Back home finally..........

Today was THE day that I had been looking forward to since that evening in July when I booked my ticket. Well, a month long vacation awaits me in India. I will be back at home after more than fifteen months. In all the excitement, I complete the remaining packing and have lunch. By the time I am all done, its 1.15 in the afternoon. The shared Limo is coming at 1.30. So am happy that I made it well in time. As soon as I sit down for a bit of relaxation, I get a call from the Limo driver that he is coming in two minutes. I go down with two bags and he has already arrived. So it’s a hurried departure from the house. But I don’t care. My excitement has reached quite high levels. Well if this is the excitement level at the beginning of the journey, I can’t imagine how much it will be once I reach Mumbai. Call up home and Madhavi Tai to inform them about my departure. Once all that is done, just doze off. Get up at 3.30 to see us still at the outskirts of Philly. Well, since my house was the farthest from the airport of the eleven people, I was picked up first. And so, for the last two hours, we have just been picking up people. And its quite a bunch of people that are there to be dropped at JFK and Newark Airport. Other than me, there is a Malaysian student off to Kuala Lumpur, a Chinese student heading back home, a European student heading back home, a Polish lady and a Pakistani couple. At one place, I see quite a crowd giving a send off to that person. I assume it’s an Indian. And I am not wrong, because that person turns out to be Mr. Patel heading by Air India to Mumbai. The remaining three people are picked up from their hotel in North East Philly and we are on the way to the airport. Since most of the journey is on the Pennsylvania and New Jersey Turnpikes, we move at a pretty fast pace and at 5 pm, I am at Liberty International Airport, Newark. As I enter, the Continental ground staff informs me that there is a separate check in counter for Mumbai. Don’t know whether that’s because of extra baggage screening for security purposes or just because of huge crowd. Previously, when Mami had left, the flights for China and India had a common check in facility. Anyway, I check in my luggage and clear the security formalities immediately and have lot of time to kill at the airport. Our flight had already arrived from Paris in the afternoon and with clear skies, we were going to take off on time. I head to Dunkin Donuts and relish a onion bagel with coffee. As I finish, I also speak with Sharad, Nikhilesh and Teju. I also inform Madhavi Tai about my position. As I finish, the continental staff call us for verifying Passport and tearing off the I-94. We start our boarding at 7.30. First the business class travelers board followed by handicapped travelers. This is followed by families traveling with infants and small children. Once this is done, the general boarding begins with reverse order of seating rows. As I am in row 26, it takes some time for my number to be called and at 8 pm, I am sitting at my seat. I speak with Shyam and Sarang. Sarang wanted to know all the details like which airlines, where are you right now, how long is the flight, I can see your flight, please wave your hand etc. I also call up home and inform Aai that I have boarded the airplane. We take off at 8.30 and I can feel a sense of excitement that I have not experienced in quite some time. The excitement of going home. Just another fourteen and half hours and I shall be in the city of dreams, Mumbai. The Captain informs us of the path we will be taking. We will be flying northwards to Canada, then touching Greenland and Iceland before crossing the Atlantic and heading into Scandinavia. Then into Russia passing over Moscow. Across the Caspian Sea into Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan before entering Indian Air Space in Rajasthan. Then via Gujarat, we enter Maharashtra. We fly over Dahanu and Boisar before heading towards Panvel. A sharp turn at Panvel puts us onto the descent into Mumbai. Soon as the flight takes off, we are provided Dinner. Its better than the one served in British Airways. With a full stomach, I settle down into watching movies.
I had flown from India to US on 1^st September, 2007. That day had lasted for 33 and half hours (24 + 9.5 lag). It was by far, the longest day experienced by me. And now on the reverse journey, 14^th December would be the shortest day for me lasting about 13 and half hours. I know I might experience jetlag on landing. So I take the decision of not sleeping for more than 4 hours on the flight. After every movie, I monitor the flight map on the monitor and check our progress. In 6 hours of flying, we have reached Scandinavia. Soon we are flying over Caspian Sea into Turkmenistan followed by Afghanistan and Pakistan. At 8 pm IST on Dec 14 (9.30 am EST), we enter India. It’s a fantastic feeling and makes one feel proud to be an Indian. At 10 pm, we land at Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai. Once we depart from the plane, we head into Immigration. The Immigration officer asks me what am I doing in the MS. After Immigration, I head towards the baggage claim. I am finally in India and very very excited. However even after almost an hour, my baggage is yet to come. While the thought of Continental forgetting my luggage in Newark does come to my mind, almost all the passengers have some or the other luggage still to come. Finally after waiting for more than an hour, I get my luggage and proceed to Customs. I pass through the green channel and finally almost two hours after I landed, I am ready to come out of the airport. What I see when I come out is a mass of humanity. With security and renovation going on, everyone has to wait outside and there is total chaos. However I spot Baba in the front row and wave out to him. But either he didn’t recognize me or wasn’t paying attention in my direction. As I move out, I bump into Bejoy. And soon, I get to meet both Aai and Baba as well as Sujata Aunty. I feel very very happy on meeting everyone. As I and Aai wait for Baba to get the car, a taxi honks loudly at another taxi. And a taxi bumps into a car. Now I feel I am really back in India. One surely misses the horn while driving in the United States. A 15 minute ride in the Honda City brought us to Goregaon. But I get a surprise. Fluffy growls at me and refuses to recognize me which of course disappoints me. But then, he was seeing me after a gap of fifteen months and they don’t have that sharp memory in their childhood. Leaving Fluffy aside, after brushing my teeth, I join Mama for a sumptuous dinner. Chicken curry and Kala Vatana Amti make a great combination along with Varan and Bhat.