India Uncut

India this is for you. I never thought I would ever miss you, my homeland, in this manner with an omnipresent thought that would just not let me focus anywhere. India the land of water shortage, the land of power cuts, the land of pollution, the land of traffic jams, the land of zero security, the land of stray animals. I never thought I would crave for your negativities, for your imperfections, for your inabilities. I was so glad to be out of you but it seems you never got out of me! After spending 8 years of my dream life, my soul wants to wake up, it wants to be stirred up again, to appreciate the happy cocoon it wants to again experience the rough heat. India, my love, in our relationship, you turned out to be the selfless lover who could let go and me, the self indulgent one who just keeps running back to you to re-energize and run away again. India, you were my home, with all its inadequacies and helped me stay grounded with reality and this foreign land acted like a gracious host, who provided me with every comfort I could dream of. But as one poet says, However, humble, and however poor, Still Home is Home, when comes the trying hour, Still Home is Home, to those who know its worth, Still Home is Home
I miss my home but where is it now? After spending a decade away from home, in a place where we realized our dreams, we are not sure where exactly is home. Is it India? The land of lip-smacking delicious array of food, the land of bollywood, the land of spices, the land of sadhus, the land of bindi the red dot on foreheads, the land of namastey, the land of bangles, the land of sarees, the land of Diwali, the land of "take it easy", the land of passionate cricket, the land of ironies. This one was for you India, mine or not.