Not too long ago, I was chatting with one of my closest friends on Facebook. She moved to the States a few years back and she doesn't seem to mind it. Her stories about the crazy parties, the tall buildings, 24 hour electricity, unlimited internet access or the clean dust free roads that won't turn your eyelashes and brows white by the end of the day, I shamefully admit, makes me envious. My envy is not a question of my love for MY country but sometimes I do feel left out, that by still being here, I am somehow missing out on bigger things. I have had people telling me that living abroad is not the rainbows and butterflies its cut out be, this, including my own brother. But sometimes, you can't help but wonder.

On this particular chat though, I had an something close to a revelation, (well, not so much, the word just sounds dramatic and I like that.) I was telling her about how I was in the mood for Pani Puri and that I would go later and suddenly my friend seemed morose. She told me how much she missed Nepal and the infamous street food. This surprised me. You see, I am the sort of person who is still pissed off Mc. Donald's won't open a franchise here (DON'T JUDGE ME!) and while I may not be one of the hundreds of people who lined outside KFC and waited for hours for their first KFC chicken when they opened in Durbar Marg, the fact that she had easy access to all of these and still missed the very unhygenic alternative genuinely surprised me.

But then I thought about Pani Puri. Yeah yeah, I have had people scrunch up their faces and go all "eww, he probably picked on his butt or his nose before he made that" (which he probably DIDN'T) when I eat pani puri off the streets but HAVE YOU TASTED THEM??? They're like little tiny spice bombs in your mouth, the perfect combination- crunchiness of the shell, the softness of the potatoes and OH MY GOD, the JHOL (my favorite part but something I have been horrible at imitating.) What about the jhol momos in the bhatti, OR the deep fried sausages and alu chops (they even deep fry Tofu now) OR the channa chatpattes (actually, not really a big fan of that but they sprinkle those mama chau chau things on top nowadays)? I can walk 5 minutes to a pani puri stand, I am neighbors with a bhatti (who makes the awesomest jhol achar) and if nothing else works out I have bottles of mother's amazing pickles in my fridge right now ( I eat a lot of sour stuff and use A LOT of brackets.)

All of these things are things I have easy access to and often overlook but these are the tiniest things that, I realize, I will miss incredibly when or if I ever leave the country for an extended period of time. Abroad, I may have a more convenient life but that's not say these tiny things will be forgotten. Next time I decide to get some pani puri, which is as soon as I'm done writing this (all this thinking about it has built up my appetite), I think, I will be able to appreciate it a lot more than I did before. I'm just glad this realization hit me before I left so I can fully savor all of it. ALL OF IT!