Hyderalright

Five months is special: it is the last anniversary I will have. At the sixth, it will be over.

I'm settled into Hyderabad now, after arriving two weeks ago. It is the birthplace of Biryani, and I've spent more than half my lunches wiping the sweat off my face in gratitude. It's also much bigger than Mysore (and Bangalore as well). This actually doesn't mean too much more than a greater selection of meat dishes at the restaurants, and that they're served at higher Gandhi's per ounce.

I will be staying until around the 17th of January. I've lost the will to complain about the fact that the majority of my batch-mates will be home for Christmas... It really doesn't matter now that I am so near to tangible proof that I won't have to live here forever. If things go as planned, I'll be spending Christmas eve with the family of one of the guards here on campus. That'll be unique.

After some pulling of teeth, it looks like my boss will allow me two days leave during these minimally-important holidays. It's that or call in sick: I have a plane ticket to Mumbai (Bombay), a reservation at a hostel, and a train ticket back to Hyderabad, all happening between the 29th of December and the 2nd of January. It's not two weeks in Thailand, but at least I'm trading my short end of the stick for something, right? I really did want to see Bombay before I leave.

But not the Taj. It's almost better to have been here so long and not seen it. After all, I've experienced the "real India": IT workers vacating their desks to cheer on an afternoon interdepartmental cricket match. But we're too busy for me to take leave, of course.