Definitely not a home away from home

The saying, Grass is greener on the other end and Value of something is not felt until you miss it, holds good to me. I always used to wonder how would it be to live in a country outside india. Many of my friends got married and moved to US,UAE,UK and so on. The enthusiasm of getting married i guess is doubled for them because they are going to another country. I have seen them shop for clothes that are to be worn in the US coz these indian outfits are unfit to be worn there. I never found all these weird and i wanted to be part of this joy of being married to an NRI. Hence i used to mention this criteria when i was doin a prospective groom search on matrimonial portal and was flabbergasted to look at the flamboyant men posing in front of tower bridge london or the eiffel tower or right next to a porsche. I would think that the life out there must be thrilling and exciting. It used to give me kicks when i used to think that when i vist India, i would tell people that iam settled in Newyork with that NY look all over me and that tinge of the accent on my tongue. A whole lot of american perfumes,cosmetics, sporting that trendy haircut with highlighted hair. When i met my husband for the first time he told me that he is based in Bangalore but travels outside India often. Bingo!! can't ask for more. After our wedding we didnt really travel at all. We were in Bangalore for almost 5 months and one fine day my husband had to travel to Uk for official purpose and i saw my long seen dream come alive. When i quit my work as we had to move out, my colleagues and my customers would ask me why and i would say "we are moving to london" with that twinkle in my eyes and glee in my voice.
We are in london since december and i have never missed India more like i do now. Before coming to UK, i used to ask my husband how the life was in these countries and he used to say nothing like india and i was like "how boring". But he was right, nothing like India. When i see indians in London i get elated. I hear someone speak in tamil or hindi iam moved. Back in india when i go to temple i just pray and come back but here in london when i go to a Hindu temple i find my religious appetite hit an all time high. The other day when i went to the swami Narayan Temple in Naesden i felt so proud to see such a huge beautiful hindu temple in london. we clicked a lot of fotos in front of the holy shrine. I was spellbound to see the beautiful workmanship inside the temple and the way the idol has been dressed up (trust me i have seen much more such beautiful temples in India but never felt this way). There was this exhibition on hinduism which i must say was an enlightenment. While the other brits were goin through the work and readings about hinduism i walk with my heads up proud like "hey iam an Indian born in the land which introduced zero,geometry,surgery, where the indus valley civilisation gave way to Hinduism and Vedas"..Oh what a feeling it was.
I do agree that the kind of life and comforts we get here cannot be found in India but trust me i miss my country and iam counting days to get back home and so is many indians settled here and many in the US. staying away from your family is not worth a penny you earn in this part of the world and trust me people here must be earning more but the family bond that we have there back in india is missing here. Indians who have been living here for a very long time become like the britts in due course and start speaking like them. Start celebrating christmas, eat pudding,honey ham and turkey on xmas. highlight their hairs,spike them up. Kids start growing up like a brit kid and they dont know a word of their mothertongue.
For me all the excitement died the moment i started missing home, the dhoodhwala's ring in the morning,the sabjiwala's shout, chatting with my maid, hearing kids scream inside the compound in the evenings, Window talk with my neighbour, my walk to the nearest kiraiwala, listening to radio mirchi,waking up to the birds chirp,waiting for the weekend to come to grab a movie,go to the nearest chat corner to eat ghol gappa. I know that day will come and when it does it will last forever...