Homecoming

After 7 long boring and uneventful months, it’s finally time to go home. But more than my project manager who approved my 2 week vacation, I need to thank those Wall Street financial honchos who created such mayhem in the global markets, forcing us to take up our leaves before the year ends. As a result, I am now in a position to step in to the new year with my friends and family after 4 long years.

In a Border style dialogue, “20 December ko, subah ka nashta Bangalore mein karenge, beech ka time pass hawa mein aur dopahar ka khaana Indore mein.” Those 3 hours in the sky would carry me from a world of deadlines, tasks, updates, reports and meetings to one of my parent’s smiles and the simplistic life in Dewas. So people, pray that a girl sits next to me on the flight and ask god to make her pretty, single and "Telephone-number-exchanging" kind of a girl.

Going home for holidays has always been exciting for countless reasons. I love the expression on my mom’s face when she sees my 3 week unshaved face with irritation. Surprisingly, every time I go home, mom feels that I have lost some weight despite the fact that I have bloated exponentially over the years because of obvious reasons. I think that is the pure love of a mother. Dad is happy too but is also worried about his car which I always borrow from him and return with a scratch. (Not that I am a bad driver, but again, obvious reasons)

I think that the people who are happiest to see me in Indore/ Dewas are the owners of various small eateries, restaurants etc. because during my vacations, their sales almost surpass the combined GDP of Botswana and Mozambique. And there is nothing new in it. I’ve been following this rigorous routine for quite some time now. This may sound a little geeky but I have a dedicated MS Excel file on my system with a list of all such eating joints which I am supposed to cover and a check box in front of each (Multiple check boxes in special cases). Given the fact that I am a huge foodie, a great admirer of street food, more than happy to relish those delicacies even on my deathbed, that Excel is completely justified.

Once again, I will meet my hip-hop-hyper active extended family which has a gamut of people from different age groups and most importantly everyone is ready for a party, a get together 24x7. Special mention to the one and only Mr. X, with whom I have not only planned visits to the exotic pubs in Indore (Refer ‘The Boozer’s Diary’ for Mr. X) but a lot more.

And all the fun I am going to have with my dost log is something that has always been unprecedented and this time too……will be the same.

Mai aa raha hu MAA