So Long, and Thanks for all the fish!

A speech for Toastmasters:

Sometime ago, I read a book by Douglas Adams called the Hitchhikers’s Guide to the galaxy. The book starts with some alien creatures on the verge of demolishing Earth!
And for a moment, I felt something happen in the pit of my stomach, something outrageous, even though it was a fictional story. I was a little uneasy because they were demolishing our planet, which in galactic proportions is my home! After all, the home and the heart are supposed to reside in the same place! I wondered if this was a common sentiment, or was it just me?

Looking more closely, and in more real-life terms, things didn’t seem very different. I have been to many beautiful places, I’ve met many wonderful people, but at the end of the day, I am tired. I want to go home.

I was browsing through the internet once, and I discovered that in some places like the US, there are actually traditions associated with homecoming. People, towns, high schools and colleges come together, usually in late September or early October, to welcome back former residents and alumni. They are built around a central event, such as a banquet and, very often, a game of American football, or, basketball, or ice hockey. Homecomings were occasions to revive old and fond memories, to put things in a different perspective and to provide a bridge to the future.
When I was little kid, my homecoming would be different. I would go to school in the morning, and go to play in the evenings with my friends. At the end of the day I would be tired and longing to come back to my parents, I would be very hungry and I would want food cooked at home.
I would sometimes go visit some relatives or my grandparents, and spend a few days, or weeks with them. It would be very comfortable, I would be pampered and treated like royalty. But it would never feel home. It was not my home.

When I grew up a bit, I went to a college in another city, and I’m talking about a huge country like India, where unlike NL distances could be quite far. Fortunately this was quite close – only 8 hours by train. I was quite excited to go as this was the first time I would be on my own. I would have freedom to live the way I wanted to. I could spend more time with friends, stay out late with friends, and take my own decisions. I stayed in a hostel- and I visited home during all the breaks and major holidays. But despite all the freedom, I would get all excited whenever a break came up. And when they ended, I felt sad every time I left home. On retrospection, it seemed like Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave, and grow old wanting to get back to. The home is the bottom line of life, the anvil upon which attitudes and convictions are hammered out. It is the single most influential force in our earthly existence. It is at home, among family members that we come to terms with circumstances. It is here life makes up its mind.

Now I have a job and I am working in a different country, a different continent. Things have changed, but have they? My assignment in Netherlands is about to end in a few weeks. And I am already dreaming about all the things I would do when I get back home, my mind is already drawing up plans of friends to meet, of places to visit, of things to do, of food to eat, of movies to see, of things to buy! This in no way means that I haven’t enjoyed my stay here – I have, immensely. I’ve seen so many amazingly beautiful places, I’ve seen different cultures and met some very smart people. But its time to go home!

Thank you all for making my stay even more memorable. As they said in the Hitchikers guide, So Long, and thanks for all the fish!