jonathan/ferguson

in a flurry of fever (and cough) i spent my last two days in delhi running around like a mad man. i wasn’t exactly sure what i was supposed to do for diwali. how i was to prepare. cough. what kind of gifts i was supposed to buy and for whom. so, since it is the biggest holiday of the year and many compare it to christmas, i figured i’d just treat it that way. cough. my body said no, please don’t. and my head did too. but i had to be prepared before heading to nagpur for diwali on thursday. cough. i had no choice.

the hysteria that accompanied the shopping and traffic was like a typical day after thanksgiving outside walmart, cough, with the uncontrollable masses preparing to storm the gates of the discount kingdom. people everywhere. grabbing everything. traffic ridiculously congested. cough. out of control really. which is quite something in delhi. to actually label it such, distinguishing it from a normal ‘out of control’ day says something about the level of chaos. cough. cough.

with my boxed sweets from haldiram’s in hand and my new kurtas and pyjamas nicely packed i jumped in my taxi and headed to the airport. i gave myself 2 hours and it took 2 hours. but not because of diwali. cough. instead, i was lucky enough to have one of those drivers who was better suited behind a desk. he was an absolute disaster. driving in circles. toward the congestion. completely confused, cough, and lost. my fever climbed, my blood pressure climbed, the tension climbed. i called a friend and had him translate my hysteria into effective hindi and from there i dictated the way. cough. and i made it. cough. barely.

so i boarded my flight to mumbai with yet another fever in full motion. cough. cough. and while i love indigo, even their perfect, plastic hospitality and shiny new planes couldn’t ease my desire to replace my crowded spot in seat 7A with a heavenly bed from the westin in the middle of nowhere. i finally reached mumbai, a place i love, to find no breeze and the exact heat i left in delhi. cough. oh, no wait. it was slightly different. it contained humidity, which just made it harder to breathe. cough. cough. but the feeling i always get in mumbai easily replaced being uncomfortable. cough. sort of.

punit met me at the airport. we reached his place just before midnight, ordered some bengali fish. cough. swallowed it whole. then crashed. but not for long. our flight to nagpur left at 7:30a. we rushed, cough, to the domestic airport at 5:30a the next morning only to discover our flight left from the international airport. huh? cough. nagpur, the most domestic place in india? and we’re leaving from the international airport? we rushed by auto to the other airport and barely made it. cough. cough. it was apparently heading to dubai after nagpur. cough. bizarre. cough. cough.

so early friday morning, punit’s birthday, we touched down in nagpur where i would celebrate diwali with his family. cough. cough. my fevers are now gone. but my cough persists. and its annoying. which is what i hope i’ve effectively communicated here. cough. you just want it to stop don’t you. trust me. i feel the same way. cough. cough. but getting here has been nothing like being here. nagpur has been an oasis of fresh air and loving people. genuine hospitality and family. and my next entries and photos will show you just how much fun diwali in nagpur has been!