Who wouldn’t want to
leave home? At least at the age of 10
when your younger brother took a toy that you loved most, you decide to leave
home. Or at the age of seventeen, you feel your parents are not agreeing to what
you say, you feel like moving out so that you can live the way you want. In my
case both these things happened but the reasons are different.
I was the elder son
to my parents and as you know, in Indian culture the role of Elder son is very
similar to the DC and marvel characters in Hollywood movies. So at the age of
10, when I received the admission offer for class 6 at Navodaya Vidyalaya, they
were convinced of my intellectual powers and this was the time to say Adieu. I
also accepted the offer as I felt away from home means more freedom. No early
wakeup alarms or no pressure of studies. It is like jao simran, jee le apni
zindagi offer. However, I was not aware of the Gurukul system until I reached
the campus. It was like a timetable not only for the classes, but also for the
entire day activities. Within 2 years, I said adieu to the system and came back
home.
The next set of
adventure of leaving home started 5 years later. This time it was in the form
of engineering college hostel. In the earlier tenure, I did not have access to
money and freedom, wherein the second one had those. First 3 years of
Engineering, I was outside the classes than inside. Movies, Computer Games,
Travel and if nothing, sleep full day in the room. Whenever I felt, all were
present in the class, I silently walked out of class believing a perfect system
is purely theoretical and it does not exist. Back to my DC/ marvel heroes,
great power comes with great responsibilities. The 4 yrs of freedom had the
responsibility of securing a decent job to survive, which made to the third
adventure of leaving home, starting in
Mumbai- the city that never stops
The day I reached
Thane Railways station, in Netravathy Express on a Diwali eve, my backpack was
filled with polymer textbooks and expectations. I could have at least got rid of
the former, if I did justice to my Engineering days. The change from village
boy to a metro adult was quite difficult. As in the stories of DC/Marvel heroes
here, the villain, who is my existential crisis- knew that I am the hero and I
need to fight back. The initial days of Mumbai life was tough. Working 12 hrs
per day for almost 7 days a week made me think whether I am staying in my 300
sqft one BHK with fellow colleagues or in the big shop floor filled with man,
machines and rubber products. At one point, despite all these odds, I started
to look at the brighter side. I enjoyed local train travels, had hangout with
friends at Marine drive, ate tons of vada pav and pav bhaji, took trekking trips
to outskirts of the city and so on. As the days passed by, the city started growing
in me and I realized, you can take yourself out of Mumbai, but never Mumbai out
of you.
6 years later, I
moved to Bangalore. This time, it was not leaving home, but to build my own
home. All these travels taught me something. It does not matter where you are
born, where you are travelled or where you are currently in, it is all about
where you are called local.
Also when you leave
home, its all about leaving your comfort zone and exploring for new things.
However, with all
the learning that I gained from my previous journeys, for sure, with the right
companion I have today, I can leave home for another adventure any time.
