The Return

Impressions of India - Ep I

I got a taste of India even before I left the United States. The JFK gate where the non stop flight to Mumbai was to depart from, was chock full of Indians. There was disorder, chaos, families sprawled messily all over the place, old gentlemen behaving like king of the castles, haughty ladies collecting some forms and it looked like no one had ever heard about a creature called a queue. People disregarded all baggage rules and stipulations, the overhead bays were spilling out and most women just ignored all the announcements to wear their seat belts. The air hostesses had to check if each and every person was indeed wearing her seat belt. Gluttony was rampant throughout the flight, even indulged in by respectable looking middle-aged businessmen. After landing in Mumbai, the very first thing I thought was "I am home!", the second thing was "There is no air conditioning!". The air in the airport gate was muggy and humid. This was a very apprehensive return indeed.