A quick trip

There are a few spots on earth that have a pull on me. Places that make me want to go back again and again. One such is Arizona: a second home for me for four years in the not so long past. This place helped transform me from a fresh-out-of-college kid with not a worry to, let’s just say, someone very different.

So when the US airways jet began its descent into Sky Harbor and the city lights came into view, an indescribable visceral feeling, a mix of expectation, nostalgia, sadness, happiness and guilt, took a firm hold of me. It has been nearly seven years since I last visited this place and I looked forward to being home again.

As I drove out of the airport, I rolled down my windows and let the cool desert air caress me. I powered down the GPS unit and started driving from memory. My first stop was, of course, the ASU campus, a place steeped in personal history. Both the university and the surroundings have undergone tremendous changes. Surprise! Every inch of open space has been gobbled up by a new building that clearly doesn’t gel with the ASU “feel” that is locked in my memory. 

Across the road, the apartment complex where I had landed 13 years ago with heavy bags and big aspirations was hardly recognizable too. It now goes by a different name, sports a completely different look and has clearly moved on from being a simple, crowded, under maintained Indian ghetto. To give you a better idea, I was there on a Thursday night with the spring semester in session and yet there was no smell of Indian food wafting around. A very dramatic makeover indeed.

My destination was Chandler. Most of my previous visits to Chandler have been religious affairs: either to visit the ISKCON temple or to participate in the weekly Vishnu Sahasranamam chanting at someone’s place. This time, it was business which isn’t all that different from religion: both help put food on the table. I drove north on Rural Road, past familiar streets, intersections, landmarks; each triggering a set of memories from an era gone by. I checked into the hotel: my first time ever in Arizona. I spoke with a very close friend of mine for a few minutes, almost lamenting about the changes. How could you let this happen to our home?

After I was done taking care of the business part of my trip the next day, it was time to drive north to the edge of the valley. My destination was the nicer end of Scottsdale. I took the northbound AZ 101 loop, driving past familiar territory. McKellips, McDowell, Thomas, Indian Bend…each exit a throwback to the days when I used to travel down this freeway on many chilly Saturday mornings, in whites, during the season for a game of cricket. Thankfully, the fantastic views of the rugged Superstition Mountains and the San Tan range have been spared by the march of time.

A lot of catching up and a quiet dinner at a nice restaurant with a very special person rounded off my visit to AZ as I made it just in time to the airport for my flight back home. The plane had barely lifted off when I was already grappling with the sole question on my mind: When next?