India Diaries

The India Diaries - Part I

After leaving K behind, Mother, Father and Son left the US shores for India (Yeh jo desh hai tera from Swades playing in the background for dramatic effect). Thanks to V's help with the luggage (and everything else as well, can't thank him enough) and my cousin's support, the exit from the US was seamless.

The Eagle Has Landed: After a grueling 20 hour ride from Chicago to Mumbai (with a rushed stopover at Abu Dhabi), the party of 3 arrived home on the morning of May 20th. 

My first complaint: As soon as we stepped out of the airplane, the stench of garbage was just too overwhelming. This is one of India's premier airports, for God's sake. 35 degree weather did not help matters. Incredible India! - Certainly not.

Thankfully, the events at Mumbai airport were pleasantly uneventful (no bribes asked, none given). Due to a fortunate twist (traveling with parents definitely has its benefits), we were asked to go to a shorter line for Immigration formalities and on questioning by the officer as to why Economy travelers were standing in a First/Business Class Only line, the simple answer was "one of your officers told us to come over here". With a nervous few seconds passing by and a "Not Fair" comment by the Immigration officer, our passports were stamped and we were off collecting our bags. A sure-shot 1 hour plus wait time was reduced to about 25 mins.

Miraculously, all of the bags had either arrived earlier than us or were just on the belt as we made our way over to them.

The only hiccup was when our bags made their way through the Green Belt (one last check before passengers head out), one of them had jewelry which we chose not to declare to Customs. A few anxious moments passed as the Officer quizzed my mother about the price of the jewels and the receipts for the same. With some sound convincing answers, we were off and reached home at 4:50 AM, Sunday morning.

Mumbai's landscape has not changed that much compared to just over 2.5 years ago when I was here. Fears of an impending real-estate crash may just lead to unfinished sky-scrapers dotting the suburban skyline. Reality check: Every inch of space is being grabbed by developers to build high-rises in the hope that Mumbaikars and the Rest of India will take notice and "buy" these flats, prices for them notwithstanding.

IPL mania is in its final stages with playoffs looming for the 4 Metros (Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai) and in the news currently are Siddhartha Mallya and molestation allegations, honest government officer murdered for exposing the truth in Karnataka & cops busting a rave party in Mumbai (why is that shocking anymore is beyond me).

While my journey has just begun and I hope it is a good one, there will be a lot of stories to tell and share with you guys. Hop on the Indian Express and enjoy the ride!!

More to follow. And yes, Amma is feeling much better, although not a 100% just yet. Test samples have been submitted and we are awaiting results.

To be continued....