Home is where the heart is

As I was contemplating what to write about next while I had stepped out to get a breath of air, I came across a hoarding which said that the person in the picture was from Punjab and not from Mumbai. I then seemed to recall two other similar hoardings on my way home from the airport just a couple of days before.

The content was similar: one with a white man saying he was from Canada and not from Mumbai and another with a lady in a traditional Bengali sari, stating the obvious -that she was from Bengal - not Mumbai.

While of course I wondered what the hoardings were trying to say, one cannot help but acknowledge that cities are the hub where people from all over came in search of livelihood, prospects and dream fulfillment and while many stay on for years not all come to make it their home.

Then again, do the people born and brought up in these big cities feel at home here?! What is it that is slowly but surely alienating us (especially as we grow older) from the metropolises?

The crowds, the traffic, the noise and pollution are contributing factors but for many - even if they don’t realize it – it is fatigue. They are in a race, without wanting to be a part of it and tired of it but don’t know their way out.

Yet they hardly ever take the time to reconnect with themselves and their heart’s true longings. After spending long hours at work and commuting and the weekends meeting demands on their time from family, friends and social obligations not much remains for silent self contemplation.

Reconnecting with self even for a few moments everyday could lead one home. After all home is where the heart is and if we take the time to truly figure out where our heart belongs we could lead richer lives.

It could be in simple pleasures like a walk on the beach as you feel the sand under your feet or watching the stars as you fall sleep in a tent on a mountaintop camping over a weekend, or doing something you enjoy and which is something just for yourself (even if it may seem selfish).

It is the little pleasures of life that will help you cope with the race and who knows maybe help you get away from it. Look around and you will come across examples of individuals who have successfully gotten away from the race and are leading successful and HAPPY personal as well as professional lives.