Its been a long long time since i posted last. I was just trying to settle down , get back to work rythm and a lot of things to put back in place. Had to overcome the jet lag and stuff.... offcourse its too long now to blame it on jet lag but believe me I took a real long time to get over it. This one month kept me busy with some action in the district. The Nagarjuna power corp. started their work at the site and it was naturally followed by huge protests. People here have been opposing coal based power projects on environmental grounds. Whatever the ground... its more now a political battle and opportunity for a few than environment. So the less dissected the better. However the scale of protests have been so low.. we had actually prepared for something really big. But we're not sure if big-trouble is still waiting to come. Added to this the naxalite problem has been active since the day i came. Infact i was welcomed to Udupi with an exchange of fire... my men had with the naxals last month. The communal clashes in neighbouring Mangalore had also kept us busy for sometime.
But of all the things what kept me really hooked 24*7 was the "Skype" window on my laptop that was logged in day and night. I subscribed to a "skype-in" number that gave me a local US number wherein i could receive calls on the laptop, while it costed the caller local US charges. This was the lifeline for me and deepu. I should say the whole of the last 20 days i was almost walking with my laptop and earphones around my head just waiting for a call frm deepu. Once the call came, it would be hours and hours of gossip. The way we kept in touch on this... was just incredible.
I write this blog now as Deepu is still flying on her way back from DC to Delhi. She took the AirFrance flight to Paris from Washington DC this morning at 3.25 AM (IST) (that is 4.55 PM EST on the 9th of Dec). As I check the flight location at the moment, I find she is flying over the Atlantic... probably sleeping... coz the earth view at this moment shows its dark outside her window.
But sorry Skype isnt good enough to get that far. She'll be landing in abt 3 hrs frm now in Paris and will be taking a flight to Delhi after a 4 hr stopover. Shes travelling alone and i know how boring it could get. That too when ur offered only french food and stupid entertainment. But its all coming to an end when she lands in Hyderabad next morning.
Its been a busy month even for deepu. She had been to the west coast for a "Thanksgiving" party and explored the snowcaped montains of Oregon and the Giant Redwood forests of California. She also had her first encounter with Snow fall and it turned out to be more than what she had asked for. She was caught in it and was just about rescued luckily. So much for her first snow fall. When she was back to Bethesda she caught up with friends in NY and further explored the city apart from getting on top of the Empire state building.
While she was doing that, i went exploring newer islands here. The dolfins off the coast of St Mary's Island here , were a new experience to me too.
Things have been very pacey for a while and will only settle down when shes back here a week later frm hyderabad. Well, before i end, i should wish deepu a happy and safe landing at Charles-de Gaulle, Paris.
