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..
12/15/2005 12:35 PM
Anonymous said…
Very beautifully put - and so from the heart.
12/16/2005 8:14 AM
Anonymous said…
Will ye no come back again?
12/16/2005 11:11 AM
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
12/17/2005 2:02 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Outsourcing - the new wave !!

First they outsourced their customer service, then their market research analysis, then teaching and then some more....... Well, if Time is to be believed, the day is not far when we have the US Army outsourcing its 'war on terror' to where else ? - INDIA !! What do these "soldiers" get - US Citizenship. According to "Fast Track" in the August 7, 2006 issue of Time. "When President Bush visited Walter Reed Army Medical Center last week to witness three U.S. soldiers seriously wounded in Iraq become U.S. citizens, he said that "if somebody's willing to risk their lives for our country, they ought to be full participants in our country." It was an executive order signed by Bush four years ago that allowed this trio, and 35,000 like them, to petition for U.S. citizenship as soon as they donned a U.S. military uniform, instead of waiting the customary three years. So far, 26,000 of them have achieved that goal. Be it patriotism or the easier p...
Read more

The Dragon vs the Tiger

Image
China may win the sprint, but India will win the marathon. I am often asked, the Dragon Vs Tiger comparisons between China and India. India is always equated with a submissive tiger (or worse, as an elephant !!!). It is true that China heads a great manufacturing empire. Foreign companies pour billions of dollars in China. Everyone from car companies to turbine manufacturers wants a heads-up in China by establishing their own manufacturing concerns there. Foreign investment, both direct and indirect, coupled with availability of plenty of natural resources and cheap labor has propelled the 'Made in China' tag to each and every part of our lives. It is extremely tough to obtain any item anywhere nowadays which does not have the 'Made in China' tag. The main question to be asked it " What if 21st century dollars are being put into a 20th century power? " Politically, China is controlled with an iron fist by communists who want to maintain the status quo at all ...
Read more

Dekh Sako to Dekh Lo, Lekin Hathoda maare bina

Blog Title Inspiration - Rediff India Review Standard Disclaimers - All the content of this post is not owned by the author of the post, it was written by his Alter Ego. Please read the external links at your own risk, Author or his alter ego not responsible for any mental trauma associated with reading too much about the Great Prof Better late than never I have been a silent spectator to the entire IIPM issue and the virtual war it has unleashed. There is no defense of IIPM and its high handed techniques. To summarize Patrix (of DesiPundit fame), the core issue here is FREEDOM. In this age where we increasingly take this simple word for granted, what IIPM is doing and has been trying to do is to take away one thing we have which is truly ours and that is FREEDOM, particularly freedom of expression , freedom of choice, the ability and the opportunity to point out flaws in an argument without losing sense of rationality. Victor Frankl once pointed out; everything can be taken fr...
Read more