Past few days I have been overcome with a persistent longing to go back to India. Nothing I can say can explain it. Perhaps it is missing my mother’s cooking, or a chance to spend some time with my brother, my nephew and my new sister in law. Or is it some journalistic instinct, which tells me that 2004 could be the year of the big India story. Or it is just that I am cricket deprived. Who knows? It might be a combination of all those things.

I called up Pradyuman and sought his advice. He had some good pointers. I emailed my friend Nyay, (who used to edit Connect magazine) with the ‘ghar aaya pardesi‘ email. They had the same advice – do it now. But then I come across this report and this comment.

bq. “Coming back home is much more complex for Indians than it is for Chinese. No one wants them back. If a millionaire from the U.S. wanted to invest in the Punjab, he’d get chased out.” Arvinder Singh, a researcher at New Delhi’s Center for the Study of Developing Societies. (San Jose Mercury News)

Which brings me to my current quandary? Where am I welcome? Is there a place called home, or is it like many before me am I destined to the life of a nomad. I just wonder, if I am really “not really indian.”