I am, the way I dress, the ideologies I subscribe to, and my very
and our roots. It is after this journey of self-discovery that we tell sto-
understanding of life and the world.
Sky
ries of ourselves, to make sense of who we are and what place we occupy in the universe.
During my vacations in Kutch, I have spent time on the road and in the field, learning about people, migration and what it means to belong.
In this context, the idea of one’s homeland gains importance, because
Oftentimes, we would come across men and women clad in colourful
it serves as a tangible point from which our past can be unearthed and
outfits wearing an abundance of silver jewellery, wandering. Sometimes
our stories can be traced. I’d like to believe that this was one of the
accompanied by their herd, and sometimes alone. On the move, and
main reasons why my grandparents kept taking me back to Kutch, to
sometimes stationed, on the side of the road, lying down beneath a tree
understand the culture, traditions, and really, stories of where we come
on a single piece of cloth. I always wondered who they were and what
from and understand the self in the wider range of the world we live in.
they were doing. Once, my grandfather described them as being
The Sky Above
Home, Beyond Frameworks
the understanding that we have origins, by forming links with our self
Banjaaras, and because of what popular culture had taught me, I assumed that they were hippies of sorts. I disregarded them as people who wander aimlessly, spending their time singing ballads rather than earning a livelihood. I imagined that they were without money or goals. Little did I know that it is this same group of people who would give to me the perspective to understanding home that I was looking for. We term their existence as being characterised by poverty, but they would define it as being free from maya. Aimless wandering, as we may perceive it, and fakiri as they call it, really encapsulates their The homeland is a tangible point of an origin story
meaning of home.
Today, I understand that the places I’ve visited and the stories I’ve heard have taken root deep inside my existence — they influence who 79