A Tale of Two Cities

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, I had everything before me, I had nothing before me, I was going direct to Heaven, I was going direct the other way--in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.
There continues to be a president with a large jaw and a pumpkin for a brain, in the United States; and it is still the case that there is a prime minister with a turban on his head and criminals for colleagues, in India . In both countries it is clearer than crystal, to the lords of the State preserves of loaves and fishes, that things in general are screwed up beyond belief.

It is the year of Our Lord two thousand and seven. I am just about to complete my ridiculously long summer break in Delhi and fly back to begin my senior year at school in Philadelphia, in the United States. This requires for mental adjustments on my part, to a degree not commonly seen, in preparation for a city quite vastly different from the one I'm leaving . Not that I haven't done this before; it is just that spending 8 months in Philadelphia during term time, and then 4 months of summer in Delhi require a person to be willing to flick switches in his or her brain with a disconcerting ease and then act like it's a very normal thing to do. Paradigm shifts have been heard of, but our brains are just not wired to take in these drastic shifts in environment, people and philosophy, on such a regular basis.
Nevertheless, a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. I've been resigned to spending the last four months in Delhi and now I've got to go back to start my last year at school in Philadelphia.

Delhi's been hot this year, unusually so. The rains never came. People are feeling the heat, but we haven't had too many electricity issues, at least. Everyone's busy, people don't have the time anymore. I'm on vacation, not much to do. Do I want to have lunch now?Sure, why not? Friends coming over, let's go out for some coffee. I get into a fight with the auto-wallah... it might finally rain this evening. What day is it today? 10 o clock in the morning, where is everyone? Should I have breakfast now? I was reading a book last night wasn't I? Which one is that? No, let's get another. India's playing England today in the afternoon. Man, I need to rent a couple of movies in the evening. Have my clothes been ironed? Another pointless sales caller, how much for the milk bhai saab? The sun is out, Wednesday afternoon at 4 o clock. The birds are chirping to usher in the evening, why don't I sit out or maybe go for a walk? Have you met Mr. Suneja as yet beta? People are nice, everyone's happy.
Philly's been nice this semester, neither too hot nor too cold. BA screwed up with my luggage. Who gets the biggest room in the apartment? I'm here to get an education, not much time. Dude have you got the tech guys to have a look at your laptop? Oh hell I don't have bedding for the night! What time is class in the morning? Akshay you want to get lunch tomorrow? Advisor meeting at 11:30. Books are expensive this time. You are scheduled to take your make up final in two days time, please be prepared. McKinsey presentation at 8 o clock today, damn, I almost forgot to have dinner. Where have you been all week? I'm still jet lagged, it's too cold if you leave the windows open at night. Setting up your speakers takes some time, conference call at 10 tonight. Have you sent those emails out and can you come to buy furniture Saturday morning? Federer plays Djokovic in the evening, 200 pages of Legal Studies. Get that paper done by Tuesday evening, we can play tennis on Thursday. You're not getting enough sleep, have you had enough water? Call your sister goddamnit!

I'm back in Philly as you can see, it's nice..that was Delhi...this is Philly and
"It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done....