There’s nothing like getting together with good friends to make you realize what really makes a place “home”. Sadly, it also reminds you how much you are going to miss all of them.

Thanks to Pooja and Sonali for organizing a farewell bash for me. It felt very special, and seeing all my close friends one last time was great.

It takes a minute to say hello and forever to say goodbye. I don’t especially care for goodbyes, never was any good at them, so I prefer “Till we meet again”.  Life’s not as short as we think and the world’s smaller than we imagine, so hopefully our paths will cross again. So till that time, I thank you all for being my family away from home, and wish you love, peace, happiness and prosperity.

Nothing makes the earth seem so spacious as to have friends at a distance; they make the latitudes and longitudes – Henry David Thoreau

So the decision has been made, to move back to the motherland. The “why” is difficult to explain, so lets just say that a change was imminent and leave it at that. I hope this change will provide the motivation to indulge more frequently in an activity that I enjoy, but have ignored for long, writing.

This is the start of something new, and hopefully, exciting and revitalizing. So I am determined (ignore the crossed fingers behind my back) to record the thoughts and events in my life from now on, in this, the most humble of blogs.

First up, Moving to the USA was so much easier!!! I had 3 pieces of luggage, a plane ticket and a mind buzzing with anticipation. Now, I have a plethora of “belongings” that hurt too much to leave behind. So every day is a constant struggle, trying to decide what to take back and what to dispose off. Obviously the monster TV, XBox and PS3 are on the top of the “take back” list, but what about the hundreds of books, collected over the past 5 years, languishing in my umpteen Ikea bookcases, that beckon to me with wistful glances and ruffling paper noises every time I walk past?

Then again, I can’t explain the constant craving to buy every gadget I can possibly get my hands on, before I leave the shores of the new world (of course, I blame Amazon for this, for the ridiculous ease of shopping).

Between all of this constant back and forth, there is the small matter of actually arranging the shipment of all this “important” stuff across the seven seas. If you’ve ever navigated the world of Air/ocean freight, I imagine you have an amused expression right now and almost feel sorry for me.

The next few days here will be a melange of dinner and coffee dates with friends, last minute raids on Ikea, Walmart and Macy’s, and a mad dash to eat at all of my favorite places before I leave.

Now, all that said and done, I am more excited about getting back than I thought I would (surprisingly). I guess coming home is always this way. I am looking forward to this and if you’re reading this in India, lets plan to meet up when I get there 🙂