MADE IN *INDIA*

"Where are you from?"

"uuuuhhhhh...... I....am ...from Varanasi"

"Oh! So you are from the Holy City? I love that city, the temples, the gullies, and universities. "

"Aaaccttuualllyyy, I have not stayed there ever."

"So?"

"My Grandparents and relatives stay there."

"Then, where are you from?"

By this time, I am already confused as to what answer I give to the most frequently asked question of my life. God! It still is a puzzle. "From where I actually am?" Everytime anyone asks me this, I start with "uuuhhh", think, blink, wait for a minute or two, (mind it: not a second or two), I smile and give an answer which I contradict in the very next sentence i say. The answer dwindles from one place to another. Sometimes, I say I am from Delhi. Sometimes, Chhatisgarh. Many people think that I come from Bangalore. And of course, my ancestral Varanasi. My confusion regarding this only persists . And in all this dilemma, there was a time when I even answered I am from Allahabad!(The place which is not even remotely related to the places I have stayed, even my close friends are not from there!)

The reason of my identity crisis is that I don't belong to one single place. I belong to all those places I have stayed. Papa and Ma being in transferable jobs, we changed places. Not as often as people in the armed forces do. But yes, more often than many others do. I have stayed in the very interior Dantewada district of Chhatisgarh, before it acquired all the wrong reasons for being featured in national headlines. I have stayed in the National Capital. Was born in a small township called *Nayagaon* in Madhya Pradesh. Did my secondary schooling from *Donimalai* in Bellary district known for the enormous Iron-ore deposits and also the Sonia Gandhi - Sushma Swaraj electoral battle. I have also lived in *Yerraguntla* in Kadapa district in Andhra Pradesh for some 5 odd years...... I wonder how many people will even be able to pronounce these names, let alone know about them. And yes, I have done one year of my schooling from Bangalore so stayed in a hostel there. Last but not the least, I will be eternally connected to Varanasi for my pedigree.

Has it been a pleasant thing to happen to me... and i would say yes, definitely!

I studied from 4 different schools. Know many many people , made a thousand friends, know some innumerable acquaintances, some I still retain and the rest were lost as time passed.Know the life and cultures of different peoples of various states. In the process I learnt many languages. Now I can understand Telugu and Kannada to a large extent , some Bengali, Oriya, Punjabi and Bhojpuri. I have developed an amazing ability to gel with complete strangers . Have seen some of the most beautiful places of India which many might not have a chance to visit. The constant change of setup has made me look forward to newer things in life.Though the loss of the previous sometimes makes it difficult.

However, there WAS one time when I wasn't perplexed by the question at all. That was when I was visiting Ma in Moscow (well, Ma stayed there for three years) . We had gone to see the Kremlin. There was a photographer from US who was also taking pictures of the beautiful place. He asked me,"From where are you?"

Without a thought I answered,"I am from India."