India - I have Arrived

I dozed off about half way into my flight to Delhi when I was awoken by an agitated passenger a few seats ahead of me. I had noticed him and some people with his group taking full advantage of the free Scotch being offered by Mumbai based Jet Airways. He was standing facing another passenger and mouthing off loudly in Hindi. When the shoving started I was sure a fight was about to break out at 34,000 feet. Not a very settling prospect considering this was all taking place next to the emergency door exit. Obviously I wasn’t the only passenger getting nervous. At some point he left his seat and drunkenly ran to the back of the plane tripping over his feet while doing so. This made me even more nervous but no sooner had he run to he back of the plane that he returned to his seat and finally a flight attendant intervened. After about 20 minutes or so of Ghandi like behavior by the attendant the situation was brought under control. The drunk, previously agitated passenger, was then given another drink and the rest of the flight was fine with no more problems… As my friend Neeraj says,”Logic doesn't always work in India”.

Upon arriving in Delhi it was very nice to see my friend Neeraj waiting for me outside the baggage claim. He and his brother in law had driven in from the outlying city of Greater Noida. Neeraj is attending Rice University in Houston and I met him a couple of years ago through local running club events. I timed my current travel with his visit to see family back in India. I met Neeraj's brother in law, Amit, for the first time at the airport. We made our way back to his car and into Delhi we drove. In India there are lanes on the highway but driving in them is optional. When passing other vehicles it's considered a courteous gesture to honk like crazy just to let them know you are there. It's not odd to see something like Grandpas tractor in the midst of it all or a guy pushing his food cart seemingly nowhere along the busy highway. Amidst all of the chaos things seem to be working perfectly.

Into and out of Delhi we drove to Amit's home in Greater Noida. It's about 50 km from the center of Delhi and much more quieter than Delhi. Upon arrival at Amit's I met both of Neeraj's sisters and was served curry, chapti, and spice blended curd. All of this I washed down with tap water. I've been assured the water is properly treated by a home filtration system. I have faith it's working properly... I then went to sleep under a raging ceiling fan.

This morning I went for my first run in India after a cup of the best Chai I've ever had. Neeraj and I started at Amit's place and ran along a relatively quiet lane making sure to avoid auto rickshaw's and the like. We then ran past a lost donkey on a busy intersection and onward to other relatively quiet lanes. All the while taking in the atmosphere of a very different kind of place... India... I really think I'm going to like it...