21/05/2025
It was around this time, nearly three years ago in December, that I found out the three of us would soon be leaving our beloved city to build a home in an unfamiliar one. I had no idea how I’d manage everything. But we — my husband and I — decided to take the leap together.
We had just become parents ten months ago and had both started new jobs. Those first ten months of parenthood were spent completely under the protective wings of my parents. I hardly realized when our baby went from one day old to ten months old.
The day we left Kolkata, all I could see in front of my eyes was the life I had spent there — sixteen long years. So much gained, so much lost, and so much learned. I had quite literally grown up in that city. I had always dreamt of building my dream home there someday.
But then, there’s this thing called destiny — not always in our hands. With trembling hearts, the two of us set out for Mumbai with our ten-month-old baby. A new city, a new language, a completely different environment. No friends, no close ones. Just the two of us — each other.
In between caring for a little child and balancing two new jobs, we began building our life again from scratch. Amid all of it, I slowly started losing myself. Outside of office work and the basic responsibilities of being a mother, I had no energy or will to do anything else.
I started forgetting the purpose of waking up in the morning. Sleepless nights followed. Eventually came physical problems, weight gain, and a sense of disconnect from myself.
I kept asking myself: Why? What am I doing here?
Time slowly gave me the answers.
Today, when I stand in front of the mirror and look at who I’ve become — it’s taken a long time to get here. It’s taken countless struggles, countless moments of despair. Somewhere deep inside, there was a stubbornness — not to go back, not to give up.
And of course, I had him by my side.
And this city’s energy — its unstoppable positive vibes — they kept fueling me to move forward every single day.
There’s still a long way to go.
But one thing is true — this city never sends anyone back empty-handed.
