Right here. Right now…

I’m trying to get used to this laptop. And I’m trying to let the fact sink in that I’m going to the US. And I’m also trying to get a lot of things sorted in my head… regarding a whole lot of things which I’m pretty confused with…
Right now… I’m sitting in the departure lounge of the Indira Gandhi International Airport, relieved that the procedure till now went smooth enough and also trying to get all the instructions in my head in order. Funnily, the most prominent of them is that I should keep having lots of fluids during the flight and no liquor.

It all started on Thursday, when Ramesh, my SPM came and told me the first thing in the morning that I was required to travel to US on Saturday night. That was two days ago. Since then I’ve had a roller coaster of a time. All day Thursday, it was raising requests for tickets, forex, laptop and whatever else that you can come up with. Thursday night was party time. One of those helluva lively, boisterous evenings that make the world seem alright after all. Courtesy – Bond, Luv, Sandy, Nimisha, Ashish, Neena and Ajayjeet. After the party was pack up time. Special thanks to Nimisha, Divya and Neena. Sweethearts, without you I’d probably still have been packing my stuff up. Whew!
Then, a catnap (really) and an almost tearful farewell later, it was time for some real action. As if it wasn’t enough until now. Yeah right. Ok, I was supposed to meet Ramesh at the airport for a brief briefing. But thanks to a maddening crowd, it didn’t happen. What happened instead was me paying a fortune for my excess baggage. Excellent. Convert it to USD and it really didn’t matter much, said Mr R. Quite a consolation sir. Anyhow, the flight was uneventful, coz I slept through it. Had to make up for the catnap (really really). Reached Delhi, only to learn that one of the 6 pieces of luggage I had checked in was missing. And a quick investigation revealed that it was still lying pretty next to the x-ray screening counter for the baggage that has to be checked in. See I’m smart. That was how I basically escaped paying even more for that freight I was carrying.
Thursday Thriller turned into a Freaky Friday!!! All day Friday was a shopping spree, which I would have loved if the sleep had been more than what I managed with. And if there wasn’t this feeling of impending doom, which I’m still trying to hide. Saturday again saw me and mommy finishing the leftover packing, and then me and mommy and mausi and mami and daddy and mama doing my packing. Awesome show of teamwork I must say. Family planning at its best!!!!
Things have been a little quiet ever since, but for the small altercation between our taxi driver and an auto driver, which actually made me shoot a curse and a prayer to Mr Murphy.
At the airport, it seemed that my prayer actually worked. *touchwood*. The procedure until now, like I said, went on smoothly. But that makes me even more wary. Gives me the feeling that something else might be sneaking up on me. Paranoid? Oh you might say that.

And now I’m inside the aircraft. My first international flight. British Airways. And already I’ve seen so many speaking with an accent and so many faking one, that I want to run back home. But then, there are a lot many reasons why I want to run back home. Then again, I guess it’s pretty inconsequential.

Ho hum!! Will ditch this right here, right now. There are a couple of more things I want to write about, but it’s in a different flavour, so we’ll deal with those in a different article. Meanwhile, I’ll wish myself and all my pieces of luggage a nice and safe flight. Catch you all later.
Love, luck and hope.
Kali.

Delhi.
09 Oct. ’05.


PS: Someone left a gray jacket at the security check. It wasn’t me. Mine’s black. ;) :D

PSS: My date with Mr. Murphy isn’t over yet, I broke my glasses in the flight from Delhi to London. :(