Feels Like Home

Saturday morning, 6:55 a.m at Pune Station. Just alighted from the train (which was dot on time) and took in the sights and sounds. Felt good to be back here. Really good. There are places where you can get around by just having a feel of the place. You can move around on auto-pilot without any fear of being lost whatsoever. A place called home. The sights and sounds just come back to you and you feel as if you have never been away. In my case it was a case of coming back after just 3 months. All that jazz about change being the only constant remains just that. Jazz. The more things change, the more they remain the same. Irrespective of the number of changes around you, it is almost always a sense of déjà vu when you get back. And being back in my favourite city feels like no other. The ubiquitous auto driver trying to make a quick buck at the station by telling me how far my house actually is in as convincing a tone as he possibly can manage. And my reply reminding him that I still remember where I stay better than he does. The number of potholes has definitely gone down though. And I have the Commonwealth Youth Games to thank for that I suppose. The traffic I am sure would not have changed much, that much I am pretty sure of. But then, on a quiet Saturday morning, it is not exactly something to complain about. Getting my hands on my bike and being able to ride it after a forced break back in Joka feels just about awesome. The good old Caliber is still the same. I am going to be moving a lot in the coming week, that's for sure. Meeting up with old friends all gone their separate ways is an unavoidable and welcome routine that never changes. Will get to meet a lot of people this time round, except for my KPIT gang. Not much else to do this week, except tie-up a couple of loose ends. My idea of a perfect week.

A place called home. A city called Pune. One and the same. One that I consider mine.