Skip to main content

Notes From India

By
25 odd days in India were probably the busiest and most hectic times in recent memory. The trip hardly qualified as a 'vacation'. Reached early morning on 27th and was off to Shirdi on 28th morning (4:00 am). Worst scenario possible: school holidays, sunday and unprecedented rush. Result: 3 hours of pushing and shoving and at the max 4 seconds of Baba's darshan. To top the day's workout, my mom-in-law, aunt and me lose our slippers to the crowd. Great way to say 'Welcome to India'. Travelled from Shirdi to Mumbai barefeet.

Celebrated the new year at my in-laws' place and the chinese food ordered at 7:30 pm comfortably made its way to the house at 11:45 pm. Guess everyone was in the mood for chinese. In the end, it wasn't that great. But the anticipation and excitement for food was just priceless. Wish that never happens again.

Went to a resort just outside Mumbai with my closest friends for a day and a half and had a great time there. Considering the events that were to follow in 2009, it was hard to imagine that I would be able to meet these guys again. But it happened on the last day and we went to dinner together.

Thanks to Appa's 60th birthday function, we were able to meet all the relatives and cousins in the hall and that saved a trip to most of their homes. We wouldn't have been able to squeeze out the time to go there anyways.

Sidhya came and we had a ball. Frankly, I did not think she would be comfortable with me and Kirti, specially considering the times we spent in Seattle last year. I have successfully taught her to call me Ghajini and she very innocently calls me 'Ghajinikant' for reasons best known to her. But she does say "Ghajinikant, I miss you" everytime we have a phone conversation or when its time for me to sleep.

We were planning (and almost certain) to buy a house this visit. But the houses we checked out did not meet our expectations and the house that we kind of liked, the price did not meet our wallet's expectations. So owning that dream is ....still a dream.

I am already kind of homesick after coming back last tuesday and the ongoing employment situation is not helping one bit. Everyone is under lots of pressure to find new work or possibly a new job, but it is very slow and things don't look much brighter.

But at least the India trip happened and I don't have to think what if...

Now, I have a new thing to worry about and it is not going to be pretty.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Please Help

By
While I have been blogging for nearly 2 years now and that visitors (like you) are fairly low in number, I would still like to know who you are. Although I know one of my UA friend is a regular here (and yes, it is you Hari), I don't know who are the other frequent fliers. If you choose to remain anonymous, that is also fine, but kindly leave a comment or two in the message box that is on the right side of the webpage. I am trying to get a feel for how often do you stop by. The reason I am asking you to do this is because I need your help. No, it has nothing to do with donations or anything monetary, but here I am in my third month in Bangalore and I am absolutely bored. I need some suggestions to utilize my time efficiently and effectively. Please refrain from suggesting using the gym or joining a book club. These 2 are not my cuppa tea. My mind is 100% blank about extra-curricular activities and I need some 'external' help. One of my closest friends had suggested joining...
7 comments
Read more

Peculiar Observation

By
Had been to the Hindu Temple today. One of the first things that I noticed about the temple parking lot was that it resembled a used Honda and Toyota car showroom. These two Japanese auto powerhouses have to thank the Indians all around the US for their exceptional sales. And this observation is true about any temple in the US. Pittsburgh Balaji Temple, Aurora Balaji Temple, Lemont Rama Temple etc are the few huge temples that I have visited and have been pleasantly shocked to see the number of Hondas and Toyotas in the parking lots. Lexus and Mercedes are also catching up. Seems the Indian diaspora is not gravely affected by the recession. They were/are smart about the money they earned. Talking about car sales, almost everyone from GM to Ford to Chrysler to Toyota to Honda to Nissan have seen their car sales decline by double digits. American automakers are struggling to sell their "bad" products to the consumers and this time unlike earlier years, the consumer knows better...
2 comments
Read more

Calling Chennai

By
Made a quickie to Chennai over the weekend for some 'official' work. Details about this official work to follow in the upcoming blog. The last time I was in Tamil Nadu, it was way back in 1996 and on a trip to Chennai and Madurai with parents in tow. Just wrote Class X exams (then) and (the whole family) wanted a breather. No vivid memories of the city from back then but where I was put up during this trip certainly left a good impression on yours truly. Auto's still trying to rip customers not accustomed to bargaining or not from the city or state at all. Thanks to the advice of a colleague, my wallet wasn't (that) lighter after the hefty extortion, I mean, the hefty charge to go from Koyambedu to Royapettah. The cruelest and mindboggling part is that ALL autos are equipped with electronic meters. Fair game right, wrong. One colleague who had been to TN many a times, recalled that while Jayalalitha was the CM, every auto had to use the meter, but as power changed hands...
Post a Comment
Read more