A gentle breeze is playing with the leaves of the ash tree while somewhere above, a pigeon is cooing contently. It is 3 o'clock in the afternoon and I'm sitting at the kitchen table, sipping a cup of Twinings Tea. If you walked into the house right now, you would think we had lived here for years. The truth is, we moved in just three days ago.
Having enjoyed our intial days as tourists in hotels in Central London, we were getting restless for space. The novelty of living out of suitcases and searching for new restaurants for every meal was wearing off. Since we had already received the keys to the flat, we decided to move in one day ahead of schedule. We had opted for a fully furnished flat instead of a bigger house considering the temporary nature of our stay here. In many ways, this move was not the same as all of the earlier ones. And there have ben quiet a few of those.
Moving has become a recurring event in our family. When we meet new people and talk about our past, the seven towns we have lived in and stories about our moves become engaging topics of conversation. Since the first move from India to the US, with only the proverbial suitcases in hand, we found ourselves packing and moving every 2-3 years. We have lived on the western and eastern coasts of US and also the mid-west. We moved across continents for a two year stint in India, before coming back to the US and now, we are here in the United Kingdom. When we bought our first house, we moved all our possessions with the help of some well meaning friends and Subway sandwiches. As the years went by, things started adding up. We have moved our belongings on an 18 wheeler truck across the country, in a giant container on a ship to India and this time in sturdy cardboard boxes for air cargo.
This move feels different; temporary and liberating. We have a timeline here and all decisions are based on that. We are not looking to settle down in the best house we can buy and decorate it with our style of furniture and appliances. We need the essentials to cook, clean and live comfortably for one year and plan all the trips we can possibly take. So, we brought pillows and comforters and toys with us so that we would have some familiar things from 'home' and ordered the rest on Amazon. This feels like an extended sleep-over. Settling in did not take more than a weekend.
My family moved a lot when I was a child. I did not grow up in the town I was born in. In fact, I did not live there till I turned 16. Living in different states with different cultures and languages made me appreciate the diversity in Indians. I became fluent in 5 languages. I don't have trouble talking to strangers or making friends. A life like this makes you a constant traveler and that helps you take risks, give people more leeway than you normally would and hence be less judgmental. Great for forming relationships!
However, I miss the feeling of belonging to a place. I am jealous of people who can call themselves native Punekars, or New Yorkers. I have roots but they are aerial, branching out in search of light and water and thriving wherever they find it. I am from nowhere yet I belong everywhere. Maybe that is why I try to live each day the best I can because I don't know when and where I will move to next.
Moving has become a recurring event in our family. When we meet new people and talk about our past, the seven towns we have lived in and stories about our moves become engaging topics of conversation. Since the first move from India to the US, with only the proverbial suitcases in hand, we found ourselves packing and moving every 2-3 years. We have lived on the western and eastern coasts of US and also the mid-west. We moved across continents for a two year stint in India, before coming back to the US and now, we are here in the United Kingdom. When we bought our first house, we moved all our possessions with the help of some well meaning friends and Subway sandwiches. As the years went by, things started adding up. We have moved our belongings on an 18 wheeler truck across the country, in a giant container on a ship to India and this time in sturdy cardboard boxes for air cargo.
This move feels different; temporary and liberating. We have a timeline here and all decisions are based on that. We are not looking to settle down in the best house we can buy and decorate it with our style of furniture and appliances. We need the essentials to cook, clean and live comfortably for one year and plan all the trips we can possibly take. So, we brought pillows and comforters and toys with us so that we would have some familiar things from 'home' and ordered the rest on Amazon. This feels like an extended sleep-over. Settling in did not take more than a weekend.
My family moved a lot when I was a child. I did not grow up in the town I was born in. In fact, I did not live there till I turned 16. Living in different states with different cultures and languages made me appreciate the diversity in Indians. I became fluent in 5 languages. I don't have trouble talking to strangers or making friends. A life like this makes you a constant traveler and that helps you take risks, give people more leeway than you normally would and hence be less judgmental. Great for forming relationships!
However, I miss the feeling of belonging to a place. I am jealous of people who can call themselves native Punekars, or New Yorkers. I have roots but they are aerial, branching out in search of light and water and thriving wherever they find it. I am from nowhere yet I belong everywhere. Maybe that is why I try to live each day the best I can because I don't know when and where I will move to next.
No comments:
Post a Comment