As I was reading Dandilsa’s post on why she wants to return to India, I realized how much I could relate to what she has written. Of course, I am already here. In fact, except for a few months of staying in another city, I have never been, forget about being away from India, been away from Madras itself. But, every time I am asked why I don’t want to leave Madras and go anywhere else, the reasons I give are quite similar to what she has written. This is the place where I have grown up and at this point of time in my life, there is only one thing that I am very clear about and it is that here is where I want to spend the rest of my life.

My passions are rooted to this city. Well, I am passionate about this city itself. I just cannot dream of a life sans kutcheris (I cannot even imagine being elsewhere when December Season is happening here!), paaTTu class, visiting kapAleeswarar temple and a few other favourite temples of mine here, visiting the numerous temples that are just a few hours drive away from Madras and marveling at the amazing sculptures and architecture of the temples, rushing off to Sound Zone, Odyssey or Music World to buy the CD every time a Rahman’s album releases, watching Mani Ratnam’s movies on the first day and other good movies with my family at Satyam, Mayajal or Inox, shopping in T.Nagar, beach, walk in Boat Club Road and my new-found passion to know more about temple architecture etc. which was triggered by and is also being fulfilled by attending Chithra Madhavan’s talks. And of course, Madras is where my home is. My blog stands testimony to how my life revolves around all the above-mentioned things.

Some say life isn’t all about music and kutcheris. But, when I have clearly identified what my passions and interests are, why should I even think about forgetting those and going miles away from those? I am not sure if I would have developed all these interests had I been elsewhere or had I not been given full freedom by my parents to explore the events happening here. There are a lot of places and countries that I do want to visit. But, visit is all I want to do. I am least interested in staying anywhere else.