When I was making a Facebook account recently, it asked me what my Hometown was. I thought about it for a while, but didn’t have an answer. Looks like I have had such a nomadic life, I don’t have a Hometown.
Here’s a list:
| Years | City | Duration |
| 1985-1985 | Bhubaneshwar, Odisha | <1 year |
| 1985-1985 | Kolkata, West Bengal | <1 year |
| 1986-1989 | Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh | ~3 years |
| 1989-1990 | Dhani, Madhya Pradesh | ~1 year |
| 1990-1990 | Dewas, Madhya Pradesh | <1 year |
| 1990-1994 | Indore, Madhya Pradesh | ~4 years |
| 1994-1997 | New Delhi, Delhi | ~3 years |
| 1997-1998 | Durgapur, West Bengal | ~1 year |
| 1998-2002 | Panchkula, Haryana | ~4 years |
| 2002-2007 | Nagpur, Maharashtra | ~5 years |
| 2007-2008 | Kolkata, West Bengal | ~1 year |
| 2008-2021 | Gurgaon, Haryana | ~13 years |
| 2021-Current | Bangkok, Thailand | — |
This list just covers the cities I have lived in. Even within these cities, I have sometimes lived in up to 3 different places. What is my Hometown, then?
Bhubaneshwar, because I was born there, but lived only a few months?
Kolkata, because that’s where my parents are from, but lived only a year?
Gurgaon, where I lived the longest and have my own place but don’t ever plan to return to?
Thankfully, I am off Facebook, so don’t have to answer this question anymore.
I have thought about this a lot of times too. Esp. so when people down south ask where I am from as part of a general conversation. I end up saying different things depending on who the other person is/where he is from/his understanding of general Indian geography/culture etc. I’ve narrowed down my answers to Noida/Delhi/Lucknow/UP now. My list, although not as expansive and perhaps more evenly distributed, goes like this -> Aligarh, UP (84, born, never went back) – Khopoli, MH (84-91) – Khatima, UK (91-96) – Lucknow, UP (96-02) – Nagpur, MH (02-06) – Noida, UP/NCR (06-10) – Hyderabad, AP/TS (10-12) – Bangalore, KA (12-till date). I have a home here now and my kid is probably going to call herself a certified Bangalorean growing up, although she too, like me, was born in a place a paternal grandparents resided at that time. Thankfully, she gets to visit her birth city once in a while. I don’t remember/know anything about Aligarh except the pig faced tempos.
Ha ha you also stayed at Khopoli? My parents also did but I was in college then. Unfortunately I am still nomadic although most probably I would settle in Bengaluru eventually, too.