Bangalore Notes - Feb 13th, 2007 – Whining & Visiting

Woke up shortly after 3 AM today, although I slept well past 11:30 PM yesterday - effects of the jetlag. Try as I might, I could not go back to sleep. These lonely early mornings are the worst - the pains of hurt I caused to others and the hurt caused to my own self are felt most acutely at this time. This blog seems to be taking on a whining tone once too often these days... What I feel is many thousands of times worse than what I can express here. Words are not adequate. I am the last person to want to turn my blog into a whining forum about deeply personal things. I don't mind whining and ranting about impersonal issues though! :-) Like how not having an Internet connection at home is such a big bother!

I told my folks so many times to get an Internet connection before I came home. They don't know how essential and useful it can be. I guess I did not do a good enough job of communicating that to them. Moreover, the state of matters in the 'Silicon Valley of India' is that there is a wait of 4 months or more to get a broadband connection from BSNL, which many people claim to be the best and most dependable Internet service provider. I emailed Airtel a few days before I left Phoenix and gave them my Bangalore home address and phone number. They replied back to say they would get in touch with us, but we are yet to hear from them. I don't want to whine any more - personal or impersonal. I'll go lay down and see if I can make myself snooze a little.

I dropped in at Pankaja’s home this morning. She lives in Hyderabad now and has been staying in her parent’s house at Bangalore for the past couple of weeks or so, while her husband is visiting the US. She is returning to Hyderabad this afternoon, and I will not get another chance to meet her before I have to return to the US. I met Pankaja’s baby Siddi – she is one year and 8 months old. This is the first time that I am actually meeting a baby of one of my friends. From Pank’s home, I went to my aunt’s house – my mom’s younger sister. Her 16 or 17-year-old daughter is almost as tall as I am, and I bet she still has some more growing up to do! Can’t believe that she used to be the baby carried around in my arms and played with, not too long ago! I spent most of the day at my aunt’s, falling into jet-lagged sleep on her couch, later in the afternoon, before returning home in the evening.

Meeting Pank’s baby made me realize how far ahead all my friends have gone. They are all at the next stage in their lives – being married and about half of them already with kids. Srikanth was the last guy to marry – he got married on the 9th of this month and is honeymooning right now. Nagendra and I are the only two people in my group of friends who are yet to marry. Nagendra is probably waiting to hold down a permanent job before he finds someone to marry. As for me, I am waiting for true love.