A 'Holiday' at Home

It had been a month since I had left home for college, but barely ten days since I had come to terms with things, when I found myself at a very unusual, yet special milestone. That's right, it was time for me to go home, for a 'holiday'. Yes, having been at home my entire life and having travelled to a lot of places for vacation, but I couldn't have ever imagined my own house as a holiday destination. But, oh well, that's life, I guess, and that's just how it is after moving to a hostel.
     As luck would have it, the overnight bus ride from Chennai to Bangalore would see me being accompanied by my dad, hence making things slightly more familiar. After catching some sleep on the ride, I woke up, and I looked out the window. I saw Electronic City and the long flyover on Hosur Road, and it kicked in. I was in Bangalore City once again. The combination of excitement, relief and nostalgia showed in the form of genuine content at returning home, even for a holiday, if I might add.
    Soon after, I finally reached my hotel ( Home Sweet Home!) and checked in to my hotel room (my new bedroom at home) for three days and two nights. Yes, the room felt like a hotel room for real, for my bedroom is now the property of my brother. But the best part of all, after one long month in the hostel, was the daily breakfast, lunch and dinner buffet set up by none other than my own mother (The kitchen), commonly referred to by most of my college friends as 'Ghar ka Khana'. My brother's hotel was one floor below mine, enabling to catch up with him after such a long time with relative ease. He is someone I ought to have given a lot more credit than I have, for how amazing he is and how good he is to me. Nearby in the same resort were some of my old friends, and I was very lucky to catch up with them. They, along with their families, seemed really happy to see me, or at least I'd like to believe so. There was that tiny place where I played cricket, and it was still there waiting for me to come with my bat and take guard. Of course, this 'holiday' would not have been complete without at least one trip to Corner House, where I was always up for getting my share of 'Death By Chocolate' that always left me wanting more.
      Well, apart from doing many things and catching up with a lot of people, the part I enjoyed most about going home was sitting poolside with my mom, and having those long conversations that only my mom and I both could have. There were also those familiar chats with dad, about my course and my new life and motivation to focus on the bigger goal in the wake of everything else that I would face along the way. Playing with my brother, and talking about those things that stay just between us, and then choke-slamming each other for fun, all had a part to play as well. I guess just living life the way I used to, doing those little things that saw to it that on the final afternoon, before I had to return, I really didn't want to. It also made me feel like I had never left in the first place.
      But on that afternoon, it was indeed time for me to check out of my 'hotel' and return 'home'. That's right, I had to leave my home and return to the hostel and college. It was hard. But I thought I had done a fairly decent job of handling it this time, which confirmed for me, as mentioned in my last post, that the umbilical cord was finally cut.
     That was how my first college holiday ended. For the very first time, a holiday did not end at home. It was different, but that is how it would be in the years to come, as I would soon find out.