Thursday 7 November 2013

The First Homecoming

 

After my failed attempts at studying for my imminent exams, I’ve concluded that the apparent abatement of guilt in daydreaming with a book on my lap as compared to daydreaming without one, is just that : apparent. So, I’ve given up trying to cheat my conscience. Instead I’m completely disregarding it. As my conscience glares at me, teeth grinding, I’m going to write about the most exciting event that has happened to me in the past three months.

It has been more than three months since I left home for college. Save for the first weekend that I mentioned in my previous post, I barely felt any homesickness in the following days. But how much I actually missed home dawned on me when the time came to go back. I was going back at a time of festive cheer and rejoicing. Diwali. Every Diwali has been a special one and I remember each for the maniacal joy that each has brought but this was a very different one, a Diwali of many firsts.

I’ve always been awed by the nomadic lifestyle with so many places, people, languages and cultures to get to know. But I’ve never experienced it myself. To me, home has always been the same place, the same house, the same neighbours, the same potholed roads, the same auto drivers, the same traffic signals and the same routes. All my friends, memories, encounters, experiences and events are tied to one place. So, I had never looked back at how much the place has given me in making me the person I am until recently.

The blissful anticipation of embracing the familiar sights and sounds of home heightening with each station the train passed, taking me closer and closer to home, and finally seeing family through the grills of the train windows are feelings of intense and ineffable ecstasy.

Now, home to me doesn’t just mean the house where I live. It’s the people, the familiarity, the sense of belonging. The same place wouldn’t be a welcome abode if the people in my life didn’t live there anymore. Now I understand why there is a craving in people to know their history. It tells you who you are and it gives you ground to stand on in the world, proud and unshakeable. It makes you possessive of your land and devoted to it. It gives you something solid to hold on to in an ever-changing world.

There will be many more homecomings in the future, but this will always be the dearest to me, the picture it first conjures in my mind being the smiles on those people’s faces that I had only seen in my mind for the last three months.

4 comments:

  1. Hi Vishnu I was vacuuming my home (my mind wandering as usual) and I suddenly realised I hadn't checked in on your blog for ages. So I immediately downed tools haha! I'm so pleased to see you are doing well and that you are writing as brilliantly as ever - this last piece is just beautiful. Good luck with your exams ... and don't worry so much - you have a great future ahead of you. All the best Jacie x

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    1. Hi, Jacie. I think you're one of the reasons I haven't given up blogging. You're such a motivation. I wonder if I even deserve it, but thanks a million.
      I hadn't logged in in a long time, and now after seeing this comment of yours, I think I should check in more often.

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  2. The irony is that I got here on being distracted as I was preparing for midsems. So you can imagine how much I loved the first paragraph! :D
    Btw very well written article!

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