11 over weight bags ready to burst open any moment...three laptop bags stuffed with all weird things along with the laptop...one of them didn't even have a laptop ;)!! a BIG handbag, a mighty stroller, a naughty 5 year old, topped up with 2 huge teddy bears and a blanket....31 hours door to door journey, 3 times flight shuffle, and a 115 lbs me (120 lbs actually :P) and a 160 lbs hubby!!!!
Two things that drew us back home was Family and Food! And above all see how in the previous sentence I unintentionally used the word "HOME" :)
There is some-thing in the air (apart from pollution ;) ) which distinguishes India from the rest of the world.
I vividly remember reaching Mumbai and the helpers at the airport dying to offer me help with the luggage. For once I thought that they kind of like me ;) and then started the "Kya madam rupaya nahi, dollar do na" :)
After the most exhausting journey I have ever had, shelling out dollars really didn't matter. I was tired, I was dizzy, and a midst all that, those helpers looked like tiny little angels spreading their wings of help :p
I so remember my little American accent"ed" kid, and poor hubby trying to shush him every now and then, or everyone from the cab driver to the sweeper will charge us more, thinking we are some filthy rich NRIs
How can I forget my village aunt hesitantly greeting me in English "Good evening" beta instead of Namaste, and everyone waiting so anxiously for me to open my bags as if I was about to open Pandora's box!
After two beautiful years in India, as I sip my "Taj mahal" chai, I look back as to how the bottled water has turned to endless filling of bottles with aqua-guard water, perfumed Victoria secret hand sanitizers to Lifebuoy hand wash, double pasteurized organic milk to Amul gold, Vegetarian-fed-cage free-hen eggs to "Saleem ke ande", and the list is endless..
Home is where the heart is, and nothing beats the joy of sitting in the car, stuck in a traffic jam at 45 degree temperature, honking nonstop, for no reason at all :)
Two things that drew us back home was Family and Food! And above all see how in the previous sentence I unintentionally used the word "HOME" :)
There is some-thing in the air (apart from pollution ;) ) which distinguishes India from the rest of the world.
After the most exhausting journey I have ever had, shelling out dollars really didn't matter. I was tired, I was dizzy, and a midst all that, those helpers looked like tiny little angels spreading their wings of help :p
I so remember my little American accent"ed" kid, and poor hubby trying to shush him every now and then, or everyone from the cab driver to the sweeper will charge us more, thinking we are some filthy rich NRIs
How can I forget my village aunt hesitantly greeting me in English "Good evening" beta instead of Namaste, and everyone waiting so anxiously for me to open my bags as if I was about to open Pandora's box!
After two beautiful years in India, as I sip my "Taj mahal" chai, I look back as to how the bottled water has turned to endless filling of bottles with aqua-guard water, perfumed Victoria secret hand sanitizers to Lifebuoy hand wash, double pasteurized organic milk to Amul gold, Vegetarian-fed-cage free-hen eggs to "Saleem ke ande", and the list is endless..
Home is where the heart is, and nothing beats the joy of sitting in the car, stuck in a traffic jam at 45 degree temperature, honking nonstop, for no reason at all :)
