Back in Georgia to a cool 75 (21degree centigrade) afternoon. 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 kickee...kickkee..kickee...of bikes yonking their way through - the ubiquitous jerk on the road and the bumpy rides, the roads being too smooth for comfort to my back. A person who has driven on roads of Odisha, driving anywhere else in world is piece of cake.
Already miss the murmuring of mosquitoes and brutally clapping them to death, the yodelling of mongrels in the middle of night. The cool and crispy Fall (Autumn) air of Georgia felt refreshingly fresh after spending hours inhaling the breath and fart filled stale air emitted by hundreds of passengers inside the flight.
The 14 hour long flight from Doha to Atlanta seemed eternal and tiring when you are packed like sardines inside the Cattle Class, better known as the better sounding Economy class. Above 41,000 feet in the sky the KUMAR PURNIMA Full 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.
The US President Ronald Reagan was known to doze off during conferences he attended abroad as he couldn't get sleep inside long flights. I also share the similar trait of not able to go beyond sporadic cat naps on long haul flights. My first working day post vacation awaits me when late in afternoon my chin is destined to drool and hit the space bar of my desktop keyboard.
Still drooling over my India trip. No black coffee or aspirin can assuage this post vacation hangover, only time will heal it. It did not went in vain. Travelled miles to achieve several milestones meeting my parents, friends and relatives, connecting to old friends and meeting new ones, ate a lot of local food with fun filled moment.
Reminds me of Kamal Hasan from the movie PUSHPAK who while staying in a posh hotel could not sleep as he missed the sights and sounds of his locality, where his deep rooted roots lied. The pleasure of staying amongst your own is unparallel. A la one's own fart smells sweet, as one tends to falls in love with own millieu. Love it or hate it, amidst all these there is a unique flavor of incredible India which one does not find elsewhere.
Yet the feeling of homecoming back to America is unique too. In a scene from B R Chopra's epic serial MAHABHARAT, during late 1980s just before the war starts, Duryodhan boasts in front of Bhishma that he has many warriors like Pitamah himself, Drona, Ashosthama, Karna, Dushashana and more on his side. Pitamah Bhishma, the wise one replied back - "They all still have to face Arjun, ARJUN PHIR BHI ARJUN HAI (after all Arjun is still Arjun), elucidating the fact that Arjun is still above the rest. Drawing a similar analogy, I conclude that while I have seen many great places on the surface of earth, but America is still America - standing tall above the rest.
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