Stability: A Place to Call Home

Mr. G & I purchased our first home in 2014 in the🏡 garden city (not anymore): Bangalore. That year, Mr. G was stationed in Cochin whereas I was working in Bangalore; we were sure about eventually moving to Bangalore, settling down and raising a family there. Though we started off in different lanes about making a huge investment, I convinced Mr. G to commit to this one thing I yearned for, and he obliged. Six years and three tenants later; we are still far away (346 KM to be precise) from Bangalore and have no intention of settling down there anytime in the future. In the past few years, I have moved rented houses and cities twice.

The idea of home is always a warm comforting feeling for me, a place I can call my own. Having stayed in Government quarters throughout the growing-up years, there was no sense of belonging or privacy. I and the little brother shared a room, and I could never call up my friends for sleepovers, or stick the poster of my favorite band (Westside) on my walls. The walls were plain white for as long as I remember. I finally got my own room in the second year of Engineering, when we moved into our own property. The first thing I did was to paint my room Yellow. I decorated my room and found a space where I could let my creativity flow.

A glimpse of my old room, circa 2007

My husband, however, had his own room from a very young age, and he always felt like the white walls and light curtains of his room weighed him down. During one of our conversation, an interesting one about our life after retirement, he brought up this idea of traveling like gypsies, without a constant base, to pack one's belongings and leave when the familiarity becomes boring. During the entire conversation, I just kept nodding my head in disagreement.

For me, home is where the heart is and probably, I am not ready to demyth that idea yet. Post-retirement, I would love to garden or pick up some new hobby like interior decoration. I have this thought/dream of sitting in my verandah, sipping hot-pipping tea, all the while, listening to the wind chimes, and watching the white curtains slowly dance against the breeze. Too cliche? Well, we all yearn for things we never had. I would love to own a forever home someday,  a space where I can decorate and poke nails through the wall without having to think twice.

What is your thought about forever homes?