Homesickness hits you at the oddest of times:
# When you have just woken up and are still in bed, and you can hear the neighbours talking to each other outside. And it's not in Hindi.
# When it's a loved one's birthday...a close friend's or your sibling's. And this is the first time that you cannot yell "Happy Birthday" to them several times in a day. Or generally make a huge ruckus at their expense.
# When you desperately want to recreate a flavor from your mother's kitchen, and in your heart of hearts you know that even if you spend five times the number of hours as her slaving in the kitchen, your product will not come any close to her level of perfection.
# When your eyes have drank in enough of the sunshine and mountains of Idaho for the day, and they long for the madness, hysteria, chaos, dirt, and disorganized orderliness of Delhi...simply because it's home, and where you truly belong.
# When a stray ringtone from your classmate's phone reminds you of your own not so long ago dependence and complete devotion towards your phone and through it towards Hutch.
# When you are crossing the road, and an Indian student is coming from the opposite side with his ipod on full volume playing Mitwa, probably Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna's only saving grace. You are reminded of the last time you heard the song, perhaps someone sang it to you.
# When you go pubbing and you are achingly reminded of the fact that Moscow is a small, university town. The biggest pub here is not even half the size of the addictive places you frequented in Delhi. Oh...anything for a Turquoise Cottage, or a Geoffrey's or a DV8 or at the most even a Blue's.
# When you overhear a stray sentence or a voice and it sounds familiar for a second, only for you to realise in the next that it is your foolish imagination playing tricks once again...and that it is just your struggle within yourself to remember a particular voice because you haven't heard it for so long, and that you want to hold on to its memory.
But it all works out alright, when
# You get a call from Prashant. If I am asked to recount the conversation as such I don't think I will be able to share it, suffice it to say that we laughed throughout...and that made my day.
# You manage a technologically brilliant conference call with Richa and Rohit. Richa called Rohit's cellphone, he put her on speakerphone, brought the phone close to the computer-attached microphone, and then called me using GoogleTalk. And the three of us talked for nearly two hours. Just like the old times.
# You have as perfect a room-mate like Manasi who goes out of her way to cheer you up. Thank you M, I really mean it.
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23 comments:
Hello Sayantani!
Ive always been a silent reader of ur posts but this one really forced me to write.
Really Nobody, whos not lived on a foriegn land, can imagine how sweet it sounds when u overhear other peoples conversation and its YOUR very own Hindi. Of all the things that I enjoy the most whenever I' visit India, is this.
Ive started loving the chaos we have on our streets, even the roadside fights.
And yes really I really pity myself when I look at my mobile and theres no, not even a missed, call for the past 24 hrs.
When I come back from the university and I know that if I want to eat something, I have to cook it myself.And, it wud b horrible.
I wud never find an acquaintance even if I walk 5kms away from my house.
And yes I can imagine how all this tension can disappear by just a Hello from a friend.
Keep on writing!
TC
Iram
Germany
Hey...
You are most welcome!!
About your blog: I have say.. I havent known of anyone to express these emotions as wonderfully.. i cant imagine any student or person who has left India to not be able to relate to this....
Absolutely loved it!
went thru all this...maybe not from foreign shores but something which was not less than foreign shores too..........
stay happy gal......i m sure of alll the people in the gang u r among the best to manage this situation well..........
btw there is a much better way to get a conference done....ask every1 to install skype and u can do conference call for free :)
never knew u like turquoise cottage.....good to read abt that...
ye ye ye ye ye !!!!
Sayan....
you rock sweetheart !!!!
oh and i too :P
stay happy and just let me know if there is anything wrong... i will kill someone here in India to make it up for you in the US of A !!!
I'm just smiling. :)
I know i can't even imagine how difficult it must be for you.
lekin hum aapko aise hi khush rakhenge...itna achha solution jo mil gaya hai. haina?? :D
and of course, i am sure your friend Manasi is taking good care of you too.
do well and enjoy your mountains. :)
Love.
@ Iram
Thank you so much for being a reader. Although the silent bit does worry me...were all the previous posts so bad that you just read them and silently hid your sorrow within? :D :D
Just kidding, but yeah let me confess that to a writer, whether of a blog or other things...there is no craving bigger than that for feedback.
Thank you for sharing your points...I relate to almost all of them in some degree or other. And yes, even a mere "hello" from a voice you knew and loved can brighten your day like nothing on earth. How long have you been away from home?
Do keep visiting Kirrin Island and your feedback/comments will always be more than welcome.
@ Manasi
Thank you. Today...sunday morning, I am missing the kachoris of Delhi. What can we do about that you think?
@ D
I can imagine how different Chennai must have been from Delhi especially in terms of the language. Thank you for the vote of confidence. And also for the skype tip...let me see how soon I can get down to that.
@ Prashant
Lovely offer...you made my day again.
@ BASTM
Tu to meri achhi si Kiddi hain. Tu to mere ko hamesha hi khush rakhti hain. You were the first one to call me here, and that bit will always be remembered with a lot of fondness.
I'm waiting to be talking, laughing uncontrollably like that, again!
Love you! Have a great week ahead! :)
TC used to be one of our favourite places!
