Incredible India

For K, it was coming back home. He says, “What is it about India that continues to magically draw me to her? A thought begins to run through my mind as I watch 'Terminator Salvation' on my short flight back to Kuala Lumpur. My mind gracefully and intermittently falling in between the world of the conscious and the unconscious... the lone light still shining above, as it always does."

I wake again and ponder the answer...

Sure, I was born there, Indianness flows from my heart and seeps through my veins, I've spent my adolescent years discovering myself under her arms, my family and childhood friends (being my extended family) are more or less there (which, I do agree is a big factor). But I've also traveled the world and lived in a multitude of cities, big and small... each a new beginning, living different lives with different people in different surroundings - I wonder, do I really have multiple personas as a result?

I stop my mind from meandering, returning back to the original inquisition: So what is it about India?? Yes, there is something more, something I feel I'm on the cusp of discovering. Maybe it's because this is the first time since I was 18 that I've stayed at home the longest (if you can call 6 weeks a long period). For this is the first time in 10 years that I’ve felt I was living back home again. A feeling made complete with such unique experiences:

Welcomed to her shores with the magnanimous monsoon; Savlu’s birthday celebrations – pure debauchery; riding along the Bandra-Worli Sealink, fascinated by the metal and steel of India’s engineering marvel; seeing the heart of India through Bangalore, Delhi, and neighboring towns and villages who’s names I’ve since forgotten; incredible conversations with fascinating people; India’s 63rd Independence Day; Pooja and Zain and Ritika and Nikhil’s weddings - ah, with such flair; a roadtrip to Lonavala – a scrumptious feast, the reemergence of the Thai Buckets (danger, danger!), a surprise appearance by Rakhi Sawant (don't ask!); my first arranged marriage experience (absolutely surreal and never to be repeated again) yet with a possible attraction; Hip-Hop night; China House; after hours at Spike’s; yes need to mention Rajput’s and U-Turn too; the Poona trips; the comatose binges, the dinners and coffees and drinks and toasts… salute dinero y amor!

Yes, it did feel, for just a prolonged instance, like I was back home again. Such a glorious tease she is, Mother India, pulling me back into her grasp every time it seems like I might slip away.

And then it dawned on me… could it be, is it really so simple, yet so intoxicatingly human, I think as I carry forward my previous statement:

"I am a man without country, but a man with many homes…"
"Yet home is where the heart is, and a piece of mine will forever stay with India."

Yes, India truly is incredible! Now I'm really looking forward to my return…”

Opportunity: There is nothing like coming home!

Posted by Hinoti, SAATCHI & SAATCHI, INDIA