The only thing I knew about South Africa before my travel was the South African cricket team. I knew that they’re strong, robust and hard working players. There were plenty of things unfolding in front of me as I realised the fact that I’m indeed travelling to South Africa on a business visit. Visa got stamped and the arrangements were made. Hold on a sec – all the arrangements were made on my personal front too – but my mental arrangement of moving away from my dear wife was indeed tough. My mind just refused to arrange itself with the coordinates of this universe. Poor thing – it dint know that it has to arrange itself one day – sooner or later.
My wife gave me enough support and confidence to travel to this country – without her. It’s always the reverse between us (as compared to the usual Indian couple) when it comes to such things. I was very emotional to move away from her and she was too. But then – she did not allow that to surface. All that she had on her face was a smile that will keep me going. Oh yeah – it did – arrest my tears down.
Trip to South Africa was thru an Emirates flight via Dubai. I spent most of the time in trance! I dint know what was going around me – I did not know if I should think about the future in South Africa or about my wife in India. My mind was just wavering between the two. I got hold of a computer in Dubai Airport and I rushed myself into my inbox and typed a one-liner to my darling.
Much was spoken about the climate in South Africa – that it’ll be chill and it’ll be very pleasant through the day and especially – the climate in Johannesburg – or Joburg (as I’ve started to call it these days – thanks to the education from the Joburg-ites) is always pleasant – be it winter or the summer. When we landed in Joburg, the temperature was around 11 Deg C. It really dint seem like it was that low actually. We collected our baggage and boarded the van that was sent for us. After getting my first insight into the South African traffic, we reached our home – Alice Lane – Sandton. Thanks to the local Indian colleagues we have – the dinner was theirs. It was about midnight on the 14th of August 2010 when I hit bed. I closed my eyes and hugged my wife out of thin air – I miss you. At the stroke of midnight – India was gearing up for its Independence Day celebration – I gave independence to my jet lag and started to sleep – or as my roommates would call it the following day – I started to snore heavily.
We did not opt to go out for the Independence Day celebrations and decided to stay home. We cooked good South Indian lunch and ate sumptuous food. We were then picked up by our Indian colleagues and it was time to go for weekly grocery shopping. My mind went back to the US days when me and my friends will go and shop in Wal-Mart for the upcoming week. I wonder how much our eating patterns change once we land in a new country. Well – what else would one expect? Cereals, bread and banana which is generally consumed after a meal in India make up the breakfast here – at least for me – yeah wifey – I can hear you calling me Fatso !! My mind refused to transcend from the US as the scenes I saw out of the window were not much different from the States. The buildings, roads, traffic, discipline and the drivers – well, I did see something good here – after all – much has been spoken about the crime in Joburg and enough paraphernalia have been deposited in all the lockers possible.
To my colleague’s disappointment – the “Fruit n Veg” shop which was supposed to be open till 2:00 p.m. on Sundays was already closed by 1:30 p.m. We went to another shop and shopped the grocery and the required fruits and vegetables. We hit back home and it was already evening – no phone connection and I had left my laptop with my wife and no internet connectivity – I was feeling lonely in the crowd – searching for my wife.
Mornings are always cold in Joburg and I felt that when I got up early on Monday – getting ready for the first day to work. We had already planned to pack lunches for work – but not on the first day – wearing a suit and tie and then carry a lunch box. We decided to eat anything that goes vegetarian at work. Up came the non-Indian breakfast and we had to say that we had a sumptuous meal. After all – we can’t think of idlis and dosas now.
The streets of Joburg are good and nice and I was already thinking of my time to go for a ride in my car. I was told to carry my Indian driving license. I will have to undergo classes here in Joburg and once I get a clearance from the “dude” (I don’t even know if he’s a brake inspector or belongs to some RTO office of South Africa) I can get a car to drive. Coming back to the present – I was able to see the much hyped traffic which has built over the past three years or so. 7:20 in the morning and traffic on the road is something that one seldom sees in India. But then – that is how Joburg works. The down town is called the Central Business District (CBD) here and we had to reach this place for work. We did so – thanks to our colleague’s driving from home.
With building traffic on nice roads and good discipline, one would normally expect a parking crunch. Oh yeah – we were informed of this and we had to “reserve” parking in one of the buildings. Thankfully we did get a slot and we were able to park our car. My mind went back to those days in Chennai when I’ll always get a parking slot in my office as I’ll be one of the first to reach office and the security in-charge will gleefully accept me and help me park the car straight. You are expected to park your car properly in Joburg. The security in-charge was as gleeful as the one in India. An African – he greeted us with a broad smile – I was only able to compare that with the smile of Makaya Ntini – the South African fast bowler.
Post apartheid, I’ve studied that there has been a Black empowerment and both the classes of people have been treated fairly in all the departments. Though I learnt (and later saw) that top brass of the corporate are occupied by the Whites, equal opportunities have been given to the native Africans as well. It reflects in the way people respect them when they talk and greet. Be it a sweeper or the old lady who came to serve us coffee during our meeting. People are treated with respect. I appreciated that – I liked that. I was able to see the depth of their hearts.
Talking of depth, well, I was indeed surprised to see the low neckline of the dresses that the ladies wear here. I thought it was only in the western countries. As I see it – if churidhars are the most decent dress in India for one sect of people, formal pants and shirts are for another sect. While low necklines are not a problem for another sect no dress is considered ok in some other parts of the world.. Most of them don’t mind wearing such dresses and the rest aren’t wearing this because they’re already wearing a jacket to keep themselves warm!
First two days at work wasn’t too great – my mind was just travelling back to my wife. I missed her so much. I felt it has been half a year since I saw her. While returning from work on the 2nd day – my colleague asked another one – who was driving –
“did you take the same route yesterday?”
“Yes”
“How about the first day?”
“hmmm.. Grrr... Yesterday was the first day!”
I was able to empathize – even I felt it’s been a long time since we left India. It was hardly three days.
On the way back we saw glimpses of the flood lights of the Wanderers. I was already dreaming of the first game of the Champions League 2010 when Sachin Tendulkar will walk out for the toss for Mumbai Indians. Go MI go!!! Well, they’ll allow us only when we have a ticket right?? So, got get the tickets go!!
Rest of the week was routine and it was a welcome break to see a Saturday in sight. We attended the “India Day” celebration in Joburg on the 21st of August 2010 in a place called the Bright Water Commons. I seriously felt there was something really wrong in the grammar of the person who christened this place. Or probably I need to Google up a bit more. As I was wondering why an “India day” was not celebrated on 15-Aug-2010 (which was indeed a Sunday) and it was done on the 21-Aug-2010, I realised that it’s been a week since I landed in South Africa. I then thought I should make my long held dream work now – to write my first blog.
Here I am – writing my first blog – on my first week in South Africa. It does seem like a year away from more. But I promise myself to hold myself tight and hug my wife out of thin air all the time. To her smile and to sense her touch isn’t difficult. After all – what better work does technology have than to make my wife and I see each other :-)
