Ajmer

So everyone keeps asking if I am shocked by the change in Ajmer.  I really do not remember Ajmer except for the small part that I lived in.  To me the city was big and loud and brash.  Now when I walked done the streets of Ajmer I find it big and loud and brash.  So I guess no I am not shocked by the change.

My most vivid memories of Ajmer was the wide open space - the hills that were mountains to me, and being on the edge of town, more part of the country side instead of Ajmer proper.  My memories of walking those hills that looked like mountains, wondering what I would do if I came upon a snake, or any other wild animal.  I wondered, but I never encountered.  It was all pretty tame.  Across the street the Hedges lived, and it was every morning I would get up and hope that they would finish their lessons early so we could play, but even if they weren't done I would still run across the street and wait patiently for them to come out to play.

I developed a feeling for the the land that I have never been able to recapture, a sense of wonder and a sense of belonging.  It was a mystical or magical feeling I am not sure which, but whatever it was it was a treasure that I have taken with me throughout my life.

So back in this land of beauty I look at those hills and remember what it was to be ten and filled with wonder.  Do I have the same feelings as I did at ten - no, but now I have something different, something to take with me to remember for the next forty years, a sense of peace, of belonging - of coming home.