India Trip

SWADES

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Finally!

This was a post long in coming; I came back to Uncle States last week, and immediately was bed ridden for the rest of the week with flu and terrible cold. At last after a week, I am finally in better health and fresh enough to blog. As you notice, I also changed the blog theme again, and have tried to bring about some freshness to my site.

Anyhow, as the title to this post suggests, SWADES, yes this post is about my country, and yes the title is inspired by the movie name. Very much like Mohan Bhargava, I had an unique opportunity to visit my village, which is middle of nowhere in rural Karnataka; unlike other times when I am reluctant to go there, especially the temple in the village to which my family always goes to, this time around somehow I wanted to go – and the feeling came from within.

To make it more interesting, we didn’t travel by rail either – the train journey would have been a night journey and by morning we would have been in the town connecting to our village – this time we traveled by Maruti Omni! – not the best of vehicles there in this world, nor the most comfy, but it was what we could get at the last moment. Me, my mom, my grandfather and a family friend who also doubled up as the driver set from Metropolis called Bangalore to a place called Vanali, in the heart of nowhere, and whose closest “big town” happens to be Raichur, which in itself is not really a big town anyways, and is around 2 hours away.

As I travelled from the metropolis and the village and then back, a single feeling struck me – Swades is definitely shining. I don’t know what other people who return look at, but all I could see was development in the right direction, and sense of a better tomorrow. Everything around me had changed and it felt so much better. Everything felt so much happier. My decision to head back home has frankly not changed one bit after this trip. Here are some of the images I took, perhaps indicating why I think swades is shining.

This photo was taken outskirts of Bangalore, an area now threatened by ever growing flats and real estate. Just a few miles south of this road, a new township is coming up with various flats. I wonder how many days will such fields of sunflowers, shining bright last.

Somewhere along the way, now I don’t even recall, but a garden project was being constructed called the “Kumbhakarna” project – to justify its name, there is a huge kumbhkarna lying deep in sleep in the garden – the sleeping giant provided a much needed relief from driving continuously over 2 hours. Looking at crowd around, it seemed like a popular pit stop for vehicles.

An Indian country side in its colors – read blue and green.

Mitti ki hain jo khusboo
Tu kaise bhulaaega
Tu chahe nahi chahe
Tu lout ke aayega

A few years ago, the road that you see in the photograph did not exist. This road goes all the way from the last connecting town (Raichur) to Vanali – previously, this used to be road, suitable for bullock carts and not cars or buses – a journey to the village would be a backbreaking adventure, lasting 3 hours. The village is not even an important village of India, though its still connected by this 2 lane road. If this is not positive development, what is? As a side note, I must mention that roads in Andhra Pradesh are much better than in Karnataka (a major chunk of driving had to be through AP)

This is the entrance to the temple we went – I shot this photo in Black and White because it seemed to add the feeling of being back to an old place.

Another photo in B&W, this time in the temple itself. I loved the compound, and the people in the photograph – unhurried and calm. I was glad to see that this part of the village remained the same – raw and untouched. Though some welcome changes in the temple included 24 hour water facility through bore, and quarters to sleep and hold functions.

On our way back we stopped at a reliance gas station to fill in petrol – this was another sign of development. Reliance petrol stations have sprung up all over the country in plenty – and they are pretty huge at that. All the gas stations featured neat and clean premises, uniformed staff, and more importantly clean bathrooms. A welcome change this was – and yes, I was very happy to see such stations.

Before heading back, we stopped in Raichur to have a “true” north Karnataka cuisine, for which we had to go to a house doubling up as a restaurant and its family becoming the restaurant owners – the food was simply awesome. It was interesting to note that the anti-bush factor was quite strong in that town too – now, how many people could actually read that, let alone care about who bush was amused me; nonetheless, I must give admire the anti-bush factor!

A sunset viewed in wide open verdant fields is one of the best sunsets you can see ever. Perhaps this picture cannot fully capture the beauty of the sunset, nonetheless it was one of the last pictures I took before I came back to the hustle and bustle of the city.

Malls in Bangalore have sprung up everywhere even in the smallest of places. This particular mall, Garuda was very impressive – so was The Forum mall. And each mall had a class of its own – yes, another sign of a shining India; whether I could afford anything inside the mall is another story though. BigBazaar and StarBazaar could become the next Walmart and Kmarts of India, which is a great sign that Indian companies are investing in such stores before the dreaded Walmart makes its entry.

Nonetheless, everywhere there was a sign of hope and cheer in India. Yes, there were traffic problems, congestion and the likes, but I think there is so much beyond it to look forward to that these are not big issues. The road network in Ahmedabad is fabulous and changed beyond my dreams; Bangalore is growing exponentially by the day. A pleasant change was the newer real estate projects coming up which are aping their western counterparts by providing gyms, tennis courts, swimming pool and other such amenities to people. The funny thing is, the apartments though pricey get sold even before you can think. I wonder who buys them – but yes, there are people who do buy; suddenly there is a class of people with enough wealth to demand an upscale lifestyle, and needless to say I was very happy to see that!

