AFGJI (back to school ..)

9.25.08 - 4AM

Day 2: Visiting Air force Golden Jubilee Institute

Has it only been two days since I got here - I feel adjusted to this city already. I enjoyed the Metro ride to Cannaught Place yesterday, had lunch with a friend, and wandered around for a bit. I'm not sure if one likes or dislikes Delhi, but you definitely experience Delhi. 

Growing up, we lived in NOIDA about 17 years back. Judging from the scale on Google maps, it is roughly ~20 miles from Delhi. As a 14 year old, I'd only traveled by myself to Delhi (Subroto Park area) on our school bus with a ton of other students - never by myself and certainly not on an autorickshaw. 

Yesterday, I decided to visit my old school: Air Force Golden Jubilee Institute (AFGJI). My friends guided me and said an autorickshaw would be most convenient - certainly a first for me! I must stress there is nothing complicated or difficult about flagging down an auto, negotiating a fair and getting around; however, not being in Delhi from the age of 15 to 32, it felt like a tremendous experience for I was going to travel by auto, in Delhi, on my own. Exciting! 

Off to Subroto Park - both the Air Force schools are located on this Air Force base. Since it is an Air Force base, not everyone can freely enter and exit the area. The people, however, are courteous and friendly and the Jawan (soldier) at the gate informed me I could go in and visit my school, however, I should pop in and pick up a visitor pass first.

"Hello, I was a student at AFGJI about 17 years ago and I'd like to go visit my school if that's possible. My father was in the Air Force, and I'm staying with friends that are also in the Air Force. I'm simply in the area and would like to visit here."

"Madam, what's your business here?". At this point he is mildly amused by me and does have a smile on his face. He's certainly polite and helpful, but he's interested in filling in his paperwork which only has a small region in which he must succintly write down my long winded reason for visiting.

"Well, as I explained I am a ..." and off I went again. "I also have a friend's daughter in school, Mallaika Bhatia, whom I'm meeting."

"Name, address, .."; "Purpose of Visit: to meet Malaika" - uh, clearly there was only a short space for him to write my long winded story - at least he was amused.

Being in AFGJI after so long was an interesting experience - as I walked down the steps and into the courtyard. I saw the students playing badminton, I was tempted to jump in and ask if I could have a turn. The 12 year old jasmine had surfaced, at least for a brief moment. I remember the canteen, the hulla-gulla (noise) of the hallways. A worker at the school who saw I was out of place promptly asked if I needed help and asked which teachers I'd like to meet etc. As I rattled off a few names, she said Kusum Madam was still here and showed me her office.

There were three teachers chatting around a table, as I knocked on the door and entered. I see a familiar face as Kusum Madam leans over and looks at me - my face broke out in a big smile as I said "Hello Kusum Madam, recognize me?" Within an instant and a somewhat surprised expression, she says "Jasmine?". Wow, I can't believe Kusum Madam remembered me! She was our Biology teacher, and also taught us Chemistry for sometime. She taught us a trick for remembering how elements combine to form compounds so we got the formulas just right - infact, it's a mnemonic I taught students in my chemistry class in my US high school. And I also remember she was a little nervous about teaching Chemistry as Biology was her subject - a dedicated teacher - aren't they all.

"I can't believe it, Jasmine" -- neither could I, it was such a delightful experience. I told her all about my life, threw in a few of my accomplishments, sharing with her didn't seem like showing-off and of course, she was so genuinely delighted to hear about it all. I told her I'm headed to the mountains next week for some trekking and mountaineering. More surprises! "Really" - followed by, "you were such a sweet girl, I can't believe you're doing all these tough things." Evidently I 

wasn't a quiet kid, I used to talk even back then, but somehow it was different. Of course, 17

years is long time :-)

I had snapped a photograph of her on my last day in school, when she was expecting her first daughter. I'd mailed it to her from the US along with a long letter. She reminded me of the letter and found my old address from washington in her diary, which I promptly updated. She took me into class 12 to talk to students about my work and things I've been doing. The students clapped and cheered when I talked about NASA, the Mars Exploration Rovers project, my work at Lincoln Labs. I could see myself in their faces - some of them talked about their own aspirations. I remember how excited we were when a visitor dropped by to break up the monotonocity of a school day in India - there was a sense of awe - and that visitor was ME, I can't believe it. In that brief moment, I could see myself sitting on the other side along with the students, listening with interest at this alumni's stories about working at these well known institutions and climbing mountains. It was surreal.

I also visited with Singla Madam, who also remembered my brother fondly, Mittal Madam, Pratul Sir. Mittal Madam and Singla Madam had kids in our classes who are also settled abroad, so they certainly remembered us from yet another perspective. 

