I just got back from Australia after a much-needed break. A wonderful trip in many ways...but this post is not about that. It is about that inexplicable feeling of belonging that I felt, when I reached home.
Growing up, it was always an occasion when relatives from abroad came visiting, with suitcases full of gifts. 'America' and all western countries were 'the blessed land' and we looked towards them with starry eyes, atleast I did.
And then I grew up. In India. Started earning and establishing myself in my career. Got married. And we started travelling outside the country. The first time I used my passport was when I went to Bali for my honeymoon and that was just the starting point. 10 years and 13 countries later, my perspective has slightly changed.
Over these years, many of my closest people, family and friends, chose to move abroad and settle there. Each did so for their own reasons, each seems happy with their decision. As I am with mine.
Yet somehow, I find mine questioned time and again.
I chose to stay in India. I still choose to do the same. I love travelling, within my country and outside it. I love exploring, experiencing new things, seeing new cultures and tasting different food. But I also love my life here. I'm not sure at what point it became unfashionable to do so. I find myself defending my decision to live in India more and more often. Which is ironic, considering it really is my default setting. I might choose otherwise somewhere in the future, or I may not.
I am not going to launch into a list of reasons why I love India, that would defeat the purpose of this post. The point is, I do. I think it is a chaotic, crazy, mad but wondrous country. It is dirty, corrupt, polluted, but it is mine. Yes, there are many things I'd like to change in it. But I'm part of the change. And I like that.
I think it is possible to appreciate a place without comparing it constantly to another. For one to look good, the other doesn't necessarily have to be proven bad. Every country that I travel to has its nuances, some are expensive, some inconvenient and some racist; some are polluted, some have language issues; work culture is terrible in some and others are a stagnant economy. Each is wonderful in its own way. It would be such a shame to constantly compare them with India or pit them against each other. Like people, it takes all kinds to make this world. We should celebrate our differences rather than highlight each others flaws. With the world being almost border-less now, it would be so much nicer to do so, don't you think?
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