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"Home is where the heart is" - When I was leaving Paris, I felt like I was leaving "home". Now that I am back in Bangalore, I feel like I am "home"..this is where I grew up...this is where my family is...I have spent 12 years in Bangalore...and yet..3 months in Paris..and I call it home...Jerusalem is like another home....If I were asked..which of these 3 homes I like the best..Well...

Bangalore...I love India..and all things Indian..no make that most things Indian..I don't like strange odours wafting through my nostrils...I tend to be a tad high and mighty abt certain places..KR Market being a worthy example of a place where my nose is somewhere in the heavens...I hate dirt and filth..Have started considering dodging animal dung an inevitable part of my pedestrian life...its there everywhere!!! I dont mind the traffic....I love the fact that the sun rises and sets at the same time every day of the year...I love the fact that there IS sunlight falling on me....I love the fact that shops are open till 10...and that things I like are not ridiculously out of my reach...and that there are more people than fingers and toes who together pamper me and indulge my every wish...I am a veritable princess in Bangalore...

Jerusalem...my first home away from home...the first thing that comes to my mind..the instant feeling of calm that settles in when I step into Jerusalem...In Israel also, from the time I step into Ben Gurion Airport till I leave...everything is taken care of for me.
There is a welcoming air about Jerusalem..the people there make you feel welcome. I am not an outcast there. I am one among them. My colleagues at the office are super too...they include me in their weekly Shabbath rituals...they instantly made me a part of their lives and an extension of their family...which is why I know for sure I would never get homesick in Israel...I am home in a sense..with Hilda's family or Lionel's...

Paris...the immediate association with this city is independence!! Nothing is served to me on a platter, right from the taxi at the airport. I have to fend for myself here...no Hilda to mother me here. I can safely say..Paris is where I outgrew my caterpillar stage...I have learnt to be more responsible and mature. I have learnt to be more detached and to observe things with a detached view. Its also a city where at long last, I have learnt to be a litttle selfish..to put myself before others. I did not feel too homesick in Paris too because I was actually revelling in my new found independence!!! I had to make sure there were groceries in the kitchen...I had to do my own laundry..was responsible for keeping my studio clean...I totally loved it!!! That I can eat only that which I like..so no cabbage or radish or idli for 3 months....bliss I tell you...

So there it is..Paris.. I am the lady of the manor..and get to decide everything...
Jerusalem...Peace and contentment...amazing people..its like staying over at a very dear relative's place
Bangalore...."home"...:-)