Its been over 5 years since I came down to Bangalore... (geez.. Makes me suddenly realise how old I am..) Since then, Bangalore has been everything to me, and given me everything... well... almost everything... It has made me feel at home... It has given me new friends... And wonderful places to go aound... It has given me food for thought and eyes...

What it possibly could not give me is what I really want... Possibly what no other place in the world could ever give me... A sense of belonging... that only my home can give me... That my parents, aunts, uncles and cousins give me... I miss those days of yore... When we would all sit together for dinner... And I would debate and discuss with my uncles about life, karma, moksha, and the girl-next-door... I miss my mother's haath-ka-khaana... my grandma's tales of ancient times... my aunts' shopping sprees... the playfulness of my cousins...

I miss those days of gayful abandon....

ma... I'm coming home...

I have always refrained from asking favours of others.. My ego had always come in the way... However, now, I grind my esteem to the ground, and ask you all of one... When I am with you, please do not ever allow me to enter a book-store... More for your sake than mine... Your sake 'cos you might just get bored out of your skull while I hang around oblivious of you or the time.... My sake 'cos you would be helping me from thinning my wallet... I have been an avid reader ever since my childhood; though nowadays the time I put in has waned, but a reader nonetheless.. I remember the days when my parents would bring home comic books for us... And I was yet to enter the literate world... I would strain to understand what the story was... I had my eyes to see the pictures, and my li'l brain to conjure up imaginative stories... Looking back.. I think that was it... That was my motivation... My motivation to learn the written language... I toddled with Batman, Superman, Phantom, and Bahadur... Schooled with The Famous Five, The Hardy Boys, The Three Investigators and Sherlock Holmes... Colleged with the likes of Ayn Rand, Jeffrey Archer and Robert Ludlum.... and now.. Now I indulge myself in anything literary... whenever I find the time...

Believe me folks.. A book is indeed, a man's best friend...