Home

After being in the US for 12 years, this is where my home is. This is where I wake up every morning and this where I go to bed every night. This is where my husband and I work. This is where my kids were born and this is where they are being raised. This is where I cook for my family and this is where we have dinner together every night. This is the air I breathe and this is the ground on which I walk. This is where I have many friends and this is where 'MY FAMILY' is.


And yet, every time I book my tickets to go to India, I excitedly tell my friends here....I am going home. And somehow, even after 12 years my India continues to be my home.


India will always be home because that is where as a child I was excited about sitting near the window seat of the local trains and travelling by taxis. India is home because that is where I have grown up reading countless comic books...Tinkle, Chandamama, Bahadur, Phantom, Mandrake, Richie Rich, Asterix, Tintin, Disney comics, Archie comics...oh, the list is endless. India is home because that is where as a young girl I went to sleep with the radio by my head listening to Binaca Geetmala and Hindi movie songs.


India will always be home because that is where I walked to school during the monsoons wearing a raincoat and splashing my feet in the rainwater. India is home because that is where I took B.E.S.T bus number 253 every morning to get to college. India is home because that is where I took the 9.05 am train from Andheri to Churchgate to get to work and the 6.13 pm 'ladies special' train to get back home. India is home because in the 9.05 am train, I had train friends with whom I spent the 45 minute journey singing Hindi movie songs or playing Antakshari.


India will always be home because that is where my best friend and I took a long walk down the road just so we could eat the 'perfect panipuris'. India is home because that is where I looked forward to the monsoon season so I could eat 'butta' (roasted corn) while standing out in the rain. India is home because summer season meant 'Alphonso' mangoes. India is home because that is where my friends and I rushed out during the breaks of our cost accounting classes in college so we could eat vadapavs and sandwiches.


India will always be home because that is where I grew up with my little sister......playing, giggling, singing, talking and yes, sometimes even quarrelling so much that Mom would get frustrated and say.....You girls, always arguing. You will know when you grow up and are on opposite ends of the world and don't get to see each other. My sister and I are best friends today...but sadly, the part about us being in opposite ends of the world has come true. So, India is home because that is where my sister lives with her family.


India will always be home because that is where I met my husband for the first time. India is home because that is where I got married to him in front of a large gathering while it rained outside. India is home because that is where my husband's family and lovely extended family of uncles, aunts and cousins welcomed me into their fold with open arms.


And so, India will always be home because that is where I spent my childhood, where I grew up, where I celebrated many a Vishu, Onam, Diwali, Ganesh Chathurthi, Janmashtami, Holi and Navaratri and because...that is where my parents live. And I am one of those lucky ones, who has 2 different countries to equally call 'HOME'.


Signing off wishing Indians everywhere a 'Happy Republic Day' and this quote on India by Mark Twain


'So far as I am able to judge, nothing has been left undone, either by man or nature, to make India the most extraordinary country that the sun visits on his rounds. Nothing seems to have been forgotten, nothing overlooked'