Where is HOME?

I think I am beginning to feel at home. It is strange to think I am not going back home… then I think where is home? Used to call India ‘back home’ for the past 25 years and now suddenly UK has been upgraded to that title. Have to think what I should call India now! Not many people are lucky enough to call 3 continents home. So far 23 years of my life were in India and 25 in UK. So will the last third of my life be in Australia? I certainly think so. Also home for me is where the heart is and where Paul and I are together.

Many of my friends and family have asked will I not miss UK, my life with friends and of course my family there. I have to remind them this is not the first time I am moving continents. The last time I moved it was just with a bag of clothes. I left behind all my friends and family then. As all of us were too lazy to write and it was expensive to send post it was a very big wrench for me. I missed the sights, sounds, smells and people for a very long time. This time the move was not going to be such a wrench. I have brought along my heart (Paul) and will have all my belongings following me. Technology being so good I can keep in touch with all my family and friends via facebook and skype. I made my niece and mother in law in particular install and try out skype so that we could see each other. I am still hounding some of my relatives to get their webcams, mics and skype going. However, most send me emails as well. The ones in India were already communicating via facebook and so you see this time the continent move is much easier. I am not leaving behind anyone. The blogs allow all to chart my progress of settling in Australia. With links into the various websites all the readers can also learn a bit about the places I mention. It is fun to describe the new experiences and hope that readers enjoy it too.

This week has been a little slow and gentle. I am adapting to the slower pace of life. On Monday I actually swept the whole house, well save a couple of corners which Paul attacked with a hoover. It has been a very long time since I did such kind of house work. I thoroughly enjoyed it as it a relative novelty! Am sure sweeping such a large house is not going to be fun in the long run. I have also been helping Paul with the cooking now. He still has to chop everything but then I can do the rest. On Tuesday we went to Collins Street as I had a meeting with an agency. The job looked good when discussing with the lady. I agreed for an interview the next day as well. While it was a high post I knew I could do it. However when I looked at the job description in detail it was much too heaaavvvy on management and am not sure it was what I want to do. I mean I came here to have a better lifestyle, less stress so that work life balance will allow me to have improved health. SO sadly I had to decline and bow out of the interview. For lunch we found a restaurant called ‘desi dhabha’. I had rajamah chawal and Paul had roti and saag (apparently they had no maaki roti). We also managed to get allu parathas and onion parathas as take away for dinner with raita.

Also had a call from Monash regarding a part time job that I had applied for. Interview was on Thursday. Will be good if I get it as it’s basically a research supervisor’s job. The day out to Monash University was good. We caught an early bus to The Pines shopping center, from there 901 bus to Blackburn Station. Walked across the underpass to catch the 703 bus which took us right to the Monash University. The campus is big and very green. The Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences building was shut as the torrential rains had put the electricity out. The offices had been temporarily moved to another building which turned out to be for IT and geology. Well you can guess that the waiting for me was not such a chore for Paul as he was busy looking at rocks and stuff on display.

On the way back we stopped for lunch at an Indian called Gopal which is opposite the Blackburn Station. Oppss looking up the web I think it might have been Ganesh ….. LOL but the food was quite nice. Paul had thali which I could not as the veg korma was made with cauliflower, capsicum and mushrooms. The other items were dal makhani, raita, onion bhaji, rice, papad, and naan. Apparently this was the first day they were trying out a thali. I ended up with shahi paneer and onion kulcha. Both had a taste of James Boag beer. All in all a pleasant afternoon meal. Then bus back to The Pines so that we could buy some milk, fruit and veg. The heat was getting worse and worse as the mugginess also increased. The weather man had said late evening thunderstorms and so we were waiting for the cooling to come. It was so warm that the moong dal with spinach and rice were eaten very late.. at about 8 30 pm! All those who know me will raise an eyebrow as most days am watching tv in bed by 8 pm. Hehehehe

At about 9 30 pm the lightening started flashing and thunder rolling. The rain came but not as heavily as I thought I would and so it did not cool down as rapidly as it had done the other week. However, it rained on and off throughout the night. So morning saw temperature of about 21C and not much different from maximum of 24C today. Paul has gone to Collins Street for some meetings and I decided to stay at home and relax. Most of these meetings are late morning or early afternoon. This means going out during the hot part of the day and to have a meal out. So far most days we have found Indian food and so not been too hard on my stomach and allergies. But a day in alone will be a good rest and give me time to do some writing.

If you are enjoying my blogs and my style of writing or have suggestions for me about my writing or the things about Australian life please feel free to add your comments to each blog.