The Address of My Daydreams

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

If someone gave me a choice to live anywhere in the world, my younger self wouldn’t even pause.

“Switzerland,” she’d say.

And honestly, I blame Bollywood. After watching ** (DDLJ)**, I was convinced that happiness lived somewhere between snow-covered mountains, emerald meadows, and tiny wooden cottages. Shah Rukh Khan didn’t just make people fall in love—DDLJ made an entire generation fall in love with Switzerland. I was happily one of them.

But somewhere along the journey called life, my answer quietly changed.

Today, I still dream of visiting Switzerland. I still want to sip a hot cup of coffee while looking at the Alps and relive that little Bollywood dream. But if you ask me where I truly want to live, my heart gently points in another direction.

My ancestral home.

Not because it’s grand or luxurious. In fact, it’s wonderfully ordinary. I’d wake up to the sound of peacocks instead of alarm clocks. I’d wait for the first rain just to breathe in the fragrance of the wet earth. And whenever life became too loud, I’d walk to the old rock nearby, sit there without a plan, and let nature untangle the thoughts I couldn’t.

If peace could choose a place to stay,
It wouldn’t ask for a grand display.
A gentle breeze, an open sky,
Sometimes all the heart can buy.

Reading  reminds me that healing doesn’t always come from discovering somewhere new. Sometimes it begins the moment we return—to an old garden, an old home, or even an old version of ourselves that knows how to be happy with simple things.

Of course, village life isn’t perfect. The Wi-Fi may disappear without warning, the grocery store might feel like an expedition, and the peacocks may decide that 5 a.m. is the ideal time to host a neighbourhood concert! Yet somehow, those little inconveniences feel kinder than endless traffic, constant notifications, and the race to keep up with everyone else.

Maybe that’s what growing up really is.

When we’re young, we dream of beautiful places. As we grow older, we dream of peaceful lives.

So yes, I’d still love to visit Switzerland someday. But when it’s time to truly belong somewhere, I’d choose the place where my roots already know the way, where the rain still remembers my name, and where silence feels like an old friend waiting patiently on a familiar rock.

Thought to Ponder:

Perhaps the greatest luxury in life is not living in the world’s most beautiful place. It is finding a place where your mind grows quiet, your heart feels light, and your soul finally takes off its shoes.