Anchors aweigh

Having moved houses almost every year of her life, KALYANI ADHAV's experiences are proof that home is not a place, it's a feeling

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EACH TIME I video chat with a friend, I am struck by the little details in their home as they pace while we talk: a shelf filled with Happy Meal toys and dog-eared books or a Lladró figurine that’s missing fingers from the one time they tried to clean it. When I think of my own home, I draw a blank. As a 27-year-old woman who has moved 22 times across ten cities, I’ve never been attached to a space, bedside or nook. I don’t bother to paint over cracks in the walls because it feels like a problem for a more permanent tenant to fix. I avoid speaking to my neighbours because I probably won’t see them again. Any kind of physical or emotional investment feels futile because I am sure I’ll have to leave soon and start from scratch.