Visiting the abode of Samuel L Clemens.

Samuel Clemens died but Mark Twain lives on till date. The documentary ended on these lines, and I sat in the last row of the auditorium trying to fathom the eccentric genius of the great man – who came in and also left with the Hailey’s comet.

A man nearest to temple is farthest from God – An adage that my dad used a lot. And in a way I have been that “a man” for over a year now. The house where Mark Twain produced his best known literary works is actually in Hartford, Connecticut situated 3-4 miles from my old apartment. Yet, I could not find time to visit the abode of the great man.

Yesterday finally I decided to visit The Mark Twain House and Museum, as it is called today. The lady at the front desk booked me on the 1:45 tour and since I still had 20 minutes at hand, I decided to watch the documentary on his life. A very informative one, the documentary started with a glimpse of his early years (which is claimed to be the backdrop of Tom Sawyer) moving on to his marriage and family life and finally ending with his demise in 1910.
In between it delved on the persona who was at his time the most famous American Personality, who started with a life of penury, became rich after marriage, then became bankrupt over his failed business venture and was finally able to reclaim it all back.

This was followed by a 45 minute tour of the house, which has undergone significant restoration over the years to be maintained in its present state. The society all has taken great pains in keeping the details as close as possible to the original as possible – this is quite a feat as the house had been sold off, much of the furniture had been auctioned away and had to be reclaimed. A peek into the lifestyle of the man, his house, his workplace was a real pleasure. Our guide was also kind enough to patiently answer a lot of queries from the visitors and the tales of the past really made me travel back to the days when I read about Tom Sawyer and Aunt Polly. Somehow the house has been wrapped in the time-sheath preventing the vagaries of time to take over it. The rooms felt like

The rooms came alive with the narration of the lady’s depiction of the life of Mr. Clemens. Though there is a popular clash between Hartford and Elmira as to where Mark Twain did most of his work, a visit to this room actually left little doubt. I had goose bumps on visiting the top floor entertainment room where the writer supposedly did most of his work. It was an intense feeling which I cannot describe in a few words.

At the end of the tour, I returned home more enlightened bout the great man and happy with myself. I would have missed a big thing had I not made the visit. Something that leaves behind a much bigger and deeper impact than innumerable trips to the Niagara’s and The Rockies.