Phoren Returned

Phoren( Phourun) ReturnedAaila! America!! That was the obvious response I got from all my near and dear ones when I told them of my venture to the land of the supreme. While the girls were envious of the fact that I will get to live on Karan Johar’s sets( since most of it happens in New York), the boys were in awe of the cars, technology and the electronics that I will get to see and probably use. It was a crisp evening in March, when we landed on ‘THE’ land, the coveted heaven of economy! Since it was Sunday, I anticipated some hustle bustle in the place, but lo…what did I see? Just stretches of long empty super clean roads, with super cars zooming past one another, a little house here and a little house there, lots of greenery, flowers blooming in private gardens. Ah, such a pretty and clean sight, but…hello! Where did all the people go? Whatever happened to the Karan Johar’s extras! But, New York is a city and we had landed in a town. Most of America is like a town, but for a few handfuls of busy cities. On a Sunday evening, people in our town were safely tucked away inside their cozy homes, or were safe inside a centrally heated mall, or driving in their cars. No one dare come on the road for walking is not a way in their life. The weather is un-predictable most of the time. It can rain, shine and chill all in one day. No wonderthey need cars! How else can they carry all the all weather gear all at one time? Though people are extremely polite in allowing pedestrians to cross the road first, the only people you will see walking are newcomers to the country. You cannot walk on the road without people in the cars staring at you as if you have got four legs!This surprise of empty but beautiful roads was just the beginning of the series of many that were to follow in my stay there. The picturesque houses that you get to see are usually buildings, housing four to six families, each having their own apartment. No building is taller than 3 levels (floors). Back home I am used to living in a tall building in a 5 room flat. In USA I was reduced to a pigeon hole of 2.5 rooms ( because that is what you can afford initially).Inside the comfort of your home, you are happy to have a central heating system and a wall to wall carpet. It is so clean, as if you were living in a hotel room. But, the bathrooms there have no drain outlet. Except the wash basin and the tub there is no tap! Because you are not supposed to ‘wash’ anything. Clothes go in the laundry (launder mat) and for the other things you can use paper napkins! No wonder they complain of dry and itchy skin and the globe is running out of a green cover! As we recovered from many such lifestyle shocks we settled in our own routines. My kid quickly picked up the accent and started enjoying her breakfast cereals, juice boxes, sponge bob square pants cheese fingers, her Oreo cookies, doughnuts, candies, jellos, muffins, pretzels and fruit flavored yogurts. Not to forget her daily quota of 2 Hershey kissies. Going to the mall or the grocery store was the only available, necessary and routine pastime, since you need a car if you want to venture out for picnics or go for site seeing. There are stores which sell Indian goods exclusively and these are good examples of a united India. You get most of the commodities from all parts of India. I was never convinced that they taste the same as they taste in India but nevertheless; something is always better than nothing. So, we used to go to the ‘Patel’ store once in a while (at the mercy of my kind friend) since we did not have a car. While my daughter was thrilled at the site of a Kurkure packet or a Frooti, I used to be busy with the dollar to rupee conversions. My God, 80 Rs for a packet of Kurkure( In India I could buy 8 of them). 40Rs for a few strands of coriander and 300Rs for a kg of peanuts and the list could go on. Eventually I gave up the calculations and started substituting whatever possible withthe American goods. Replace Amul butter with peanut butter, buy vegetables from an American grocery store rather than from “Patel”, use a marmalade instead of Kissan mix fruit jam. I cooked spaghetti and pasta instead of Maggie noodles. Now it was fun!Setting up a home does require the minimum of utilities such as a vacuum cleaner, a few comforters (mattress is too expensive), a lamp, an iron, may be toys for my kid a few kitchen items. Besides a few things that I could afford to buy brand new from a shop, I found the others near the dust bins. No sorry –‘trash cans’ is what they say in US. Yes, except humans Americans recycle almost everything. Old furniture, toys, books, CDs, jewellery, bags, shoes, clothes, anything and everything is freely or economically available either near a trash can( if people throw it out) or available in a thrift store on a sale. Don’t worry about people calling you a rag picker; this is the way they live in America. You have to learn to manage your green bucks between home in America, home in India, to and fro visits, savings for the future, and not to forget the entertainment in America. A must expense if you want to maintain your sanity. No kidding, because inthat far away land, you will have to find ways to keep yourself busy. No relatives, no friends (lots of deliberate friends from office or from Indian societies), no TV( only American channels available). You cannot go walking unless it is summer, you cannot loiter around the streets and lanes because the cop (policeman) is bound to ask you questions. There are no parties at home because loud music is a strict no no in residential area. All the festivals somehow end up in getting celebrated only at the Bharatiya Temples. Be it Ganpati, holi Diwali or Dassera. Christmas is an obvious exception. So, life in the US of A is cool if you are able to happily adjust to these lifestyle modifications. If not, you don’t have to wait for an invitation to come home. I did. I returned home, phourun from America.