In The Valley of The Sun

Its been almost a month since I arrived in Arizona and this is what I have to say to people who are planning to come here:

CAUTION:

Extremely Hot Weather! EXTREMELY HOT!!!!!

I remember the moment when I got off the plane, I was walking towards the entry gate and the more I moved away from the plane the hotter it kept getting. Having spent half my life in hot places like Riyadh and Chennai I thought I was cut out for this. But boy oh boy was I wrong! By the time I got out of the airport it was around 8 o clock and I felt those hot winds blow right at me and they made me feel as though I was getting incinerated alive! On the plane I made friends with a US Citizen who was actually from Iran and who had a taste for Indian Music and Culture. So we kept discusses the various "arts" and finally we ended up talking about Metallica and Kula Shaker and GW and stand up comedy. Needless to say I was had a very animated chat with my fellow passenger. He told me that he had been living in Arizona for like 20 years and that there was not much to look forward to. So anyway, as the plane started to descend, I managed to get a sneak peek out of the window and the only thing I saw was red barren land, red bare mountains, a couple of buildings and last but not the least - Cactus es! And this was when my fellow passenger looked at me with the sympathetic expression that one would give a dog that lost its leg and said: "Welcome to your new home. I hope you've brought a lot of sunscreen with you!!!". Obviously this is wasn't the kind of welcome I was looking forward to.

It took me a couple of weeks to get used to the heat but I never leave the house without praying that I don't get a heat stroke. I always knew that people here wore sunscreen. What I didn't know was that they didn't wear clothes. This is the defense mechanism that is employed to beat the heat. Bare it all and walk with pride. Now that is something I have to get used to seeing!

And how could I ever leave out our very own people: INDIANS! This place is filled with 'em ! They're everywhere - in the gas station, in the Swimming pools, behind the Cactus es! You name it and you'll see 'em there!! ;)

And if you're planning to come to AZ then here is your checklist:

1)Sunscreen
2)Water
3)Sunglasses
4)Cap
5)Clothes (optional)


Enjoy!