Thursday, January 11, 2007

Vicarious (adj)

Definition: experienced or realized through imaginative or sympathetic participation in the experience of another.

Seems to be this entire vacation has been lived in a vicarious manner. Everything I thought, and went through was something I heard about from my friends and family. All their trips, their escapades, their sojourns were things that kept me going through this non existent winter.

So lets recap. In the last two weeks of December and these first few days in January, I have visited a lot of cities. Some in this country, some back home. I have heard stories of fun filled times, of meeting old friends, and making new ones. I have seen pictures of wondrous Christmas and new years celebrations, and heard tales of drunken revelries to bring in those joyous holidays. I have been part of a new beginning for some, and a rekindling for others. I have also seen things shatter, and disappear.

I have seen two oceans, and a sea. I have seen one river. I have sat by the river, and walked by the sea.

I have experienced all kinds of flights, from short 1 hr ones, to 8 hrs and even 14 hrs non stop. I have flown over continental US, over the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the North Pole. I have dined with people I never knew. I have gone for movies with them. I have gone on pilgrimages with them.

I have travelled down the lanes of nostalgia, as well as the sands of time.

And everywhere I went, I went unmarked, leaving not a footstep, nor a sound. I was the silent observer. The watcher. The one who would listen as the tales unfolded, and imagine as if I were there as it happened.

How did I do this? Well, thanks to my friends. I journeyed through their conversations on chat, or the phone, and even through their blogs. Its true, while I have been in Pittsburgh during the day, I have travelled the world at nights, not in my dreams, but through conversations, and pictures.

15 comments:

CandidConfessions said...

Well written!! Enjoyed reading it!
Places- Iv lived them, seen them and read them!

Ujjwal said...

nice..welcome to the ramta jogi club..

If I may ask, which journey did u enjoy the most?

Incognito Princess said...

Nicely woven piece. So true. I can identify with vicariously experiencing a lot of things in life
too.

Unknown said...

A nice one indeed.........:)enjoyed reading it

zoxcleb said...

@candid confessions
well, i'd love to hear more of ur experiences..

@ujjwal
:-)
not sure which i enjoyed the most. i think it has to be the ones where i just walked by a sea, or sat by a river. something i've not done for a long time.. and i miss that... its the little things, i guess..

@nandini
u had ur trip this time, so i hope there was nothing vicarious there.. and vicarious trips are usually short, never had one so long.

Rupsha said...

loved reading this 1... definitely 1 of ur best so far... and cud identify the pieces u've journeyed wid me... :-)

Aparna Ganguly said...

Someone told me once- "Distance is only an illusion, a limitation of the senses, not the mind..."
But your perception and your ability to empathize has overcome those too.

One of my fav styles. Feature extraction by defining a word at the beginning of the post.I used it in Beyond the impasse (yeah the one you got bored of waiting ..and kind of disappointed too )

Quite reflective. I found it deep.. was it a lament or a celebration? How would you label it?

Sujoo said...

It's a 'Warm' blogpost!

VictoryIsMine said...

happy happy post..
a pleasant change :)

zoxcleb said...

@felicity & sujata
thanks..

@rupsha
thanks a lot.. for your memories.. wud love to know where all u think i accompanied u.

@aparna
i wouldnt want to label this in any particular way..

@aditya
pleasant change from?

Arun said...

aWell Written. Btw..u r the richest after ur winter break... rich in terms of the wonderful experiences u have had through others experiences..gr8 attitude towards life:-)

Quest said...

And u said ....u were just sitting around all vacation long ;-)
Very nice post indeed

APUGONNAB said...

a lovely thought & experience... dint think of a blog in a way of going around the world..

Still Searching said...

Hey this is such a nice way of portraying your thought! Really did sound like u were there in all these places, events, stories etc! Am sure u felt the same way!

Damn good post!

Anonymous said...

Lovely post..liked the way you have put forth your ideas.11