Oh, and when you come to Delhi, try Calypso! Right now, it rocks!!!
That's what you call a bitter-sweet post. You're sad but you're happy, and the ambivalence is so wonderfully, amazingly, beautifully brought out, that I'm at a loss for words. You pick the perfectest of moments to feel nostalgic. After reading your post, I've started missing Delhi so much more, and am craving to rush back to that place asap.
But then, the bright side is that you've got a nice bunch of friends who are with you, and make every effort to make you happy, and I guss that discounts all the sadness.
Take care
guess*
This is cute ...:)
small thing matters in life ..:)
kitchen,ringtone yes they matter alot ..i may not understand the feeling u r having bt yes i just felt the fragrance of memories in ur post :)
that was truely amazing
take care sayan :)
@ Shwetasqque
Yes, we both have got what we wanted, although I am ready with the list of things I want next. :D
@ RT
I love you too.
And Calypso it will be...with you.
@ Swetank
Thank you for liking the post. And that's exactly how I was feeling that day when I decided..."let me just write this all down. That'll sort my brain a bit." Yeah, friends make all the difference.
@ Mayuri
I will just echo your words..."there is no place like home".
@ Chitrangada
I will. You too. :)
Its been more than 3 yrs now and I have been a historic witness to the change in the public opinion about India. I started with facing the questions like "Do u have a pet Elephant back home?" or "Are u an Indian? Can u tell my future?" but thanks to Mr Shahrukh Khan, now ppl doubt my being an Indian, just because I cant dance.
got my point? if not then sorry im reading multiplexing rt now so u c? cant blame me :)
Take care.
Iram
@ Iram
See...commenting is fun, isn't it? :)I hope you will make this a habit, here at least.
What is with elephants? I have faced a couple of those kind of questions myself.
But I wish someone would ask me to tell them their future...hee hee hee, now that would be fun. My mind is already racing with ALL the things one can say then. :D
And what is multiplexing btw?
hugs!
i think i know how u feel... of course i was only away from calcutta and i love delhi... but still... i remember how wonderful it felt to chatter in bangla with a co-bong while the rest of the world looks at u askence... and ma's cooking! never did i appreciate it more than when i was forced to live without it!! man when i used to come back for those week-long breaks, i would even gobble up the karela and the shukto and the kumro'r torkari and other stuff and i remember how even a thousand frantic phone calls would never recreate the same curry! as for b'days and family occasions - i was such an idiot that i would end up crying over the phone!!
you are really brave to be able to tackle the homesickness with a smile and wonderfully lucky to have friends who look out for u! you are living out what you have been cherishing for so long and i am sure that the whole experience is rewarding in itself!!
cheers to dreams come true and good friends who r always with u no matter how far u r!!
i have been DYING to have someone actually read my future! i know the end result will probably be a lot of hogwash but still.... :-)
Yeah it is. and if u keep on replying so nicely it wud become an addiction too :)
And didnt u know? elephants are such an important parts of our lives. They are our only means of transportation, for short distances of course, for longer ones we prefer train roofs.
And yes on that incedent even I was tempted to tell her a thing or two about her future but then my mind changed and so had her future. Lucky woman ;)
Multiplexing is trying to send several messages at the same time. And thats what I do all the time. No wonder I cant write blogs.
Take care.
Iram
@ Keka
Hugs to you too. Several. :)
I havent yet reached a stage where I will rush home to Ma and ask for shukto and kumro...two things I just cannot stand...really make me eat anything else. But then again, I am also a firm believer in "Never Say Never"...after a few more months here...we'll see.
Yes, cheers to dreams and to friends.
@ Iram
My hands are tied. I just HAVE to be nice. :) I appreciate every single comment on my blog and the fact that someone outside my immediate circle has read it and liked it enough to keep reading it is awesome. Probably it appeals to the writer in me the most...the one who nurses this fond dream that one day I too shall get published and be read by hundreds.
Btw, I think so far the most bizzare question that I have been asked is, "Do you have icecreams in India?" Err...I nearly replied, "No. What are they?"
And give blogging a chance...after your take on elephants and how crucial they are to our existence, I want to read more. And also stuff that's not on the same lines. :)
I am happy that you have not forgotten your home.
Oh, and sorry to be so late in posting my comments! Just hope you read it. You see, I connect to the net just once a week.
@ Butterfly
How can anyone ever forget home?
And please dont worry, you can post a comment on anything anytime...no matter how late it is, I will get notified.
if you like googletalk...try skype...we swear by it...calling pune almost daily!! and invest in a webcam...for you and for your loved ones back home...it truly is the closest thing to being in the same room! it lights up my ammaji's face!!
thts one real nostalgic post, well expressed...n im missing my friend lyk hell now after raeding dis, whoz in canada n she feels the same most of the tym.
very nice post!
n yess a very nice blog too.
@ Poetica
Welcome to Kirrin Island. And thanks for the tip. I have used a webcam a couple of times, and it does light up my Ammaji's face too. :)
@ "Me"
Welcome to you too. Hope your friend in Canada has an easier time dealing with homesickness. And thanks for your kind words.
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