Discovering Home, Away from home....India--the way I see it :): Salaam India !

YAY !!!! I reached Delhi on the 8^th of January 2011, after over 23 hours of flying across the globe and loss of baggage- frustration galore! Tired, jetlagged , anxious I submitted my missing baggage complaint to the airport folks and stepped outside the Indira Gandhi International Airport , New Delhi. Aaah… there were hundreds of people waiting outside all covered up in multiple layers and that’s when I realized…it was freeezzzzing in Delhi! The smoky odor of the air, continuous honking and people talking(and yelling) nonstop all hit me at once! I walked further out of the airport with whatever baggage I had with me , searching for someone holding my name. A young man came walking towards me with a pluck card saying “ Mr. Aparna , USA”. I laughed out loud and in my head said “Aparna, welcome to India”. The man introduced himself as Deepak and was struggling hard to talk to me, as he thought I would speak only English. As soon as I said, I could speak Hindi, it was almost as if he sighed in relief and we boarded my stuff in the car,and headed towards my stay area. On my way, people ( and cows and dogs and cycles and bikes) criss-crossed each other on highway like none other. Everyone was in a hurry and the honking of cars, buses, rickshaws and motorcycles made me really dizzy! Finally I reached to my apartment. The room was even chillier than the outside, thanks to the marble flooring and lack of heating. Shivering, I entered my room to learn that I would be sharing the space with 2 other girls who would were affiliated with some other non-profit organization, who at that time had gone out to venture Delhi. My local co-coordinator Hema, and her husband Sudarshan welcomed me and talked about nuances to be taken care of. I was also introduced to Ache LaL, who is the cook and helper of our apartment and Sanjay, who is another local co-ordinator of the internship who would be accompanying me to all my visits. Feeling homesick, totally missing mom’s food, and above all my first love- Seattle! But totally excited to see what I would learn in the following weeks. Jai Hind.