How I Handled Homesickness After Leaving India
I Was Just 13 — And I Had No Say in the Move
In 2013, I moved from India to the U.S. with my parents.
I was just 13. No phone. No social media. No choice.
Handling homesickness after leaving India at that age wasn’t something I was prepared for. I didn’t even know the word for what I was feeling — but I felt it deeply. Everything around me felt off: cold, quiet, and unfamiliar.
This is how I unknowingly started handling it — and how those small things helped me feel a little more like myself again.
1. I Let the Feelings Come — Even When I Didn’t Understand Them
Some days I’d feel angry. Other days I’d feel numb. And sometimes I’d cry for no reason.
I didn’t know how to explain it — I just knew I missed something… everything… from India.
Instead of fighting it, I eventually just let myself feel it. That was the first step toward healing.
2. I Went to the Library to Feel Close to Home
Before I got my first laptop, the public library became my lifeline.
I’d go there just to watch Bollywood songs on YouTube, check cricket scores, look up news from India, and browse photos of home.
It made me feel connected again — like India wasn’t so far away after all.
Also, before leaving, my uncle gave me two DVDs with Bollywood movies burned onto them. I loved a few of those films so much, I’d rewatch them daily on our old DVD player. It became my comfort ritual.
3. I Didn’t Talk About It — But I Daydreamed a Lot
I wasn’t someone who wrote in a diary or sketched in a notebook. But my mind was always back in India.
I’d zone out in school, daydreaming about my old friends, what they were doing now, or just random street scenes from back home.
In a way, my imagination became my escape route — a quiet space that still felt like mine.
4. I Held on to Little Things Like They Were Gold
I had an Indian rupee note folded up in my wallet — I never spent it.
I also kept one of my school result sheets from India. Just seeing it reminded me of who I was before the move.
To anyone else, they were just scraps of paper.
To me, they were home.
Read Adjusting To A New School Abroad to see how I handled emotional challenges in a new environment.
5. We Went to Indian Stores Just to Feel Normal Again
The first time we visited an Indian grocery store in the U.S., it felt like a hug.
Parle-G biscuits. Aloo bhujia. Masalas I could recognize from the smell alone.
Even if we didn’t buy much, just walking down those aisles made the unfamiliar feel familiar again.
6. I Observed More Than I Spoke
I wasn’t very vocal about what I was going through. But I was constantly observing:
How other Indian families behaved.
How American kids acted.
How my parents tried to adjust too.
Little by little, I started adjusting as well — silently, but surely.
7. I Realized It’s Okay to Miss Home — Even Years Later
Even now, so many years later, I still miss India.
But I’ve learned that doesn’t mean I’m stuck in the past or ungrateful for what I have.
It just means I came from somewhere meaningful — and that place still lives in me.
Homesickness isn’t something you outgrow. It’s something you carry with pride.
Final Thoughts
If you’re struggling with homesickness — especially as a teen or someone who didn’t choose to move — know that you’re not alone. It’s okay to miss where you came from. In fact, it’s beautiful that you do.
If you’re missing home, Dealing With Homesickness: You’re Not Alone might help too.
