Country roads take me home..

"I grew up in Botswana,"..."Oh! where do you like it better?".. the routine conversation starter. And after all this, I like to now say that home is where the heart is. Botswana is where I grew up, it is my home. The United States is where I found myself, it is also my home. But if someone were to ask me where my heart lies, I would smile and say that in my home, in my Madison.

Tucked away in the waves of lake mendota, this college town has so much to offer but to only he who seeks it. Lecture halls and auditoriums bombarded every 50 minutes with young blood inching closer and closer to their destiny. Small streets and city corners filled with scents from all over the world. The taste of beer and craze of college football drawing the old and young to Randall station. Strolls in the parks and zipping by water motorists. Scanner Dan, 24 library hours and toppers pizza cheese sticks. Kite runners on frozen Mendota and mosquito swarms on sticky summer evenings. The haunting stories of Science Hall and history written on each brick of the Red Gym. And this is only the beginning..

For me discovering Madison was like finding Narnia in my closet ..unknown and enchanted. I still vividly remember the weekend of my orientation, dad and I walking up and down the hilly routes in between lecture halls and dorms. Dad was reliving all his college memories in the two days that we spent there and availing every opportunity to narrate his student life stories as I tried to get my head around the magnanimous size of the campus.

And so began that unforgettable journey of the 'golden years'. I remember the first night I fell asleep to the patter of raindrops on my single bed, lying adjacent to another young heart, my room mate, in the only girls dormitory on campus. Strangely enough, that night, or any night following that for the next four years, I did not suffer from the home-sick bug but rather went to bed every night wanting to wake up and discover a little more of my world with each new day.

From crazy all nighters studying for biochemistry classes, to casual conversations by the terrace, to sledging down snow covered hills behind Liz waters, to canoeing on the lake, to India night 10 hour rehearsals and everything else one can possibly imagine under the sun, I did and had a gala time doing it! I made some of the most strongest friendships thus far, built beautiful memories with a few that I may never see again and understood that you cannot please everyone.

And so just like this, four years flew by right in front of my eyes. But even today, whenever I feel lonely, whenever I feel the need to breakdown, whenever I feel like there is nothing left to look forward to, whenever I feel the need to hold a friend's hand, whenever I want to fall back in love..I close my eyes and transport myself back to Madison and relive each and every memory harnessed there.