India means family and family means love.

I travelled to the US soon after marriage.  I was very excited as it was my the first international trip. As soon as we reached there, we were greeted by a lovely Indian couple who became our best friends afterward.

There were so many Indians around that we never felt homesick and every weekend there were potlucks and gatherings. All the Indian festivals were celebrated together like a family. And many American friends also used to get involved in our celebrations.

Both my daughters were also born in the US.  And my mother in law travelled from India to help me with pregnancy and the baby. All our friends were of great help throughout my pregnancy too. During my second pregnancy, I was on a bed rest for some time and our friends took care of everything.

I can say, the Indian community around us was like a second home to us with many Indian friends, helpful and good American friends and good lifestyle. But something was missing.

Although, we didn’t feel homesick but we used to miss our parents and family back in India especially on festivals and special occasions. I and my husband were very happy but always felt that something was missing.

We came back from there almost 10 years back. I lost my parents and my mother in law in a span of few years after coming back. We had a terrible time coping up with everything but somewhere I was happy that we came back as I got some time to spend with my loved ones. God has his own ways and maybe this was a reason we came back.

Well, when I saw this ad by Lufthansa, all these memories came back.

Frankly, I loved our stay in the US and we made some great friends who are still in touch with us. Also, I can never forget our American friends who loved our culture and festivals. They used to participate in all our celebrations and wanted to travel to India to experience all the fun.

I can say they were #MoreIndianThanYouThink and it was a proud feeling to see them appreciating our culture.

The way they used to ask me questions about Hinduism or Indian culture, it made me really proud of my India and its rich culture.

It is true that we take things for granted and never appreciate what we have. Only if we understand the worth of our country, we can call ourselves true Indians. We might not have what others have but we have something which is missing in other countries and that is our rich culture. 

I am proud of my culture, my festivals, unity in diversity, tolerance, universal acceptance, our Indian Army, spirituality, weddings, music and much more which make us different from others.  Are you a proud Indian too?

India

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