Swades--- December 2010

In the summer of 2010, we have got the news about our two of the dearest friends are getting married with each other on the 25th day of December 2010. I really wanted to attend this auspicious occasion. But I was severely unsure about going to India because of my financial circumstances. And suddenly, through my friend's referral, I got an interview call from Moody's. It went well and got an invitation for the second round. This started the cultivation of my plans to visit "Swades". I did fairly well. They took more than 3 weeks to review my candidacy. And unexpectedly, I was turned down by them. I could see my plans being scattered. But there I got the twist in the tale. Intent of a trip to India was changed dramatically. And after years of wait, my engagement with Sandhya came in to picture. Everything began in that direction and that made my itinerary confirmed.


Alright. Main reason behind writing this blog is to express how I feel about visiting the place after three and half years where I spent 21 years of my life.

First of all, flying with Turkish Airlines which I doubt any Indian has preferred to visit home. But it is a member of Star Alliance, and will be beneficial to me in terms of getting miles to go towards elite status or have a reward ticket since I mostly fly Continental Airlines within the United States. I have a frantic halt in Istanbul for 9 hours and I am already thrilled to roam around in this historical city for 4-5 hours.

My two best buddies are already in the town and waiting for my arrival. Unfortunately, one of them will not be able to make it for my engagement scheduled on December 19, 2010 (well I will definitely come to this grandiose occasion later in this blog).




Roadside pani puri



Traditional Gujarati and Kathiawadi thali

Fafda, Gathiya & Cholafali

Jasuben's pizza

Since they say that I am a connoisseur of food, undoubtedly I am going to give hefty stress to my stomach. I have been dreaming about all those savory street side and roadside food, and specially Indianized cuisines of other cultures. I have abundant entries in my list of food vendors or restaurants and still adding them. I just hope to cover all of them rather than being biased to any of them.

Now comes the most substantial and enticing event of this trip. Hello........ I am getting engaged. We can ride along the excitement of our families. It is being an alliance of two unique families. Everything starting from shopping for garments & engagement ring, and hosting an auspicious ring ceremony in Ahmedabad have something distinct to make this 2 weeks momentous.


Last but not the least; it will be eminent wedding ceremonies of Hiral & Rishi. It feels simply inordinate to mark our presence in this occasion after witnessing their exemplary bond for half a dozen years.

One thing is transparent. I am definitely going to spend at least next 25-30 years in the United States. My life style has been transitioning from what I used to have back in India. But based on these reasons behind writing this blog, I can say "No matter how much Americanized you are, but when it comes to the place where you spent decades, every dreams the Uncle Sam has showed you, are going to be put on the bench for a while." There is no offense in showing my loyalty for this country since I am living here and I am law abiding resident (will be citizen). But that does not make me disqualify for considering myself as an Indian on the first place. Patriotism is not the word that can only be used for one country, but for immigrants like I am, patriotism always broadens its value. I remember one of my posts on the Facebook few months ago. I said "When I hear 'yeh jo des... swades hai...' from the movie Swades, I still get goose bumps after 6 years from its release." And I wish the Facebook has one of the options to express or rate the severity of your status updates. If they had it, I would have updated my status again with the same lines yesterday, but with more severity.

I wish myself a safe and great trip to India.