Its exam week and I am at my uncle’s place because I don’t have exams. I am at Leeds, one of the largest cities in England. This place is filled with Asians all around and we do not feel left out even for a second. My aunt keeps feeding me Indian food all day and it helps me recover my homesickness. I am thankful to have them here, family…

Coming to a western country to study, other than the overall experience of it, there is another thing all Indians look forward to… Snow! Especially being a South Indian, snow was only seen in movies and I always used to wonder what it felt like. I waited for snow all through December. My friends and relatives crushed my spirit as there was no forecast of any snow in December or even in the next year. I hoped for a ‘White Christmas’ like we see in movies, but it did not happen. The wait carried on, and I hoped and prayed for it to snow. My cousins wouldn’t stop talking about how they used to build a snowman, ride the sledge etc.

One night, as we were driving back from a friend’s place, my uncle felt like it was snowing outside. I got ecstatic and asked him to stop the car at once. Got out of the car and guess what, it was snowing. I got out of the car and started jumping on the deserted street like a mad woman and my cousins joined me. Snow was falling over me like crystal drops and I didn’t feel cold. I was catching snowflakes on my tongue and trying to catch them in my palm which was freezing after a while as I hadn’t had any gloves on, but I did not care. I looked at the street light, and I could see the snow falling through its light. We got back home and played in the snow for a while. We threw snow balls at each other and had the time of our lives. Maybe it wasn’t as special to them as it was for me, but I will never forget this feeling ever in my life.