Copyright@shravancharitymission
You thought your hometown was your favourite town,
But the hometown had something else to convey,
Upon your return after decades.
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Though the name of the town had remained the same,
Everything else in it had changed.
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The spires and minarets were dwarfed by skyscrapers,
Schools had become colleges,
Shops had become malls,
Parks had become dump yards.
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Barren fields had turned into housing societies,
Playing fields had turned into gated communities.
All around, the view was different,
Where the docile town had turned into a bustling city.
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Early friends had become senior citizens,
Roads had become flyovers,
The skyline now had a metro,
Locations had a new look.
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Eateries had new banners,
Markets had a new behaviour.
Childlike had metamorphosed into adultlike,
It was when I returned to the city after decades.
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From a pleasant child’s face,
I had now become an unknown and grown-up face.
So, everywhere in the hometown,
I was required to introduce myself.
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It was the same town you had left with hope,
That someday you would return as a familiar face.
But that was not to be,
For the hometown had its own fortune to make.
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Though your name was in the air,
You had now become an unknown face.
Though you remembered the names of your friends,
Their faces, too, had changed.
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It was now your karma-bhoomi versus your hometown,
One had given you identity,
The other had given you a career opportunity.
One had given you fond and affectionate memories,
The other had given you a professional name.
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So was it a letdown?
To return to your hometown?
Yes, in some ways.
So don’t have blind faith,
Whether it is your hometown or your workplace,
For both have their own legacies to make.
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“The biggest permanence of life is change.
Don’t expect your hometown to be the same as it was when you left it decades ago.
So return if you have to, but with a pinch of salt.”
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Written and posted by Kamlesh Tripathi
Author, Poet, & Columnist
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https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com
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