This day - today, seems to continue endlessly. One of the fringe benefits of travelling towards the west and that too, to the US. You gain time. I started my journey on 18th early morning, and after 21 hours of flying, it still is the 18th of May.
That it has been 30 hours between stepping out of home and checking in, into my Hotel room, changes the perspective totally. It has been a gruelling journey, mainly because in the past 30 odd hours, sleep usually doesn't come easily to a person. So in a sense it amounts to staying awake for more than a full day !
The experience at any US airport is a tough one. There are long long queues in front of the immigration counters. And these queues move extremely slow. Then there are delays in collecting baggage. And once again, long queues at custom, where the only activity visible was collection of custom declaration forms from passengers.
Outside there are problems of availability of public transport - taxis etc. Just as they exist in India. The element of dishonesty included. Today while landing at a US airport, there are good chances that you get cheated by a cab driver.
Therefore if I were to make a very objective comparison of the quality of service at an International Airport in the US and one back home, the airports in India could easily be rated as good if not better than those in the US. The same issues for which we so easily criticise our own system, exist here too.
The weather is a welcome change. From the scorching heat in Delhi, it is a mere 30 degrees Celcius in Houston. And also cloudy.
In the coming days, there will be much more to experience about America than ever in the past. The stay is of longer duration this time, and many new cities would be visited.
But for now, the head finally begins to spin, and I can see myself slowly moving to a 'crash out' situation before long. While India prepares itself for another new day, it is the end of the day here.
By the way - every wondered why India chose this extra 'half hour' of time difference between itself and all other Countries. Nowhere else in the World does time difference exist of a fraction of an hour..
Why in India?
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