It was almost twilight when we entered the town of Horsham, Victoria. We had been on the road for four long days but what made us more tired and almost at the end of our tether was the five gruelling hours of driving from south Victoria to Horsham. The dark melodies of Narina Pallot did nothing to lighten our moods; instead, the bottomless silence between us, serving as a heavy undernote to the sombre music, seemed to weigh heavily inside the car. To my surprise, I seemed to miss the noisy chatter and incessant demands of the kids…..guess right now I would have happily welcomed them as our much needed distraction. The kids were left behind at their cousins’ place while Anna and I had braved this trip to set up house and complete the formalities of moving into Horsham. So there we were, on our own, run out of steam and small talk, on the last leg of our long interstate journey….both deeply lost in thoughts and ruminating, each in our own private world wondering what Horsham had to offer us.
In our journey from Brisbane to Horsham, we had crossed tiny little towns, some containing only a few hundreds of people – towns that looked quite dead and deserted, the perfect little setting that Stephen King would have loved for his books. I could not digest the thought of living in a town that did not even boast a Mckers, so when I entered the town of Horsham and saw the billboard advertising KFC, it was like the sun had burst out of the clouds. Anna rolled his eyes when I started clapping my hands in gleeful delight – signs of fast food was like manna to me, especially after having spent the previous night in a town that boasted only a pasta/pizza place and that too had closed way before even the kids bedtime L I, for one, did not want to go to bed yet again on milk and cereals.
So it was with trepidation bordering almost on dread when we entered the streets of Horsham. We had only driven a few blocks down the road when the city centre dispelled any preconceived misconceptions of small towns pretty quickly. Of course the shops in the main streets were mostly closed but still the city (I believe I am allowed to call a township of 15000 by that name) breathed a healthy glow of life that made us heave big sighs of relief. After having lived in Brisbane for almost 12 years, a metro city boasting of a population of nearly two million, we had gotten used to the luxuries that city life offers and perhaps this reason could mainly contribute to our fears of coming to a small town like Horsham on account of Anna’s new job.
Pretty reassured by the first impressions (mainly familiar brands and stores) that we gleaned from the city centre, especially the highlights being the presence of Indian (we later learned that this one and only Indian restaurant in Horsham opened a mere three weeks ago, thank heavens for small mercies) and Thai restaurants, we looked for a motel to crash in for that night. Much to our surprise and discomfort we found that most of the motels were completely booked out for that week owing to a farmers’ convention in town. Luckily one of the handiest and loveliest things of being in a small town is that everybody knows everybody’s business – an attribute that used to both annoy and please an originally small town girl like me from Pondicherry. Anyway we were directed to the last motel that still had rooms to offer and we camped there for the night.
After a hearty Indian dinner of garlic naan and butter chicken and futile attempts at hooking onto the wireless, we try to catch a night of restful sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day with moving into the rental house and the removalist making the delivery, but for now, that still seemed ages away. My first impressions of Horsham were not disappointing – I go to bed thinking that this beautiful and peaceful town, for now, has seemed to have satisfied the first tier of Maslow’s pyramid for me. Perhaps in due course, it might make an indelible impression on my road to recovery (after the most hectic and emotionally draining year overseas), perhaps even self-discovery on the journey of writing... time will say, but first and foremost the much needed reunion with my family.
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