Feels like it was yesterday that I hugged my grand father goodbye at the airport, all excited to board the first flight of my life… I’d lost count of the number of times I’d heard him proudly tell our relatives, (who already knew, of course) that I’d soon be off to America. That was that was exactly three years and twelve days ago. Clad in a salwar- kameez with a bindi on my forehead and not to miss the flowers, I was any typical Indian bride eager to join her husband of four and a half months, in the land of opportunities – America!
Well, I got there finally, a little sad, a little scared, and of course, a lot happy to see my husband of four and a half months, who I’d actually known only for fifteen days. I tried to settle down to my new surroundings. The first few days flew by. There was just too much catching-up to do. The next few days also flew by… Then came the next few days - terrible! I was nostalgic. I missed home. I missed India - the crowded streets, the noisy traffic, the roads without lanes, children running about, haggling vendors selling stuff… There’s definitely a lot more "life" out there.
Here, in the land of opportunity everything’s so mechanical. Something's missing. There’s just no life. At times there’s nothing to look forward to. “You will get used to all this, in fact you might even like it better than India,” a friend said. I listened to her skeptically. It was ironic to think how I was sitting at home, lost and all alone, missing “home” while my folks back in India would be happily chatting to some neighbor about how lucky I was to be in the US.
Today, it’s three years and twelve days and here I am, not unlucky, after all. After many months of “settling down”, I am beginning to feel a little, only a little “at home”. However, I still miss India! I’m learning to live with it, though. Both, my husband and I hope to go back home some day. Looking back, I would say I have traveled quite some way.
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