... and am now in rainy Singapore ... sunny side up :)
Reached Amritsar 3:30 am India Time ... now I didnt have a phone and had told Mom and Dad to pick me up at 5:30 am ... could have used the PCO to call them up, didnt want to wake them up !
Had 2 hours to kill, did what I do best - "people watch". Taxi and Auto Rickshaw wallahs asking you whether you need a ride, the excited relatives and friends being reunited, the "seen all that" look on the PCO and food stall guys and the sorrow on the face of the relatives of the departed soul whose mortal remains were being ferried from Dubai in a Coffin. And then the emptiness of the whole area after 30 minutes.
The joy on my parents face on seeing me after almost 6 months was worth the 2 hours.
Amritsar was a true holiday ... something that I had not had in ages ... maybe a decade. An average sleep of 10 - 12 hours, food ... no responsibilities and not having to worry about the laundry :)
A drive to Jallandhar and back ... and then Pathankot and back ... Indian Roads have not changed, neither has the road discipline. However getting into the drivers seat after so long was fun ... I could still drive !!
The obligatory trip to Delhi was for my tummy .. although the reason was slightly different.
Reach Delhi on Friday evening and direct to 360, leave my bag with the concierge and get into the zone ... the place was so packed that it seemed as if the whole city had landed up ... two beers, some sushi, loads of nuts ... even the edible variety ... was good to see Keith and Ram .. John was a pleasent surprise.
Post 360, it was YBR (Yellow Brick Road for the uninitiated) for dinner ... bad Thai Curry ... and even the Kheema Naan was bland, that was the only low point of the whole trip .. but nothing that a good nights sleep could not help forget ... Back to 360 for lunch and sushi again ... :)
The dinner was the best thing to happen ... Kareems at Jama Masjid with a late night Ice Cream at Def Col, Chettinand food for lunch at the Tamil Nadu house and back to Amritsar on the Shatabadi on a wait listed ticket.
Came back and back to my sleeping spree ... with some cooking in between ... I almost forgot that I had stuff to do .. things to buy ... foreign exchange ... and visiting GT !
Packing ! and then the good byes at the Airport ... 3 differnt levels of airport security and three diffent levels of good byes ... one at the entry point, the second inside the airport before the check in counter ... the last one .. had seen mom just walk inside the security check in counter of the domestic terminal once but never expected them to accompany me till the emmigration counter ! :)
Felt good !
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