Hmm....finally, here is my public blog. After years of private blogging, I have decided to go public. Got the idea of doing this while travelling back home on the cozy kingfisher couch.
I'm still drooping in front of my monitor as I type this column. Still have some incomplete tasks to be done, but ya, all that after I'm done with this one. I had decided the topic long back. It came across to me as I landed in Mumbai airport and saw a whole bunch of desis welcoming the passengers at the airport. I have to blog this experience is what I thought.
I remember Morpheus say "How would you know what is a dream and reality if you never wake up from a dream!". Yes it seems like a dream - Life in the UK. What a contrast! There are so many minute things you tend to forget as you become acclimatised to the foreign land. Its not our fault, its the way the species of homosapiens is. We tend to forget. (We give a reason of 'time' for this). Its like I'v woken from a dream. To realise the reality after a sweet dream, you need some time...
The feeling of me being alone, and parting my friends sunk in only when the flight was taking off! It always happens to me when I am alone. The whole gamut of feelings comes crashing down like an avalanche. But, there was excitement of meeting all my old friends, relatives, cousins and of course feeling the feel of India. After a month of confusions and mixed emotions, finally I got time to relax. Especially, when there are some real hot women in "red" dress, serving you drinks and food, you can really "relax"..:P
The flight was a real cool one. Very cozy - though the climate was not very good over many places. There were too many turbulence making the Boeing jump around. I landed in Mumbai on time. At touch down I felt - 'Welcome to the real world' junaith. After all, this is where I truly belong. After landing at Chatrapati Shivaji terminus, there was a long walk to the baggage collection section. Man, my bag was heavy. I could recollect all those school students carrying bags half their weight.
After baggage collection, I was 'welcomed' by a customs officer and I could make out even before the screening, that they were looking at me as if I was a well cooked, free to eat, tandoori chicken. Reason - my guitar. The gentleman in the respectable clean white uniform asked me to step aside from the queue and said 'you seem to have lot of baggage'. 'No sir - I don't, I was allowed at London as my baggage was well within limit' was my response. (Of course I was lying..:)..I was carrying 2 kg more than what was permitted). 'No, no...you indeed have too much weight - whats this? guitar?? you have the bill for this?". I knew this was coming. I was prepared for this. I don't know what made me feel good about having the bill for the guitar. I had the bill for 230. He asked me 'what currency is this? dollar?'. The bill clearly said GBP - so I had to humbly say 'Its pounds Sir'. 'Hmm..that's too much my boy! You have to pay 35% tax for this'...I didn't expect me producing the bill to backfire like this. 'But Sir, I have been using this guitar. Why should I pay tax?'. 'No, you don't know, you have to pay. Or maybe there is a easy way out of this. You can pay me pound 30 and get away with this'. I felt that he was so cheap. I have seen people in khaki uniform do this kind of shit. But, to see a person in white uniform do this was pathetic. I felt so cheap even to be engaged in such a conversation. But, ya, I am Indian, who has been told such stories million times, so I said, "I don't have pounds Sir". "OK, which currency you have?". I said "Rupees". "Hmm...give me Rs. 2000 then". "Sir, I don't have 2000". "Common, take your wallet". He took me to a quiet area where there was no one to see us. He peeped into my wallet and snatched the 2000 I had. I felt so helpless. Probably he could see it too..(My face is a relfection of what I feel - my friends would agree). I felt like paying the tax, rather than bribing him thus accepting his win. But, I didn't do it. I should have perhaps done that. I don't know - I'm still not clear what I should have done.
So, after my short stint with the dirty customs man, I was still thinking about what just happened and walked out of the airport. It was after I did that, did I realise that I should not walk out, I should go to the domestic transfer section. So, I went in again to where I had to go and waited for the bus(should I say coach!)..It was in the coach that I saw the second shocking thing happen that made me compare the UK and India. I sat next to a police constable who was patrolling the bus. He was engrossed in watching the Ind/NZ match. When I saw the score I didn't realise the match summary till then. NZ had 230 to win. I supposed that India had scored only 229. I asked the constable "India, ithna kam score kiye kya??". He gave me one disgusted look and said "230 aur hai". Its only then I realised that India had actually scored over the top innings score. 393 to win it was. Honestly, I felt so stupid to have asked him such a question..lol. So, till I could reach the domestic terminal, I was enjoying the match on the bus - and there was a wicket!! Cool. I turned towards him to share my excitement - and he was sleeping!!! Gosh - what the hell? Aren't you supposed to be working now? And the walky-talky in his hand was going on and on - and he was here - sleeping!!!
So, after two experiences like this, I spent my next 5 hours waiting in the airport for my chennai flight. It was really boring to wait there. I would stare at some real beauties till they pass across after which I would again get engrossed with my Ipod. There was a delay in the flight - I knew I would land late in Chennai. I was getting more and more excited as Chennai came closer.
Mum and Dad were in the airport waiting for me. It felt like - after all, me coming here was the right thing to do. It was the first time I felt this in months. No uncertainties. I could see the happiness gush across all our faces. I don't know what would happen in a few days. But, I'm happy that I'm here now. Mum had made idly with mutton khurma for me. She said 'I made something real simple keeping your stomach in Mind'...God! Is mutton khurma and idly supposed to be simple?? Sridhar answer this one!!! lol...We spoke for 2 hours after which I wanted to sleep. It was almost 24 hours earlier when I had left Bristol.
Its been 2 days now. Its the first time I'm feeling jet lag. I never feel this. First time I went to UK, or the first time I came back on vacation - I never felt jet lag. I could be normal from day 1. But, this time is different. Probably its the tiring journey. I keep feeling as if I'm going to crash down asleep anytime. There are so many things that I'm seeing after a long time - that have almost got faded out of my mind. "Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind??"..lol...The first time I saw mosquitoes here, sleeping underneath a fan, White coloured eggs, crazy traffic, traffic police man on a manned signal system - who is on phone and forgets to change traffic signal!!(true, I saw this), encroached pavements, encroached roads, speed limits only to be limited by other traffic, etc...etc..
It feels good to feel all this again - and I'm enjoying every moment of it. I'm getting used to driving bikes...:) Its time to visit a few friends now.
