Safarnama

Dear M Let me tell you a story... In a not so distant past,  children were taught to love others, adjust for others in order to be 'good'. While, following this invisible yet sacred value, they somehow lost the sense of 'self', it was almost a sacrilege thought to be doing what you want as it treaded on the line of being selfish and self-centred. This entire generation, almost most of them, lost themselves in the process. This was your grandparents' generation and girls, by the time they grew into adults, they mastered this value. Then came your mom, she too was sort of brought up with this thought process, except that she was also told to stand for herself when needed while trying not to hurt other people's feelings. Now is that always really possible? In this great conundrum of balancing my thoughts and views while being mindful of others' feelings, has exhausted me. Hence, this letter to you from someone who tries to balance on a thin rope withou...

‘The world is one family.’ Is my school’s motto and as a child, I wondered what it really meant? 30 years later, the answer revealed. After settling down, I joined a gym and met a few ladies there, one with whom I had an interesting conversation with: Lady: Where is your home? Me: Bedfordview Lady: (slightly confused) Are you South African?  Me: No, I am from India. Came here because of husband’s job. Lady: So, your home is in India Me: (gave her a confused smile) my home is here, now (I guess) Isn’t the phrase, ‘Home is where the heart is’ , pertinent? My heart is where my husband and child are. I was born and raised in Delhi—yet, I never felt like a complete Dilliwallah due to the Bengali environment I was brought up in, which sometimes clashed with the Delhi culture. So, what defines home ?  Expat life, I guess, is all about breaking the notion of permanence and creating your ‘home’ wherever you land. This idea of starting from scratch is arduou...