Nostalgia is a peculiar feeling. It is more precisely a state of mind or a mood that stays with one for a while, and then goes away. It certainly should not be staying on. Missing home, missing a part of your life, missing a person is not quite nostalgia. It is not homesick-ness.
The English language has no clear word for this intense feeling of nostalgia that grips everybody once in a while.The Welsh however has a word that expresses this feeling. Hiraeth. The Turks say Hasret. The Portuguese have the word Saudade. All denote something that is now distant. Something that can not be got back. Something unreachable and unattainable in the present time frame. A longing, an yearning for the past (home, person, situation) with a great deal of love and affection. Memories that are treasured and held in high esteem.
All men (and I dare say animals too, because they are more human than most men) go through such Hiraeth phases, School children long for home specially those who go to boarding schools. I worried myself sick because I was away from home and my family for most of the year. Even in the University stage, the feeling of Hiraeth would not leave me. I still had this constant feeling of nostalgia and yearning for something that had gone by and was not attainable any longer.
There is little fundamental difference between Hiraeth (Weish) and Hasret (Turkish). Both the groups of people have strived hard to attain economic independence. They have fought for the freedom of their land. They travelled for long periods, they stayed away from home and family for long periods. They treasured the memories of times gone by. They valued this sentimental feeling of nostalgic longing.
I empathise with this feeling. School, home, family, our pets, friends and their company are memories I cherish I do not wish for these situations to return. I will probably hold them dear to me as 'memories' rather than 're-meets' Personally I do not have much faith on an 'Yarrow revisited' situation
I live in a social situation where most of the younger generation has moved away from our city in search of 'better career opportunities'. It is perhaps true that they need more freedom from social bindings. They need more money. They need, they want and they want and they want even more. They will get what they want. They are smart. However, they tend to lose out on the filial bindings. Home to many of these young migrants is some Utopian idea which is created and held tight. They left home in their teens. Got their degrees, got employed and moved on in life. Their visits to their old homes are formal visits. Parents do not matter much. The family circle is anyway small (nuclear families). They 'miss' home on Facebook and blogs, but take great care to limit any face-to-face social interaction. Of these young yuppies some are intelligent and therefore more thinking, Some are plain greedy. Some cut away from their roots to gain self-reliance and lose the sense of belonging (and of course absolve themselves of all responsibilities). They are the foolish souls who gain a little bit of short-term freedom and lose their identity and place in the land and people of their birth. No Hiraeth here. No Saudade either.
They may 'miss' home, but are not of an intellectual status to comprehend that the 'home' has long been lost. A two-minute monthly phone call does not qualify as "I am phoning my folks". They come back to the long lost family and are treated as 'guests' (read 'strangers' instead). There remains a lack of warmth, from both sides. The ties have long since been severed. No fault on either side. Priorities are different. Ethics vary. Morals are rigid or eroded. And most important economic status is so very different that glitzyness takes priority over class. A jacuzzi or an air conditioner overtakes the old world red cemented floor and wide open windows. So there is no 'home' to go back to. No family to call their own. These rootless rolling stones perhaps should build new homes and adhere to them. Ditch the past. Carry no baggage.
Is there any Hiraeth for them? For Hiraeth is too precious a feeling.
The English language has no clear word for this intense feeling of nostalgia that grips everybody once in a while.The Welsh however has a word that expresses this feeling. Hiraeth. The Turks say Hasret. The Portuguese have the word Saudade. All denote something that is now distant. Something that can not be got back. Something unreachable and unattainable in the present time frame. A longing, an yearning for the past (home, person, situation) with a great deal of love and affection. Memories that are treasured and held in high esteem.
All men (and I dare say animals too, because they are more human than most men) go through such Hiraeth phases, School children long for home specially those who go to boarding schools. I worried myself sick because I was away from home and my family for most of the year. Even in the University stage, the feeling of Hiraeth would not leave me. I still had this constant feeling of nostalgia and yearning for something that had gone by and was not attainable any longer.
There is little fundamental difference between Hiraeth (Weish) and Hasret (Turkish). Both the groups of people have strived hard to attain economic independence. They have fought for the freedom of their land. They travelled for long periods, they stayed away from home and family for long periods. They treasured the memories of times gone by. They valued this sentimental feeling of nostalgic longing.
I empathise with this feeling. School, home, family, our pets, friends and their company are memories I cherish I do not wish for these situations to return. I will probably hold them dear to me as 'memories' rather than 're-meets' Personally I do not have much faith on an 'Yarrow revisited' situation
I live in a social situation where most of the younger generation has moved away from our city in search of 'better career opportunities'. It is perhaps true that they need more freedom from social bindings. They need more money. They need, they want and they want and they want even more. They will get what they want. They are smart. However, they tend to lose out on the filial bindings. Home to many of these young migrants is some Utopian idea which is created and held tight. They left home in their teens. Got their degrees, got employed and moved on in life. Their visits to their old homes are formal visits. Parents do not matter much. The family circle is anyway small (nuclear families). They 'miss' home on Facebook and blogs, but take great care to limit any face-to-face social interaction. Of these young yuppies some are intelligent and therefore more thinking, Some are plain greedy. Some cut away from their roots to gain self-reliance and lose the sense of belonging (and of course absolve themselves of all responsibilities). They are the foolish souls who gain a little bit of short-term freedom and lose their identity and place in the land and people of their birth. No Hiraeth here. No Saudade either.
They may 'miss' home, but are not of an intellectual status to comprehend that the 'home' has long been lost. A two-minute monthly phone call does not qualify as "I am phoning my folks". They come back to the long lost family and are treated as 'guests' (read 'strangers' instead). There remains a lack of warmth, from both sides. The ties have long since been severed. No fault on either side. Priorities are different. Ethics vary. Morals are rigid or eroded. And most important economic status is so very different that glitzyness takes priority over class. A jacuzzi or an air conditioner overtakes the old world red cemented floor and wide open windows. So there is no 'home' to go back to. No family to call their own. These rootless rolling stones perhaps should build new homes and adhere to them. Ditch the past. Carry no baggage.
Is there any Hiraeth for them? For Hiraeth is too precious a feeling.
1 comment:
Glad to know I am not the only one suffering from such intense bouts of nostalgia...others have experienced it and also have a name for it.
As always, very well written!
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