Home is where the heart is

Finally I am back home in Mumbai for a vacation and it feels heaven. I feel so much lighter (literally too) with nothing to worry about for at least next 3 weeks. The last flight which was supposed to be of 7.5 hours and which actually took 9.5 hours to get to Mumbai and everything else that followed at the airport seemed unending.

My excitement to have a look at my lovely city from top was made all the very challenging by the female passenger in the window seat. She had chosen the glass of the window as the resting position for her head exactly while landing. I was so disappointed to miss that part. There were many interesting changes going on inside the plane which did not occur in any of the flights I was seated in before. Suddenly, everyone seemed energetic and restless, grin on their faces as the plane was about to land. A long queue at the lavatory appeared; people wanted to freshen themselves up trying to look their best before meeting their familes and friends, few married young ladies even changed out of their jeans into salwar kameez. I could hear people asking each other about which part of the city they were headed to followed by a little chit chat about familiar city locations and each other's whereabouts. Suddenly it became noisy inside the plane. For a moment I felt like I was in Mumbai local trains. But I loved the noise. I had missed it for more than a year now.

The more eager I was to get out of the airport, the more I had to wait. It happens to me all the time. I simply wanted to skip all of the baggage and customs part and run straight to my family waiting outside. Instead I had to wait till the last bag was placed on the baggage carousel only to realize that my bag hadn't yet arrived in Mumbai. Then followed the formalities for missing baggage and another one hour went in that. A lot of people were already in the queue for the same problem and those who had a connecting flight from Mumbai were given the first preference.

Finally I was called, all details were taken and I was told to proceed to the customs. The whole missing bag thing got me so impatient and I was so pissed off since the only bag I had checked in was missing. After all, it carried all the gifts and you can imagine how bad it is to not being able to show the gifts you got immediately after reaching home. I was told that my bag would arrive in 2 days. Customs was quick and I hurried all the way along the exit signs. I loved that part of the run. After all the hugging, kissing and taking photographs, the ride back home made me realize that Mumbai hadn't changed a bit. Somehow, it felt good that I didn't miss anything. But deep inside, I so wanted it to change for the better.