I was raised by nature. Nature and Nurture. The nature showed me freedom with the smell of walnut and apple trees and crocuses. With my grass stained knees and my tangled up hair, that smelled like grass after I lay in it for most of the day.

I was raised by Nurture. Nurture and Nature. My parents split up when I was 10. It probably would have been earlier, if not for me. So I spent most of my time with my mom in our apartment near downtown hamburg and very close to my elementary school. I loved coming in a somehow kind of like corn smelling home, even though we barely ate corn.I got my dog, when I was in 2nd grade and she impacted me a lot too! Her Bernstein looking eyes and her very soft fur, which is the softest on her head and the tip of her ears.

I was raised by a very loving mother who's still  somehow a child herself and that's why she is my best friend as well. A friend, who sings with me in the car on the longest drives the most ridiculous songs in the most irrational tunes. I was raised with a lot of love and affection, understanding family. Even though my dad wasn't there a lot, I can feel his love when he hugs me and we count to 3 and I hug him as strong as I can. My dad makes the entire kitchen smell like you are on the streets of India and you walk through a spice store.

My mom gives me visible love and invisible love. Even though we are 6000 Miles away from each other. This number seems so small compared our universe, but it is a huge distance for the earth. When I was very young I'd start crying in the middle of the day because I thought of my parents being gone one day and I couldn't live with that. The salty water runs down my cheeks and my face would get warm and my mouth would get dry and I just wanted to push pause.

I was raised with loss of familiarity and tears, happiness, learnings, music and creativity and I am proud of where I come from.