Om Sweet Home

The first words that exited my lips once my feet touched New Delhi’s ground were “Home Sweet Home”. Even though the stenches were appalling and the stares were irritating I was thrilled to be back in India. Cows and stray dogs lingered in the congested streets, drivers followed their own rules, and limbless beggars knocked on the car windows. My first evening was spent at Vandana’s house. The following day we went to the mall, I found it surprising to find such shops as “Aldo”, “Body Shop”, “Tommy Hilfiger”, and “Pizza Hut”. I almost forgot that I was in India, till Minal, Sejuti, and I were dropped off at New Delhi’s Bus Terminal. Thousands of people swarmed us. Coolies (Porters) ran towards us offering to carry our bags for a certain price. We agreed since we couldn’t manage 9 suitcases with only 3 sets of hands. The two coolies wrapped their scarves around their heads, and placed our suitcases on their heads. We tried to explain that the suitcases had wheels; however, they refused to assimilate and instead balanced 2-3 50 pound suitcases (totaling 100+ pounds). While walking past a low ceiling, the coolie dropped the bags on dirty Delhi’s ground, I sighed in relief. Fortunately, there was no fine crystal or delicate china in my bags.


Minal, Sejuti, and I tapped our feet in the dust for two hour waiting for our “luxury – AC bus”. When the bus pulled in I’m pretty sure the words that exited my lips were, “Oh my God”, and then again it could have been “You have to be kidding me”. For the duration of the 12 hour bus ride to Dharmashala, I admired India’s countryside through the bus’ cracked windows. AC fluid dripped on my lap and I hovered my head over the oily cracked head rest. We stopped twice to pee, but the rest spots did not have adequate washrooms. We peed while squatting and prayed that the stray dogs weren’t going to nip our bare butts. As time progressed the roads got more mountainous. Butterflies filled my stomach while driving on the cliff’s edge with no guardrails. Nothing could have prevented us from dropping hundreds of feet down. Fortunately, our first view of the Himalayas and Dharmashala made our 3 day journey worthwhile. For the next 6 months I will staying the rural village Sidhbari - it's backdrop the himalayas. Welcome to my new backyard…