Returning Home, a true story

I carry forward the old adage of Home is where the Heart is  with a little twist and this is a true story about me. It is one of those moments in my life when I learnt something new but lost out on a opportunity to be part of big multi-national tech co. However as said above, I came to know the real meaning of house after I experienced it.

The year was 1997 and I was that 20 years younger. You know how it is when you are in your 20s. The world is at your feet and you feel like you are riding the waves. 

However that is also the time when we take our home for granted. How we wish that our parents leave us alone at our house and go some place, so we can call our friends, we can party, we can watch all those NSFW videos that we were so curious about.

In short, we dont realise the importance of our House and the role it plays in building our character. I came to realise that, but only after a agonizing three month wait.

To start with, I got a job offer with a MNC in Bengaluru and with a pay in four figures. I was excited, I was happy and jubilant not because I would be joining a MNC but because I would be going far far from my home and I would be doing anything I wished, I would be spending time the way I liked and I would be partying hard.

Soon I joined the MNC, everything started of on a grand scale. I made new friends in Bengaluru, learned about the watering holes situated on M.G.Road and was having a whale of a time. My office hours started at 9.30 to 5.30 and after that it was fun all the way. 

Sadly, it took only a week for me to get back to Earth. Slowly I started getting bored with the pubs and the partying. Melancholy and home sickness started to set in. 

I missed my house! In those days calling up long distance was costly, there were no mobiles and no PCOs. You had to go to the friendly neighborhood baniya to make a STD call and he charged exorbitant price for STD calls.

Slowly the STD calls started pinching my pockets, I missed my home, my parents, my mothers food and everything related to Mumbai. I missed Gate of India, I missed watching movies in Regal or Excelsior. I pretty much missed everything. So much so, that it had an effect on my health. I slowly started loosing weight and the pep in life.

I continued in my sorry state for three months and then one day I just snapped. I decided to tender resignation as I just could not face another day in Bengaluru. 

Very next day I tendered my resignation. The management was happy with my work so offered my added salary and perks but I was hell bent on going home.

Finally they acceded to my request and let me go. It was 3.30 pm when the acceptance letter was in my hands. I immediately booked a air ticked back to Mumbai at 5.30 am in the morning. Just shows how desperate I was to get back to my home.

Finally next day morning I caught the flight home and reached Mumbai. The affect of Mumbai's sweet smell was that, I again started feeling alive the moment I stepped out of the landing gear on Mumbai soil.

I immediately hailed a cab and got back home. Mom had prepared my favourite dish for lunch. I just gobbled up everything she placed on my plate. That day, I didnt party, didnt go anywhere.  I just sat with my parents in my house. We talked and talked into the late night.

It felt good to be back. It felt human and it filled me with optimism for my life. Sure I missed a grand opportunity to make it big in a MNC and perhaps go to the United States, but I learnt a very important lesson in those three months.

Heart is where the home is.

This is a entry for the Indiblogger contest being held by Housing.com. Hope you liked it