Moving Back

July 9, 2013

A happy day! Siyona also gets admitted to GEA. Kshitij has already settled back in happily with his old friends and school.  It has been less than a month since we landed in Mumbai, but now I feel as though I never went away. Everything is just the way it was, it is only me who has changed in a lot of ways in the last two years.  Now, I understand  the true meaning of home coming. The familiarity and the routine is what makes and keeps me happy. I don’t have to make an effort to feel calm and peaceful.

I AM calm, happy and at peace. Simple.

Its rainy season in Mumbai and the roads are always packed, the potholes seem larger and more murkier and the house is may be 1/5^th the size of my Lagos apartment, right now is bursting with people and things. But that does not in any way reduces my happiness.  Our happiness is never derived from the house we live in or the car we drive in, it is always dependent on the work we do and the people we meet. Take away the freedom of the pauper and give him a mansion to live, I wonder whether he would be happy! Freedom to move, think, act is what life means to me.

Mind plays pranks on us, when that freedom is taken away and only the strongest of humans can live happily in an environment of imprisonment. Community and social life are important factors which can play a big role in the happiness of a family. The children are the easiest to adapt to changing environments, since their happiness is derived from the security of their parents. For the Man it is easy to adapt to a location like Lagos, since the mind space is not so huge, but for the woman, Lagos is truly a challenging location. I would classify myself a survivor in Lagos. It was a huge learning experience and if I have to ever do a location like this again, I know a bit better now and will be easier.