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That old home...

A House. A Home. An Abode. An Apartment. An Address. These are some words how we refer to our place of stay. The place we live in. I wonder is it all that is there to this place made up with brick and mortar. What exactly is it? Why is it that we toil all our lives to have a roof over our heads but don't think that the earning is required for creating a home. Perhaps if we think this way, work would have a different meaning all together.  

Anyway coming to where I started, what is a home? Honestly for me it’s my sacred heaven – its me. I have lived in several houses, apartments etc. but have always aimed at making it ‘my home’. For me ‘my home’ is not just certain sq fts or floor or walls or address etc. It has to have a character. A very strong one at that!! It should have the warmth and calm to sooth any heart and mind that stays here. It should have that longing and the charm to help people who belong here, find their way and come back. It should have enough space to absorb all sorrows and troubles and let one breathe in peace and tranquility.

I truly believe in these. So when I see people just randomly buying stuff that’s in or following décor trends that are in vogue, or going for the 'in' minimalistic look (out of lack of funds or sheer laziness…god knows) etc. I often think to myself, is it how a home should be? And then I feel maybe that’s the reason why we are constantly looking for getaways and trying to keep up with the latest - that constant thing about going out for a change. Right from kids to adults most of us spend the maximum waking hours out of our homes and yet come weekend and we again plan to go out for a change. Why can’t we experience the home for a change? Is it because we are not able to create that world to stay-in? Or just that we fail to make an effort at making a home. This is something which makes me look for relaxing within than outside.

I am sure I am not the only one in experiencing this.  If you come to think of it, home is the only place on this earth that really witnesses the real you and me. Our deepest and most honest feelings are expressed within the confines of our room, our home. Relationships build and break within homes. People either leave home or come back home. Home is not just walls and ceiling and balconies. It’s the special nooks and corners that help you unwind. Can you ever think of your loved ones in isolation – without the setting of a home? Think hard, some of our fondest memories are of rushing back from school to the smell of Ma cooking the favourite meal (emanating from a kitchen), grandfather sitting in that wooden chair, grandmother dozing in the warmth of the morning sun near the window, the identifiable ringing of the bell announcing the arrival of Papa back from office, siblings fighting on the rugs and the beds, pacing the room – burning the midnight oil – before exams, sharing the bed with brother and sister etc. Every memory capable of tugging the heart is associated with home. And yet very few think of putting together things to make that home or feel the need to create that place where one looks forward to coming back.  

Most of us spend our entire life acquiring properties and addresses but fail to create a home. For me the perfect example of someone who creates a home is a bird. For me the idea of ‘my home’ is always inspired by a bird. How they pick up twigs and leaves (and perfect ones) for making their nest. Wait for ages; sift through all the dried leaves and branches to get the right shape and size. Nothing is out of place and each and everything that goes into making that nest are assorted personally. That is how a home can be made in my eyes. The only one who can value your home and build it in a way that becomes an extension of you is – YOU. 

So what are you waiting for – start making a home that speaks of you; smells of you; looks like you....has you written all over it.

 Someday I would like to build a home that could be referred to as.....oh that old house down the lane.

 Ma

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