What is the image that pops up in your mind’s eye when someone mentions the word ‘home’? Well, in my case, it is a series of images that flash past, of the various places I have called home in my time.
The first image is of my childhood home in Calcutta (as it was known then) with its sun-dappled verandah on which I spent many blissful afternoons reading my Enid Blytons, and daydreaming of the time I would also get to go to boarding school (Spoiler Alert: That never happened). The next picture to materialise is of my first home in Delhi, a humble barsati in Defence Colony, which was too hot in summer and too cold in the winter – but which I loved anyway, because it was the first space that was mine and mine alone. My thoughts then drift to the apartment in Mumbai, where I spent some precious moments with my mother-in-law in her last years. And only then, do I think of the current home in which I have lived for nearly a decade now.
But while these physical spaces have spelt home for me at one time or another, I have come to believe that ‘home’ implies much more than a house where you live. Sometimes it is the presence of another person that makes a place feel like home. It could be your parents who have the knack of making you feel at home no matter how long you have been away from the house where you grew up. It could be your spouse, whose presence by your side when you wake every morning and go to bed every night, makes you feel at home. It could be your kids – which is why empty-nest syndrome hits so hard. It could even be a beloved pet who makes a house feel like home.
{{/usCountry}}But while these physical spaces have spelt home for me at one time or another, I have come to believe that ‘home’ implies much more than a house where you live. Sometimes it is the presence of another person that makes a place feel like home. It could be your parents who have the knack of making you feel at home no matter how long you have been away from the house where you grew up. It could be your spouse, whose presence by your side when you wake every morning and go to bed every night, makes you feel at home. It could be your kids – which is why empty-nest syndrome hits so hard. It could even be a beloved pet who makes a house feel like home.
{{/usCountry}}Sometimes, though, ‘home’ is just a feeling, which kicks in when you get truly comfortable – either in a particular space or with some special people. It could be a holiday destination which you visit so often that it feels like coming home even though you’ve never lived there. That’s the feeling I get when I visit my two favourite cities in the world: Bangkok and London. Even though I don’t have a house in either city, I have managed to replicate that ‘home-like’ feeling by always staying in the same hotel – and, with a bit of luck, in the same room. That way, even the hotel feels as familiar as a home, with the same sofa to sink into, the same bed to sleep in, and even the same view from the window.
I guess the instinct to make ourselves feel at home is so strong that we try and recreate a ‘home’ wherever we go. It could be by vacationing at the same places, as I do ever so often. Or just recreating a home-like ambience in a strange environment by bringing along those creature comforts that we swear by. I carry my own coffee pods wherever I travel, along with a packet or two of McVitie’s dark-chocolate digestives. That way, I can effortlessly replicate the tastes and smells of my morning routine. And I can feel truly at home, no matter where in the world I am.
From HT Brunch, August 02, 2025
Follow us on www.instagram.com/htbrunch