For as long as I remember, I've been afflicted with cryptoscopophilia - The urge to secretly look through windows of homes as one passes by. And all I get is a glimpse - but there's so much one can tell, such a lot one can imagine from that brief window into someone else's world.
This affliction was particularly acute when I was living away from my family. I would walk past homes and watch families sitting together, and I'd miss mine terribly. It hurt, but yet I wanted to catch glimpses. I have forgotten most of the images, but some of them have stayed with me - either for the setting, or for the scene playing out then, or just because of how I was feeling at that time.
And then there were scenes in which I wished I was there. A sudden burst of laughter, perhaps, or a warm family room, a mother cooking and a child next to her, or just a person sitting quietly with a beverage.
A year or so ago, I walked past my own balcony (we live on the ground floor) and looked in. I could see the balcony, the drawing room, and through that, right into the open kitchen. Puttachi sat at the kitchen table, under the golden light of the conical lamp that hangs over the kitchen table, and S was with her. I realized that this was the exact kind of scene that, if I'd glimpsed elsewhere, would make me wish I was there. And I smiled, and joined them.
This affliction was particularly acute when I was living away from my family. I would walk past homes and watch families sitting together, and I'd miss mine terribly. It hurt, but yet I wanted to catch glimpses. I have forgotten most of the images, but some of them have stayed with me - either for the setting, or for the scene playing out then, or just because of how I was feeling at that time.
And then there were scenes in which I wished I was there. A sudden burst of laughter, perhaps, or a warm family room, a mother cooking and a child next to her, or just a person sitting quietly with a beverage.
A year or so ago, I walked past my own balcony (we live on the ground floor) and looked in. I could see the balcony, the drawing room, and through that, right into the open kitchen. Puttachi sat at the kitchen table, under the golden light of the conical lamp that hangs over the kitchen table, and S was with her. I realized that this was the exact kind of scene that, if I'd glimpsed elsewhere, would make me wish I was there. And I smiled, and joined them.
4 comments:
what a beautiful scene :)
OMG! Loved this post.
And thanks for defining that urge...I have it too. My mom's house now has a new building right behind and from the kitchen window I could glimpse into many flats. Kids studying, maid mopping, people cooking, enjoying a cuppa in the morning...fascinating!!
Does cryptoscopophilia run in families? :P
Hi Shruthi
I've been following your blogs for quite some time, but this is the first time I'm commenting!
Some of your blogs, like this one, are so outstanding that they even outdo your published stories/articles. Maybe because as a writer you are at your carefree best when you are blogging, as there’s no rule to be followed, no internal pressure to come out with the best, nobody to judge….its just you and your thoughts waiting to be expressed…wow!
Just loved the way you've ended this post!
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