India tales

India was tiring/fun/hectic/hot/too short all at the same time.
Landed in Madras- was there for hardly one day( sorry Baru!).It was very nice to be with my most beloved athai(aunt) and cousin though.We did the usual chatting/gossiping/cramming all the food that I can get my hands on in one day.I did not even have time to shop for myself!

Left for Bangalore- was met at the airport by my adorable little bro-in-law.Not so little( hes 22!) according to him- but to me he is little. Anyways, he took me, my best friend UD and her husband to a nice Indo-Chinese place for dinner and insisted that he pay for it.I stayed with my best friend.I was terribly sick already and so did not stay up too late or anything.We did get to royally rag her husband, just like the olden days though. Her sweetheart mom stays with her and was as lovely as I remembered her. Too bad I missed uncle, who was away on a trip.Work was so-so.God- do they eat a lot of food in our Indian office. You see, my company has this policy of free food (all three meals) in all our branches.The India office gets awesome food I should say!Anyways, the guys in the office took me to another cool restaurant called BBQ Nation. It was pretty cool.

I stayed in Blr for hardly a day and a half - had to leave for Pune early in the morning at 6.30 am.Guess what? There was this whole confusion about the new airport in Blr starting to operate on the day I was supposed to fly out- I was freaking out to say the least, because it is freaking 50 kms from the city.Anyways, in a lucky turn of events, they pushed the new airport opening by a day and I got saved! Sweetheart friend and her hubby came with me everywhere in a cab- to and from office, to the airport at bloody 5 am!

I transited through Bombay on my way to Pune- I should say I was really impressed by the Mumbai airport- clean and organized, compared to the dingy Chennai airport.Anyways, I hardly had any time in Pune- was on the ground for a measly 3.5 hrs for a 1 hr meeting with one of our vendors! Couple of interesting things-

1)In the Pune airport, I saw Amol Palekar!I absolutely adore the guy and my dad used to look like him when he was younger.I just stared at him and did not even say hello!

2) I saw Kim Sharma in the Mumbai airport and she was on the same flight as me to Pune!Alright, I think She looks hideous- with her fake blond hair and pink lipstick and pink nail polish! Argh!

3) There was this Indian guy with a US passport who was making a huge scene at the ticketing counter ,just before me. The guys wants to buy a ticket and the Air Deccan people wont take an American express card. The guy at the counter was patiently telling him to either give a Master/Visa card or use the ATM available to pay in cash. This Indian dude was going ballistic and saying things like " I have lived in the US for 25 years and have never had to pay with cash and I never had trouble using my American express card " and so on. I was shell shocked.

I wanted to tell him-try using a freaking SBI credit card in US and see if they accept it.I mean Master or Visa is the accepted standard all through the world.You cant expect to be treated special , just because you have an American passport. Its these people who create a bad name for all NRIs!The joke of it all- he ended up sitting next to me on the plane! I pretended to fall asleep as soon as he tried to start a conversation, because I was afraid I might just hit him if he starts to talk about the "Indian system" again!

So,anyway, I landed in my hometown tired and very sick and slept all the home. Mom and dad were ecstatic to see , as was I.The next two days, mom and I spent with our customary unpacking quarrels. The last 4 days went by in a buzz with cousins and aunts and uncles visiting.I had loads of good food, to say the least. My grand mom who is confined in the hospital was really happy to see me too. It felt good to talk to her in the afternoons, like the old days.

It felt a little strange , because my parents have moved to a new house and it did not feel like home to me.I still have to get used to it.When I went to our old house, I couldn't resist crying :(.

Every time I go home, I get shocked that parents are growing older ,cousins are growing up fast and uncles aren't the youngsters I grew up with anymore!It is so sad!

The week ended all too soon- I cried a little bit when I left my home.Dad came to see me off from Madras .I didn't cry the usual amount, because parents are planning to visit us in August. Fingers crossed that their visa and everything goes through without any issues.

I landed here on last Sunday and HD has been travelling ever since- :(.Anyways, waiting for him to come home on Friday :).