Se7en

7 wonders of the world

7 voyages of Sindbad the sailor

7 the movie (and 7 original sins)

7 famous eating joints in Chicago

7 years away from home ...

The last one makes the most sense to me. Lately one of the comments made by mom triggered a lot of thinking on my part. I was home after almost an year and for the first time for 2 months, without any baggage of studies or office work or for that matter even meeting up friends. I was home in 'the mom-dad always approve of' sense. Most of my time was spent being doted over by mom, neighbor aunties, mamis, mavshi (mom's sis), nani, mama, bro, buwa, cousins, (dad wont show it much hence he is in brackets :D). During one such senti moments, mom said in pure marathi -

विद्यार्जन ही एक प्रकारची शिक्षा आहे.

I suddenly remembered a comment I had passed out of homesickness (owing to really amazing food at hostel) during my first year, when I had blurted out to mom 'May be I am being punished!'

May be not considering it a punishment and turning every possible opportunity into a learning experience has been the greatest takeaway from these 7 years. Also the sense of adventure I still feel while boarding a train/bus/flight, makes me remain truthful to myself. I quite vividly remember my first reaction to admission to an institute in a foreign city (I was one of the wont-stay-away-from-home, 'whiny' types!) and then considering my foray into hostel life, as nothing but a 7 day camp after which they will happily let go of me. Contrarily, I ended up in the 'hostel' for 4 years and turned out to be an engineer! Everyone who knew me had their doubts, as to whether I would be able to stay sane away from home (they had their definite REASONS). I did pretty well. I guess.

I also remember how I would never cry while saying goodbyes or on the phone, but I would puke my guts out, on return journeys from home to Pune. I guess, that's my style now, to express my emotions through actions :D

Oh, and though I miss Pune-nagpur trips with Kt, I like travelling alone too. This time I was thinking all the what ifs. What if I would not have studied away from home ? I think I would have taken many things life has offered me for granted. Its these 7 years which have taught me the value of relations, small joys, friends, family. They have taught me to respect certain aspects of life and people. They have helped me make my mental armor stronger.

Agreed I still get homesick and sad beyond measures, but I like the springing back from it part. I like the way life has shaped up for me so far. I like it even more because I can still see many things through those rose tinted glasses. I somewhere cherish this innocence in the age of un-innocence.

And as my plane landed on foreign soils in Paris for a 3 hours stop, I made fine acquaintances with an old couple from India travelling to Boston to meet their newly born grand son.

So even if it might be a punishment, I think with the freedom to visit home on your whims and the freedom to be on your own making sense of it, again on your whims, makes it all the more enjoyable and memorable.

I wont deny that I did not have that familiar queasy feeling again while the plane waited for landing signals over Chicago. I was unsure where I was headed. But as I went through the customary immigration checks, I knew I sure was headed home. Yeah, an apartment I can make a home out of. Not just a place to crash at night. A place where I had met very nice and amazing people from different parts of the world. A place where I will always be physically away from home but emotionally and mentally strongly attached to my people and my country.

I don't know when I will be home in the real sense. I don't know what life might unfold at the next turn. But I am sure it wont be that bad. 'Cos in the end

हमारी हिंदी फिल्मों की तरह सब ठीक हो जाता है.

(Everything turns out to be for the best in the end :))

~nightflier :)