2 Years isn't really a long time. Although this time it felt like I had not been home for decades. Probable reason could be that in these 2 years, I had worked for 4-5 years in these 2 years. The thought of going home for a vacation had never came into my mind. Not sure of the reason! May be was just waiting for the right occasion.
Booked the tickets after battling with managers on dates and compromising on delaying the trip by a week to get an extra week. Primary purpose of the trip was to see Babuji (grandpa).. and Bade Mai (mom's aunt).. They were counting the last breaths of their lives. Doesn't really sound like the right occasion that I was waiting for but this was more essential than going for a marriage.
8th May: Papaji called up. Babuji had left us. He had once said-"Pandit! Mere marne ke baad aaoge kya?" I cried, without a sound, I did. All I was left with was a regret for the whole life. Had I been home little earlier.... and that question came into my mind again -
"Is this all worth it?"
Cleveland>Detroit>Amsterdam>Mumbai>Raipur>Raigarh
4 flights and a Tata Indigo.
The journey was almost the same until Amsterdam. Smiling faces, people doing small talks and bland but supposed to be classy flight food. Best thing about Detroit>Amsterdam was I got to watch Sherlock Holmes movies. It was the Amsterdam boarding gate where things started to seem little different. Expressionless or frustrated faces. People not talking at all. Some young chaps showing off their iPhones and Dell laptops, for us to assume that they were working in the states and earning in dollars. Yes, they all were Indians. It was the old age couple talking to each other in soft spoken Marathi, which made me feel I was getting closer to home.
Reached Mumbai. Immigration queues were crowded at 12 night. I was under assumption the queues would be crowded with IT employees or returning students or visiting Gujjus. I was wrong! The major crowd was labor returning from Saudi countries, who were not even sure how to fill their immigration forms and were fighting with attendants.
Customs was easier than I thought. The mamu at the exit gate greeted in English - "Welcome to India". I replied - "Dhanywad Kaka!"
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