Home

As the countryside whizzed passed me, I tried to close my eyes and fall asleep. But it was too loud. It was the first day of 2014 and the train compartment was packed with hyper-energetic children hopped up on holiday cheer, enjoying their last few hours of freedom before being packed off to school. I looked around at the young families - obviously returning to Bangalore after the end-of-year holiday season. Young mothers blissfully ignoring their kids as they asked a thousand questions. Young fathers thinking about the weeks ahead (at least that's what I imagined), each with a different company's name on their t-shirt: Google, IBM, Dell, CTS etc etc.

I myself was on my way back to Bangalore after a week of love and laughter in Chennai. The home I craved so much every time I touched down in Chennai from London/Brighton/Uttaranchal/Delhi over the past nine years, is so much closer now, it's almost strange. I have to admit though, that it is amazing not to have to consume that experience of home in a short amount of time once every six months or one year. I no longer feel that I have to fit everything in. Home is now spread across space for me- how lucky I am.

As I stood up to get off the train, tired and grumpy, I looked around at the exhausted-looking families, gathering up their things. A little girl clinging to her father, as he patiently explained to her that they would reach soon. A mother desperately trying to keep her son awake as he kept flopping over in his seat. How different my life is.

I pushed through the crowd and headed out into the crisp Bangalore night, and I took a deep breath, before I piled into a taxi to get home. After I lugged my suitcase up the stairs in the dark, poured water in my dying plants and checked on my growing pile of compost, I sat down and smiled. It was good to be back. Strangely, but surely, Bangalore is almost completely home now.

Independence, courage, strength, freedom, resilience. I carry these with me into the new year, and I'm grateful.

Happy New Year.