Sunday, November 18, 2018

Coming home

Coming home is a strange feeling.

What’s home? Is it the home I grew up in and am now back to? Is it the home in Boston I spent over 6 years in, the majority of my past 11 years and my time in the US? Any of the 2 homes in Buffalo when I was a poor student living with roommates? The room in Framingham that I kinda snatched and made my own for the first month after my graduation? The room in Hopkinton I rented for 6 months, while trying to ease into a professional’s life, clearing my educational loan and setting up my future life in Boston? The Milford apartment of 1.5 years which was my first home that was wholly mine and mine alone? The Somerville apartment I shared with a friend for about a year, getting the first taste of city life in the US and Boston? Stockholm where I spent 2 months in 2017 and visited multiple times, so frequently that I started feeling a sense of belonging there too and upended my life in Boston?

I landed in Bangalore early last morning. Just my second day back. There are so many things that are familiar, making me happy that some things haven’t changed. There are things that have changed, causing surprises and sometimes a tinge of sadness. And then there are those things that remind me of similar things in Boston, from the life that I left behind. Haven't I come a full circle? Until now this was the life that I had left behind.

How do I pay the porter - do I have Rupees or Dollars in my wallet? Which is the driving seat and which is the passenger seat in the car? Automatic or manual? Which is the “right” side of the road to drive on - left or right? How do I turn on the light in my room - flip the switch up or down? Can I drink water from the tap or do I need filtered water? Do I add or subtract 1.5 to my current time to calculate the time in Boston? Is it day or night for my friends there? Is it hot or cold there?

And just like that I don’t need to worry about New England’s eccentric weather patterns now.