I just read somewhere..."Family is Family"....you dont need appointments and weekends to visit them....u dont have to schedule....its amazing how Family's always willing to schedule everything around ur schedule.... :) ....Juss got bak frm a month long trip to India...my home...the place where I belong and feel loved...I claim to know it and still it never ceases to amuse me....This trip I travelled a lot and did a lot of things that were on my mind...things I had decided to do for a long time...Things I was planning and waiting for....
We started from Austin. Reached Newark and were tired by the time we got in the plane for Bombay. Newark airport sucks...It is the pathetic airport I have seen....All the shops are boring...Duty Free doesnt have most of the stuff I wanted to get....No Lindt and Liquer choclates....can u beliv it??
Once on the flight to Bombay...it was all fun...It was about 14 hour journey filled with watching movies, sleeping and eating...wasnt too bored....well...didnt really got a chance to get bored....there are abt 300 or so Free movies to watch...new and old...:)
After an amazing journey of 14 hours straight from Newark to Bombay, we landed in Bombay on the 7th...I read in a novel about Bombay, "Breathing in Bombay is like breathing in water....Lungs become Amphibian...there is so much water in the air". It was extremely humid...so as soon as we landed all the jackets and coats came off....Immigration took us abt an hour ....felt like forever....tired and almost ready to fall we made it out of the airport. There was a crowd of about 1000 ppl waiting outside...As I like to say...So many ppl came to welcome us...:)...Bombay has a Distinct smell...there is no name for that smell...oh well its called "Bombay"...:)....Its a mix of every smell I know....its is smoothing and welcoming....thats the smell of my land....place where I always feel "I belong".
Nothings changed.....its all the same....ppl, cars, traffic, streets, constructions, dust, pollution, and the fun of all of it...:)...Jet lagged and excited didnt get much sleep....Went Saree shopping the very next day....Wrapped about 10 or so Sarees in the Shop before finalising on one to get....it took me forever to buy the one I had ruled out earlier....so was kinda too much for the ppl who were helping me out....well...its always too much for the ppl who r helping me out...its amazing how Family never minds it though.... :)
Bombay was a different experience this time...we went partying in Bombay....its amazing how you can be the Richest of the Rich and the poorest of the Poor in Bombay....You can have a lot of money and you can have nothing at the same time....the difference is evident and seen everywhere...
We took a road trip from Bombay to Pune and stayed a nite in Pune with Vikrant(my cousin) and Pooman(The wifey)...as always meeting cousins after a year or so is always fun....lots to talk abt...was meeting Poonam for the first time...as I told her...She is a perfect match for my crazy cousin... ;)
The next day, mom, me and my Bro (satyajeet) drove to Aurangabad....my home...I dont know how I can feel the same way as I use to when I was living there...nothings changed...as soon as I entered my parents house...the first thing I wanted to do was clean it up....donate all my old stuff and free up the space for Mom...and thats wat I did all the 3 days Gautam was not there....I was cleaning up my old room and clearing things....the highlight of Aurangabad trip was meeting "Arya" for the very first time....One of my cousins adopted a baby boy...Arya...he is a sweetheart...surprisingly he took abt 5 mins to come to me...and he was all happy and started playing with me instantly...he is a Head banger and a Rock star... :) ....all 10 days in Aurangabad were full of meeting ppl...Met Shaunak (my cousin sis's new husband)...He is this lively cute fellow who dances really well... :)
We started from Austin. Reached Newark and were tired by the time we got in the plane for Bombay. Newark airport sucks...It is the pathetic airport I have seen....All the shops are boring...Duty Free doesnt have most of the stuff I wanted to get....No Lindt and Liquer choclates....can u beliv it??
Once on the flight to Bombay...it was all fun...It was about 14 hour journey filled with watching movies, sleeping and eating...wasnt too bored....well...didnt really got a chance to get bored....there are abt 300 or so Free movies to watch...new and old...:)
After an amazing journey of 14 hours straight from Newark to Bombay, we landed in Bombay on the 7th...I read in a novel about Bombay, "Breathing in Bombay is like breathing in water....Lungs become Amphibian...there is so much water in the air". It was extremely humid...so as soon as we landed all the jackets and coats came off....Immigration took us abt an hour ....felt like forever....tired and almost ready to fall we made it out of the airport. There was a crowd of about 1000 ppl waiting outside...As I like to say...So many ppl came to welcome us...:)...Bombay has a Distinct smell...there is no name for that smell...oh well its called "Bombay"...:)....Its a mix of every smell I know....its is smoothing and welcoming....thats the smell of my land....place where I always feel "I belong".
