B2C after a pilot vacation

Please don't fret. It's just-another campus jargon doing rounds. B2C is Back to Campus.

Yep, after a vacation snaking through Mumbai, Bangalore, Coimbatore and Chennai in air, rail and road, I'm back at the campus.

(Unlike Chandoo) I did see some changes around.

Central India

The mercury has dipped in this part of India (Indore) to teeth-chattering levels. It was much worse in Bhopal where I found the car-interiors much cozier than the outside. Rumour has it that the mercury is hovering around 7-10. Definitely not amusing.

The Silicon side

Had the chance to visit Bangalore for the first time in two years. Traffic and infrastructure critics apart, the city seems to be in the usual self. Trade shows still happen; the folks in the (in)famous National Market still make a truckload of money; cars and two-wheelers keep adding to the mess; the Bangalore chill still passes mildly through the garbs to the bone.

Mumbai

My first ever Air Deccan came and departed on time; Mumbai airport was at its crowded best. But for the neat dresses and clean sheen around, the commotion would've passed as an overcrowded railway station with throngs of people crawling in the cramped interiors. The air hostess brought all the optional snacking items four seats close the centre and conveniently ignored us in the middle, and the aircraft landed soon after.

That we were terribly-terribly hungry is something I won't mention.

Coimbatore

News reports of IT parks and ads of India's first hosiery parks notwithstanding, the city was moving. Slowly but surely. A bridge near my home promises to take one more year to complete the remaining half; ditto with the 4 laning of a National Highway nearby; almost all the worthwhile roads were full of shops - new and old, with lots of customers; US still imports a fair amount of students and employees from this region; people still invest a fortune in gold - vintage Coimbatore style; real estate promises more return than our stock market, even with all the bulls around; the sophomoric weather invokes the sleeping self from even the most active souls.

Chennai

Rains deserve all the attention, next only to Maran and Gates. My friends place had about 5 feet of water for 18 hours the week before I visited; news has it that people have started recognizing Adyar as a river; the city was all-abuzz with Bill Gates coming in; the media was having a field day covering different sides of the story (depending on their political orientation).

Days keep passing by. And people still eat well and sleep well. And the world still keeps moving.