereafter to finalize a draft. Our goal is to facilitate yourvision for your piece and we view this portion of the process asa team effort.

Can I send you stuff even if it doesn’t fit a theme?

Yes, of course! We will try to find a place for it. You mayeven give us ideas for more themes!

Might I make a suggestion?

Yes! Questions, comments, suggestions and ideas are allwelcome. Just email us at udantya@gmail.com