I have been an itinerant for a fair part of my life, in a way. I have lived in three cities for the most part and have travelled and lived in other parts of the world for shorter periods of time. Yet, a complete and pervasive sense of belonging to a single place has eluded me ever since a concept of 'home' has started arising in my mind.
Home was a simpler concept at a point of time. It meant being provided for, playing cricket in fields across the road and actually knowing your neighbours! That was the time when you probably never even thought that you'd ever live away from that place. But as you grow up and move around for studies and job, where you truly belong increasingly becomes a difficult question to answer. It becomes intertwined with your identity and personality.
Although this question does arise in my mind time and again, but it's at times like these when I am in another country that I see myself trying to answer it more and more. It starts with innocuous enough questions like what do I miss most about India? Of course there are the usual ones - friends and family, familiarity & food (Fs?) Yet, it is not entirely easy to articulate. It's something more - that subtle, indescribable part of your country, your city, your people (in spite of all their collective nuisances) that becomes a part of your psyche & identity and gives you a sense of belonging.
Of course, it could come entirely from a country different than the one of your origin, but that's exactly what makes belonging a difficult thing to measure or describe.I have observed especially in people not living in their countries of origin - that conflicted feeling of being a art of two worlds but not belonging to either completely. I can only imagine that it is an uneasy feeling to live with.
A bad physics joke on this would probably be that it is a space-time problem to solve. But in all seriousness it is as much about memories as about the actual physical place with which you associate it. For now, I can't wait to get back 'home'.
Home was a simpler concept at a point of time. It meant being provided for, playing cricket in fields across the road and actually knowing your neighbours! That was the time when you probably never even thought that you'd ever live away from that place. But as you grow up and move around for studies and job, where you truly belong increasingly becomes a difficult question to answer. It becomes intertwined with your identity and personality.
Although this question does arise in my mind time and again, but it's at times like these when I am in another country that I see myself trying to answer it more and more. It starts with innocuous enough questions like what do I miss most about India? Of course there are the usual ones - friends and family, familiarity & food (Fs?) Yet, it is not entirely easy to articulate. It's something more - that subtle, indescribable part of your country, your city, your people (in spite of all their collective nuisances) that becomes a part of your psyche & identity and gives you a sense of belonging.
Of course, it could come entirely from a country different than the one of your origin, but that's exactly what makes belonging a difficult thing to measure or describe.I have observed especially in people not living in their countries of origin - that conflicted feeling of being a art of two worlds but not belonging to either completely. I can only imagine that it is an uneasy feeling to live with.
A bad physics joke on this would probably be that it is a space-time problem to solve. But in all seriousness it is as much about memories as about the actual physical place with which you associate it. For now, I can't wait to get back 'home'.
"Homeward bound
I wish I was
Homeward bound
Home, where my thought's escaping
Home, where my music's playing
Home, where my love lies waiting"
Homeward Bound - Simon & Garfunkel
