South India – Day 22
Wednesday, February 26, 2025
Final night
After three packed weeks, it’s time to go home, but my flight isn’t until late tonight, so this day will be for decompression, reflection, and typing up some of the vast pages of notes I have accumulated. For breakfast I had curry with idli and dosa. I’m finally starting to recognize Indian dishes. For lunch, it was chicken masala and supper was … Chinese sesame chicken.
Peering out the window of my room I saw several empty lots. Many had the beginnings of hotel construction and a few contained large signs saying the land was owned by the so and so family. I think this is to protect them from land grabbing. Other lots contained what looked like small shanty towns, but these were probably the temporary homes of construction workers. They come from surrounding states with their families and live in tents between the cement mixers and cranes. For many in the world, life is still a day-to-day struggle to survive.
Last taxi story
The taxi that brought me to the hotel the previous night was an electric car and the driver asked what time I was going to the airport the next day. I told him I hadn’t decided and thought that was that, but in the afternoon the next day, a call came to my room saying my taxi was here. What? He had come to get me. I had wanted to get an uber with its fixed price system, but when he offered a fairly decent price, I relented into letting this guy take me at 10:00 PM. At 8:30, I got another call that my taxi is here. Wow! Was my fare this important to him? At ten I hopped in and off we went. On arrival, he asked me for an extra 300 rupees, but I gave him what we had agreed on, patted him on the arm, and took my leave.
And with this taxi story, I end my travel log. Everything went so smoothly with my return to Japan, that once again, there are no stories to tell. For those of you who made it this far and are actually reading these last sentences, I thank you for your patience and hope you got a taste, not only of India, but of the lives of our ARI graduates, who are some of the most extraordinary people I have ever known.
What’s in your suitcase?
Wait! There is another story. It’s about the charming girl in customs. Oh, how I didn’t want to open my suitcase, so full of suspicious looking spices and teas. But, oh, how sweetly she asked me to open my suitcase and explain every packet inside. I didn’t have anything to hide, but I am not always sure about what is allowed and what isn’t regarding food items. Thankfully, turmeric, tea, vanilla, and the like posed no legal issues and she allowed me back into the country.
So, I will say goodbye, until my next adventure…