I landed in Independent India on its 65th. Saleem Sinai turned 65 too! Rushdie took over most of my flight journey (shuffling between Luka and the Fire of life and Midnight's Children). I had a long layover in Bombay. It was a painful layover due to some immigration hassles. I was not carrying a print out of the receipt for the extra baggage. India needs to turn digital sooner, and cross-communicate across departments. Instead I had to shuffle between the arrivals and departures sections of the bombay airport, and if you know the rules, you know how much of a hassle that is. I did this with a trolley of 100 lbs.
The airport staff was just changing shifts, there were fresh faces every where, increased security, and people sporting tiny flags on their daily attire. Every boarding gate I crossed, I was greeted with a "Jai Hind!". My mind immediately drew a parallel "Long live America/God bless America" in American airports on July fourth. I am not sure if this happens, but Americans are a patriotic lot. I was in Boston the last year and everyone was in blue, red, white. Girls painted their nails in these colors too!
I wondered if I would do that.
I actually did. I was decked in Indian tricolors for the World Cup final, last year, at 4 AM, on a weekday (yeah, I skipped work) at a friend's apartment. I sat on the same spot on his couch as every other match that I watched at his place (all of which India won). What fun!
I flew by Jet Airways to Hyderabad, what awesome service and food. I bought Mohsin Hamid's "The reluctant fundamentalist" at the Bombay airport, and my buried my nose in it till I got to Hyderabad. I had a major crush on him, by the time I got home. Lovely prose. I folded every page where I found an interesting line, and read them over again. Oh the joys of physical books. Must to lay hands on his Moth Smoke.
I just finished Albert Camus' The Outsider, and re-discovered my love for philosophical fiction, and Absurdism (which started with Kundera four years ago).
I just discovered I can blog from my phone, doling updates is going to be all the more easier.
Ten days to Ganiyari, Bilaspur district, Chattisgarh!
Stay tuned for daily accounts.
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