Roots

Men and women who have travelled far and wide to chase their dreams talk about the place or, more often, the places, that are inextricably linked to their sense of who they are and where they belong

Updated on: 7 February 2024 5:59 pm

Roots

And, now, as the year ends, an annual ritual of visitations unfolds, reminding us of the many meanings of ‘home’: NRIs returning like colourful migratory birds, LTAs being used up to journey from ‘home’ (usually, a big city) to other ‘homes’ in other cities, towns and villages….

In these essays and memoirs, men and women who have travelled far and wide to chase their dreams talk about the place or, more often, the places, that are inextricably linked to their sense of who they are and where they belong. A writer explains why, for him, "the native place" is an idea, not a still centre. A journalist recounts how he reclaimed the land of his birth, after being raised as a "little English boy"…. Also here is the story of a Pakistani family that crossed the border at a time of escalating tensions between the two countries, to keep a long-awaited date with their family shrine in Punjab.