|
 |
The Best of Both Worlds - I (Lakshmi Prabhala, Aug 21st, 2007) |
| |
|
|
|
| |
Very often one can see things with greater clarity only in retrospect. When in Bahrain, I wondered what if we were like most of our cousins living in India, how different would life be? Would we have such good friends/teachers, social activity and a good quality of life? Good friends and teachers maybe. But The latter two, I was never so sure! And unlike our cousins studying back in India, did we have things so easy that we took them so much for granted. We lead such secure lives, were we cut out for the fierce competition that was existed those days? Thankfully, in this day and age even if the competition is still very much there, the opportunities have grown multi-fold.
Before I digress, looking back I somehow felt we had the best of both worlds even though each world had its own set of pros and cons. We had the facilities/comforts that Western world would normally have and yet we could retain proximity to our roots and where we came from. Of course again it is subject to the upbringing and the values imbibed in us through family.
Vacations served as an opportunity to observe life in India from close quarters. Though we had summer vacations at school every year, our family got to travel once in 2 years because thats when my dad had leave. And even when he did, for two whole months we were in India every single time. A couple of times me and my brother made some rather feeble attampts at convincing him 2 weeks at any other counrty would actually be good. The response we got was a real stern look. That spoke a lot more than we imagined. We knew it was a lost cause but, one has to try right?
So that was it ... We had to put up with the terrible summer heat every alternate year. Heat was one thing ..how the whole of two months would pass is another...One can die of sheer boredom. I mean we watched every TV programme, read books and still the time wouldnt go by. All summers of '82, '84, '86, '88 were spent in Bahrain and how??
On the other hand, the vacations of the odd years were spent for two whole months in India! The frantic packing before the flight, apart from the sweets, clothes, gifts...we always made sure to take the latest snazzy gadgets to show off, the video games, watches and the like. And just before the summer vacation we had to get our vaccines, too remember? The time in the flight was always spent in great anticipation. What do I tell so-and-so...how is so-and-so going to react when they see us? Would my grand-mom forget me ? Is she feeling well? Seeing cousins after two years somehow always felt they had grown much more..even plumper too :D What stories I 'must' tell them? And what goof-ups I should definitely avoid telling? I hope my brother doesnt open his big mouth and give me away. If he does ...I must make sure to remember his.
The flight lands and the monsoon weather greets us. Either the connecting flight gets delayed or....it's plain cloudy when we get down. The noise and the hustle bustle is the first noticeable difference. No amount of preparation would ready us for this increased noise levels and a lack of civic sense. If getting the luggage seemed like an ordeal a much bigger one would be the harassment by the customs officials...if it was a night flight my mom had to put up with an additional "Mummy I want to sleep, When are we going to reach home". Once we land the vaccine starts working and we almost always had fever for the first 2 days.
The taxi rides in Mumbai never failed to have our eyes as big as saucers. The whole place was filled with hoardings, most of which were of movies ...the most glamourous and/or melodramatic shots in a particular movie. Real life somehow never had anything remotely close to what we got to see on the reels. Nope, our VCR rental guys didn't have these movies, we always got them a few weeks later. Never did our streets in Bahrain, have so many hoardings. Nor did they have such a riot of colours, noises and activity...I'm afraid Bahrain appeared very dreary in comparison. Vendors on the streets, traffic with all possible elements, two wheelers four wheelers, even three wheelers, rickshaws, all honking with gay abandon and an occasional moo and a nonchalant glance from the pullers of a bullock cart. We were soon told our list of Do's and Dont's once again...Speak in Telugu to your relatives, Dont eat street food unless we tell you to, Dont ask too many questions, Dont fuss with food, Dont ask for everything, Dont go out alone, Dont this Dont that...aarrrghhhh!!!
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
