Going Home

Although there's still more work to be done, the realization that this adventure is coming to end is intruding on each day I have left.  Of course I miss my friends, and Chipotle, but otherwise the thought of leaving this place and returning to a frozen boat, broke, in the midst of the scramble for work that is February in New York turns my stomach a little.

I wrote a while ago about the hospitality of this place.  That everywhere we go we are stopped by people coming up to us and saying things like, "You're a guest here in India."  It hit me last night that this has been happening less and less.  We're now able to sit on a curb without a mob of people surrounding us until the cops brake it up.  We can go to dinner without someone interupting us to welcome us, or tell us to call if there's any problem, or buy us a bottle of whiskey.  I'm not saying there was every anything wrong with all that.  I figure that this calming of the crowds has naturally happend for one simple reason.  We are no longer guests in the town of Chembur, we are residents.  We intruded on this town, full of people living their lives amidst the chaos of honking auto rickshaws and motorcycles, barking strays, and yelling flute salesmen.  They took us in.  And despite the first entry I wrote, we belong.

I know I will be back here.  I know the ride from the airport will be comfortable next time, familiar.  The orange glow of the air and the smell of dirt and burning trash will bring a smile to my face.  The giant pillars supporting the invisible overpass may have made some progress, or maybe not.  The scaffolding that climbs to nothing on the sidewalk will still stand proud, made by hand out of wood and rope.  Dump trucks rolling by and dogs chasing motorcycles.  Then the sun will come up, and it will be morning in Chembur. 

I originally titled this entry "Coming Home," but after another look it didn't seem appropriate.  What's the difference between "going home" and "coming home?"  I suppose it's the destination.  And perhaps when I return to Chembur, whenever that may be, I can title that entry "Coming Home." 

-Brennan