After the long flights to India, next morning, I figured I would go in for an early morning run to start getting used the the time difference. I was one of the first ones to show up at Lodi Gardens in Delhi for a run. It was still a little dark.

I had just gotten out of the car in my running clothes when I saw this guy running towards our car. I was a little curious. But then I chuckled. He basically came to a car right next to ours, opened the trunk and had a lot of coconuts on display. He promptly set up his shop moment he saw the first runner. And then in broken English he tells me – “You go ahead – finish your run. I will be waiting for you right here”.

I did not have any coconut water but after my run, I did get out my phone and took a picture of his mobile shop…

This is in Delhi airport…

Landed in Delhi, checked into the hotel and then went to the lobby bar downstairs. Virtually no one was there. Which suited me fine since I was going to make a few phone calls and check office emails which are not very easy in an overflowing bar. But first, I made friends with the guy mixing drinks – Shubham is his name – and asked what would be an unique Indian cocktail he could fix for me. He made a few suggestions with jalapeños but I told him I have tried all those or variations thereof.

He said “Wait here” and went inside. I was not in a hurry to go anywhere – so I just sat there. In a few minutes, he came back with two plastic packets. Very curious, I asked him what do you have? “Imli paste and gur, sir!” That would be tamarind and jaggery.

In a few minutes he whipped up a cocktail that certainly lived up to my expectations of a nice Indian cocktail. I got to try that back at home. Although, I am probably going to try with vodka and gin instead of whiskey – which is what I just had…

This morning, Facebook helpfully showed my posts from this day in previous years. Guess what I was doing last year on this day? I was headed out to India to check on my parents. And my in-laws who were visiting us (remember those FIL-MIL Mehfil posts? 🙂 ) were returning together with me. In a pure coincidence, exactly a year after, to the day, I am headed back again to see my parents.

This trip is going to be different… First and foremost, my dad is in a much better shape than what I saw him in three months back. That should be good. Second, however, I have a day’s worth of work in Delhi. This is uncommon for me to get distracted by work when I am in India to spend time with my parents. So, I will have one less day with my parents this time. Third, and this is a little painful, my brother will not accompany me for most of the trip. It is extremely rare for us not to be together every single day when I am in India. But this time he is stuck with his kids’ exams. Which means I won’t be seeing the nephews much either. Most of all, I will miss those road trips with my brother – he, with his steering wheel and me with my Google maps!!

There are some possibilities of creating intersection points still though. Some of the ones I am planning include visiting a classmate of mine from elementary school who used to be the class topper, a few more classmates from middle school that I have not seen in over thirty years, perhaps the mom of my best friend from high school days…

First I have to get past hours and hours and hours of flight to get to India though 🙂