It was around Diwali, and I remember getting dressed up to go for a walk as my family had been away from home in another part of the world (with my sister in the USA, 13,000Km away) for the past 1.5 months. I had been missing my family. I had been hearing firecrackers and seeing rockets launch into the night sky. But inside, I felt a void that could only be filled in a week at the arrival lounge of the airport.

As I was about to leave, the doorbell rang. It was a delivery partner from BlinkIt. I was not the one to place any order in the last few minutes.

The brown paper bag contained a big box full of cookies and sweet treats, and along with it, came a grey-white box, reading “Noise” - it was a pair of TWS earbuds.

I did the obvious - called up Dona.

“Happy Diwaliiiiii!!!” - sweetly screamed her beautiful voice from the other side of the line. I struggled to find words and overwrite the silence. I don’t remember if I had succeeded.

So, what exactly happened? Here it is -

Dona’s muscular and devilishly charming elder brother (Sourav da) had recently bought a pair of premium earbuds from OnePlus at that time, and I happened to have been browsing TWS gadgets on Amazon.

Somehow, that had flowed over to our conversations, and Dona being Dona, secretly took note of that.

She made sure I did not feel alone in this city in such an auspicious time of the year.She made sure I had what I wanted without having to ask for it.

And for the earbuds?

The sound has been top notch - especially with the bass mode enabled. The fit has been the best of all the TWS I have ever tried. At the time of writing this, it has been 3 months of usage, and the hours of sonic immersion I have had with this pair has been countless to say the least.

She knew I am an audiophile, and she did not let me know that she knew that I had been browsing TWS gadgets. Surprise at its best. Thoughtfulness at its best. A feeling of home, in the absence of your bloodline, at its best.

Sometimes I realise, Dona is a huge part of what I call home :)