The Journey Home

The journey home
Is never too long
Your heart arrives before the train
The journey home
Is never too long
Some yesterdays always remain
I'm going back to where my heart was light
When my pillow was a ship I sailed through the night
The journey home
Is never too long
When open arms are waiting there
The journey home
Is never too long
There's room to love and room to spare
I want to feel the way that I did then
I'll think my wishes through before I wish again
Not every road you come across
Is one you have to take
No, sometimes standing still can beThe best move you ever make

The journey home
Is never too long
One helps to heal the deepest pain
The journey home
Is never too long
Your heart arrives before the train.

(Song from ‘Bombay Dreams’)
It has been four long, sometimes frustrating, sometimes unbelieving, every day a new journey, but I am finally heading home. Not home, where I live, but home where the heart is. Since January 2002, I have spent many days on end staring at the calendar, enjoyed joys and sorrows, sometimes alone, sometimes with people, all waiting for this day when I would return back home. Having been in Virginia for so long, this feels like the home. I enjoy the feeling of having my own space, of knowing exactly where everything is. I have had a lot of happy memories here. The things that will always stay with me are not necessarily the wild nights out guzzling vodka or the Hokie football games, brilliant as those where. The strongest memories I have are those of a simpler, intangible nature – the change of the colors in fall, the walks home from the parking lot to the apartment, the daily grind of traffic with time to myself. There are a host of small moments that have stayed with me, and that I wish I could somehow bottle up and preserve, so that would be fresh in my mind forever. Four long years ago, I was eagerly anticipating the adventures to come. I longed or adventure, for excitement, for the kinds of challenges that are going to stretch and shape me as a person, and push me to my limits. Even though my heart is far away from my true home, I am ready to come back now.

India, here I come.

Comments

Anonymous said…
oh, how i wish i was going back too...the only thing is, i can't, cos iv just gotten here 6 months ago...
i know exactly what you mean- i loved it when the leaves changed colors, and cried silent tears when they died... when i am alone, walkin on shaded paths(which have, now, become snowy slushy mucky and slippery)... i wonder what kind of temporary insanity brought me here... can't wait to get back home..
Anonymous said…
Very beautifully put - and so from the heart.
Anonymous said…
Will ye no come back again?
Ujval Gandhi said…
[lost_thoughts] Thanks for your comments. I fully understand your thoughts, in my case, the temporary insanity has stretched for five long years, it is funny to think that each one of us misses home more once we are outside home, truly, home is where the heart is.

[sighle mcc.] Thanks for your comments.

[anon] I am coming back to US, i am one of those breeds that pine to come back home but cant

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