Looking back at the early entries (Things I am looking forward to in India)

When I started the blog in July 2008, I wrote a few entries about what I'd miss in the US and what I'm looking forward to in India.

http://thedevilwentdowntopune.blogspot.com/2008/07/things-im-looking-forward-to.html

http://thedevilwentdowntopune.blogspot.com/2008/07/things-im-going-to-miss-in-us.html

Here's what I feel about them now (original writing in italics)

• Food, veggie food at that - No more "Does this have meat in it?" or "No carne, no pollo" or "Can I substitute the chicken with tofu?" Everthing's veggie, the veggie dishes more so. That and the fact that I'll be eating "regular Indian food as opposed to fancy restaurant type food that all tastes the same.
• This was fantastic, but probably overrated as of now. Maybe because I'm living with my inlaws and eating Indian food everyday.
  

• Cricket faces - I've been following cricket through the internet lately. It's very efficient but I am losing track of faces. The last time I watched Cricket consistently for a long period was in March 2007 when I was in India for a month. Hopefully now with the longer stay I'll get to see the faces (new faces) of not just Indian cricket but international players as well.
• Yes, I can now recognize a lot more faces and for that I'm very happy.
  

• Doing away with the awkward glancing at other Indian - If you're Indian, you know this still exists in the US. Recognizing another Indian and then looking away awkwardly. Well, seeing as I'll be surrounded by Indians, it won't be much of an issue. I guess I'll be swapping that for staring at non-Indian.
• Meh.
  

• Indian Film Magazines - Aah Filmfare, Cineblitz, how I've missed you guys. Don't worry, I'll be holding you in my arms soon. I can catch up all the made up gossip that is just so delicious.
• I didn't care much for this once I went to India. Hmm, maybe because of my cheapness. On the other hand, Indian gossip is shown in mainstream media, so maybe I didn't miss much.
  

• The train journey - The last time I travelled in a train, it was an a/c compartment, so I didn't really get to experience the rest. Atleast once I'd like to experience it again - the dirty floors, the magazines which you'd normally never even look at, the requests for lower berths, the illegal travellers who make your life a nuisance (especially if you have a side berth) and best of all, the food. Currently I'm working on a plan where I get sick atleast once by eating something in every train stop on one trip.
• Again, I didn't travel on trains as much as I'd like because Pune was much simpler to access by bus, and Chandigarh too far. But I did make a few trips which were fun, including a trip on Rajdhani, which was for 24 hours and kicked the train desire out of me!
  

• Low costs - I suppose I'm not really that excited about this because I don't think things are really that cheap in India. But nevertheless, I'll definitely be getting a kick the first 30 times that I get a dosa and find out that it costs only Rs. 20, or a movie that costs only Rs. 40.
• This will hit me more once I walk into an Indian restaurant I suppose. But yeah, I really enjoyed the cheap food everywhere.
  

• Rain - Just the smell alone is worth three months of low speed internet. Not to mention the accompaniments - the warm snacks that go with the rain, the feeling of being sealed in (in a good way) . Of course, it also comes with a bunch of negatives, like being sealed in (in a bad way) .
• The rain was overwhelming during the first few months. Soon it became a part of life, I suppose in a good way.
  

• Indian Intelligensia - I used to meet these people when I first came to the US, people who were very opinionated about the US, the caste system, grobal politics, religion and felt strongly to debate for hours on end. After a while, I think they either can't stand being here (in the US) anymore and go to India or mellow out. Well, they'll still be waiting over there in India and that should make for a bunch of fun evenings when I'll be bombarded with argumetns about why it's a good thing for the country that someone like Laloo Prasad Yadav exists, or why the US hegemony is doomed to end any second now.
• Wow, such a HUGE disappointment on this front. It was bad enough in Pune. In Chandigarh it was worse. ZERO intellectual debates. Sigh.