CHAPTER 4

  HOME

  It was a sunny day; I was dragging my luggage along the blocks of Amar colony to reach the block where I was living. When I found the small pink building where I will have to spend my rest of the days in Delhi, I prayed to God to make this place a second home for me and that’s what exactly happened.

  Students from LSR mostly occupied it. They were second years, just like me, but from different departments. I took a double sharing room. It was a pretty big room with enormous windows facing the balcony and the park. Even though it was double sharing, the other bed was vacant, and I was happy because I got the entire room by myself. The owner of the hostel was an aunty named Jaya and her husband Prabhakar and they were two old couples and they lived with us on the same floor. Prabhakar uncle always used to work, so mostly he will be out of town. So, Jaya aunty used to be there to keep an eye on all of us and the hostel. Jaya aunty is very kind and sweet that I never felt any discomfort living there. Three other girls were staying there was Isha, Jenya and Praba. Even though I wasn't close to them at the beginning, everything started to change after two months. We became like a family. The hostel was like a home for us. Anyone from outside they will feel like there is a granny there living along with her granddaughters. I never went to college most of the days I used to be in hostel doing self-study. The hostel differed from other hostels or student accommodations nearby. Jaya aunty never put an advertisement for this hostel. Maybe that’s why only fewer students used to come here for living and I feel like this made the place a home rather than any building.

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  We four used to cook together, party together and used to talk for hours without getting bored. They would frequently prepare North Indian dishes for me, and with each passing day, my affection for North Indian cuisine grew. Time flew so fast that I didn’t even realize how the four months went by. Like my papa said, I was more in love with Delhi. The winters of Delhi made me shop my winters clothes for the first time in my life. In my hometown, I never experienced winter. The hot ‘gajar halwa’ became my everyday snacks. But somewhere in between all of this I do missed my home where the streets and houses will be decorated with Christmas stars and light but I was waiting for the new year to come to experience the new fresh turns of life.