Chapter 2

Right then—I’m back in India!

The 4 weeks back home in the UK flew by incredibly quickly, and sadly I spent the last 12 days down with a nasty virus and doing very little apart from coughing, sleeping and experimenting with various flu remedies.  Many of my grand plans for visiting friends fell by the wayside.

I left the UK just as the first major snow-fall of the winter was arriving.  7 hours later I was in Dubai looking at the blue skies and feeling hugely over-dressed.  And now I’m in Delhi.

Which feels like being back in India… except it doesn’t.  For a start it’s chilly!

I was very spaced-out when I arrived, mainly due to having no sleep at all on the journey.  So when I stepped out of the hotel to explore the area I’m staying in, I was feeling a bit disconnected.   Wearing a jacket—and even a scarf—I wandered up the street without really thinking.  First thing I saw was a guy pedalling around in a cycle-rickshaw with a huge, old-fashioned horn speaker on the top.  He had a sound system running off batteries and was blaring out some recorded propaganda for something or other.  A large grey dog was sitting on the passenger seat, looking around at everyone as if it felt very important.

Strange and random sights in the street–yeah OK, so it does feel like India.

So I’m doing the usual jet-lag thing… wide-awake in the hotel room at 3am writing this, when I should really be forcing myself to sleep.  Wrapped in a very warm but basic army-issue type woollen blanket, and with a small fan-heater doing its best to pump the room full of warm air, even though there are gaps in the windows where they don’t close properly.

Sunday I will be trying to get my bearings a bit, and to reset my body clock.  And then on Monday morning I start my new job.

So here we go then—the start of Chapter 2.  Another 2 years… at least.  Bring it on!