I had travelled to India, for a bit of family fun ,catching up with some good old friends and a bit of sightseeing . Travelling in India for me is full of nostalgia and fun, yet extremely overwhelming and exhausting. It is never a leisure trip. Having been born and raised in India, my formative years were spent in India. I have many memories associated with India, some good and some not so good. I often think of life as a series of experiences and memories, like a large beautiful painting made with different splashes of colours and Brush strokes. Some strokes are crisscross, some not very clear, and then there are smudges of paints, some are vibrant and some a bit dark, but together they make a beautiful painting, without these colours and strokes, the canvass would be blank. So a trip to India is always a walk back in to the memory lane for me, with many fond memories and some not so fond ones and making some new memories on the way. It is a very emotional journey for me and I usually find myself in a perpetual state of frenzy with fraught emotions. I heavily rely on a set of friends for emotional support while I am in India. And on our way back home, I usually find myself saying to my husband , in a very crestfallen voice, ‘I need a holiday !!!!’ I love the country that I was born in and raised, but the country that I go to now, is alien to me. I have this place in my memory, which used to be my home, and then there is this place that I am visiting now, very different to my memory. I have changed as a person and the place that I am visiting now has changed. I am a person who has a birth country and home Country. I belong to both cultures, but in heart now I am a Londoner. Home to me means, London, I need my Victoria Sponge Cake or a Sticky Toffee pudding to perk up my spirits, Mind the Gap on a tube station is music to my ears, to be able to bolt to a museum as soon as I feel like is a fact I love, when I am away, I start missing the grey overcast sky of London . I love the fact that I am part of a city which is a multi cultural melting pot. When I feel like having a Masala Chai I could head in to any Curry house or head to East Ham for a Idli or head to Leicester Square for a steamed dumpling, or head to Turkish Street for a Turkish Tea and Biscuits.
“I think you travel to search and you come back home to find yourself there.”
―
Le Coin Des Bobby 
I have visited Gangai konda Cholapuram temple. Its truly amazing! Tamilnadu like most of India has changed a lot over the years. I guess it is inevitable. Ponniyin Selvan is among my favourite books too! No matter how many times I read it I always find it engaging!
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I agree , change is inevitable. Ponniyin Selvan is the only Tamil book I heave read, so it has a special place in heart, plus I have heard from my parents, the craze it had created when it first published as a weekly. There used to be a competition at both parents home, who would lay their hands on the magazine first and read and the person who had read was not allowed to give their views or opinions, until others in family had read 😁.
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It was re-published in Kalki magazine later and my mother and I used to used to wait for the weekly copy! I was hooked ever since! I love the characters.
Recently when visiting a temple in rasipuram, I met a weaver who was an admirer of king Rajaraja cholan. He had named his children Arul mozhi varman and Kundavai! I guess the craze still continues!
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Me too I love the characters. I am so happy to hear about the weaver who named his children Arul Mozhi Varman and Kundavai. I hope craze continues in to more generations. I am looking forward to the Movie Ponniyin Selvan by Mani Ratnam. hope he is able to do justice to the book.
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I have been to India twice, and this post reminds me of how vast the country is and how much more I need to see. Like you, I am now a Londoner (originally from Paris). Aren’t we lucky when can get the best of both worlds right on our Londony doorstep? Thanks for sharing with #CULTUREDKIDS
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I agree, we have the best of both worlds. I always tell my friends, London is like a tough nut, it’s tough to crack it open, but once you open it you find it has a soft and beautiful heart ❣, and it is hard not not be in fall in love with it. I loved your post Tale of Two cities. I just love Paris. I could go there any number of times and still feel I want to go there again. India is a vast country with each part being so different from each other , that’s what makes it so vibrant and colourful. I hope you go back to India. Thank you so much for stopping by.
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I was so fascinated to read your thoughts about returning to India but feeling that you’re more of a Londoner than an Indian these days, Usha. I spent seven months travelling around India and it was an exhilarating but also an exhausting experience – I can understand why you say you feel as though you need a holiday afterwards! These temples are really beautiful. I particularly loved the temples we saw in Southern India. Thanks for sharing on #farawayfiles
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Thanks Clare for stopping by and for understanding my exhaustion. Seven months travelling around in India, I can imagine it. It’s a vibrant country, a cacophony of senses, you either love it or hate it. I often associated home with family and relatives, what I have started to realise and understand home is where your heart is. I have no blood family in London or in UK, yet I feel at home in London. I am at heart a Londoner.
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It’s somewhere that I have yet to visit, but I will one day. Your writing really conjurs up what it must be like! 🙂 #Culturedkids
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Thanks Emma for stopping by. Hope you visit India, it’s an experience.
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Loved reading about your journey “home,” thank you for sharing your beautiful India. Have you seen the Ted talk by Taiye Selasi – “Don’t ask me where I’m from, ask me where I’m a local.” It speaks to your thoughts about feeling connected in more than one place. I definitely feel that way about Denmark after 4.5 years. Thank you so much for linking with #FarawayFiles. Cheers from Copenhagen.
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I am happy to know you enjoyed reading the post and could resonate with it . Interestingly a friend of mine as well recommended the Ted Talk to me . I watched it now, before replying to you. We as humans more connected than we realise. Thanks Erin, for stopping by and the Ted Talk recommendation.
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Visiting India is a full on experience. I love these buildings and didn’t know about them before, thank you for introducing me to them #CulturedKids
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So true India is a full on experience, it’s a sensory onslaught. I am glad you like buildings and happy to have introduced the building. There are many beautiful ancient architecture and historical monuments, which are worth a visit. Thank you so much for stopping by.
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India is so full of such incredible history. I too am fascinated by the dynasties that created these beautiful buildings are no longer. How times can change. I hope your return to London was full of cake! Wonderful post #culturedkids
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I have had lots of cakes 🍰 since my return. Need a bit of exercise to burn it off. 😁. The historical monuments and dynasties are so beautiful and have such compelling tales to tell. Thank you so much for stopping by and am glad you liked the post.
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I think there are two camps. One group of people love their home place and can’t wait to go back to visit. They seem blind to any changes. Perhaps it is the people that they enjoy re-visiting the most and do not see the sights changing. Then there is the other group who observe the changes and see that the place that was home is now foreign to them. I don’t like the places where I grew up. Seeing them once or twice in a lifetime is enough for me. In one’s adult hears, the changes in your person, have been influenced by the environment around where you live. I can understand that you long for your adopted home.
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Very well written article Madam.. Glad to know about the history of the magnificent temple from you.. 🙂
May I request your review on my article covering the beauty of Gangaikonda Cholapuram? I made a solo bike trip to this place and the experience was just surreal.. Hope you find it ok ..
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