Hyphenated-Homestead

Part 2: Welcome to India – A Grand Entrance and a Reality Check

If you are binge reading, please carry on. If you just landed here from internet ether, I request to start reading from the top (Part 1)

Airports are the grand lobbies of a country—the first impression, the handshake, the welcome mat rolled out for travelers. And for years, Mumbai’s airport had been… well, let’s just say it did its job, but it never quite sparked pride. Every time I flew back, I would sigh at the dullness, the chaotic baggage claim, the overall feeling of “we’ll get there someday.”

This time, though, I stepped into Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport and had to pause.

Whoa.

This wasn’t just an improvement—it was a transformation. The gleaming floors, the vast, modern interiors, the efficiency—it was comparable, if not better, than the very airports I had just traveled through: St. Louis, Minneapolis, Amsterdam. It screamed “Welcome to Mumbai!” in a way that wasn’t just words—it was a feeling. The first sign that, yes, things had changed in 11 years.

At 1 AM, we were exhausted but still riding that high of being back on home soil. The nostalgia hadn’t quite kicked in yet, but the excitement was evident. Now, all that was left was getting from Mumbai to Pune—165 km, a four-hour drive, and a journey I had made plenty of times before.

Except, this time, I was determined to do it differently.

The Uber Experiment – A Test of Patience

For every past trip, my brother had been there to pick me up. Partly out of love, I’m sure, but also out of a big brother’s duty—he always worried about me landing at odd hours, navigating the madness of Mumbai, and, let’s face it, not being quite used to the “Indian way” of doing things anymore. But this time, I told him not to come.

“Uber is everywhere now,” I said confidently. “I’ll book one and come home.”

Seemed easy enough. I mean, I do it all the time in the U.S. How hard could it be?

Famous last words.

We deplaned—check.
Collected our bags—check.
Found the Uber pickup spot? Hah.

It was at P4, a decent walk from where we were. No big deal, right? Except that at 2:15 AM, after 30 hours of mostly sleepless travel, with humid air thick enough to drink, and a rolling suitcase that seemed heavier by the second—it felt like an odyssey.

And then, the chaos hit.

A barrage of taxi drivers offering “best price,” strangers insisting they could “help,” and a sea of people all looking for their rides. Everyone seemed to be an Uber driver. Some even wore Uber T-shirts, but were they actually Uber? Who knew? My exhausted, jet-lagged brain wasn’t in the mood for detective work.

I was tired. I was sweating. And for a brief moment, I thought, Why didn’t I just ask my brother to come?

I could’ve been sitting in an AC car by now, halfway to Pune, sipping bottled water instead of standing in a swarming underground parking lot, trying to pinpoint the exact spot to drop a pin for our ride. My patience was thinning.

And then, I heard my wife’s voice. Calm. Unbothered. Collected.

“It’s okay. This is India. We have to be patient. Just put in the ride and wait.”

I took a deep breath.

She was right. This wasn’t the U.S. Things worked differently here. There was a rhythm to the chaos, an order within the disorder. I just had to let go and trust the system.

So, we stood by a designated spot, watching the honking, the weaving of cars, the flurry of late-night travelers doing exactly what we were doing—waiting, adjusting, adapting. Families with little kids sat patiently, scrolling on their phones, laughing in between moments of frustration. Nobody seemed too fazed by the madness.

And then, SarjeRao arrived.

A brand-new minivan. Fully blasted AC. A driver who knew exactly where he was going.

Relief.

As we sank into our seats, finally on our way to Pune, I grinned to myself. Maybe this was the universe’s little test for me. A small punishment for staying away for 11 years. But I had passed. I think! 😊

Welcome to India, Mandar.

If you missed the opening blog post about this series, please read it here.

Next up: Road trip to Pune—Midnight Detours, Speed Demons, and the First Victory.

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