A Kuznets Curve of Memories (?)

All of you must be aware about the Kuznets curve, which gave a new dimension to the discussion on how environmental priorities of an economy changes with the progress in level of incomes. I was revisiting the curve a few days back, and was amazed to see how I could see myself undergoing a similar transition - in a different context altogether. Its almost been six months since I have been out of India- and somehow, I feel that my memories of India is trading a similar curve uphill.

As we ( Nidhi & myself) landed in Paris /Europe early this year, we were really excited to be here....again ! The weather was just perfect, appropriately cold but no snow, and my days of studentship had just ended. We loved escaping from the hub nub of India - that honking of horns in Delhi's mad traffic, smog filled air of Indian cities, and extremely suffocating population density per meter square. Paris was a different world - probably a world that an Indian like us can not even imagine in dreams. A city where the pedestrian is king, where the roads and boulevards beckon you with their serenity and charm, where the open places motivate you to spend some (lot) more time outside the buildings, and a city where one can survive almost entirely without a car.

However as time progressed, there are many so far unseen/unfelt dimensions of our country that started haunting us in our day to day life. When the chilling winds of Paris never seemed to calm down, what we missed most was that bright and sunny November in New Delhi. When the endless strolls in search of vegetarian food on the streets of Paris never ended, what me missed most was the unending options for good vegetarian cuisine in India - a selection often made by way of rejection. When our heart soared every Friday after receiving movie updates from www.bookmyshow.com, and not being able to watch any of them here - what we missed most was the Large Movie+Popcorn combo and that comfortable couch of BigCinemas. And the list is unending.....

Now, what remains to be seen is if we will transcend the curve as has been highlighted above - whether the longing for India will fade with time, as we get settled to this new way of a Parisian lifestyle. Will we start enjoying the beautiful Parisian boulevards which look all the more heavenly as they are brightly lit up during winters; do we increase the frequency of our visits to the Indian district ( Gare Du Nord) in Paris and cherish the excellent south Indian food there, and get addicted to the illimite carte from UGC Movies France (unlimited movies for 15 Euros/month ! ). These are our Darwinian survival instincts coming back very strongly on the nostalgia, and helping us descend that curve to a zone of comfortably feeling being Parisian. And I am curious to see , who wins ? Maybe we will be successful in getting over with this feeling, and start accepting the new way of life as our own - before we finally head back to India.

Thats life I guess - a big adjustment in itself !