There's no perfect starting to this. I am here in the United States living a life I had never dreamt of. For someone who has had going alone to the bus stand of her small city as something close to an achievement, someone who can't structure her compensation plan without external guidance, traveling back and forth between big cities, staying in luxurious hotel rooms, meeting new people, running back & forth for the visa formalities, working till late nights almost everyday, switching flights between countries, sharing a classroom with people from UK, Japan and US military, hanging out with your trainer, not eating anything but desserts all the time coz they serve meat in almost everything edible and raw tomato, beans and brinjals in everything vegetarian and hence waking up 5.00 clock in the morning with cramps... this sure is a whirlwind!

The journey

I'm already forgetting how it was for me at the Chennai Airport. I think after security check in, I had another interview with an officer who spoke Hindi and I was grinning like a little girl, that's what I did in my Visa interview too. I think that's why they always let me go without asking any questions. This was how my interview for US visa went:-
Me: Hey.
Officer: So how long have you been with accenture?
Me: 1 year.
Officer: Straight after college?
Me: Oh yeah..
O: Okay, 4 fingers of the right hand, right thumb. 4 fingers of theleft hand, left thumb.
And Ka boom. Ready to go!

And this was exactly how it happened at the Chennai Airport, at the Chicago O'hare Airport. Except for the additional picture that was taken in Chicago. But clearance at the Heathrow Airport in London was a real pain in the butt. They made me take off everything of no significance on my clothing and then they checked me like they were detonating a human atom bomb. And they kept my SPF 40 sunscreen :-x And my lens' solution :-x Because of which I spent some 6 hrs in my next flight sleeping with my lenses on. :-x But Heathrow Airport has to be the most beautiful one I have ever seen maybe because O'hare airport didn't have that many people, whole Hoffman estates doesn't have that many people.. While Heathrow was swarming with life.. so many different people.. so much of movement everywhere, it just felt like in the movies.. When the feeling of awe at this was finally weaning and I reached the British Airways Aircraft in an underground metro, I spent as I said, most of my time sleeping. Only occasionaly I would wake up because they keep feeding you something or the other all the time. At one time, it was that the air hostess on her drinks serving spree asked me if I wanted something to drink? I could only mutter a "ah ahaan uh" and she goes- White wine? "ah ahaan uh.. cranberry juice.." Can you beat it! I opted for Cranberry juice(which tasted like a cough syrup) over white wine. And why did I say Cranberry juice in the first place? Because a very old man in seat across mine had asked for it too.. oh yeah.

And it would keep happening, I would sleep at a stretch for hours, then I would wake up to see another 6 hours to go, eat or drink something, sleep, another 4 hrs to go on the screen, eat or drink something & sleep again later. It seemed at one point like it would never end. But it did, when at the custom clearance at the Chicago airport they asked me If I had brought in any swine flu. I knew I had arrived.
And that's how I traveled for 24 hrs to go back in time for 12 hrs..
Are you listening J K Rowling?