Global Nomads

‘So where are you from’ ? A question that comes up ever so often.  The simple answer is to quote what your passport proclaims as your homeland. But, over time, especially, if you live away from your ancesteral roots, that reply rings hollow.

There are several like me in my current ‘temporary’ residence – global nomads- coming here between 2 landings…they are on their way to another land, just stopping here for a couple of years in the interim. And there are those that came straight from their homeland, but have stayed here way longer than they planned to.

Every place we live in-changes us a little. We begin to see the world a little differently, than when we did when we were back home. We are changed by the people we meet, the new festivals we learn to enjoy, the foods our palates begin to consider as familiar, the new lifestyles we adopt. We get comfortable with a hug and a kiss, as much as with a folded hand when we greet. We adapt what we wear, how we speak, how we think. We open our hearts and our minds to new experiences everyday, and slowly, but surely, we are no longer the same people we were when we left our homeland.

But we still cling on to pieces of our mangled confused roots. Try to pass on our (now subtly changed) values, celebrate our (not- so- traditional ) festivals, speak in our (not so fluent) language.  And so,we don’t quite belong to where we live either.  As our journey continues, no matter where we head to next, we are now homeless –and rootless- forever. For, now, we can never truly ‘belong’ anywhere with the completeness and the abandon of those that never left.