Nostalgia

MUMBAI (aka Bombay) is where I lived all my life and given a choice, I wouldn’t trade living in any other city…..It all started here…the land of dreams, opportunities, bright lights, color, glamour…how does all this matter……what really matters is that here is my “home sweet home”

I still vividly remember my school days...I used to stand at the gate of my building and wait anxiously for the school bus to come pick me up…. I was never the best in my class when it came to studies, but this weird drive to participate in every school activity, be it sports, dance, music, elocution, skit, ballet and what not made me stick out (not literally..haha). I always felt like the jack of all trades, and master of none! Nevertheless, those were the best days of my life.

I started learning music at the age of 6’ish….and trust me this is the best fixation I ever had in my life. 11 years of classical training and I still feel I can start from scratch…well only if I practiced on a regular basis! I also tried my luck with bharatnatyam classes...but couldn’t survive the torture for more than a month.

Leaving school to join college in 11th was agonizing and heartbreaking! I felt as if the world had come to an end…but looking at the brighter side, we were “grown-ups” now, no uniforms, no “yes teacher” songs, no “free periods (although we had so much fun)”…life turned upside down with a big group of so called “waste” kids enjoying the new found freedom…I miss the college canteen, our so called “adda”. Bunking classes and chilling out in the college canteen to ogle smart guys was part of our curriculum…wow and the food…slurp!

How can I not write about Ganesh Chaturthi celebrated every year in our locality…wow I still remember how I had some friends that I only met during those 10 days and how much fun we had dancing, singing and shouting on top of our voice to the dhols on the streets of aamchi Mumbai!

Four years of undergraduation brought out the best in me. “Jay Sandwich wala” near my college made great business during those days…all thanks to me! And then started the “brain drain” preparations….

Mumbai Airport makes me nostalgic coz I had to bid farewell to my loved ones back home. And here I am in the rightly called “US of A”.

A little more than three years in the land of opportunities has brought me closer to my roots, has made me strong and responsible, yet very lonely! I have completed my Masters and have a job in hand, yet the sense of achievement is gone with the wind. On the brighter side, I have made some great friends, who have stood by me during trying times, who have been more than a family and life would be meaningless without you guys!

A trip to India is awaiting me!