1 day ago
Home...
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Okay... so Home... I got thinking about this in class today (class is that magical time of day when I get to do absolutely nothing)... Anyway... So I got thinking about how London is starting to feel more like home... and then I started to think about every place I've called home for the 17 years I've been alive... and how every place I've ever lived in was a home, and not a house... even though it was a home for a terribly short period of time and it's someone else's home now...
I've never ever really had a constant "home" like you hear about in the movies, books and normal person lives... Homes that people can't bear to leave because they have memories woven into the thread of their house... of growing up... where they have a special feeling for every little bit of the house and home is always a place that is constant... that exists always at that one spot.. and where you will always be welcome...
So home for me has been everywhere on that map you
see... all the red dots...
The earliest memory I had of a Home was in Kanpur, UP, India... UP stands for Uttar Pradesh, which means Northern State in Hindi.... Which is fine because it it a northern state. I remember we had this huge house (or maybe I was just tiny)... and it was all on one floor and we had an apple tree or something in the garden and I used to just lie under it and watch clouds go by... I don't even remember how old I was then (1st grade or less)... but it's this one memory that stands out... And this other one about when my dad was teaching me how to ride a bicycle... He would never allow me trainer wheels.. so yeah.. I finally got the hang of it and I started going.. but no one ever told me where the brakes were... No... I wasn't dumb enough to go crashing into cars or brick walls... I just jumped off the bike... with very Spiderman like agility... Although I wouldn't hear about spiderman for several years...
See, you might not understand how I was able to do all of this, but the reason I could also has to do with the reason I never stay at one place for more than two years... My dad's a pilot in the Air Force... and that's the reason I am how I am... A defense base is a very... secluded trusty sort of place... I love that I've lived inside Air force bases or colonies all my life... There's something so different about it...
You'll never know unless you're an Defense Officer's Child.. notice the capitals... There's a difference to such an upbringing.. I'm not saying I'm better than you or anything.. I just happen to take pride in where I'm coming from... all that I've learnt... the fact that I have to hold my head up high, keep my back straight and my shoulders wide... The fact that respecting women is second nature and the woman is always first... How everything is so organised and people are being people to each other... The parties at the officer's mess and the visits to the Officer's library where any self respecting kid always took out an Asterix or a Tintin... Respecting my parents no matter what, and always considering their word as the last word... Service is a pleasure rather than a pain and respect defines what I do every step of the way...
I don't think any of you will get this... Anyway... this has gone on quite long... To be continued... :)
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WOW! And I get irritated when people ask me where I am from, and I've only lived in three different places!
@quarterpastseven: hah... i so know what you mean... I've resorted to saying "I'm from India"... try it :)
I love India. I went travelling when I was younger and it was by far the most interesting place I've been too. It's amazing how each place is so different.
Although you moved alot aroun the same country I bet each place was like a different world. xx
To be proud of what you are from..like your birth place is a special thing . Not everyone is that lucky....got nothing to be proud of...frankly the opposite is true .
wow... loved it! the sign of a good piece of writing is wen ppl can relate to it.. this piece makes me feel "ah! thats my story!"... absolutely heart rendering!
I wish I lived in more places. I've lived in Toronto all my life. Every single year of my so called, exciting life..: (. I've travelled to a couple states in the US.. a tropical place once or twice, but no other excitment for me : (
i can't imagine what that must have been like, living in so many different places. i've lived in the same city all my life... i have friends in high school whose parents were in the military, all i know is their upbringing was incredibly strict :) it's great that you're proud of your own upbringing. that alone is proof of how good it really was. :)
@elise: it's quite nice how you know what I'm trying to convey :) Every little place has it's own influences and developments, people and beliefs... quite amazing actually...
@seeker: well, it really depends on how hard you're willing to look at your country... India's got loads of people just waiting to migrate elsewhere and shed that 'tag'... i'm one of the lucky ones :)
@anubha: haha.. thanks for the tip Ms. Eng Hons :) It really is just the life isn't it? :) of course.. you're from the coughnavycough.. no, just kidding... :P
@againstthegrain:
what are you talking about? i'm hooked onto your blog... that grass is always greener eh?
@tina:
see? that's relative as well... not everybody considers themselves that lucky or looks on it with such... um... acceptance/happiness :)
@ brat: haaha. aw well in that case, I'll keep bloggin to what you see as an exciting life : ). And for the record I am addicted to yours too, but you need to blog more. Im going through withdrawl :). And the greener grass is definitely somewhere I'd rather be!
hey!so far my favourite........i totally understand where ur comin from....even though we didnt move from place to place like u did, but all that stuff about deing a Defence Officer's child holds true for me too.....no its not like we're better than the rest and even though people say that such kids are spoilt n pampered ,its just that there's a different feel, a diff class where respect is of the utmost importance....you cant expect a civilian on the road in india to respect women or an elder the way some Defence kids are taught to do....no matter how screwed up this world is or how corrupt the services have become, some things will never change..... n i'm totally proud of being an Army Officer's daughter!!! okie i shud stop otherwise it'lll seem linger than ur blog.........
thanks for writing this,Brat!
love always.....
oh i meant 'longer'......not linger
crap tat kinda ruined the endin didnt it.....
hey mo... thanks for the comment :) I shall have to write longer blogs from now just to make sure you don't start yours in my comment boxes...
Glad you could relate to something I'm saying :) I miss the life dude... The Air Force Station life..
i always knew you felt like that though, thats what has always made you so different, the pride you take in a defence upbringing(even when i joke with you about it so u dont get mugged and screwed while insisting on dropping bk 5 zones in london or giving me yum scampi!!)thats what makes you special i think, not just that your worldly wise but that your worldly so adaptable!( damn i wish i could be that!)