Growing up

Fish and bones

and black tar roads,

familiar faces and 

memories set in stones.

A distinct fragrance,

of palm trees tall,

swings and playground

 - my world was small.

Sea and sand,

they beckoned me - 

a wide-eyed speck

in a sky rise city.

Loss and religion,

riots and blasts,

the boy next door

 - etched the adolescent heart.

The search for a hero

brought me close to her

a peaceful home

to the heavens above.

Writer, dancer, 

actor, doctor - 

She set me free

 - to make my future.

And there I stood

a heart and a sole,

to begin my quest

for a new home.

To make friends

and write stories new,

to travel places

 - in search of you.

P.S. I have grown up (in fact still growing up) in many different places. And I have always wondered if each of these places have contributed in tweaking my personality in its own way. Would I be a different person if the order of these places in my life changed? Would I be different if instead of Mumbai, I had landed in Chennai? If instead of UK, I had chosen to go to the US? What would I be doing today? Would I be writing this article at all? Would I still be in search of a home? Would I still meet you?