DESI DIARY - 1

Friday, Aug 28 2009

Meri Jaan, tou finally I am in India. I will try and keep updating you with some of my experiences in Apna-Des.

So, lets get set go - As I stepped out of the 14hr non-stop flight aircraft into the airport area, I saw multiple baggage trolleys available to be picked up.

What? Carts and that too available for free without paying the $3.50? Whoa !

What a life saver it is to put that "stuff-it-as-much-as-you-can backpack" and the hand (break) luggage on a cart right as you get off the airplane.

This was really nice and the good thing was that I could see these carts at each and every 10 ft. Absolutely Great !!!

Feeling great about the Desi airport, I came to an area, where I had to park these carts, and there were about 3-5 people helping the passengers offload the carts. (Help without any tips ? Whoa again !!)

Dude, Where am I? Courteous people waiting to help you merely take the cart without giving me THE LOOK? (this cannot be the desi patel store guy :)

To top this, if needed, some of these porters were later helping passengers pick their luggage from the baggage area, pass it through the antique x-ray machine, reload it onto the trolley etc.

Now, thats REALLY an experience for someone who flies economy class!

As I walked down the escalators, I was greeted by a thermal scan to check my flu conditions. Thank god, I took a combiflam just 2 hours back, or else I would have come under the scan :)

For some of you khopdi-ke-khopche-main-know-it-all-types, the way these thermal scanners work is that on detecting a person with body temperature above normal (98.6 degree F), the camera sounds an alarm and also captures his or her photograph.

Essentially, these scanners are very sensitive to body temperatures and, in case the doctors miss out on any passengers with fever, the machines won't miss them. But they cannot judge you if you took the medicine in the flight. So, then how effective is this scanner?

Hey - sochne ka nahin bidu, psychological treatment bhi kuch hota hain.
Whoopie - I passed the thermal-flu scanner, now let me pass on the swine-flu :)

As you get past all the lines and the luggage pick up areas, you see the familiar sights of a STD (unrelated to AIDS :) phone booth and the lipton and coffee stands.

Mumbai International airport NOW has a multi-level parking area (imagine what was going on in the parking scene for all these years :)

So, there is now a passenger pickup area where people pickup passengers - Oho !! not literally pick up :)

Imagine, everyone getting a pick up welcome on arriving outside the airport, that would become a heaven for the pick-pocket types !!

And here was the best part, as I came out of the airport, I could smell THE AIR (for people from India you know what I mean :)

I thought to myself, I should better put on my mask, it might just be a good idea, maybe not for the swine flu panic but for the SMELLY AIR-SMELLY AIR (I could sing the Friends-Phoebe song in my mind :)

Tou Meri jaan, here I am - on another Re-Journey in India ! I will keep updating this blog with more experiences.

So, till the next one, stay safe, stay in loeve and all you public bolaaa
Ganpati Bappa Moriya !!!!

Yeh Jo Des Hain Tera !

August 12, 2009

Meri Jaan, pahle tou bahut-bahut maafi for not continuing the show on EBC, but I will keep writing on the blog. Tou aapka aur mera communication channel will still stay open, bindaas, and azaad !

That reminds me that Indian Independence Day is coming this week, so definitely go attend one of those pardes parade-s, be it in New York or Oak Tree.

Go enjoy the food, the stalls, the desh-bhakti-ka-jazba, celebrity sightings and the desi celebrations !

I have done this for some time now, and every year when I used to see the desi flag in full flow, sometimes, I used to get that layer-of-moistness in the eyes (kya karein, the paani puri is always very spicy yaar :)

Meri Jaan, is it really the Paani puri, or deep in our hearts, do we really-really miss apna desh??

It is funny, but one of these days, I was sitting across the Hudson pier and looking at the Manhattan Skyline, and I was just observing.

I was observing the surroundings, the landscape, the trees, the buildings, the water, the people.
What did I see?

All I could see was apna desi public around the riverside, some sitting and eating food, some lazying around, some walking their kids, some taking a break from work, others were just enjoying the breeze !

