Home Again

The Return of the Jedi

A little party of sorts on the last night. We have lots to do, but there are people walking in all the time. And yes, not to forget the Karaoke session in full swing. The only problem is that there is still a lot left undone. Sorry Eric and Veronica, we are taking you up on your offer to just leave it as it is.

The morning brings in more people and more goodbyes. Thankfully, no one bursts into tears, though I think that Geetha is pretty close at times. We finally board our bus. Leather seats and our own TV - classy! But the bus rattles more than ever - the leather seats don't help very much with that.

We make it on time to the airport and are two pounds overweight on one of our bags. We juggle stuff from one bag to the other but cannot convince the girl at the counter. We finally switch counters and the new girl waves us through with a smile. A much prettier girl too - I kick myself for not doing this sooner.

A long flight. A kid on the seat behind me keeps kicking at the back of my seat. Moms, please note : it's very uncomfortable for the person in front of you if your kid keeps kicking his seat all night long. We land in Frankfurt and have a five Euro coffee - it doesn't taste any better even if it costs that much.

Hark! An announcement : 600 euros to anyone who will stay back for a few hours and take the next flight. I saunter to the counter to check out the offer and get in line. There are a lot of others who value the 600 Euros a lot more and they all cut the line and go on ahead of me. I still wait. People have told me that I am not aggressive enough, but I simply don't think any money is worth demeaning yourself that much. I reach the end of the line and it's finally my turn but alas! the airline has met its requirement. I walk back disappointed but at the same time accepting. I am a great acceptor - I believe that things always turn out right. A few minutes later there is another announcement : Will the Rajendrams please come to the counter? I walk up and the girl hands me new boarding passes - we just got upgraded to business class! How cool is that! BTW, I always fly Lufthansa because this is the third time in a row that they have upgraded us to business class!

The flight from Frankfurt to Bangalore is extremely pleasant. Business class is extremely pleasant. I have noticed that the attendants smile more in business class - I guess money does buy happiness. We land at the new airport which is impressive. It's a far cry from the little hole that we used to have. Immigration is a breeze and then we stand in line to get our temperature taken to make sure that we don't have swine flu. The luggage takes a long time to come and finally we make it out of the airport at 3 AM. I hear someone shouting my name and we turn to find a group of friends waiting for us. They have come with flowers and a cake to celebrate Geetha's birthday. We all go back to our hotel and sit around the coffee shop. What kind of people wait until 3AM in the airport parking lot? And boy, am I glad that we didn't let ourselves get bumped off. 1800 Euros is a lot of money but not enough to leave a bunch of friends waiting for nothing all night long. We feel truly blessed : A royal send off when we leave one town and a rousing welcome in the other!

Bangalore is pretty much the same. The sky is overcast, the temperature is pleasant and the traffic is frustrating. Prices have doubled since I was here last. Everything is so expensive. We start out with Masala Dosas and Biriyani. Ah, home sweet home!