What has changed?

Yeah, I am acting a bit weird, a foreigner in my own motherland. Why so? Things have changed quite a bit in the last 2 years that I have been away. So I thought I make a list of things that have noticeably changed!

1. Electricity load shedding up to 4 hours everyday. Its a pain, but I guess my city of Navi Mumbai is facing energy crisis, and electricity is actually being rationed for all of us here :( !!
2. Toll for parking anywhere and everywhere!! I can't believe, but I have to pay toll at every place that I try to park my car. I mean, even my neighborhood grocery store parking is no longer free :( !!
3. Huge malls and movie theaters everywhere. Before I went, my town just had a single theater and a single mall. Now there are more than 4 movie theaters with a gazillion screens, and yeah as I write there are 5 huge malls in my vicinity with 3 more coming up.
4. Traffic. Now practically everyone in my neighborhood owns at least 2 cars. Traffic is a mess, and am scared of driving :( !!
5. Mobile phones. They are ubiquitous. I am probably the only one in this country that doesn't own one now :) !!
6. Mobile phone models. Yeah, in US you just drool over the iPhone, come to India and you have so many drop dead gorgeous phone models, that you end up wagging your tongue in the phone shop :P
7. Pollution. Smog smog everywhere.
8. Customer service. Yeah that was an unknown term for most of us. But now its amazing. Most people in the service sector have become amazingly courteous and friendly!
9. Health clubs. Yeah, lots of choices now!!
10. FM Stations. Yippeee... So many FM stations, its cool, entertainment on the run!! I haven't ever heard soo much radio and soo many Hindi songs, as I have in the last few days!!
11. Internet speeds are increasing and prices are dropping. Yippeee... now I can actually thrive :) !! Imagine, I had the option to choose between ADSL, PPPoE over Ethernet, and a Wireless Internet connection protocol which I have no clue what it is, but they actually install a dish at your home!! Freaking awesome :) !!
12. Mouthwatering food. I am rediscovering Indian cuisine, that I missed so much. I have been thriving on Vada Pav, Samosa, Masala Dosa, Indian Chinese, Tandoori and the rest. Huh, and I managed to regain all the 3 pounds that I had painstakingly burned off in the last 1 year. I am eating as if there is no tomorrow :) !!
    

Hats-off to Alcohol!!

What happens to all your electronic equipment when you leave it unused in a damp dusty environment? You guessed it right they simply stop working. Well its a bad feeling to see all your favorite things dead.. but you won't believe when I say that I could revive most of them. Huh, its amazing the amount of torture electronics can take today!! Most of my electronics could be revived by just cleaning its contacts by the "Music Cassette Head Cleaner fluid". I ain't exactly sure but it just contains some kinda alcohol is what I believe. So there it is. Alcohol saved my day!! My lovely music system, my car deck, all my remotes and my Computer (at least part of it!) are revived and rocking. Huh, I saved quite a bit of money all thanks to Alcohol. Yeah, and you thought that only consuming it was good :) !!

Back home

So, I am finally back in India, back at home, and enjoying the new found freedom. No work, at home or in office, and kinda enjoying this "no responsibilities" phase of my life :) !! I am gonna be gone on vacation for 2 weeks, and since there is no Internet around, I wouldn't be writing for at least 2 more weeks!!

3 Pancakes down

Yeah, me reached Hongkong Airport. Don't know why they made us get out of the airplane. But, well here I am, sitting in the Burger King in HKG Airport, already gobbled 3 pancake breakfast for 26 HKG dollars. Wonder how much it shows up in USD on my Credit Card day after!! Very forgettable 14 hour journey I had from SFO to HKG. Did nothing but eat and sleep. Yeah, got to catch up on my sleep and technically dreamt for the first time in a flight!! Actually, had a nightmare and got up to see the guy next to me sleeping on my shoulder! Yikes!! Shrugged him off and went for a leisurely tour of the plane at whatever unearthly hour it was!!

Its actually 3:15 PM for my bio-clock, but I guess I already have adjusted myself to the Hongkong Standard time (how else do I explain the sudden urge for a pancake breakfast?). Anyways, now my next halt will be Singapore before I reach my country!! Adios amigos, until we meet again!!

A day to go

I can't believe I can get all sad and nostalgic about this. But leaving a place that you have inhabited for 2 years sure does hurt. Its a bitter sweet feeling actually.

There are all these people you have been with that make you feel special, make you feel important and wanted. You know that you are gonna miss this place, but the reality doesn't really dawn on you. I somehow have never felt the pain of leaving a place till I actually left it! You try to assimilate as much as you can. You try to do that routine one last time!

Today when I packed up all my stuff in my office, and looked at it, I actually relived the entire 2 years in a flash. I sure am gonna miss each and everything and each and everyone that I have been associated with. But, on this last evening in California, as the sun sets behind me, I have this small flicker of hope in me, that things are going to be far better for me in the future and I am gonna enjoy my life to the fullest!