Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Ja Mata Bharat Mata...

The time just flew by and it's time for me to go back to Tokyo. And even though my heart sinks like that of a child whose summer vacations are coming to an end, I can say that I completely enjoyed every moment of my stay here.

The day I boarded the flight from Tokyo (end of Apr), I was wearing a full sleeve sweater, a leather jacket and a monkey cap. Of course, I was suffering from cold that time. But the moment I landed in Delhi, I felt that somebody has thrown me right in front of a furnace. And all the warm clothes that were keeping me alive a few hours back became excess baggage. And believe it or not but I felt a burning sensation when I touched that sweater later.

One of the greatest fears that I had when I departed for India was the powercuts. But I must thank God that at least the situation in Delhi has improved tremendously. Although there are powercuts but they are almost non-existent. Did I hear a hallelujah for that?

It took me sometime in getting used to the driving conditions here. But during my entire period of stay I was always circumspect on the road and frustrated by the way people were breaking rules while driving. Every single day, during my long drives to Manesar or Noida, I could see an accident or two always. Leading to major traffic jams. One of the most frustrating experiences that I had on this trip was to reach "Punjabi by Nature" restaurant in Cybercity, Gurgaon from Sikanderpur Village gol chakkar area at 6:00pm. For no apparent reason it took us almost an hour.

Anyway, as I've always mentioned, in the past, for me it's never about the place, it's about being with the people, I love. And that's why, inspite of all the traffic, road and weather conditions and inspite of experiencing some uncivilized behavior on road (I'll write something on it very soon), I can surely say that the last two months were the best time I had. More on this in a day or two :)