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A house or a Home?

What makes a house into a home… Personal pictures on the walls? Self-chosen bedsheets on the beds? Nameplate on the door?

Ever since we shifted into our own place 4 months back, this question or rather self-test has been on my mind. It’s like some part of me has been watching out for the moment when I start calling it my home. More than calling – catch the moment it starts feeling like home.

From what I observed – I went through some stages in my ‘settling in’ - 
  • Initial couple of months were the most disorienting. From turning towards the older home to not knowing who I would find in the house working on some small niggles. It felt like I was living in a space that was mine on paper but maybe a pit stop till we shifted into ‘our’ own space later. Like a waiting room of sorts. Lots of sentences were concluded with – “when we settle down finally” 
  • By the time the labour finally left us alone, it was already 2 months since shifting into the house. By now we kind of knew our way around the house, broadly what was stored where, still needed to open at least 3 cupboards to find what I was looking for.. And while we started entertaining at home, it still had an air of formality about it. More like a process to be followed – am sure our pride in the way we had done up showed, but maybe not our love for the place. 
  • In Jan, a friend and family moved in to stay with us for a few weeks till they shifted cities. This meant that there were sounds of children laughing and running around every morning and evening, food experiments started happening with company and more guinea pigs at our disposal, a few evenings with wine and just sitting around and chatting happened… without realising how and when, it slowly became more and more ‘my’ space… the place i relaxed in as soon as i stepped foot inside the main door. 
  • And then yesterday, I wanted to snack on something and walked from my room to the kitchen (the two ends of the house) without a light… I knew my way around the furniture and toys strewn along the way, where the doors were and where the snacks were kept!! Suddenly it became clear to me – this was now my HOME!! 
Home is where the heart is... oft-said quote and maybe now truly applicable to me and my home. 



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