And it all began...

"We'll be moving back to India, your father and I discussed it. We think it's the right thing to do at this time, for everyone."

"WHAT???!!!But what did I do wrong? Am I being punished? I promise I'll get higher grades, whatever you say I'll do. Wait a minute, is this a joke? You're kidding right, Amma?"

This was my reaction when I first heard that we were returning to India, for good. Sounds a little dramatic right? But what can I say, India for me was a place I would visit during holidays and leave after a month or so. I had heard stories about the difficult school life and could not imagine giving up all my friends, being on the sports teams, and so on, for living in a place I had so little knowledge about.

Not only that, even the materialistic things, like certain foods, the endless number of shops, unhealthy junk food,etc.

Of course, in the beginning, I was determined to stay, but in the end, I had no choice, and to move away from everything that I was used to.

It would be easy and perfect to say that I immediately adjusted to the new surroundings and had no issues at all. But let's be realistic, that was not how it happened at all!

I did not understand why people had the need to mark their territory like dogs at public places, especially at railway stations.And at that time,the Central Railway Station in Chennai, was what I thought to be, one large fire hydrant. Of course, we had landed at the airport, but I'm just narrating what happened when I remember travelling by train for the first time.

I am sorry to say that the hot dry weather did not help the general odours that were floating about the atmosphere. It does not pass you by,oh no, it hits you like a massive tidal wave of stink.

After finally getting to our car and my father having used all his wits and energy as he haggled with the coolie on the sum to pay him, we were on our way.

Do traffic rules exist??I was asking myself as I gaped in wonder and mild fright at the strange ways the cars, auto-rickshaws, motorcycles, and even pedestrians, seemed to weave about, in some kind of weird organised chaos. Another question that kept on popping up in my, was why do people honk the horn so much? Did they think that doing so would make the rest of the traffic disappear, or magically change the traffic lights from red to green?

It was all so strange and new, and I felt so lost.

If this is how I felt now,I wonder what school was going to be like ?