[fr] Je suis rentrée. En Suisse, il fait gris et froid et Bagha est mort. Retour à prendre au jour le jour, en me félicitant d'avoir prévu une reprise en douceur après ce mois de décrochage.
I’m home.
Back in cold grey Switzerland, back to my dead cat and other losses that were put on the back-burner while I was in India.
Sorry for the gloom. There isn’t even snow to make things a little fun and exciting.
To be honest, I don’t feel really home. “Home” has lost a bit of its “homeness” without Bagha.
Part of the love I’ve had for my cozy flat these last ten years was because Bagha was here. Not all of it, but part of it. I used to always look forward to coming home after a trip, because it would mean being back with my cat. I missed him when I was away.
OK, maybe I’m painting the picture a little rosy in hindsight. Maybe I didn’t always look forward to coming home from my travels. But I was always happy to see Bagha again. I always looked forward to that.
Of course, it’ll get better in the coming days. I’ll see my friends again, rediscover the comfort of Swiss life, get working on my projects here (both personal and professional).
And scatter Bagha’s ashes in the garden.
Even now, all is not bad. It’s quiet. I have privacy. There is cheese.
I miss India already, though. You know, Nicole, I think I understand what you meant a couple of months back when you told me that you loved and hated it here, because I think I feel the same about India. I love it there. But some things also drive me nuts and make me thing “OMG I’m so glad it’s different at home”.
I’m going to spend more time in India. Two weeks scheduled in October (Delhi, Hindi tutoring) and most certainly January 2012, like this year. I have plans. Go back to the lovely homestay in Mysore. Visit a village near Pune where a friend has relatives. Go to Goa (yeah, even though it’s your cliché tourist destination). Spend a couple of days in Mumbai with Reality Tours and Travel. Plan a trip to Rajasthan (a lead and contacts showed up a week ago). In Pune, visit Parvati temple, the Aga Khan Palace, and one of the hill forts without giving up halfway there. Take Marathi classes. I could go on.
India is huge, diverse, exciting, chaotic. It’s a mess. The disregard for safety and rules can be maddening, but it’s also a healthy release from our coddled and controlled lifestyle here in the West.
I’m home now. A little anxious about how the next days will go, but I’ve decided to take it day by day. Today: unpack, check the state of my bank account and bills to pay, make a few appointments, go to judo. Tomorrow: go to a few appointments. Wednesday: dive into three days of Lift.
Similar Posts:
- Bagha: One Year, Coming Up [en] (2011)
- Of Grief and Travel [en] (2011)
- A Week Without My Cat [en] (2010)
- Grandma and Bagha [en] (2001)
- On Grief and Losing Bagha [en] (2010)
- Back From India [en] (2012)
- Bye-Bye Bagha (1996-2010) [en] (2010)
- Tears Do Heal — But Slowly [en] (2011)
- Sorting Through Grief [en] (2011)
- Aventures in India — Scribbled Travel Notes [en] (2000)
A lot of what you say strings a chord. Specially coming back in an empty cold flat in grey and dull weather. Different countries (not so much… Germany and Morocco), and the fact that my cats were alive in Morocco (but at that time I had no clue when/if I would see them again), but yes, I can fully relate.
Atterris en douceur… et si tu peux l’organiser, le va et vient entre ici et là bas, c’est finalement la seule solution quand on a des pays si différents dans le coeur.
Merci pour ton message! Oui, je reviens cette fois fermement décidée à ne pas laisser sept ans s’écouler avant ma prochaine visite. Deux semaines de prévues en octobre, et très probablement la même chose en janvier 2012… c’est faisable pour le moment 🙂
C’est super ça ! Deux semaines c’est un minimum syndical je trouve, pour vraiment se dépayser.