~ Reflections ~

What is it that makes home feel like home? That makes one come back to it ? I know there are some physical aspects in a house that make it home ..  But IT IS finally, the people who make a house feel like home... People who talk, communicate, are frank with each other...infact I think each person has their own wish list... For someone who likes the banter at home, I've suddenly started to despise OTT and all devices even more... Nowadays. I often walk into a house where each person is attached (read: glued) to their own respective devices...grrrrrr..... I find that my home is missing ?!? Radio silence ....

There is a lot said of a House & a Home.. what must be and shouldn't be... But it is as much our choices in life, as much as what we keep at home.. कैसा हो घर का वास्तु  ~ स्वर्गीय अटल बिहारी वाजपेयी घर चाहे कैसा भी हो.. उसके एक कोने में.. खुलकर हंसने की जगह रखना.. सूरज कितना भी दूर हो.. उसको घर आने का रास्ता देना.. कभी कभी छत पर चढ़कर.. तारे अवश्य गिनना.. हो सके तो हाथ बढ़ा कर.. चाँद को छूने की कोशिश करना . अगर हो लोगों से मिलना जुलना.. तो घर के पास पड़ोस ज़रूर रखना.. भीगने देना बारिश में.. उछल कूद भी करने देना.. हो सके तो बच्चों को.. एक कागज़ की किश्ती चलाने देना.. कभी हो फुरसत,आसमान भी साफ हो.. तो एक पतंग आसमान में चढ़ाना.. हो सके तो एक छोटा सा पेंच भी लड़ाना.. घर के सामने रखना एक पेड़.. उस पर बैठे पक्षियों की बातें अवश्य  सुनना.. घर चाहे कैसा भी हो..  घर के एक कोने में.. खुलकर हँसने की जगह रखना. चाहे जिधर से गुज़रिये मीठी सी हलचल मचा दिजिये, उम्र का हरेक दौर मज़ेदार है अपनी उम्र का मज़ा लिजिये.   ज़िंदा दिल रहिए जनाब,  ये चेहरे पे उदासी कैसी वक्त तो बीत ह...

All of us work... some on our own free will, and some for the corporate world, and a lucky few who manage to achieve both... While I am pondering how to best do the work at hand, I often wonder about the choice to be made... whether to the best I can do with the one opportunity I have to prove myself, or to do a good job leaving some space and energy for other things lined up... Some might argue that every job should be done with an attempt to achieve perfection, and only then do we come close to achieving something worthwhile.... at the risk of sounding lackadaisical, putting your heart and soul into everything at hand is very exhausting....  So I am always left wondering where to give in my 100%... but the balance will get nothing at all....  So much for work - life balance !!!

Home coming is a funny feeling.. We get used to where we are, that where we were seems new again.... never the less, every thing has a memory attached... some sweet, some bitter, and some bittersweet... Can't say I don't miss where I've come from.... but then, I've realized that I miss this too.... No matter how much suffering you went through, you never wanted to let go of those memories. ~ Haruki Murakami

Read this somewhere... It struck a chord somewhere... As the dream of most parents I had acquired a degree in Software Engineering and joined a company based in USA, the land of braves and opportunity. When I arrived in the USA, it was as if a dream had come true. Here at last I was in the place where I want to be. I decided I would be staying in this country for about Five years in which time I would have earned enough money to settle down in India. My father was a government employee and after his retirement, the only asset he could acquire was a decent one bedroom flat. I wanted to do some thing more than him. I started feeling homesick and lonely as the time passed. I used to call home and speak to my parents every week using cheap international phone cards. Two years passed, two years of Burgers at McDonald's and pizzas and discos and 2 years watching the foreign exchange  rate getting happy whenever the Rupee value went dow...