Coming home...to Life!

I am back home…back where I belong…this thought haunts me every time I walk the streets of my city…the city has its own strange way of welcoming me back home. Me, who had once run away from her…every time I walk her roads, every time her rains drench me, every time her river captures me with its beauty, I feel welcomed by outstretched arms…the friend one can return to after years of silence…

I hated being away from the city…though running away was my decision, my choice…but distance does make the heart grow fonder…and how! I’ve missed waking up to the city as much as I have missed going to sleep in her arms. Any remote reference to my city brought out a sigh…oh Calcutta! No one beats you my love…no one beats my love for you… I am the child who makes a mistake and runs away in fear of punishment but comes back hungry for love... I am the lover who breaks up only to realise the undying love in her heart… I am the friend who breaks a dozen promises but will never leave your side…

I wasn’t away from you for a very long time…but in being away I fell in love with you all over again… I see you in a new light… I see you with a new vision… and I fall in love with you every day… you intoxicate me like no other…sometimes I wonder what is it that makes me crazy about you? Your much-criticised ability to not change? Your invisible ability to accommodate the old, the new, the lover and the hatred? Your spirit? Your pride, your culture? Or is it your ability to love your children…near, far, lover, critic…equally?

Every time I step out of the city, I long to come back to you…every time I catch a glimpse of your Ganga, I know why I was homesick… I crib for a vacation… I crib for a break…but the best feeling is always boarding the train/flight/bus that brings me back to you…just to know I will walk your streets again…just to know your rains will drench me to the core…just to know that you will wait for me with outstretched arms…no matter how many promises I break…no matter how far I go…