The city has shaped them. With people around them they find comfort and a sense of home. Far from their parents, language and culture.

The Anthropologists

But just imagine our own parents, he said. Imagine our hometowns where everyone is in everyone’s business. What would it be like for an auntie to say she’s setting boundaries and please don’t rely on her for family meals from now on?
The auntie uprising! Manu said.
Good for her, I said. But I could see Ravi’s point.
And I secretly hoped those aunties would remain as they were, protecting an ancient order.

Even though you feel free of all the obligations, you don’t want them to change, as they are what reminds you of home. I felt this sense of uneasiness while reading, it was too familiar or relatable. However much you consider it your own, it’ll keep reminding you otherwise. It’s the mundane in our daily life which keeps us alive. The local tea shop you go to, the small talk you make with the cleaning lady. What you long for is familiarity and a sense of self, you want to believe that there is a world where you are not just a foreigner. You can’t be a native to a place you were not born or brought up in.

For last few years I’ve lived life on default mode. A new place and an older me might have more control or a newer form of naïveté. To look at my life in a newer fashion. There would be a lot of things to reminisce and much more to look forward to.

I haven’t completed the book, neither have moved yet. I’m looking forward to good things in both worlds.