Every time I am in India, so many amusing incidents happen that thoroughly entertain me! And this time was not too different either.
Here are a few instances.
Incident One:
We are at the airport, at the Go Air check in counter. While the Go Air official prepares our boarding passes, the hubby engages him in some meaningful conversation.
Hubby: Is the flight on time?
Officer: Yes.
(Pause)
Officer: But.... you know...
(Pause)
Officer: These things... one never know...
Hubby: Oh...
Officer: Yeah...
Hubby: Is the flight coming from somewhere else or is it already here?
Officer: Oh yes yes. It is right here...right outside.
(Pause)
Officer: But one never knows about these things... you know...
Hubby: Yes. Of course.
Incident Two
We pick our luggage up from the Lucknow airport luggage belt and walk towards the exit. Right then a rodent crosses our path and makes its way, also towards the exit. There are three security guards at the exit and they notice the rodent.
Guard 1 kicks the rodent to Guard 2.
Guard 2 kicks the rodent to Guard 3.
Guard 3 kicks the rodent to Guard 1.
Meanwhile, the hubby and I are waiting for the guards to finish off this game before we can actually exit the airport.
Guard 1 kicks the rodent to Guard 3.
The rodent gets tired of the game and finally manages to free himself and rushes out into the open. He immediately rushes back in, probably worried by the sight of hundreds of human feet outside, all ready to kick him around.
The three security guards get alert now. Who goes first? Guard 3 lifts his leg but he is a second too late.
The rodent rushes in, way beyond the reach of the guards' physical extremities, and rushes into the State Bank of India cubicle inside the airport. There it shall stay until found again and the hubby and I get to finally make our exit from the airport.
Incident Three
Our cabbie, who is taking us from the Lucknow airport to the Kanpur home, stops the car midway on the journey, to fill petrol.
We carry on and after a while, he stops again. This time he honks a couple of times, but the chap who is deeply asleep on top of a wooden bench, covered in layers of woolen blankets, at whom the honks were directed, doesn't budge. The cabbie gets out of the car and walks towards this air filling machine next to the sleeping chap, and uses it to fill air into the car's tyres. He then puts back all the gear in their rightful positions, gets back into the car and drives away. The sleeping chap continues to sleep. I ask my husband, "Isn't he supposed to pay for that air filling thing?". Hubby replies, "Yes. I would think so." OK then.
We carry on and after a while, the cabbie stops. Again. After appropriately parking the car in a highly congested and narrow road, the cabbie gets out without a word and walks across the road. The hubby and I watch him, wondering what the need is this time. The petrol tank is full of petrol and the tyres are full of air, what could it be now?
The cabbie walks to a paan shop and gets himself a doze of paan (betel leaves, a favourite snack/digestive of Indians especially in the northern states). The hubby, "It's 7:00 am. He is having paan now?". I shrug. What am I supposed to say? The cabbie returns and starts the car, as if it was perfectly normal to leave your passengers behind without a word of explanation, let alone apology, as you go and get yourself paan-ed. The hubby, who for some reason takes a tone of apology, asks in almost a whisper, "Brother, will you take us home now?" The brother responds, "But of course, brother." Cool.
So as you can see it was a very eventful journey all the way to Kanpur. Incredible India, Indeed!
In Kanpur we have a fab time, catching up with dad-in-law, mom-in-law and also grandmom-in-law, who is like the sweetest person I know, really! After the catch up, it was time for a LOT of yummy food. Then began the wedding preps. We are here to attend the hubby's cousin's wedding and the parents have done all the necessary preparations for it - like designing the clothes (my dad in law is an expert fashion designer), getting them sewed, getting all the accessories ready, etc. All that the hubby and I had to do was to make sure the clothes fitted alright, get the packing done etc.
Then it was time for some routine shopping, eating more yummy food from different eateries in Kanpur etc.
In the evening we attended the birthday bash of one of the hubby's best friends all the way from childhood days! It was lovely to meet the birthday boy, his wife, as well as all the other friends whom we hadn't met in ages! The party went well into the night and we had a lovely time!
So yes, fantastic, eventful day!
273 more to go.
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