G for Guwahati

Guwahati city
Guwahati is an ancient urban area, largest city of Assam and northeastern India. It is one of the fastest developing cities in India and is a major city in Eastern India, often referred as "Gateway of North Eastern Region" of the country. It is also the capital city of Assam. The name Guwahati is two Assamese words: 'guwa' (areca nut) and 'haat' (market place). The name used to be spelled as Gowhatty (pre-colonial and colonial), anglicized to Gauhati (colonial-British), which was then changed to the present form in the late 1980s to conform to the local pronunciation.

Guwahati is located on the banks of the mighty Brahmaputra river, amidst green hills. 
 
In the last few years, Guwahati had become my second home. After completing my MBA, I was posted in my two consecutive jobs in this city. During my first month,I stayed with my maternal grandparents. Then, much to their displeasure, I took up a place of my own, which I later shared with a friend and later with my sister. After Jorhat (the town where my family lived for 22 years), Guwahati felt like somewhere I belong to. A couple of years back, we got an apartment there where I had mostly stayed alone. My parents who decided to settle in Nagaon after Deta's (my father) retirement, now oscillate between Guwahati and Nagaon.
Guwahati in the evening rush hour
Guwahati is the place which gave me wings. It is the city where I became fiercely independent. I miss the city so much. I miss coming home every evening from the office, getting my groceries on the way, sometimes indulging in some window shopping or impulsive buying. I miss our Guwahati home more than our Nagaon home. Many nights I imagine that I am lying in my bed there, and that in the morning the sunlight  and the sparrows will wake me up. But here in the natural-light deprived house in Delhi, I always wake up to darkness.

I am taking part in the Blogging A to Z Challenge [April 2014].

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