Whoa !!! Is this Nariman Point or Hudson Pier?? Epiphany strikes!!

Am I in apna desh, or is this videsh?

Meri Jaan, what qualifies this to be Videsh? Is it non-Apne log, or is it the Yule-log (American TV on a Christmas night, anyone :)?

The sights around me seemed to be a frame right out of any office area in any place in apna des (without the manhattan skyline ofcourse :), but all I could see was apne log everywhere !

Tou then, since I had similar desi surroundings around me, was I not in our desh? :)

Is the US our desh becoz we live here, we abide by the laws, pay taxes and this is where we have made our small get together community and this is where we earn our bread and butter?

Or, is this merely a Rozi-Roti place to cha$e those green$ and make a financially better life for ourselves and the family?

Well, in this Azaadi week, I wont go too deep into this beaten to death conversation, because I think it is is no longer about Apne log or Yule log.

My khopdi-ka-khopcha thinks that circumstances are different for each person, and each and every person has his or her priorities that they need to stick by; Other than that, there is really not much difference between the Hamptons or the Himachals, Pointpleasant or the Aksa beach.

Ek Story yaad aati hain about a parrot in a Raja's palace.

There was once a parrot in a Raja's palace.

Every day, the parrot abided by the Raja's demands. To keep the Raja happy, the parrot used to sing false praises about the palace and the Raja. Day in and day out the parrot used to sing on the Raja's tunes.

The Raja was very happy and used to kept the parrot in a golden cage. The parrot also felt great staying in the Golden cage and yes, in the Raja's palace.

The Raja used to feed the parrot very well, and used to give him lots of jawaar to eat. Raja used to tell the parrot that if he did what the Raja said, then one day, the Raja would give the parrot a golden chair.

The parrot was very happy, always waiting for the day he would sit on that golden chair.

One day the great day came and the parrot got the golden chair, but after sitting on the chair, he did not feel any different, as he was still inside the cage, just a little higher.

One evening the parrot was looking outside his cage, looking up in the sky.

The parrot saw all the other parrots flying outside the palace. They were probably not given that much to eat, but most of them seemed very happy, well spirited and free!

Ek Din, a fakeer went by the palace singing a song "Sone ke pinzre ko chod ke dekh, zindagi ka saamna karke tou dekh".

So, one fine day the parrot decided that jo bhi ho, I am not going to stay in this golden cage, I want to be free!

I have the golden chair, I have unlimited jawaar, but where is my life?

Next day, when the Raja asked him to do something, the parrot did what he felt was right! He refused to abide by the Raja's orders.

The Raja got really furious and told his soldiers to remove the bird from the cage, and released the parrot out in the sky and the Raja ordered a new bird for the golden cage!

The parrot was a little shaken, but once he was in the sky he could see the open skies, the horizon-zenith, the limitless expansion, and most importantly, his freedom and his happiness.

Alas ! The parrot was free, he was no longer in that cage.

The parrot had become Ek Azaad Parinda !!!

Meri Jaan, this is not the Aastha channel :) but Woh kahte hain na:

Nazar aur Nazaaron ka aisa nazraana hota hain kabhi-kabhi,
Ke Uski nazrein karam nazar hi nahin aati !
Raah hoti hain, safar hota hain, aur humsafar bhi hote hain,
Lekin, Zindagi door door tak nazar nahin aati !

Bheja Fry message in this Independence week:
In the end, it is all about what makes YOU free from YOUR Bindings, YOUR miseries, gives YOU what YOU need and makes YOU happy.

If thats what it is, tou phir it really does not matter - chaahe woh yeh desh ho, ya apna desh !!

Tou Meri Jaan, with that I am almost packed up to move out to Apna Swades!

Before I leave, in this Independence week, Ek song yaad aata hain:

Zindagi maut na ban jaaye sambhalon yaaron,
Kho rahaa chain-o aman, mushkilon main hain vatan,
Sarfaroshi ki shamaa dil main jagaa lo yaaron !!!!

Happy Independence Day Week !

Meri Jaan, till we meet next time, stay Safe, stay Azaad, and stay in Loeve !

- Pankaj