All in all, this was a great trip back to my homeland. I long to be back again and am already missing it even though its just been a week. There is nothing like home.

PS: Special thanks to everyone who commented on posts while I was away – I will mail you guys soon. And I am sorry to bloggers in Bangalore – I would have loved to meet up, but this was one short 10 day trip and there was just too much to do (of which I will blog about in coming days…)

Homeward bound…

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At last, I have had some time to sit down and blog about my trip back home. Of course I did have loved to have done a blog post daily about my stay in India, but it was not to be, nor was I expecting it to be that way. Anyways, from now on, for at least a couple more posts, I will cover my India trip in general, and of course fill you on the interesting things happening in my world.

And to summarize all the NRI Desh Bashers – please go fly a kite somewhere or better still jump of the building. You certainly are blind. Desh simply rocks.

Of airlines and airports
The first leg of my journey was through a code share flight operated by United Airlines for Lufthansa from D.C to Frankfurt. One thing that was immediately clear right from the airport was the feeling of insecurity and distrust at every corner of the immigration process. A mere request for a window seat resulted in weird looks by the travel representative, though I for once was spared of the “if you are brown, thou shall go through advanced security check” bunkum. But, United Airlines, for all its good will needs to teach their Air Hosts and Hostess some lessons on being normal.

The staff though good, looked dreary, tired and lethargic. Though they did best to be supportive, their apprehensive and tense faces didn’t make matters any better. All the while through out the 8 hour journey, the hosts in United Airlines looked totally hassled and drained out – it was to the point where the entire journey seemed like one big tense ride, half of which was an after effect of the stewards being so damn nervous about themselves. Of course the fact that the more than 3rd of the journey was spent in turbulent weather didn’t make matters any easier.

Much to my surprise, unlike the last time, I found ground staff at Frankfurt extremely polite and very helpful. I was very impressed with Germans for once. I was directed correctly at all locations, people were polite all the way in the airport, and in general the walk around the airport seemed nice.

What I did notice in Frankfurt airport to contrast with D.C airport was the feeling of being at an airport, without the tense bundled in – most times in D.C airport, people are either hurrying, or sitting quietly to themselves. Most people seem afraid to talk to each other, and there is always a sense of fear in the airport. Contrast this to Frankfurt, where people seemed happy about being in transit – people talking in loud voices, cracking jokes and all, made for a very pleasant experience indeed at the airport. I would certainly travel by Lufthansa again.

Of coffee and desi
At Frankfurt restaurant lounge, a desi in front of me asked in a thick south Indian accent:
Can I get 2 cups of Kapi and sendweech ?
Waitress: Sir, for here or to take away?
Desi: No-no, I will buy it here and take it outside and eat it!
Waitress: Yes, you mean you want a take out?
Desi: Yes, I will take out, but I want to buy it here!

Mmmh… it seemed the desi was traveling for the first time.

Of Frankfurt and Bangalore
In contrast to my flight from D.C to Frankfurt, the second leg of the journey was a smooth and a very pleasant ride, and much must be said about the German hospitality in the plane. The staff was courteous, smiling and helpful all the way. No passenger was treated hostile, and everybody got their requests fulfilled. There was none of that hassled behavior of United Airlines.

The food was great, and it was amusing to note that the Chicken had made way for the Turkey. However their vegetarian food was really good.

Of Home
As the plane touched down on tarmac at Bangalore Airport, the first thing I felt was the feeling of coming home. The moment I stepped out of the plane, the wind, the smell of earth after a fresh rain, mixed with a stench not recognizable and something that smelled like burning rubber – and the buzzing mosquitoes – all brought back the gamut of emotions in my heart. I felt at home and like a complete stranger both at once.

Outside my brother was there to receive me in his new car – as we drove back home on Bangalore streets, I felt strange all of a sudden. Suddenly there was too much noise; too many portholes, too many mosquitoes, too many vehicles on road. Even at 1 am in the night, the streets were crowded – half built bridges and flyovers didn’t make for a good impression anyways.

Back to home, it was the familiar sight I missed since many years – the same sofa, the same TV, the same bed – everything seemed familiar. The sound of fan at full speed and the cold wind below brought back the feeling of fresh air… indeed, I was tired of my A.C.

By 2.00 am I settled down to sleep… with a mattress on the floor (as I usually did back then). A window lay open to let some cool air in, and the fan was at full speed because like a typical NRI, I was feeling “hot”. I felt apprehensive about where I had come back to actually at that point – I was not even sure whether I wanted to be back… with these thoughts I slept.

At 7.00 am, I was woken by the familiar songs of yore: Crows cawing, Cuckoos singing, a few other birds making rhythmic noises; the sound of a rickshaw passing by (probably a school rickshaw); bicycle horns; someone was playing a devotional song a little loud perhaps; and lastly the sound of some people playing badminton across our street in the park. And the smell of the morning air, when the sun is just about to come out – the damp, cool breeze. Something hit me at that moment.

This is where I wanted to be. It didn’t even take 3 hours for me to get back in the groove of my desh. Everything seemed changed, and yet nothing had changed.

I knew. I had come home.