I have had the good fortune of being brought up across the length and the breadth of this vast country that is India. I also have the good fortune of continuing to live across various locations after I've settled into matrimony.
Pappa was in the Indian Army and my husband is in the Indian Navy. Being in the armed forces means postings every few years. Through all these years of my life - forty so far, I have lived at many places across India and, from these stations visited many more places.
The places I've lived at are many. Pune, Delhi, Jhansi, Bangalore, Cochin (now Kochi), Agartala, Baroda (now Vadodara), Bharuch, Surat, Bombay (now Mumbai), Lonavala, Vasco, Vishakaptnam, Chennai. That's many places and, few places I've lived in more than once!
For many people I meet it's hard to fathom how I can cope with so many moves. Probably, having lived in a particular house, a particular locality, attending the same school, having the same circle of friends, visiting the same markets/stalls/malls all their lives, it does make it hard for them to imagine a 'gypsy' life as many have told me. For me though living in the same place, the same house all your life is something I cannot fathom!!!!!
This brings me to the question of where I belong to? Try as I might, I can never ever pin point any one place which I say is where I belong to. Every place I have ever lived in has been special for me. Never have I felt 'different' in any of these places. Never have I felt that I don't belong. Each place has been a wonderful experience, a learning experience, an enriching experience. Each place has played a huge part in moulding me, in shaping me into who I am today. Above all being in each place has made me realize with pride that I am AN INDIAN.
I am fiercely proud of being an Indian! My heart fills with pride when I think of the diversity which exists in my country, and when I talk of the diversity, it's not the diversity I have read about, it is the diversity I have experienced! Every place had its own cuisine, its own favourite snack, its own style of dressing, its own special sweets, its own language, its own popular mode of transport, its own popular eating joint, its own distinct market places. Amidst all these varied, distinct features of each place there has been this one common spirit, this one binding thread - that of these places being part of this country called India. Was it my coping mechanism that I looked at these places as an Indian, I don't know. What I know is that I've never been out of place in any of these places, I've always belonged!!!!
For me it truly is 'Incredible India'!
Pappa was in the Indian Army and my husband is in the Indian Navy. Being in the armed forces means postings every few years. Through all these years of my life - forty so far, I have lived at many places across India and, from these stations visited many more places.
The places I've lived at are many. Pune, Delhi, Jhansi, Bangalore, Cochin (now Kochi), Agartala, Baroda (now Vadodara), Bharuch, Surat, Bombay (now Mumbai), Lonavala, Vasco, Vishakaptnam, Chennai. That's many places and, few places I've lived in more than once!
For many people I meet it's hard to fathom how I can cope with so many moves. Probably, having lived in a particular house, a particular locality, attending the same school, having the same circle of friends, visiting the same markets/stalls/malls all their lives, it does make it hard for them to imagine a 'gypsy' life as many have told me. For me though living in the same place, the same house all your life is something I cannot fathom!!!!!
This brings me to the question of where I belong to? Try as I might, I can never ever pin point any one place which I say is where I belong to. Every place I have ever lived in has been special for me. Never have I felt 'different' in any of these places. Never have I felt that I don't belong. Each place has been a wonderful experience, a learning experience, an enriching experience. Each place has played a huge part in moulding me, in shaping me into who I am today. Above all being in each place has made me realize with pride that I am AN INDIAN.
I am fiercely proud of being an Indian! My heart fills with pride when I think of the diversity which exists in my country, and when I talk of the diversity, it's not the diversity I have read about, it is the diversity I have experienced! Every place had its own cuisine, its own favourite snack, its own style of dressing, its own special sweets, its own language, its own popular mode of transport, its own popular eating joint, its own distinct market places. Amidst all these varied, distinct features of each place there has been this one common spirit, this one binding thread - that of these places being part of this country called India. Was it my coping mechanism that I looked at these places as an Indian, I don't know. What I know is that I've never been out of place in any of these places, I've always belonged!!!!
For me it truly is 'Incredible India'!
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