Section 1 – The Start!!!

It was a bright Saturday morning. My parents woke me up early in the morning,,, we took bath,,, got ready. It was around 9 AM when we went to the Ayyappa temple near to my room. My parents had come to meet me before I left India. My father being a “Swami” had to go to temple every day. It was the month on November and a time when South Indian people go to a place called Shabarimala. It is a place which is considered to be very holy.... a place where only men are allowed to go... Men have to fast for forty one days ,,, quiet a tough one, a one in which you are not supposed to shave your beard,,, wear black dress,,, stay away from women,,,,,shouldn’t use bad words,,,, and have to be completely vegetarian!!! So,,,, there we were at the temple at around 9:15 AM. My parents did some poojas in my name,,,,, we spent around an hour there..... I had never done that before........My parents are quiet traditional and religious..... Quiet orthodox!!! They consider it as a good practice to pray to god before starting any work..... Something which is there in the heart of India as a whole!!!


It was around 8:30 PM,,, the same Saturday night,,, I was at the Bangalore International airport,,,,with my parents and my cousin brother!! I was quiet nervous,,,, as the e ticket said that I had to change flights...... It was the first time I was boarding an international flight,,,,, or any flight for that sake!!!! The itinerary said I had to get down at Bangkok, Thailand and then board a flight to Sydney, Australia from there...... Quiet a big thing for a first time traveller I believed!!! My sister,,,, who is at California, USA,,,,, and who too had travelled for the first time in flight a year and a half ago,,,,, had assured me that the journey is going to be quiet easy and comfortable!!!! That’s what everyone else too had assured me of!!! I was with my parents,,,, still thinking whether to go or not,,,,, thinking what special am I getting by going to a new country,,,, a completely new place???? Money??? Success??? Can’t I get the same in India??? Why is it that I am following the footsteps of most of the Indian Software professionals??? Why is it that I can’t do something differently,,,,, by not going onsite,,,, which till now was a dream for me...... which is a dream for most of the software engineers when they join the software industry!!!! Is going to onsite the only way to have a successful career???


My dad called me,,,,,,, he said, “It’s 9 PM.... time for you to go inside and check in!!!!” All thoughts in my mind stopped ... it was time for me to leave to a new destination,,,,,,, and not time for me to think about things which I should have thought about at the right time or maybe I should not have thought at all!!! I said my goodbyes to my parents and my brother!!!! With a sense of deep nervousness I went inside,,,,, went to the counter of Thai airways,,,, then from there to the immigration check and from there to the waiting area near to the terminal....now I had only my cabin bag with me,,,,,,!!!! Everything happened quiet fast,,,,,, was surprised......I asked myself,,,”Was this the thing for which I was getting so scared????” As usual I got no answer!!!!


It was after a wait of nearly four hours that I boarded the flight!!! Quiet a long wait,,,,,, I thought.... The flight for me seemed to be like a normal bus,,,, which I used to take every fortnight from Bangalore to go to my place in Kerala...... I think the bus is better as it has better seats and better leg space!!! In this flight I was supposed to spend 3 hours and 45 mins..... a small journey I felt,,,,,, I have really travelled a lot in buses,, for more than 14 hours or so to in one stretch!!!! So this journey seemed quiet short to me!!! I fastened the seat belt,,,, waited for further announcements!!! There was a girl sitting next to me...... she had black hair ,,,, so I thought she was an Indian,,,,, but on a closer look,,,, she didn’t seem to be one!!!! I thought of saying a “Hi” to her,,, just to begin a conversation,,,,, but she seemed to have some other plans!!! She sat,,,, fastened her seat belt....covered herself with the blanket.....and slept off!!! I had to keep my mouth shut,,,,,, and try to go to sleep myself!!! After sometime,,,say after 2 hours ...... an airhostess gave everyone meals..... I forgot to specify that I wanted Indian food when I raised a request for the tickets!!! I opted for a chicken meal.... seemed to be Thai food,,,couldn’t actually make out,,, just made out that it was not Indian, it had no spices,,,,, but was ok to eat!!!! The girl next seat was woken up by the airhostess for having the meal.... don’t know what to call that,,,, dinner or breakfast!!!! Anyways.... whatever it was,,, the girl slept again after having food!!! And I watched her for sometime..... There was nothing else to do else to go for sleep myself!!!


The next flight I had to catch was from terminal no. C7 from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International Airport!!! I had only 1 hour and 30 mins to find the same!!! I walked and walked and walked,,,,,, I could see a board saying C7 is on a level higher.... I went up... had a security check again at the higher level,,,,,, then I was asked to go still higher,,,,,, I was walking slowly at first,,,,then with every 5 mins I increased my speed,,,,, I could find way to all terminals,,,, but not to C7...... A1to Axx...B1 to Bxx..... D1 to Dxx,,,,,,I was like where did C1-Cxxx go??? At last I saw a board which pointed me to go to a level more higher,,,,, I believe that I landed on the ground level.... and now this should be level 3 or so for me!!! That airport is quiet big ,,,,,, it had n no. of shops......being a girl I was tempted for a second,,,,, but there was something more important than that ,,,,,, so couldn’t go inside any shop.... was very sad about the same!!! It was nearly 2 or more kilometres that I had walked to reach that C7 terminal I believe..... That’s what I wanna believe!!!


