I have always been a vagabond. My home kept changing every three years as my father had a transferable job. He finally decided to settle in our hometown—a quaint little town in Jharkhand with a reputation for being a hub of left-wing extremism and home to one of the largest national parks in India, Betla National Park.
My hometown’s name has been changed twice. It used to be called Daltonganj, after Colonel Edward Tuite Dalton, a British soldier of Irish descent, but was renamed Medininagar as a tribute to the erstwhile King of the Chota Nagpur Plateau, Raja Medini Rai.
Daltonganj used to be a sleepy town with the most awake sky.
I stayed there for five years (grades 8-12)—my second-longest stay in one place, and those were some of the happiest years of my life.
My ancestral home was a hundred years old and looked every bit as ancient as it was. I was lucky enough to have a front yard and a backyard—a luxury compared to the apartment where I now reside.
My mother tended to the garden and grew lemons, chilies, papayas, and a few other veggies. We had custard apple trees too!
I would tell everyone we were living on rent because I was ashamed of the antiquity of our home—you have no idea how loathsome I am of my adolescent self.
Most of my free time was spent on the roof—studying, daydreaming, and sometimes napping too!
My best friend and I spent a lot of time on the roof as well—discussing boys and love. I’m pretty sure our conversations would have failed the Bechdel test, but they would have entertained the hell out of you.
I would speak to the stars, and they would often whisper back to me.
Our home was also guarded by an even more ancient neem tree. It housed many birds, bees, squirrels, and sometimes a marauding cat too!
I left soon for higher education and would visit home twice a year during festive holidays. Eventually, my dad retired, and we decided it was time for my parents to move to Kolkata—closer to family and friends.
That was the furthest I traveled from home.
No place has come close since then.
Fingers in symphony 