As my flight was about to land at Raipur Airport, I was shocked looking at the cattle and fields from the fibreglass windows of Airbus. 'Why are they punishing me by sending me here!?' was the thought continuously buzzing around my mind like a honeybee. I got down at the Fan-Conditioned Airport and was received by the hotel guy. Throughout the 40 minute drive through the fields and trees, I kept questioning the credibility of Google Maps. Hell! Wait a minute, this was not the Raipur I had seen on Google. Crosschecked the ticket - It said 'Raipur'. Finally I could see few buildings and some more as I realised we had entered proper city and the airport was on the outskirts. I managed to restart my heartbeat and bring back my breath. Raipur did begin with a kind of shocker.
Its been 3 days now since I joined office. I had just started getting along with the like-aged colleagues who were searching for accommodation just like me. It is a pain finding rental homes here for bachelors and people shoo you as if you are a salesman. Their eyes will scan you as if you are a terrorist and want the flat for planning a nuclear bomb attack in Raipur, of all! Wish Google could help us with it. Roaming around in search of a home, I made good friends with them. On the fourth day we planned to watch a movie in the cinema next to our office. For once, I thought maybe I will stop missing Mumbai now that I have made friends here and found out some options to hangout. This thought was dampened by the sudden rains that fell on my forehead as we moved out of the Mall. This rain felt like a stranger to me. This was not the usual thick, continuous, heavy rains of Mumbai. No matter how much It causes you inconvenience, still there is something about Mumbai Rains which you would appreciate only when you are out of the city. Some things cannot be explained it can be just experienced! I guess it will take a little more longer to stop missing my good old city of dreams!
