Ah, Nostalgia!
-Saili Mahadik
“Nostalgia: a sentimental longing or wistful affection for a period in the past.”
Have you ever felt nostalgic about a certain time or phase of your life? I mean, sure, you think about the past sometimes, just as a fleeting thought which comes up in a random conversation, but have you ever felt a strong urge to go back a few years and re-live all the moments you did, and experience them, not merely recount them?
Some things just make you wish to go back to a certain time. A whiff of a known perfume, a very familiar shirt someone used to wear, seeing something and suddenly remembering how much someone used to appreciate it and thinking of the endless conversations you had with them about it, a certain song, which takes you back to a time in life and places you in the exact same location where you heard it for the first time.
They take you down a memory lane kept somewhere in the back of your mind and think of all the happy times you’ve had. Sometimes, they make you long for the sound of a laugh, the sweet scent of the breeze, even the wait for a bus on a stop with your friends. You think of how exactly the sun shone back then and fell on your feet as you sat outside your classroom, discussing how you’re going to finish those biology journals and begging an artistic friend to make some diagrams for you.
They make you think of how horrible it felt when the first boy you liked broke your heart, and kept trampling on it because you thought you were in love and you let him. They make you remember how your stomach clenched when he passed by, first with elation, but later with fear, considering how bad things had gone between you. They make you think of how you used to try and avoid passing that boy after your classes so you won’t feel horrible and unlovable. How your spine froze and your stomach went in knots. How you felt a certain relief when you finally realised that you’re over him.
There’s a special phase in everyone’s life when everything was close to perfect. There were people who made it perfect. When you think of the place, you think of the people. You think of the way they made you feel, you think of all the stupid nicknames you called them with and they called you with and a slight laugh escapes your mouth. Some things which you always recall when you think of them, some days you always feel should have been recorded on a video so you could look at them and laugh again till your eyes water.
You may not talk to these people all the time, you may be separated now, busy in life, but when you feel a longing of that place you all once belonged to, call them up or text them to let them know you miss them. You might just take a walk back in the memory lane together, and having company is always better.
