The then and the now of travelling and everything in between

* 10 years ago, surviving 24+ hrs to get from Point A in India to Point B in the US(or vice versa) with a short transit stop at some EU destination was a sleepless saga with time spent feverishly between books, music, movies and plenty of restless walking up and down the aisles. I could never sleep on these flights. I would see everyone around me doze off the minute they tucked into their seats with the belts on. And I'd be the lone zombie easily polishing off 2-3 books per trip. Thats 2-3 books in a span of 24 hrs, no kidding!

And now, I cant seem to even finish one book. I am in a constant dazed state on flights, waking fitfully in between for the wonderful "asian vegetarian" fare that gets delivered to my seat at regular intervals. 7 or 8 or 9 or 10 hr flights just seem to get drowned in blessed sleep and the 2-3 hrs of layover serve as an intermission period for a restroom break and a cuppa.

Strange!

* Being away for a month, while it works out to be a decent break, its hard to get back to the rhythm of things back here. There's lots of work- both at work and home thats been piled up for sure. But everything gets tackled in a half hearted kinda way- the sights and sounds and smells from back home linger for a far longer period. Its cold back here- the sun doesnt see the light of the day till around 8 in the morning and decides to check out by around 4:30. The weather here in VA has been wet and miserable, to add insult to injury. All I do is curl up in bed and wish I were back home. Sleep doesnt seem to want to come to my rescue. I suppose all of it caught up with me on the flight.

* The program "Aap ki kachehri" run by Kiran Bedi on the Indian telly caught me by surprise. Judge Judy now has an Indian equivalent.

* How can we get over this disgusting trait back home of spitting? I mean seriously, what is it with getting the urge to spit all the time? Somehow civic consciousness about this has never gotten around. Just like Singapore has banned chewing gum, we have to find a way to curb this sickening trait.

* Watched Abhiyum Naanum at the theater on my last day at home. While it had shades of 'Father of the bride' the first half was immensely entertaining and a must watch. The second half drags for quite a bit with plenty of needless songs and dances. The Jogi character has been overly hyped, me thinks. All in all, Trisha was passable, Prakashraj and Aishwarya fit their roles to the T and the Ravi Shastri character was entirely timepass!