First Day in India

We have arrived at the beginning of our adventure. Our flight was quite pleasant, although we started out having to wait for 1 hour at the tarmac at Sydney airport due to a passenger needing medical attention. So we were immediately somewhat worried about missing our connection in Kuala Lumpur. The pilot made up the time but we still had a 30 minute race from one terminal to the next to get on our plane to Hyderabad. Our plan to frolic at the lovely KL airport, and take advantage of the wireless internet all though the terminal soon vanished…..Caspar would have been quite happy to get off right there as he loves Malaysia and its food!

So after another 4 hours we landed at Hyderabad International airport. Amazing to see this city of more than 3 million people so dimly lit up at night, and with huge areas of blackness with just the odd house light here and there- I was thinking what a contract it was to landing at New York, where every house and every street is fully lit in a massive never ending grid.

At this point our body clock said 5.30 am, so we were all very groggy as we stepped down from the stairs of the plane and onto the tarmac met by the familiar smell of India. Hyderabad airport was relatively clean compared to Mumbai, and less busy, so the task of getting through immigration, bag collection etc was not too onerous (and thankfully as we had the minimum 40 minutes stop in KL which allowed our bags to make it onto the flight). The only problem we had was that our trolley wheels went haywire under the weight of our cases. We eventually wheeled the thing out of the terminal, into a sea of Indian faces. We  were not worried that Sandeep would find us, as we were the only “whities” arriving that night other than one lone Aussie lady. Soon we saw Sandeep running across the road to us with a huge bunch of roses, and big beautiful hugs followed. Don’t know what it is about Sandeep, but he just makes my heart open as when seeing a long lost son after a long time… It had now been 20 months since we said goodbye to him in Mumbai, and it was a very joyful reunion indeed.

Sandeep took us to wait at the carpark and soon he again appeared in his brand new sky blue Hyundai, still covered in ribbons from the showroom of yesterday. He told us he had taken it to the temple for blessings, as it was beautifully decorated in sacred pastes and flower garlands. So we were taken away in regal style! Will definitely post you a photo as soon as I am able to take one. We managed to fit all our 4 cases and various bags in the car with us on our laps. It is always amazing what you can actually fit into cars in India! The temperature was a very pleasant 20 degrees at 1 am, as we weaved through the lanes, some of them bustling with playful looking monkeys.

Soon we arrived at the Jain International School’s Hyderabad office, where Sandeep works, and which is our temporary home until we can get time to go and find the perfect little apartment here in Hyderabad. Here we have a spacious bedroom with ensuite bathroom and water heater! We were all quite tired despite the fact that for us it was nearly morning, and soon we lulled off into another 6 hours of pleasant sleep. As I was dosing off I could hear a few yelps of the stray street dogs, and wondered if they would keep we up all night, but thankfully they settled after a while – not yet used to blocking these noises out the way the Indians can. In the morning we could hear the car horns as always, the morning prayer at the Hanuaman temple across the road, and also the Moslem call to prayer. Also the bells and calls of various wallas or sellers were going off at interval. That is when I truly felt that we are now really in India.

Sandeep is a hard working man. He finished his last work meeting at 11.30pm just before picking us up from the airport. After settling us in he again had to finish off a few things. This morning he left for the school campus just before 7 am, and will be back again by 5. he is trying to get things done so he can spend more time with us… His assistant around this office, a very sweet man called Surrender, just brought us a delicious breakfast that he had gone to collect from outside somewhere. It consisted of idli (a steamed rice cake) with a runny hot sauce, a coconut chutney, a chilly chutney, as well as fried fresh puri breads that came with a soupy vegetable- delicious. His chai is fragrant and comforting, and after all this plus a shower we feel decidedly human again.

Later on we are expecting the sister of the school’s owner to come around to make sure we are not bored. We are now going into training for relaxation, which is going to take a little while, especially for Guy. But he is doing great so far reading his book. It is good to have a day of doing nothing, because from tomorrow things will start to hot up. Sandeep will have tomorrow (Sunday) off, and wants to start teaching Freya dance. He brought her last night two stunning silk dance costumes which he had got made by one of the best dance costume tailors in town. Freya has been invited as special guest to a Hyderabadi Children’s Dance competition where every child gets two minutes to strut their stuff.  This is taking place on the 30th of December. More about it later…busy relaxing here and Freya wants to watch a movie on this computer, so have to sign off for now.