Its been a looooooong time coming!! Those are the starting lines of the song with which the Documentary on Woodstock 69 begins. But I am talking about what is supposed to be the final postcard from Shanghai! It has been a long time coming!
Well, the whole China experience was a very memorable one. It was memorable because I made friends there and am still in touch with them. It was memorable because it was the first time that I had been to a foreign country. It was memorable because I was able to finish my task with flying colors.
The Chinese people are very polite. When one weekend the gang in China was going on a trip to Nanjing, we took a fast train to Nanjing. The cleanliness and order in China is something which will amaze people from India. You cannot blame the population for not being able to control things. Of course, you may need to deal with things with an Iron Fist at times, which is really not something which happens in India.
The strangest of things happened. I made a friend who was born on the same day as me, I mean the same birthday and the same year. And that happens to be the day China proclaimed itself as a republic. Also there is a city in China, which has the same name as me. And of all the countries in the world, China happened to be the first one I would visit. Remarkable isn't it?
In college I used to say to my friends that one should live across the world in all the famous cities. I have already lived and experienced New Delhi and Bangalore. I have been quite a few times to Mumbai. I can now also say that I have experienced Shanghai as a city to live and the experience was enriching. I also visited Nanjing.
Things that I remember from the trip is work of course. Then the breakfast at the hotel and the taxi ride to work. The voice and the message you heard when the taxi driver put the meter down. The remarkable taxi drivers themselves. Teppen-Yaki where we used to have lunch everyday, with the cute and courteous waitresses. Boy they had a lovely smile! Nanjing Road and the Bund. Pearl Tower. The electronics market. The railway station at Nanjing. Liz and Kiki and Lily. Johnson and Kevin. Chenggang and Frankie and Joe. The Hymall Store. The Howard Johnson Hotel where I had a haircut for a hundred RMB and where I was staying with the night drinks. Beer at Pushkar's place before I left. Pu Dong Airport. Chinese Music at McDonald's.The calm and order that existed. YSP! The guy who used to work in the night shifts. People whom I trained. Chinese the language which I will learn someday! The Shanghai Skyline!
Pictures say a thousand words so some pictures from China as a slide show. It was one experience and I wish to return there someday. Zhei Jian!
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