On my arrival at the Atlanta Airport the Immigration Officer told me as he swiped my passport - "Welcome home". It suddenly occured to me that I was away from home visiting my home in India. I hit a perfect home run in my just concluded India trip, where I felt lot at home to write about. By all means, my trip to India wasn't entirely uneventful. Met most of my friends and relatives I intended to. Those who I inadvertently missed will catch up next time. Made a short and sweet trip to my ancestral village near Puri, sweetened by guzzling Coconut water on the way.
Apart from missing memories and moments in India, I miss the murmuring of mosquitos who loved the taste of my blood already sweetened by the varieties of local sweets my sweet tooth sampled. Like a good charitable samaritan, I shared the booty with the tiny insects, thus sustaining the food chain. Emulating the well known commercial (Advertisement) of State Farm Insurance the mosquitos of Bhubaneswar celebrated - "Like a good neighbor, Sambeet Dash is here".
My 2 hour long Indigo flight from Bhubaneswar to Delhi was mundane and uneventful, as the return trip lacks the JOSH (mojo) of the onbound trip towards India. But a similar return trip to United States in 2021 wasn't uneventful at all. The Indigo flight to Delhi on that day growled on the termac for a good half an hour after boarding. Right in front of me was seated a middle aged man, probably in his late 50s or early 60s - short, dark, bald and plumpy with hippie hair on his ears busy frantically Whatsapping. The screen of his smartphone was barely two feet away from my prying eyes as suddenly a semi-bare female body slowly appearing on the screen raised my curiosity to eavesdrop in between the gap of the seats.
The large size font of his smartphone and the subsequent raunchy chat got my attention and gave away his intention. From the attire of the girl, the nudity and the kind of lascivious exchanges made between the two, it was quite apparent that the conversation was between a call girl and her client. The man seemed desperate to reach Delhi. He wrote his final sentence as the flight started running on the termac - "Keep sending me your pictures for my in flight entertainment". He probably wasn't aware that he wasn't the only one inside the plane having in-flight entertainment. He switched off the phone as the flight took off and I switched my head towards the window to take a view at the fading string of the lights below as the flight slowly vanished into the cloud.
One of the best sights I ever saw was when the flight from Delhi landed in Paris around noon local time. The clouds from the top looked like snow capped glaciers, the blue openings in the sky in between the clouds looked like melting glacial ice sparkling under the bright sun. The plane came under the cloud with the cloudy, gray wintry weather all around, same as in life it doesn't take long to dream turn into dull reality of life.
Marriage season is in the air of Odisha. There are also plenty of other social occasions with too many parties to celebrate them. Unlike in America where social gatherings are limited around the holiday seasons of Christmas and Thanksgiving, in India it extends to most part of the year. Celebrations in USA is much less lavish and much more frugal to what I have seen in India. Consumerism has hit the roof as people aren't hesitant to spend money, sometimes just to show off their newly acquired wealth. There is a class of nouveau riche in limelight these days who got tons of money but lack class.
With greasy food taking over the healthy local diet and increased alcohol consumption it is really a challenge to maintain a healthy lifestyle for many. Though one has to be a Roman in Rome, it is imperative to inculcate strong control over food and drinks to stay healthy and maintain fitness. A good sign is the increasing number of morning walkers in Forest Park which I frequented during my stay. In a dancing workout session I saw a bunch of pot bellies middle aged males gyrating their tummies to the tune of Hindi music exposing their white protruding chest, breast hairs and betel stained teeth.
Long haul flights are getting more and more painful as I age. Gone are the days when air travel was a luxury. Now it is an unavoidable necessity. Crammed in cattle class like sardines is a pain in the butt, literally - not to mention close to 20 hours inside a flight carrying hundreds of passengers in a closed environment full of stale air at forty thousand feet isn't exactly healthy but a necessary evil to deal with. I try my best to drink plenty of water to fight the dehydration caused inside the flight, consume less spirit to stay spirited. The 30 hour long journey including the in flight and stoppage time seemed eternal and tiring. As the Delta flight entered the USA Airspace from New England area, the moon looked a whole lot bigger and brighter in the pollution free air - the rabbit inside the moon looked eager to jump out into the window seat I took and fall on my lap to cradle.
Back in Georgia to a cold, late evening temperature of 40°F (5°Centigrade). It would be early morning in India. Already miss the humming of mosquitoes and brutally clapping them to death, the yodelling of mongrels in middle of night. The cold, crispy air of Georgia felt refreshingly fresh as I stepped out of the Airport. It felt odd not to hear a single vehicle honking on my 100 miles (160 km) road trip from Atlanta to Columbus. Miss the din and bustle, crowd and the continous kickee...kickkee..kickee...of bikes yonking horn and slicing their way through the traffic - the ubiquitous jerk on the road and the bumpy rides, the roads being too smooth for comfort to my back here. A person who has driven on roads of Odisha, driving anywhere else in world is a walk in the park.
Traveled 10,000 miles to and fro between my family in United States and India. Felt sad to bid adieu to my parents in India, happy to get back to my family in Georgia. Left India with Jai Jagannath in mind, back with "Georgia in my mind" - to echo the famous song by Ray Charles. I have two hearts, India and USA, separated by 7 seas and 13 rivers, united by the bond of love. Rooted strongly in both, I am rooting for both. Though I love United States, my adopted home, like first love in life India is and always will be close to my heart. Thus concludes my travelog to India this year.
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