Rural life, a life we all despise while living and as soon as it’s taken away from us, we miss it more than anything. Just like the lot of you kids, I too was born and brought up here, this pretty and petite village of ours. The place I wanted to leave so badly because I always comprehended that the city life would have so much more to offer, and I won’t lie, it did. The fact of my lack of monetary funds was deeply engraved in my mind since I guess, 3rd standard, so I kept looking for options here and there that would get me out of our tiny abode. Luckily, when I was in 10th standard a city counsellor came to this very school and told us about the scholarships we can avail to go to the city and study there. Since, it was my childhood dream, I worked as hard as I could and got where I wanted to be.
6 years after intensive study and practise, I finally became who I wanted to be. I had a good life going on, I had a girlfriend who I wanted to marry, the perfect qualifications to show for and the right kind of job that gives one status and money. This all made me feel great atleast in the beginning, but after a while something felt incomplete. I had everything I ever wanted and yet remained discontented. It wasn’t after a year when I read in the news that my hometown, our hometown was hit drastically by a cyclone and had lost almost half of its population. I always thought since my folks died a long time back, I’d have no inclination to come back to this what I believed to be a downtrodden little town just like I was. I thought how could this poor village bring me any prosperity?
And I love to admit it that I was disastrously wrong! This little town always had a piece of heart and that was what I was missing all those years. As soon as I stepped one foot here, it began to feel like home. Working on the cyclone hit homes and buildings gave me an enigmatic sense of fulfilment that can’t be explained in words. I rescued so many of us with the help of this foundation that we’ve built together and now a few years ahead, we have rebuilt whatever it is that we needed to rebuild. We’re now healthy and happy. I do encourage you to study hard and gain experience but to also come back and give back what you’ve taken from this place.
It is indeed true that ‘there’s no place like home.’
