August 31, 2025

For people who never settle down, the idea of "home" keeps shifting like sand. This is the story of a man who has wandered across India for over 62 years, searching for a place to truly call his own. Born in Bihar, his father and grandfather both had transferable jobs. Carrying on this tradition, he too often switched jobs, moved cities, or even faced unemployment. This made 'permanent residence' a stranger to him. Although he knows he hails from Bihar, his connection to any one town is weak. In his youth, he clung to the identity of a faraway village in Bihar, where his grandfather once lived but never returned after leaving in the early 1900s. Visiting that village later gave him pride, but it wasn't enough to feel rooted. For some time, his "home" was his mother's house in Varanasi, where she lived after his father's death. Sadly, after she passed away, this too slipped away. Despite paying bills like electricity and taxes, he couldn't claim this house as his own because everything was under his mother's name. He held many official papers—passport, driving licence, bank accounts—but none pointed consistently to one address. His passport showed an old Bangalore flat he had left long ago; his driving licence carried an address from Chapra and Hyderabad; bank accounts had addresses from past residences. A ration card, often seen as a key proof of home in India, was missing from his collection. His voter ID card was a distant memory, linked to a Bangalore election he once participated in. Aadhaar, the pan-India identity system, was a beacon of hope but initially showed his Bangalore address, causing fresh troubles when he moved. Now living in Hyderabad, he has an Aadhaar and voter card with a local Hyderabad address, but there’s a twist. He neither understands nor speaks Telugu and his thick Bihari accent makes it impossible to pass as a local. Yet, he finds some comfort knowing that people from his community have lived in Hyderabad for over 400 years, once forming the "steel frame" of the Nizam’s administration. Hyderabad is a beautiful city, but the feeling of belonging remains elusive. As he ponders on his next move, the question lingers: where is home? Sushil Prasad sushilprasadassociates@gmail.com Published - August 31, 2025 03:39 am IST

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Tags: Identity, Home, Bihar, Aadhaar, Migration, Hyderabad,