Nothings changed.....its all the same....ppl, cars, traffic, streets, constructions, dust, pollution, and the fun of all of it...:)...Jet lagged and excited didnt get much sleep....Went Saree shopping the very next day....Wrapped about 10 or so Sarees in the Shop before finalising on one to get....it took me forever to buy the one I had ruled out earlier....so was kinda too much for the ppl who were helping me out....well...its always too much for the ppl who r helping me out...its amazing how Family never minds it though.... :)
Bombay was a different experience this time...we went partying in Bombay....its amazing how you can be the Richest of the Rich and the poorest of the Poor in Bombay....You can have a lot of money and you can have nothing at the same time....the difference is evident and seen everywhere...
We took a road trip from Bombay to Pune and stayed a nite in Pune with Vikrant(my cousin) and Pooman(The wifey)...as always meeting cousins after a year or so is always fun....lots to talk abt...was meeting Poonam for the first time...as I told her...She is a perfect match for my crazy cousin... ;)
The next day, mom, me and my Bro (satyajeet) drove to Aurangabad....my home...I dont know how I can feel the same way as I use to when I was living there...nothings changed...as soon as I entered my parents house...the first thing I wanted to do was clean it up....donate all my old stuff and free up the space for Mom...and thats wat I did all the 3 days Gautam was not there....I was cleaning up my old room and clearing things....the highlight of Aurangabad trip was meeting "Arya" for the very first time....One of my cousins adopted a baby boy...Arya...he is a sweetheart...surprisingly he took abt 5 mins to come to me...and he was all happy and started playing with me instantly...he is a Head banger and a Rock star... :) ....all 10 days in Aurangabad were full of meeting ppl...Met Shaunak (my cousin sis's new husband)...He is this lively cute fellow who dances really well... :)
Rest all we did was eating...and doing nothing....Mom was busy cooking and making stuff....My Granny (mom's Mom)....Bai...also joined in...so it was a brigade on mission to cook and feed us.... :) My Dad hardly went to work...he owns his own small Agricultural business...he was on a break...he use to be around all the time...and tats amazing....coz once i am done with my 10 days stay...i dont miss him all that much.... :)
We took Gautam to a Farm for some fresh "Hurda" Party...it is complicated to explain wat it means... ;) ....its juss a fun experience of Rural Indian life...with typical "Dehati" (rural) Indian food... :) He loved it all...The fresh fruits juss plucked from trees...the corn and the fresh sugarcane juice...Yum.. :)
Then came my Sis, Bro-in-law and Ayan....the get-togeher for Ayan was a hit...Gautam and I decided to sing....so we sang..."Pappu can't dance saala"...one of Ayan's fav song....it is also a hit Bollywood number...I like to beliv we did a very good job at singing....as everyone stayed put.... ;) The last day in Aurangabad was a grand worship that my parents organized at one of the famous temples near Aurangabad...it took forever...was a different experience...then was the final Good-bye Aurangabad Drinking Party...where everyone gets to do some shots... ;) Leaving frm Abad was hard as always....I cried a lot....I dont know when I am going to get over this....at times I think the sooner the better and sometimes it feels like, good if this stays forever....i will always have a place where I will feel "I belong"....no matter wat....
Rest of India trip was filled with more travelling and meeting ppl...We went to Jaipur by train, it was 40 or so of all our relatives travelling together....from Jaipur 20 more joined in...In all, 60 of all extended Family went to Kuchaman (Gautam's ancetartial place)...it was like a mini Wedding...we all stayed at the same place for 3 days....there were various things going on every single day....when u live in places like these for a few days...u realise how ppl survive on the bare minimum...there are no Heaters and 24 hours Hot water facilities...the temperature is in the the 40s (F)....its cold and it is dry....but ppl wake up as early as 4-5 in the morning to start their daily routine...which for most begins with going to the Temple for worship. In the 3 days we stayed in Kuchaman, we did our share too...we went to 4 or 5 different temples....we visited the Kuchaman Fort...it is beautiful...we danced and we sang...it was awesome.
Being Carefree without a thing to worry is the best....all we had to worry abt was getting ready on time...everything else was taken care of...we feasted on awesome Indian meals 3 times a day...all we were did was Eat, Talk, Play, Dance and sleep...oh and go to Temples... :)
We came back to bombay tired...stayed in Bombay for the last 5 days of our trip...which went by really quickly....Meeting ppl, shopping and bad health kept us busy...New Year's was another fun experience...we went Gautam's cousin's place for pre-party...it was an awesome bbq (veggie) and cocktails party...after that went to a Frd's place for House party...I was tipsy and did some stunts like Falling in the stairs and spilling my Drink on everyone...at Mudnite, a scare-crow called 2008 was burned in the middle of the street and everyone danced around it....this symbolizes Farewell to 2008 and welcome to the new beginnings in 2009. It was a new way of celebrating New Years for us... :)
What does New Year's bring...Happiness, Excitement, Joy and a sense of New-ness...I am all set to take this year as it comes...with only one Resolution..."Dont make the same mistakes with the same person again and again" :)
Happy New Year !!
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