A Recollection

Harshula Sharma

Tuesday

July 24th, 2021

Dear diary,

It’s 8:45 a.m. Another 24 hours left till I have to leave for the airport. Everything happened so quickly that I didn’t realize how my life is going to completely change tomorrow. I have never stepped outside this city. Delhi has been my home since birth. I went to school here, learned to ride a bicycle, went through the ups and downs of adolescence, and reached adulthood too in the blink of an eye. Never had I thought of, or felt the need for leaving this place until a month ago when I received a job offer from a Mumbai-based company.

Initially, I was excited about going to a new city and living independently. But the closer the day of my departure came, the more I started to think about things that I will be missing there. Like going to the mall with my parents and buying nothing despite hours of window shopping. Walking all around Connaught Place on a date. Attending film screenings at The Habitat Centre with my friends. And later hitting a pub for a drink, hoping we wouldn’t be asked for our IDs.

I talked to my friends about this at the farewell lunch yesterday. While we reminisced about those moments - sweet as well as sour - we decided to visit our college. Upon reaching there, I was engulfed by a wave of memories of what we used to call our “second home”. The cafe right opposite the college building where we used to eat while bunking classes, the library where we did anything but study, and the Chinese food corner where I had my first cigarette. Each spot, as we passed by, made my chest feel heavier than before. It was then that I realized, it’s not the city that I’m going to miss. It’s the memories, the people, the ‘firsts' and ‘lasts’ that I had here.

But, you don’t need to worry. No matter where I go you will always tag along. The next time I write an entry, Mumbai will be my new home. And who knows, there may be new places, new memories, and new people to talk about. In fact, I already know what my next entry is going to be. My first apartment in Mumbai.

घराची व्याख्या काय / What is the definition of a home?

Aashay Inamdar

"घराची व्याख्या काय?"

या प्रश्नाचे उत्तर द्यायला कुठलेही खास असे सामर्थ्य लागत नाही ; तुमच्या कडे पैसे किती, तुमची ऐपत काय, तुमची शरीरयष्टी कशी, या पैकी एकही नाही.

तसेच, घर हे फक्त सिमेंट आणि विटांचे बांधकाम असते असा समज बाळगणे देखील चुकीचेच म्हणावे लागेल. ह्या दोन अक्षरी शब्दात सर्व विश्व समावून घेण्याची एक चमत्कारिक क्षमता असते.

|| वासुदैव कुटुंबकं ||

म्हणजेच, हे विश्र्वच आपले घर आहे.

कुण्या एका थोर व्यक्तीनी आम्हाला हा गुरुमंत्र दिला आहे जो फार जबाबदारी आणि काळजिनिशी पुढे घेऊन जाण्याचा आमचा प्रयत्न आहे.

एवढी विविधता ही एकाच बिंदूतून उगम पावली आहे ह्यावर विश्वास ठेवणे हे मानवी विचारक्षमतेच्या पलीकडचे आहे.

राजाचा राजवाडा, उंदराचे बीळ, आय. टी. कंपनीत काम करणाऱ्या मध्यमवर्गीय माणसाचे टू बी. एच. के, अंबानींचे अँटिला किंवा गरीबाची झोपडी. सर्व घरेच आहेत ना!

कधी कधी "घर" ही एक भावना आहे असे देखील म्हणता येईल.

तब्बल पस्तीस वर्षानंतर आपल्या शालेय मित्रांचे गेट टुगेदर करून आलेले माझे ८५ वर्षांचे आजोबा नाचत (अर्थातच कुवती प्रमाणे) घरी आले तेव्हा त्यांचा तो आनंद बघून एक "घरगुती ऊब" जाणवली.

एके दिवशी वर्तमान पत्रात बातमी वाचली, अब्जाधीश व्यावसायिकांनी आपली सर्व संपत्ती दान केली, "खरे जगणे तर हेच आहे".

भावनात्मक आणि संवेदनशील "मनुष्यपण" म्हणजेच "घर" असे म्हणायची मजल मारत आहे.

Translation:

"What is the definition of a home?"

It does not require any special ability to answer this question; How much wealth you have, how you look, your physique, none of these.

Also, it would be wrong to assume that a house is just a construction of cement and bricks. The two letter word Ghar has a miraculous ability to enclose the whole universe in itself.

|| Vasudeva Kutumbakam ||

That is, the universe is our home.

Some great person has given us this guru mantra which is our endeavor to carry forward with great responsibility and care.

It is beyond human comprehension to believe that such diversity originated from a single point.

The king's palace, a rat's burrow, the two BHK house of a person working in an IT company, Ambani's Antila or a poor man's hut. In the end all of these are "home".

It can be said that "home" is a feeling.

My grandfather had a get together with his school friends after almost 35 years. The smile on his face when he came back home gave me a warm feeling, the one you get when you reach home.

One day the news in the newspaper read, billionaire businessmen donated all their wealth, "This is the real life".

Today, I dare to say that emotional and sensitive (empathetic) "humanity" means "home".

W. Island

Ivan Paul Verghese

Sitting on the bench beside the sea,

Dreaming of leaving this island.

As beautiful and scenic it may be

It began to feel like a prison.

A prison filled with comfort and joy,

Something I only realized when I left.

Out there in the world I fought,

Only to come back when I needed rest

I don’t regret leaving,

Though I wish things were different.

Everything looked good for a while,

But even Ozymandias couldn’t beat time.

Leaking roofs and broken mosquito nets.

Like a disease how quickly it spread.

But even during the worst I did not believe

I would have to say bye and leave.

Maybe I should have come back more often

I thought I’d have more opportunities.

Broken, thinking I would never heal,

But now I roam, searching for a new home.