The Feeling called Home

I've spent more than a year in the US now. This is my first experience of living in a foreign country, barring a short honeymoon trip to Malaysia. Just penning down my thoughts here.

1. Was there a culture shock after moving? Mostly not. The Indian entertainment market is replete with Hollywood movies, English language sitcoms and of course the Youtube channels. So it was fine, having grown up watching them all the while.

2. Seeing tens of Indians everywhere felt like I was almost home. Also, there are a handful of Indian grocery stores and several restaurants nearby, so pretty much everything is available in terms of Indian food.

3. The biggest cultural difference was courtesy! Smiling, nodding, wishing 'good morning' to strangers everywhere. As a part-introvert, I found it a little exhausting in the beginning, but got used to it over time. When I mentioned this to my friend back home, she giggled "We do not even smile at people we know, leave alone strangers." When I visited India for a few weeks, my brain automatically switched off this "courtesy" and went back to being grumpy-faced at strangers. 😂

4. As a woman I've felt a little more safe, there is overall less "creepiness/staring/objectification". (Arguments against this will not be entertained 😎)

5. Everything is so damn expensive in the US, some of them about 1000% more than back home. Why? Someone please explain the economics of it to me. The curious fashion shopaholic in me died a slow death. 

6. Cleanliness and orderliness is of course significantly better in the US. When I went back to visit India after a year, the biggest difference I observed was the huge traffic congestion and lack of road courtesy. Miles apart! 

7. Having a house-help for everything back home is one luxury that I'd taken for granted. And it's not just house-help/maid for everyday chores. There are some skills that we never learnt back home- like drilling a nail into the wall, replacing a light bulb, or maybe changing a car tyre. Well, eventually you're forced to learn that or pay a larger price for it. (I haven't still learnt them, but I will 😬. Necessity is the mother of invention.)

8. The weather! For the first time, I witnessed the four seasons- Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. In Chennai there were majorly 3 seasons- hot, hotter and hottest. 😃 Well, 'hot' is my comfort zone, for obvious reasons. So the initial months in the cold weather was a bit of a struggle, not unbearable though.

They say that when you move away from your home country (or place), you wish to go back home. And then when you come back home, it's not the same. And then you're never completely at home anywhere. I suppose that's the story of every 'immigrant', migrating between cities, states or countries. (or planets some day 🚀).

As a third generation Malayalee in Chennai, I've never been able to truly identify myself as a Malayalee or Tamilian; I've always been stuck in the middle, a little bit of this and a little bit of that, culturally. And now there are more smaller segments of me showing up.

All that said, the experiences that come with travel are enriching and the lessons that we learn as we go, can be life-changing. 

And let's not forget that eventually "home is where the heart is".