This weekend I went to Bhubaneswar

Back to the city to catch some breath, relax and recharge. The hectic train journey takes two days of your time, though the window side seat provides bit of respite with the moving scenery and hot/cool air blown directly to your face. Stations some empty and some teeming with people come and go. So also fields, some barren and some green till the horizon. Listen to music or get deeply engrossed in a book, nothing betters the sleep that one gets in the ever vibrating and swaying train compartment. One thing that strikes whenever you go to your own city is that, no matter how innumerable the changes are or how rapid growth it has undertaken, it always welcomes you with the same indifference. It makes you feel at ease and reminds you that no matter how old you grow or how long you have been away from it, you are still the same kid who learnt how to cycle in its lanes. Life here is pretty laid back. No one seems to be in hurry. Days are longer over here. You are never lost in the crowd. A hundred meter walk will never be without someone recognising you or without a smile that tells they are glad to see you back. Things are much simpler and above all "complexities never rise above your necessities".How hot or humid its climate maybe during the summer, the cool breeze takes away all the heat in the evening. Top it up with sipping a hot coffee in the CCD near XIMB, and you cant expect any better a deal. Things are changing over here too. Government is busy signing MOUs with software firms. Big industries are coming up to exploit the huge mineral reserves of the state. Roads are being widened. Fly overs being built. Green covers vanishing. Real estate prices soaring. Crowd is more hip. Crime rate has increased. All the signs of a growing city. The city where I went to my first school, made scores of friends, hanged out in the scorching heat, heavy downpours and breezy winters and of course rode my first bike. technorati tags: travelling life orissa