Welcome to India

I am writing this post sitting in my known territory…India!
I don’t know where to start with, walking through these known streets makes you feel so nostalgic, especially of a place where you grew up, where you studied, where you fell in love, where you started your career and where you got married…. So many important and unforgettable moments associated with this place…. You even notice a moved stone as a change in place from the time you been there last…. Driving through those streets flooded me with all those memories associated with this city…. Even smell of the soil differs from place to place, right now when I smell this sweetness coming from the wet soil, I can’t help but to realize how close it lies to my heart….

Our flight landed here at 10:50pm IST on Friday. It was raining and as soon as we entered the airport we were surrounded with so many people with masks on their faces!! Before we realize what was it all about and what was going on we were handed over some form to fill in. As we focused eyes on banners and read the form soon we realized what all the fuss was about!! Yeaah Swine Flu!!! So all these was precautions against Swain Flu!
Filling forms and then just a normal check-up to know whether someone is suffering from fever… I didn’t think that was enough to catch some swain-flu carrier but still I was happy because at least something was being done….
It is so difficult to fight with epidemic in a developing country like this with such a large population… There is not much awareness, some cases will not even be reported and so until its spread on larger scale it wont be found out and then it gets too late … so at least tries to stop it and keep track on that in whatever way possible is good.

Aaaah forgot to write about how was our flight…. Yeah it was good overall, nice and comfortable but weather was not that good. One thing I realized on this flight was “Sometimes ignorance is bliss”. There were few old couples on flight, and from their behavior I derive that they didn’t know English as a language.
It happened so that whenever there were more disturbance in climate outside and it was instructed to remain seated, to tighten the seat belts and not to use toilets for a while, they didn’t seem to listen, they will stand, they will smile even at the time when I was holding Ashu’s hand ‘coz of badly vibrating plane !! When I saw them standing and smiling I asked Ashu whether it was only me feeling those vibrations, and surely he felt them too! Even when sometime later the same announcements was done with one more added line that please follow the instructions and this is for your safety, they seemed not to listen it, and then I thought this is definitely a case where u don’t understand and so you are less scared! Ignorance is bliss I say…more we know more scared we feel, Anyway whatever … I am writing this post right now so there was nothing much to be scared about but you know so much we see and hear on news now a days… you never know !!! Finally air-hostess came and made them sit by holding their hand! (And still they were still smiling but now with a wondering look, may be thinking hell what’s wrong with this air-hostess!!)

Then as we walk on the road and see people around…. we see, compare and realize how each and every country and culture is different in it’s own way…. !
Even how a customer gets treated is so different!!!
We visited this store today and while the sales guy asked us what will we like to have, coffee or cold-drink? We replied negatively and he was not happy by it, again after 5 minutes he asked us same question and we again replied same saying nothing. After a while he was showing us some design catalogues and again asked us: “Now will you have anything?”
We: Ahhh, no, thanks
He: No, you have to …
We: Sorry….what???
He: You have to have something…
We: arrrr…ummm (with open mouths not knowing what to say, not being in such situation in a long time )
He: You have to take something either coffee or cold drink otherwise I will not show you other catalogue!
And looking at the seriousness in his voice and eyes we had no way to say “NO” this time…

And then I said to myself….. aaah so this is not a dream, WELCOME TO INDIA…