I saw a lot of Indians sitting in the waiting area.... had not seen them in my flight.......maybe they came by some other airways!!! I had an urge to talk to them,,,,,, but didn’t see anyone interacting,,,,, I was therefore a little hesitant and I didn’t utter a word!!! The flight which I boarded was full of Indians,,,,,, I was really very surprised to see that so many Indians lived in Sydney..... Was not really able to understand why!!! Anyways,,,,, I was very sleepy by the time I boarded the flight,,,,, so like my earlier flight mate,,, I too slept as soon as I got in!!! This time there was Brit girl next to me!!! May be she thought about me the same way I had thought about my earlier partner!!! After a long time I woke up,,,,, then started watching some videos,,, playing some games ........ I think these people should really change the games,,,,, everything was like for some 5-6 year old children!!! Nothing that was interesting me,,,,, After doing nothing for a long time,,,, I again got a meal card,.... which said I can choose my breakfast and lunch out of the options given!!! I was like again breakfast??? What was that,,, which I had eaten in the earlier flight??? Anyways the airhostess came again asking what I wanted...... she had given only 2 options and I was not able to understand both,,,, in one I saw omelette and ordered that..... She gave me something which was boiled potatoes and half boiled omelette!!! It didn’t look promising at all!!! Had to eat that,,,, had no other option,,,,,,,. After having that I again slept,,,, watched videos,,,, and played some stupid games!!!! Then it was time for lunch,,,, the same airhostess came and asked me my choice,,,,,, I had by then lost the menu card that she had given me,,,,, I didn’t remember the options,,,,, had to ask her again,,,,,, she seemed to be irritated at my ignorance!!! I was like ,,,,, how can I know what they serve without a menu card and that too when it is Thai airways!!! But I didn’t say anything..... She might not have expected a first time traveller in her flight!!! May be for her I was looking like an idiot!!! So I thought I should keep quiet and choose something which seemed to me like chicken!!! I opened the pack,,,, just to see some boiled leaves,,,, and a bigggg piece of chicken breast,,,, boiled and mixed with some sauce!!! I started eating it,,,,,I took the first bite.... and I felt like vomiting!!! I never eat boiled chicken and boiled leaves without spices !!! In India we eat boiled vegetables with salt only if we have a disease like Hepatitis A!! But as a courtesy I didn’t want to waste it completely!!! I ate as much as possible,,,, may be one fourth or even lesser!!! I went to sleep again!!!


I was not very sure how long I slept.... didn’t have a look at the watch for a long time!!! I heard an announcement,,, it was time to get down,,,,, time to land at Sydney International Airport.....!!! The new place which was going to be my home for some months!!!! Was a little nervous on the thought of being at a new place.....but still I somehow was very calm,,, that was quiet surprising to me!!! As soon as I reached the arrival area,,,, I saw a thin girl approaching me with a smile and a question on her face..... She asked me, ”Are you Prejula???” Keerthana was working for the same account for which I was sent onsite from the past six months.... We boarded a taxi from the airport taxi stand..... I didn’t find the area outside the airport to be as big as that of Bangalore airport.....


I started talking to her in English,,, quiet used to speaking in English from the past 3 years,,,, couldn’t help but speak in English..... it feels odd I know when 2 people know Hindi but still speak in English,,,, I was somehow like that in India too,,,, too much of American influence on my language I suppose...Anyways,,, so there we were sitting in the taxi,,, talking about our native places,,, that was when I found that she had been to Delhi and Mumbai but was originally a Kannadiga.... Similar case like mine!!! When I looked out of the window of the cab, I saw places which resembled India so much,,, that I commented.,,,, that the roads look the same as that of India!! The day one I landed on Australian soil.... I started missing India I suppose and that’s why started drawing a resemblance in between the two!!!


“Looks like your friend has come from India....”,I heard a firm voice speak. My friend said, ”Yes, she is from India!”.....Then he asked me, ”Where in India are you from??”,,,, to which I replied, ”Bangalore!!!” ......“I read a lot about India,,, daily newspapers,,,,, it’s full of corruption,,,, everyday there is some or the other news of corruption!!! ”, said he...... I was taken aback,,,,,. How can someone speak to a foreigner with so much of disregard to his/her country??? “Ramalingam Raju is the biggest corrupt person,,,, see what he did to the IT industry!!! Now there is another Raju involved in the 2 G spectrum scam!!! I read about India everyday....in the newspaper!!! ”,,, continued he.... I and my friend were quiet...... It came as something that was very much unexpected!!! “There are two buildings of Lalu Prasad Yadav here....poor people buy those flats at very high costs..... ,,, still people vote for these corrupt politicians ......All in India are completely corrupt!!!”...”Where do you want to get down??? Next street,,, to the left???”,,, to which my friend answered, “Yes!!” The cab stopped.....”I had been in India for a long time..... I used to live in Punjab,,,, I am a Punjabi guy!!! I have settled in Australia from the past twenty years.... I am forty years old now!!!” ,said he. This was a bigger shock for me. From nowhere can anyone say that this taxi driver was an Indian....... The other fact that shocked me was the image of India in the minds of NRI Indians like him!!! I know India is not just about corruption.... there is corruption everywhere in the world,,,, why do we Indians accuse India for being corrupt??? Did we ever do anything that will lower the level of corruption in our country??? My friend said,,”I never thought that this guy will turn out to be an Indian,,,, was very surprised thinking how does an Australian know so much about Indian politics!!!” The guy left the place with his cab giving me a bill of $40,,, whereas the actual bill was $37 or so,,,, a favour that one Indian did to the other,,,, gave me $3 more to reimburse!!! This encounter was quiet a strange one!!! Something which I never thought will ever happen.....something which made me think whether, Are the Indians in India so bad,,, as these NRIs consider them to be???