@ 32, feeling secure and comfortable with who I am today

Day 1: 9.24.08: 32nd B'day

Last year, I happened to be climbing Mt. Shuksan, my first mountain, on my birthday. I wasn't sure how I'd match that, but being in India on my birthday certainly did it. Kuhu and Pihu ensured I got a full birthday, with cake cutting and all. It was great fun to spend it with my friends, the cake was yum. It was chocolate with a nice cream filling and icing - though light and not too sweet.

I concluded the evening talking to mum and dad, a birthday ritual in the family.

I spend the day in Cannaught Place in Delhi, wandering at first, as usual I managed to wander into a bookstore and purchase two more books. I purchased essays by Tagore to dispel some of my literary ignorance and a very good novel by Chetan Bhagat called `The three mistakes of my life'. The main premise is a cricket store opened by three young boys. It talks about the experiences and aspirations of the current generation against the backdrop of cricket - a very good read.

After this it was time for dosas with my good friend Neeraj Doshi. I know Neeraj from Boston, he's an environmentalist who has decided to return to India and settle back here. We've had many interesting discussions about India, why things are as they are, our culture and society, women's issues .. and many such provocative and interesting topics.

India at last - after 17 years!

Day 0: 23rd Sept 2008:

Delhi at last - made it! We flew Etihaad Air from New York to Delhi via Abu Dhabi. As it turned out, my friends Misha and Rita were also on the same flight. I enjoyed traveling with them, discussing our future adventures and travel plans. We will be trekking in Nepal together, after which they plan to continue on their travels through south india, onto other parts of south east asia - they are not sure how long they will be gone yet - sounds exciting!

Getting into Delhi was interesting, internally a little tense - unsure how I'd react to India after so long. In some sense I come as a tourist who will be making new memories but another part of me is here on a nostalgic mission to capture a little piece of my old life. We/(I) tend to romanticize parts of our lives when sufficient time has passed, this might serve as a reality check.

Onto matters of practical interest, Misha has traveled here on his own pretty extensively and even though I speak the language fluently, it was good to arrive in Delhi with Rita and Misha. It was a simple matter to get a pre-paid taxi at the airport, to Dwarka - a stranger was kind enough to let me use his cell phone to call my friends and let them know I'm safely in Delhi. The small acts of genorsity shown by strangers is one of my favorite parts of traveling.

The smells, the sounds; one too many cars on the roadways aggressively trying to get ahead. Delhi is intense. The taxi was an old ambassador, as the driver cranked the starter twice, I wondered if it would start. There were photos of Shiva and other gods on the dash - I guess driving around in Delhi is an act of faith. He had a very fancy car stereo, with blinking indigo lights that played CDs and maybe even MP3s; he turned the radio on and I presume the fancy stereo was perhaps more for looks than functionality - but I can appreciate the sense

of pride one feels in accomplishment. To him, perhaps the stereo represented just that - though again I assume and presume things. The traffic in Delhi is something else, everybody is trying to get to their destination ahead of the next guy - but really I guess when you have these many vehicles and this variety of vehicles on the road all at once, the only way to get anywhere is to be aggressive. Even so, I winced many times as I saw scooters and autos come rather close to the taxi. Somehow, there is a rhythm to this chaotic Delhi traffic and life moves

mostly without incident.

Upon reaching home, I enjoyed a lovely dinner with my hosts: my friends Shubha, Jitendra, Kuhu and Pihu. Listening to the girls talk about school, teachers, and their friends around the dinner table, I was remembering similar dinner conversations in our home in NOIDA. The dinner table was always a place for catching mummypapa up with all the activities of the day. Mother and father become this one entity called mummypapa and the conversation is dominated by kids activities, mostly school related.  A sense of family closeness is evident.

The daily cycle of life:

The girls are up at 6 and 6:20, and ready to go by 6:40 and 7:15. Mamma and papa are coordinating together as the single entity mummypapa. Papa gets the girls up, mamma is busy packing tiffins, as papa ensures the kids are getting ready and moving along so as to 

not miss their buses. Then he's off to drop them off at which point mamma starts to make breakfast/lunch for papa who will start getting ready to head off to the office soon. Mummy then drops off papa to the bus stop. After ensuring everybody is off on time, mummy, the coordinator, then starts her work for the day which continues at a more normal pace. This activity is then repeated at a slower pace once the kids are back home from school, and the evening cycle starts: lunch, homework, tennis lessons, dinner etc.  Much of the days work is compressed within these morning hours and evening hours. 

I'm impressed by how efficient Shubha is in using the morning hours for getting most of the cooking done. I'll have to implement some of her good habbits in my daily routine.

Simple things in life:

I enjoyed a refreshing, cold bath with a bucket as we used to do way back when - it's the familiarity of these little things that connect me to not just India, but most places I travel. It is different yet familiar; sleeping with the girls under a ceiling fan. The service (Air Force) life, where papa is often out since that's what the work demands. When papa is not around, mama sleeps with the kids - everybody in the big room under the ceiling fan.