Places and Spaces

Like I already mentioned in my last post, that recently I moved in to a new place …yet again ..Now that I am arranging my new closet , kitchen , bedroom , livingroom – it just reminded me of all the places that I have stayed in over the past couple of years..

It was after my graduation that I first stepped out of my home and started living in spaces wherein I tried creating my temporary comfort zones – well never comfortable though ! Those were at times the corner of a room , a side of room , the centre of a room ..yes sharing it with others most of the time…
Year 2004 - It was with Maya , Prachiti , Pragati for the first time with whom I was staying with as a Paying Guest.So all of us in one room – the room that always stinked no matter what we did. Where we had these amazing rules …The rules were weird for me as a first timer. I have gone through this list of rules quite a number of times after that from Model Colony to Praire Shores.

Later, I moved in a 2 Bedroom apartment with 6 other girls the – my second time. Neha , Anjali, Kalyani, Jyolsna, Pratibha, Nitu . We had an amazing experience wd guys during our stay here. Yes, since we were a bunch of girls , that’s an obvious tale to follow. Somebody used to ring our bell at 3 AM early mornings, or just switch off the Mains.Two of us together used to take turns, torches and courage to get the keys from the boy's apartment ( we were not given the basement keys) , go to the basement and switch on the light… to resume our studies. Later on we also heard interesting stories of how the place was haunted since a girl who owned it had committed suicide and how it was abandoned forever after that only for us to start living there. One fine day because of some major tiffs between the landlord and university authorities (who had actually helped us find the place) we had to vacate the place on a one day notice and since we did not have any other place we stayed in some God forbade “khandar” types very old university quarters illegally for over a week until we found our next place … It was perfect except that we had to drink the water from the tap in the washroom (the only working tap ) …and shared it with a dog and a cat who used to once in a while pop in through some window which we did not know of.

Thriving on Vada pav , samosas and cut chais , we shifted to yet another place and then to a different place. Well years passed by … but this move continued. Over 12 places in almost 6 years. The only things that changed were the room mates and the cities… from Pune to Chicago and now finally to San Ramon .. yes but this time – theres this one more big difference .. a room mate for life :) .. so I guess I can bear this for a few more times ..

Yes, the nomad’s life is fun , you see so many places , people .. you take something from each of them and give something back ..you fight , you learn , you listen , you laugh , you connect.You explore so many things about yourself. And then the bad part ..the moment you begin to feel the comfort, you have to pack your bags and ready yourself for the next move.

I now long for a place that will be my own , always – a place which wont be yet another space to be filled in , but a home and stop living in the suitcases for once , keeping the fun and the thrill aside !!! I guess that is how you start feeling at 27 …okay almost 28 !! Maybe :)