News writer Amisha Piplani reflects on Australia’s beauty and even why continents apart from her family, Australia has become her new home.
Why does it feel like home?
Is it because of my adorable 77-year-old landlord who treats me like his own granddaughter, texting me at 11 pm, worryingly asking when I'll reach home? Is it the way he knocks on my door every Sunday with freshly baked scones and a kind smile, sharing stories from a life well-lived, making sure I never feel alone?
Why does it feel like home?
Is it the warm embrace of the sun that kisses my skin as I walk to university, the sky staying bright until 7pm as if the day doesn’t want to end, just like me, not wanting to let go of these moments? Or maybe it's the way the cool breeze carries whispers of the sea, mingling with the laughter of people from all walks of life, reminding me of the joy in simply being present?
Why does it feel like home?
Is it because anywhere in Sydney, I can find people who remind me of myself? The ones with accents like mine, the ones who crave the same spices, who miss the same festivals, who long for the comfort of familiar faces but have found solace in new ones. The friends who were strangers just months ago but now feel like family – our shared adventures, late-night study sessions, and inside jokes becoming the threads that stitch us together.
Why does it feel like home?
Is it because, for the first time, I was accepted for who I am without any bias? In classrooms filled with diverse voices, where my opinions matter, and where being different is celebrated rather than judged. The feeling of belonging in a place where my identity is not a hurdle, but a story worth sharing. A place where being over 6,000 miles away from my old home doesn’t feel like a loss, but rather the gain of a new world, a new perspective, and a new kind of love.
But why, truly why? And how?
How did I get here, to this position where I feel like I am home, even when I am continents away from where I started? How did this place, this journey, these people – all so unfamiliar at first – become the fabric of my daily life? Was it in the little moments: the shared meals, the shared stories, the shared silences? Or was it something bigger, something unspoken, the universal need for connection and understanding that transcends borders?
I came here with a suitcase full of dreams and a heart full of uncertainty, stepping into the unknown with nothing but hope as my guide. But somewhere along the way, amidst the challenges and the triumphs, the laughter and the tears, the new and the old, I found pieces of myself I didn’t even know were missing.
Maybe that’s why it feels like home. Because in Australia, I found not just a place, but a feeling, a community, a sense of belonging that I will carry with me, no matter where I go next.
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