*Home*

I have been trying to write for last one hour and all I have done is cursed myself for starting this blogathon. I came home for the weekend, and with so much happening around me, I don’t know what to write. So it’s going to be another one of those meandering posts. Better than a no-show at least.

I have lived away from my parents since I was fifteen. And coming home is always a big celebration. When I was in college I would miss all the festivals being away from home – Diwali, Holi, Durga Puja, birthdays, anniversary – but everything would be compensated when I went home for summer vacation. That month and half would be filled with plans – right from what I was going to eat and where I was going to go and what I was going to buy (lots of shopping!). Since my parents moved around so many cities, almost every other summer vacation was at a new destination.

Right now my parents live in a small town, about 5 hours away from Delhi, and I have the opportunity to visit them often. When I was in Pune and Bangalore, I didn’t have the luxury to pack my bags on a whim and give my parents a surprise visit on a weekend.

My mom has made all the preparation of things I love to eat –things that I don’t get to eat outside or can’t cook well enough. Today I spent the whole day shopping. Tomorrow would be a little lazier with more basking in the sun and chit-chatting with mom. I love the old quilt at home. And the swing in our balcony. I always wanted to have a jhoola in our house, but we never had one since we changed so many houses. In this house my parents finally got one, and every time I come home I make sure I have a cup of coffee while swinging in it. Right now I am typing on my old laptop that was repaired (changed battery and display) for my parents. The laptop is kept on top of a note pad (a hard board that I took to my 10th board exams). And I can hear my parents snore.

I love coming home and seeing things unchanged. I am reminded of a past that I am closely linked to - roots that sometimes feel unfamiliar and faded in the life that I am living away from home. And then I see changes that I could have never expected and imagined while growing up.

Coming home is not just a celebration anymore, it is also a pitstop in the journey of life to refuel, repair and make note of how far I have come.