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UK man visits childhood home in India after 16 years; breaks down when asked ‘has everything changed?’
Raph Leng, a digital creator living in London, documented the emotional experience in a video that’s now going viral on Instagram.
Raph Leng left India in 2009 and returned after 16 years
Going back to your childhood home after years of being away would feel like using a time machine. An Indian-origin man, who has been living in the United Kingdom, experienced that when he returned to his roots in India after 16 long years.
Raph Leng, a digital creator living in London, recently took a deeply personal journey back to his early years–visiting the home in India where he spent his childhood. He documented the emotional experience in a video that’s now going viral on Instagram.
In the video, Leng shares with his audience that he’s on his way to see the house he once called home. As he steps onto the familiar ground and receives permission to go inside, he breaks down in tears. Standing in front of the place where his earliest memories were made, he reflects on the pain of leaving everything behind when his family moved away. “It’s crazy,” he says, his voice cracking, before cutting to old clips–including one showing him, as a kid, playing with an elephant. “I love India,” he wrote in the caption.
Watch the emotional video:
View this post on Instagram
The video struck a nerve online. People from around the world began sharing their own bittersweet memories in the comments.
A user shared, “You made me cry with you, I too grew up in my maternal grandmother’s home in Janakpuri, Delhi, and now when I live in Jaipur, Rajasthan, not a single day goes by when I remember my grandmother’s house, I cry, but now there is no one there, I don’t know whether that house even exists or not.”
Another user wrote, “I went after 50 years to see my childhood home and school. Yes its very moving because it looked the same.” A third user said, “Don’t cryy my boyy.”
A fourth individual commented, “This will be my kids in 15 years.”
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The post’s comment section is filled with heart emojis and heartfelt responses, showing just how universally relatable Leng’s story is. With over 781,000 followers on Instagram, Leng is continuing to explore and share his travels in India, and this touching return to his roots is clearly one of the highlights.
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