Managing in India : Visiting India Part 2

So you survived flight. If I could, I would always travel in business class. Hmm, money does buy peace and happiness. You are finally here, we booked a 5 star hotel and thank god we did. You are going to appreciate it sooo much. I can't even imagine landing straight in my hometown. Next 3 days I was a zombie, I slept in night but as soon as clock struck 10 in morning, my brain would shut off. I wanted to sleep but body wasn't tired. Its like your mind plays games. You wake up all energetic, after breakfast your eyes won't open but you are not sleepy. Weird jetlag syndromes.

Book at least a 5 star hotel. Then if you have an indian sim, you are lucky. We got t mobile roaming working for us. But it just doesn't end there, does it? I had really bad experiences with the weather and dust and cab drivers cancelling at last moment. Whenever wherever you go it takes time and too much effort. Uber Ola all are the same, even when you see no cabs on roads, there is surge pricing or no cabs available. Drivers who do show up sometimes stop or pick up other passengers on your account. So now you can't even book because someone else is riding your uber. Great.

I mean seriously, everyone is going to hate me for saying this but this country has no professionalism. One cab driver actually wanted me to get out so he could finish his 13 rides quota and then they tip themselves. I hate hate hate this, everytime we step out there is a problem. If you go to a supermarket, people want to cut you in line. If you want to cross road, cars don't stop. If you try a 4 star north indian restaurant, you end up getting food poisoning. Even 5 stars serve waffles like burnt roast wannabes. I am so sick of it. There is frustration inducing environment everywhere. Then there is traffic. When I tried mall on weekends, I could feel people breathing on my neck and they weren't trying to hit on me. Its just that there is no concept of space. Thank god, I am in chennai and there is no eve teasing or staring or rude comments.

You are shopping and there are personal assistants hovering over you. You are out of cash, your cards don't work, you forgot your pins, you don't see atms, even if you see you can't really ask a cab driver to wait for you. I am already sick and lying on bed and its just been 5 days. Your hair are frizzy and no shampoo conditioner in world is going to help you because of hard water. Your face is dropping, you are forgetting your smile. We are angry, frustrated, hungry, fighting with each other for silly uncontrollable reasons. Why would I want to go through all of this again ?

So I finally decided not to step out of my comfortable adobe for time being, my hotel room my swimming pool my gym and stay safe and close in almost no contact zone. If I want to visit friends, I ask hotel to book cabs and let them manage. Hmm, what a depressing day and I still have 3 more weeks to go. Worst is yet to come. 

India bound flight : Visiting India Part 1

I have lived in seattle for just 9 months now. Its too soon to say I am americanised. Its just that when you adopt a certain healthy food standard and fitness lifestyle, every other place is merely a reminder to run back to home.

As soon as I boarded the flight, I realized Indian trip had begun. The bored uninterested look on air hostess says it all. Flight is full and economy class sucks. Its like riding a state bus with AC and a functional washroom. There are no smiles, no courtesies no thank yous, just plain faces working for you. They act like they were kidnapped and underpaid. Its so depressing. I hate food in flights. 

All kinds of people are on plane, the snoring ones, the loud uncle auntys burping and saying hari om hari om and then there are those who are short and use recliners. I mean seriously, you are sleeping on your lap. Worst are the kids, screaming howling demanding monsters. If you ever have the urge of motherhood, try sitting in a plane for 15 hours. You do get sense of where you are off to. I don't hate India, I just hate the fact that we are so inconsiderately simple. We are so simple we don't know how not to make others uncomfortable how to give people space. Also, you are supposed to clean up after washroom and only throw where the space is. Close diaper tables, maintain hygiene. Air hostesses probably got tired of cleaning up our mess. 

If you get lucky and do catch some sleep, there are people using zandu balm in flights.There are people opening windows with sunlight bursting in. Some of them are coughing and letting all the viruses in air. Trust me, zombie invasion will start on a india bound flight.  Then there are some who resort to non deodrant armpits, hmmm I am just wondering how far we will take this simplicity and humility. Its sickening and nauseating and disturbing and disgusting and killing me. 

And then to end it all, as soon as flight stops everyone stands, its chaotic, go when the gates open, till then relax and sit on your seat. There is no need to queue up, stand when person in front of your seat leaves. Why do we have to make everything so hard? Finally, baggage claim, It would be so much easier if everyone just stood a little far from belt and picked their bag when it came. But no, we are going to hover bring trolleys in suffer and shout and make kids cry and show our street acquired snatching. Everything is so overwhelming. 

Drop this competition chaos struggle. When everything is comfortable around you, be at ease.  We can create hurdles, invent struggles, introduce chaos where it isn't even needed. Stop people stop.