Crossing the Arabian

Two weeks ago, my Managing Director indicated that I will be transfered to Dubai in April 2008.

Though I had been expecting this development for the past few months, those words yet bore a thrilling charge. For thirty-five years I had never strayed far from home, save on holidays in and out of India, but now I was scheduled to leave for a foreign destination for a period undetermined.

So certain was the expectation of this transfer that even before the director had expressed his approval, I had already brought down my suitcase and had commenced dumping stuff inside it. It gave me a 'gosh-this-is-finally-happening!' aura to the whole thing. It has often been said that when you desire something, act it out as if you have already received it, and you will receive

And so it was true for me!

Since the transfer will take effect only in April, I have little more than a month to spend with family and friends in India. There is mom to console and reassure, for she did not take the news too well, although she expected its coming. There are aunts and uncles to hug, cousins to be called on, friends scattered across Mumbai and Pune that I must meet up over weekend lunches and dinners. And crazy as it may seem, there are certain parts of Mumbai that hold almost-sacred meaning for me which I intend going to before I fly away.

Gosh! I'm almost making it sound as if I am never returning to my homeland!

Dubai is not too far from the shores of India ~ it's just across the Arabian Sea. The way of life there too is not so different from the one in Mumbai ~ yet there are feelings that are a mix of joy, sadness and excitement that wash in and out of the heart like a moody tide. A slush of memories comes pouring in while I walk down the roads of South Mumbai, some of which, it seems, the sheer force of my departure has resurrected out of my subconscious mind.

There is a month to go before many formalities are sorted out. Even so, I am ready to cross the Arabian.