From San Francisco to Chennai

Separated by 13,900 Km of land, water, concrete and sewage, these two cities are literally as different as night and day. On one end of the 12:30 hour difference in the streaming sunlight, the stainless steel vessels in Rathna Stores radiate heat and on the other end the heavy fog sits atop the lit up golden gate bridge at night. Sweaters, jackets, tank tops, shorts, mini-skirts and boots that proudly hung on pink and white hangars in my closet at school are neatly ironed, folded and pushed out of sight in my Godrej cupboard at home. My stomach that yearned for the less than mediocre, exorbitantly priced naan and curry at school is rejoicing at the sight, smell and taste of hot, fresh chappati, murungakai sambar and mutton fry. My mac that never failed to find me a free wireless connection no matter where my travels took me in the United States, finally decided to give up on me in the land of 'sab-chaltha-hai'. 

My accented and cultured 'sorrys' and 'thank-yous' are met with bewildered stares that make me feel foolish. My tendency to convert rupees into dollars and thus declare everything cheap is an advantage to my friends who benefit from this startling generosity. 

Life as I know it is a term that is rendered invalid, in this partly nomadic lifestyle. Life, love and experience take on different meanings depending on which point in the 3 dimensional globe I am pinned to.