Aches and Longings
All it took was a random Instagram post of an acquaintance who was reading a vernacular book. A rush of sorrow resurfaced yet again, making me wonder. Can you miss a place as much (if not more than) as you might miss a person you dearly love?
This feeling came to me at different points of time, and in varying intensities. It happens when I see visuals of Nungambakam, where I spent five of my most formative academic years. It rushes over me when I listen to "Roja". It is there when I watch "Mouna Ragam" or when I have a sudden urge to write something in Tamil. The intensity is a lot more when I think of my parents back home - which then makes me wonder, what is "home"?
Is "home" only the place which has seen me grow up and where I have lived for most of my life? Or could it also be the place which saw my personal transformation, although I have been here only for a short while? Or is "home" made up of the people who reside there, like we hear most often? In that case, aren't both places "home"? Can a person even have multiple homes?
Images of the Central railway station, mentions of Parrys corner or Anna Nagar in movies, Illayaraja songs, Madras Tamil, friends who became family, and the family I was born with - all contribute to the ache and longing I feel for Chennai. It will always be home. It will always be like a person I love and miss dearly, and from whom I am separated due to circumstances. They say "Home is where the heart is". Is my heart then torn?
This feeling came to me at different points of time, and in varying intensities. It happens when I see visuals of Nungambakam, where I spent five of my most formative academic years. It rushes over me when I listen to "Roja". It is there when I watch "Mouna Ragam" or when I have a sudden urge to write something in Tamil. The intensity is a lot more when I think of my parents back home - which then makes me wonder, what is "home"?
Is "home" only the place which has seen me grow up and where I have lived for most of my life? Or could it also be the place which saw my personal transformation, although I have been here only for a short while? Or is "home" made up of the people who reside there, like we hear most often? In that case, aren't both places "home"? Can a person even have multiple homes?
Images of the Central railway station, mentions of Parrys corner or Anna Nagar in movies, Illayaraja songs, Madras Tamil, friends who became family, and the family I was born with - all contribute to the ache and longing I feel for Chennai. It will always be home. It will always be like a person I love and miss dearly, and from whom I am separated due to circumstances. They say "Home is where the heart is". Is my heart then torn?
(Photo courtesy: Splash.com)
Comments
Post a Comment