Midsummer Night's Dream

For 15 years i have been a fan of Shakespeare and his Midsummer Night's dream.For his queer theory of Fairies/Love and the narcotic dreaminess associated with his description of English countryside.Till yesterday. Or should i say, last night. I dreamt of a home. My home at Chennai. To me the single most special city.Somewhere in the old city area.With an adjacent railway track.And yes, the flying electric train were chugging intermittently.It was summer.And it was pleasant.An oxymoron some would say but at least the scene was such.There was those green Pallavan transport corporation buses plying by and yes the road had people walking by. They were conversing in Tamil.They were haggling over the prices of Vegetables and were discussing the political entry of the Super star.And suddenly i was travelling by these roads. I could see a 40 foot tall Rajni Kanth cut out looking down at me. An occasional passerby remarked that the Thalaivar(Leader of the cult) looked handsome even at 60. Yes i was at the heart of Chennai with the heart of a Chennaitte.There was Karthik Tiffen Center.It was a roadside eatery and paled in comparison to the Le Meridian and Blue Diamonds of the world. But i could feel must pulse racing at the sight of Pongal and Idli of Karthik Tiffen Center.I could see kids playing on the street with the bright yellow shirts of Chennai Super Kings. The were fans of "Thonee" who seemed to have practiced his trade at the St.Bede and Loyala grounds of Chennai. He was very different from the Mahi that the world knew.I was amongst people who knew me. They had a huge smile when they saw me. Some of them could not believe that the little kid had grown up so fast.There were my teachers/friends. Many of them IT professionals. Some of them back from USA after completing their masters. We had planned to meet up and we met at the Marina. We cracked jokes as only we could-All lame/meaningless to the world but had immense meaning to us. It rekindled a childhood happiness that had been missing in a long long time. We pushed some of our friends into the cajoling waves who were only too keen to oblige given the summer heat.We devoured the sundal(Boiled Peanuts) and Bajjis(Bhajiyas) as a poverty stricken malnutrition kid from Africa.It was a perfect day...at home. And i woke up. Yes it was a dream.Of my past.Of who i was in spite of a MBA degree from a reputed institute.In spite of great Job.My heart somewhere deep down is that of a Chennaitte who loves his Tamil Movies/Pongal and Idlies/Cricket.It had the same Narcotic dreaminess associated with it.It is indeed queer that after so long the heart still wants to be at home.It still pines for the familiar sound of tamil. It still yearns for Pongal and idli. It still goes crazy watching Rajni on the celluloid screen and prefers a surya movie to that of a Tom hanks or Leanardo Di Caprio. A visit to Marina is far more appealing. It still does a Whistle Podu whenever Chennai Super Kings win. Some day the heart shall get to live the dream.......again!!!