No Place Like Home!

You may enjoy hogging the limelight at your workplace or spending quality time with your friends in college, but at the end of the day, there's no other place as tranquil and soothing as those familiar walls between which you grew up!... As another grueling semester ended, I was on my way back home, tired and totally exhausted. But the closer I'd get to my destination, the lighter my feet would feel. It's amazing how the simple thought of returning home can cure those heavy eyelids, which had been caused by a countless number of sleepless nights before the end semester exams!...

I wished that our flight could land on the roof of our very house, troubled by the thought of having to spend another half a day to travel from the Santa Cruise Airport in Mumbai to my home in Pune. I was being accompanied by my father and nonetheless, we boarded a Shivneri Volvo bus bound for home. The joy I felt when the bus hit the Express Highway, was simply indescribable. That six lane road, which had been witness to so many great adventures we'd had in the past, flooded my mind with fond memories. It's distant curvature seemed to be welcoming us like how the Spartans used to be welcomed back after winning a fierce battle!... 

We finally made it home and what a great feeling it was to see our family greet us with their ever so serene but excited smiles!... That same old shoe rack, which I had pummeled with shoes for almost a decade, the same red and black carpet, on which I had spilled tea on countless occasions in the past, all the familiar paintings which adorned the walls, with some new additions, and most importantly my own room, with the same custom bed and study table, which still bore some of the pen marks I'd left on them a few months back; it all gave me a feeling of nostalgia like I had never had before! I just hugged my mother and granny, took a deep breath and sat down .....!

After ages, we had finally got the opportunity to sit around the same round table and have tea and snacks together, just like the good old days. My mother asked me if I was beginning to miss college already, but what she failed to realize was that all I'd been thinking for the past few days was about that very moment, when the whole family would be reunited!...

No matter what we do and where we're from, there is truly no place like home. At home, we live within the love and happiness of our family members, not having to obey the boring college and office timings. We make our own schedule and catch up on things we like to do. We get a little time of serenity and true peace, to regroup and recapitulate everything that has gone down in the recent past. We reflect on our past actions and decide what is to be done further ahead. But most of all, we get to eat all our favorite stuff, meet up with old friends from all over the country and get loads of sleep, which had been unkindly snatched away from us in college!...

Luckily, my summer intern is in my hometown itself, so that now I can look forward to spending the next two months with my family and friends, living at home! I'm happier than I've ever been, having handled all my business successfully and returning home with a clear mind. The last semester was the most eventful one for me yet, in which I had taken part in almost every fest, officially completed two extra-curricular projects, worked hard towards my academics, had my summer intern granted pretty early on, and it ended with an explosion of emotions with our institute finally being converted into an IIT, after a long and difficult political struggle, in which all the students and professors had played a pivotal role!... It couldn't have ended in a better way!... So, until the next academic year guys; happy holidays!!!...