So the journey to the motherland commenced on Wednesday evening - a mad dash to the airport as usual in which my cabbie pulled over right before the highway and asked me to take another cab for fear that his car would breakdown. The flights were painfully long as expected but I managed to meet a few people on the plane - in particular these Kiwi girls who spent 6 months in india travelling and were enroute back home after a visit in the UK. I had not slept on either flight (so I got a good dose of movies), and the lay-over in Heathrow was exhausting, I think I did about 20 laps around terminal 4. Anyways, arriving to Delhi was what I expected, humid, warm, and dark. I had airport pickup thankfully...my first two nights were spent at the exquisite Le Meridien in the heart of Delhi. Its the last remaning gift from Deloitte. Seriously, I walked in the hotel and was like...ahh..I love Deloitte. Why you might ask? Because I travelled so much for my former employer and acquired quite a lot points as a result. I had asked the front desk if my airport pickup car was included in the cost of the room, and he said "Madam, for our platinum guests, everything is included". At that point, I had to think of Monica, because she introduced me to the world of platinum.
So driving from the airport - it was incredibly misty so it was hard to see (making the drive that much more nerve-wracking). As daylight took over, it was like a line in a book - and the mist cleared to give me my first sight of Delhi - the famous statue of Gandhi leading a salt march. It was beautiful...from not seeing a thing, to the fog lifting to welcome me here. Ok - so that's as poetic as I can get - sorry Mims. (By the way Mims, I'm using that Boomerang passport bag you gave me - ohh...so nice to be organized for once). And Yans, you don't know how many times as I was reading my guidebook I was like, oh yea, Yans and I can do this...
Anyways, its Day 3, and today is the day Holi is celebrated - where people go crazy and return to child-like misdeameanors and throw paint on each other. And old family friend was kind enough to invite me one of her friend's parties, so I'm expecting to get messy today. I'll report on that later...as of now, I'm strategizing how I'll take pictures without getting my camera coloured.
As for Delhi..I think I've been inundated with so many horror stories (thanks Mon), that I judged the city before I've given it a chance. And plus, staying at a crazy nice hotel like this, contributes to the invisible wall I've built around myself. I explored a bit of Connaught Place and although its cool, I feel like a bit of a walking target. There are lots of other tourists here, but maybe its just my ego, I think I look a bit weirder (the Indian kid feeling misplaced). And since sooo many people are constantly coming up to me, touts, men and the stares, etc., I'm walking around with such a serious face. Seriously, I'm so used to smiling, that my cheeks hurt from all this stalwart seriousness.
I think I'll get used to it in the days to come. These 2 days have mostly been about getting over jet-lagg. I'm up in the middle of the night, catching up on the latest bollyood dance-music songs hitting the V-channel and MTV. Interestingly, there are a lot of white people spotlighted in all these dance videos (mostly women more scantily clad and intensenly girating than the Indian heroine). Seriously, I think a few more nights of these videos, I'm going to believe that love is found in a theme park where people randomly come together to a synchronized dance with wind blowing in my hair until the rain comes down and I embrace my hero in a hug.
Anyways, tonight my gift from Deloitte will expire (seriously, I'm all out of points now) so I'm returning to my roots, and staying at the YWCA. Sweet.
