Noida Visit

10.1.08

Last Friday (9.26), I finally made it to our old residence in Noida. I had a chance to catch up our old friends after 17 years.

I was 14.5 when I left India. We had a good social circle in Noida, with whom we enjoyed get togethers, bonfires, mehfils (singing parties). We had a little moped we'd ride all over our sector with our friends: gugu and kaka. I looked at our old home from the outside, remembered the cricket games we played in the small area in front of the flats. Back in the day, we played cricket with a tennis ball and I remember breaking one of our neighbors window. Bawa, my brother admonished me saying,`damn it minna (some equivalent phrase we used as kids), I keep telling you to hit slowly over here.' We all ran to the terrace, but then I realised I had to go down and fess up.

The square behind our house used to be our badminton ground. We'd drop down the poles from the 1st floor, set up the net and play. We, meaning my brother, his friends and me. I was the youngest and the only girl so the pecking order was all the good players got to play first, then if I was stubborn (which I was), and helped put the net up and take it down (which I did), then I would get a few games in. Of course, over time Ajay, Gurpreet, Ashish (I think) became friends and I'd occasionally have partners even when Bawa (my brother) started playing soccer in the stadium. I didn't venture as far as the stadium yet, and we moved to the US shortly thereafter, so I never played soccer with my brother till I was in my early twenties when he got me involved with his co-rec soccer team in Seattle.

(.. picking up this note from Kathmandu on 10.22)
I stayed with Kapoor uncle and auntie - it was delightful! Auntie made scrumptious rajma, chawal (rice + beans), alu parantha (potato bread), paneer sabji .. all so good. It especially sounds good right now after trekking for the last two and half weeks. It was great to catch up with Anu Didi and her two beautiful children, Nishant and Nitika. Pragat uncle and auntie looked well and I enjoyed some delicious Indian snacks (chaat + raj kachori) with them and enjoyed seeing Mandeep, and her two lovely boys, Angad and Jaiteg. I also enjoyed a nice dinner of saag roti (yum) with Hari Singh uncle's family, caught up with Gurpreet, his wife Dimple, daughter Pari and Minnie. I even managed to meet Naqvi auntie and Nihal - he's a grown up young man now and hard to recognise.

I even had a chance to visit Kulwant uncle and Deepak auntie in Barhi Kothi at Mohan Nagar. The traffic was unbelievable; however, the place was just as I remember it. Their room where we played dark room on many evenings, and the kotha (terrace) where we played with Sonu, Sonia and I once got stung by a bee .. good times :-) !


Archana Kapoor Yadav:
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I didn't get to catch up with Archu didi in person yet, she was amongst the first batch of female pilots in the Indian Air Force (IAF). I admired her a great deal as a young woman. Of all the positive female influences in my life, Archu didi has featured prominently. She was in college when we were still in Noida. At the time, she was working on her flying training at NCC (National Cadet Corps). I remember her as a very determined and hardworking person. She has incredible drive and I was not the least bit surprised to see her amongst the batch of pioneer women pilots in the IAF. My perception of her is her single mindedness in forging ahead towards her goals, even when there was not necessarily a path to her objectives. I'm not sure she knew whether the IAF would open up to women pilots during her flying training, yet she and her friends persevered so as to be ready if the opportunity presented itself.