India Trip - Day 1 - Dubai, Bombay, Gholvad

Left home at 2 am. Horrified driver with 9 bags. Can't be helped. Mum's eyes positively lit up when was told that could take 100 kgs (220 lbs) in checked-in baggage. Sitting in Business Class lounge and can tell there's Internet connectivity somewhere. The air fairly reeks of bits and bytes. Somewhere someone is checking their email and it's not me.

Pleasant flight. Love the leg room in Emirates' Business Class. Landed at 8:30 am (Indian Standard Time), met mama (mother's brother) and pushed off for Gholvad by car. Bombay smells of urine. The minute you step off the plane and even before you enter the airport terminal the smell of urine assaults you. And I've figured out why everybody honks on the street. All trucks, buses and rikshaws invite you to 'horn please ok'. 'Twould be rude not to. Drive was horrible for my OCD. Have forgotten to pack wet wipes. Only have small bottle of lotion. Bloody hell.

Gholvad, for the uninitiated, is 120kms (74.5 miles) from Bombay due north. It's a small coastal village and no, Dinesh, there is no wi-fi connectivity. The village looks a lot smaller than it did 10 yrs ago. Maybe I've just grown. Arrived. Hugged. People cried. Bags were hauled in. There's no electricity until 5 pm today and it's about 35C (95F). Have put away jeans and am lounging about in bright orange BJP pajamas. Everybody keeps smiling at me. Wonder why.

My Nani (mother's mother) is 80 would you believe. They've split the house and live in 1/3rd of it with the other bit rented out to the Bank of Baroda (Gholvad Branch) *tee hee*. Makes for small living space but goodly enough, the bathrooms are now in-house. I hated going to that outhouse earlier. The prospect of bugs crawling up your legs in the middle of the night was enough to make me stop drinking water. Not that I can drink the water. It's got that horrible taste. Perfectly safe to drink but that horrible taste. Am going to live on juices. Have brilliantly brought large tin of Tang.

Went for a walk with the general junta (public) in the evening to Bordi Beach. Very nice. Clean sand, blue skies and wispy clouds. Lovely sunset. Walked back and realized wot Gholvad smells of - gobar (cow dung). Now watching Star Plus. No steady electricity or drinking water but we've got cable television. Go figure. Mum looks happy and relaxed to be here.