Cross Road since Prehistoric times...Turkey: A morning in the middle class suburb of Delhi

2013/10/06

A quick morning stroll brought lots of baby squirrels ( chipmunks really) , myna birds, parrots , pigeons, crows and a few sparrows. Birds have amazing capability for adaption and that is why they are the only surviving dinosaurs living amongst the man made concrete jungles. A little further walk in the neighborhood, I saw family ( homeless I suppose) making breakfast, garbage man picking trash on the bicycle rickshaw and the balloon man getting ready for the day and the kids already playing in the park unsupervised by adults. The sounds of milkman, vegetable vendor, paper delivery man and smells of everything you can imagine is what a typical Sunday morning looks like in a regular suburban neighborhood.

Breakfast was freshly made Aloo Paratha and ginger tea. We talked and bonded and watched new episodes of Mahabharat. Mahabharat is one of the two Indian Epics and tells the story of the great war between good and evil. It is an interesting lesson in politics and human relations. I am mentioning this here because some of our friends are very familiar with the “Shakuni Mama” from the epic and I highly recommend watching this TV series.

My sister and brother in law live a quiet retired life and it is a lesson for me to learn to “ not do anything” once in a while and just relax. ( I have to admit it was a patience test). After lunch they dropped me off at the airport for a flight to Indore. I have been noticing that even with all the strides women have made in India, 90% of the travelers ( air) are men. In spite of my grey hair and aunty look, most of them are not very polite ( to say it nicely). They rush and push and shove to get ahead in line to get in and out of the plane. Somehow they are either very nervous and anxious travelers or think that the plane will leave without them. In the same vain, another observation is that most of them are very angry or anxious travelers..no smiles or even hellos…oh well.

One hour flight was no brainer and my brother and sister in law were waiting outside. The festival of Navratri has started, city is decorated with lights and sounds of devotional and not so devotional bollywood songs blaring from the loudspeakers. On the way home, there was a procession with floats of deities going to the nearby temple to worship Goddess Durga. More on that later, I should sleep now. ..Good night.