It has been a long time since I updated my blog about anything and it might come as a surprise to you that I am updating it from Nigeria. I came here last Sunday and will be here for another 11 weeks. The journey so far has been pleasing and I am hoping it will continue to be the same for next few weeks and months.

Thanks to my organization, I’m living in Lagos (Pronounced as Lay-gos by people out here) and in one of the posh localities of the city.

What strikes me the most in this city/country is the stark contrast between rich and poor! Person here will either own a Toyota Land Cruiser or an Audi or a BMW or will own nothing. Middle class seems to be non-existent.

I will write more about the city as and when I visit it. The only places I have visited so far are my office, a grocery store and a night club facing back waters of the Atlantic Ocean. There is no real threat to life but then we have been advised not to venture out alone.It will be some time before I start visiting places out here.

To give you an example of the life I am leading here, I share an air conditioned 2750 sq ft apartment with my team mate. It has 3 huge rooms, an awesome drawing room and a decent dining hall. And kitchen is any cook’s dream kitchen. Spacious and with all amenities! Wait! I am not done yet! We also have a chauffeur driven black Kia Rio car and a maid/cook :-). Royal treatment Eh!!?

 I don’t remember when, but I was once asked by a British guy as to why we all Indians look alike!? I had no answers back then and since he was a friend, I had told him he must have gone mad! But now I know why he asked me that question. From the day I have landed here, every person looks the same to me. I was actually worried if I will be able to distinguish between the pop singer on TV and my driver. Even though I managed it by second day I call every singer on TV as Hakim now. That is btw my driver’s name.  

Every person out here is friendly and tries to help. If you are out walking about a mile, you’ll end up wishing/greeting at least 10 unknown people along the way. They know that we are scared to even walk alone and try to make our lives as comfortable as possible. Had people not scared me so much, I would have preferred to walk to office every single day. Wondering what changed the lazy guys’ preference? It is traffic jam that has changed it all!! Jams here are the worst jams I have ever seen. Beats Bangalore traffic jams hollow. It took us 1 hour to drive a mile few days back. Weather is quite hot and humid but then that doesn’t really stop us from walking and being Indians, we are used to such heat and humidity.

Coming to food, we get all sorts of veggies and meat. You name it, we get it. It is probably a south Indians’ dream city as we get coconuts :-). Nice fresh ones for cooking! If a Malyali ever decides to migrate from Dubai, this is the city he/she should come to!

The only thing that I am not really happy about is the Internet speed. Feels as though I have gone back 10 years in time. To simply give you an idea about the speeds here, I tried to download a movie last night. The estimated time remaining was 11 weeks and 8 hours. I canceled the download because I might as well reach Bangalore by then and download it in 1 hour. I am not really complaining about the place though. I know every place comes with its set of pros and cons and I am happy as long as I am able to connect to the world!
 
Pictures and more details in my next post and now that I have time, I’ll post regularly!

Cya later Alligator ( Picked it up from my nephew Archith :-D)

PS: Flight to Nigeria was great. Emirates gets thumbs up from me! and here's the meaning of Y'ello for you!
Y’ello - A super hybrid form of both yo and hello, making a super greeting. Used extensively in Nigeria!

Pic: Archith Planning his next move

But now when he's gone back to USA with his mommy and grandparents (my parents),Pooja room is intact, nobody switches off Television when I am watching, nobody bangs doors, nobody screams aloud. The house is at its peaceful best but is no longer charming and lively. There's no laughter that can be heard of, there is no one to run towards me to give me a hug when I go back home from office, there's no one to shower unconditional love, there's no one to laugh uncontrollably at the silliest of faces I make or silliest of games I play, there's no one to dismantle my cell phone. Ahhh! I am missing everything badly.

It is hard, very hard not to miss kids once we get used to staying with them. With them around, the atmosphere of home is always so energetic and rattling with excitement. It is like this edge of the seat action movie. One is definitely going to miss something if one blinks at the wrong time. Kids have so much energy in them that they pass some of it on to people around. It is contagious.
Time used to fly playing with him. Blogging to chodo, I had no time even for office :). I made sure that I stayed just the stipulated time everyday and got home as soon as possible.

Now that I am all alone and have lots of time in hand I am planning to get back to cyberspace and blogging. A dear blogger friend of mine reminded me yesterday that blogging is one my jobs too and I have to get back to it ASAP :)

I would like to keep the post short and end it here. It is for you to decide whether it was sweet :)

Missing you terribly little rascal! Love you!

PS: I was talking about my nephew all along. He will turn two this month and my blog turns 50 posts old :). Quite an achievement for an irregular blogger.