Things I’ll miss about home from next month-

The right side of my bed that has molded in the shape of my body

The big windows that I never open and even then they make their presence felt by letting some sunshine seep in

The way mumma checks up on me in my room every one and a half hour

My car, my sweet Shine who has patiently been witness to my road rage

The home theatre in my TV room with its extremely weak Bluetooth connection range that wouldn’t let me play loud ghazals while sitting at the dining table

Sunday mornings when the house smells heavenly because dad has been cooking some new recipe since 7 am

And around noon, his careful little steps towards me holding a spoon full of boiling gravy, so that I can taste it and tell him if it is spicy enough, creamy enough, mindblowing enough

Random gossip session with mumma and didi during lazy afternoons

And serious ‘family meetings’ in mum-dad’s room at 10 pm sharp

Singing bade ache lagte hai as Aastha plays her uke in Margi kiya’s balcony

Finding Manish kaku’s perfect adrak and pudina wali chai waiting for me everytime I visit

Mum’s beige sofa set that now has stains because all of us sit with our feet up ignoring her angry requests not to

Seeing my parents’ sleepy faces on those sofas when didi and I come home late at night because god forbid they go to sleep without hearing all about our evening

Meeting the whole family at Shrutz’s house to stuff our faces with all sorts of nashto and icecreams and chai at night

Bullying Aastha into taking afternoon naps with me and playing with her tiny nose

Simarpreet’s- “gedi marne chale?”

How didi’s left hand unconsciously shifts from the gearbox and across me in the passenger’s seat whenever she takes a sharp turn or makes an abrupt break

Going to the factory to check my weight on the commercial weighing scale

And sitting on dad’s table and feeling like the શેઠ

Seeing random children in DPSV’s uniform on the street and gloating

Catching up with Swati ma’am at her table in the school library

Loud jam sessions at midnight with Sakshi didi

And then sleeping with our pinkies intertwined

Forcing dad to make space for me in his bed and then make him sing nanni pari

Sitting at the dining table and asking him about our family history nosily

My mother’s safe bosom and how she smells when I would hug her tightly

Or how she clenches her teeth when I try to bite her cheeks

Now how does one pack these in 23+23kgs love?