by Sameer Majli
Snuggled cosy in a less conspicuous part of our blue planet, I am Belagavi aka Belgaum, erstwhile Venugram. I may not rank among the most affluent of the human spaces and certainly not among the ‘Must Visit ‘ spots, yet I do have my share of the special and its most understood and held close to heart by anyone who has spent time in my midst. It’s the experience of being me and with me that makes it so.
I am blessed with maybe nothing and yet almost everything because the ambiance does not hang around the extremes. Temperate summers, just the right share of the rain and moderate winters, I am blessed with them all. I may not have my fill of neither the exotic traits of the hill stations nor the golden stretches of the beach sand like my brethren but there still is enough pleasure and comfort in my simplicity. I may not have the symbols of the magnificence of human creation in the form of towering skyscrapers or amusement parks or malls but then, I still am a place where one is witness to the perfect balance between the traditional and the modern. Industry has stayed away from me, at least the larger entities have and I have no plush offices to boast of, yet I am, in more than a sense glad that even the human excesses have stayed away. I am officially a city but then also a town and in parts even a village and this is what I feel, makes me feel as special as I do.
I know that it isnt right to go on in praise of what others would perceive as a relative compromise or the inability of my citizens to be more ‘industrious’ as they call it and yet I retain the appeal that merits more than attention and even at times a touch excessive praise from those that partake the joys of my simplistic beauty. I am, just like my folk, quite content with what we are as an entity; a place where there still is time for a smile and there isnt the need to travel too many a mile to reach out to loved ones. To some it may sound like a compromise in the modern context but then since I am a place where there is more life in living, I guess I may grab my share of the claim that I am what every person wants a perfect home to be.
Me and my folks have apparently always been a little away from the limelight and my metropolitan relatives do pull my leg for the same but then simplicity of living is a rare find in the modern day world. The ravages of time and technology have stayed away and we still wake up to calm mornings and sleep to silent nights and I need not say how important the twain are. No excessive hooting of the horns, no thundering trains, no towering chimneys spewing tons of smoke, no choking pollution, no scent of excessive human inhabitation that’s typical of the overcrowded metros; I am and we are really content being our own unique selves. Our joys are simple and even less expensive. Our relations are stronger and expressions of joy more human rather than just rave. We still have time to hold hands, to care and to share and this I feel is worth feeling special about.
There may be alter opinions and claims of lack of opportunism but isn’t life worth more than just living. While change may seem to be just around the corner, I am glad that its pace is still stuck in indecision. It may seem a foolhardy compromise but when I see my folk going about their tasks and still managing to find time for each other, I do take pride that I am able to accommodate a more human form of living.
About the Author: Sameer Majli is Chief Mentor at Stratmen -Strategic Mentoring Solutions, an initiative engaged in facilitating near perfect education and learning.
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