On Belonging

I don't like it here

Not the chaos

Not the noise

See, right here,

Noise everywhere

Where is the space

for silence

Back home

I sit on my land

and for as far as I can see

I feel silence

I don't like it here

People don't talk

They have no time

to say hello

to smile

Back home

everyone smiles

we say hello

We walk through our village

and we connect with people

We share our stories

and listen some more

I don't like it here

The food tastes funny

and the veggies are stale

I know it

I am a farmer

Back home

I grow my veggies and rice

and catch fresh fish

from the stream

See, how healthy I am

Fresh food

cooked with love

eaten with family

I don't like it here

It makes me forget home

and its smells

Nothing familiar here

somedays

I am a stranger to myself

Back home

I know me

A year and two more

I will back home soon

to my family

to my food

to my farm

and to my silence

Sigh! Soon!

Voice of our security guard at office who is from a village in Karimganj district, Assam