Okay, fam!
Long time. Real long time, I know. So time, as always has done a thing today, and I too joined it in celebrating what it had achieved.
I went to a souvenir shop to buy a souvenir for myself, for the city I’m a resident of. Why? You ask? Or why is this even a special event to record it here, you ask?
Having been to souvenir shops and buying a dozen souvenirs for almost everyone I’ve met in my entire life, this day holds a really special feeling, simply because of the fact that today, I decided to gift myself one. I decided that to acknowledge little milestones, it is okay to have little souvenirs.
Five whole years in this beautiful home-city that I call my second home, and trust me when I say that home away from homes are often considered secondary when compared to the home that we were born and raised in. Of course, I, too, was in the same herd until today.
Why are the homes that we make for ourselves, or the homes that make us rediscover ourselves, or the homes give us the immense potential and remarkable life instances to resonate to our roots considered secondary?
Don’t worry! I was not just going to spill the beans. The very reason behind me putting this out here is purely because of self-reflections on many levels. If you had asked me even a year ago, to choose between my hometown and my hometown that I made for myself, away from home, I’d have told my hometown, in a heartbeat.
But today, I realize that this time away from my roots actually made me more closer and curious about it. Once the inquisitiveness arises, we research and develop, and analyze in every possible way to connect better. This way, I understood that it was my second home that made me truly appreciate my hometown for all its glory, both sung and unsung.
One beautiful example to show how this reflection happened to me is in connecting myself with the most said tagline about my hometown, Madras.
Madras, a costal city in the south of Indian subcontinent, located in the state of Tamilnadu, is often referred to as “Vandhaarai vaazha vaikkum Tamilnadu”. Being born, raised, and practically having those Mad Madras genes in my body, I didn’t understand the intensity of this very tagline.
But being an immigrant in a country far away from my homeland, in a continent that is miles away from home, I truly and deeply believe how beautiful and special my home was, if it’s the immigrants that have given it such a responsible tagline. Not that this is less when compared to home, but I would, without a second thought place my hometown as a pedestal and a benchmark when it comes to certain aspects of hospitality!
Having reaped the benefits of two best worlds, for the past five years, my heart is in immense gratitude and joy!
There are homes, cities, and families that make you and then, there are homes, cities, and families that you make for yourself, only to realize home is where there is warmth, after all. 🙂
Testimony to happyness. 
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