· Hi there! How are u today? Thank You! You have a nice day! Stay warm.. You look great! Oh, these are some most common ways of greeting people. Just that I come from a part of the world, where these types of greetings are used only for the closest clan of people. If a stranger dos that, he/she is eyed suspiciously.. Being a desi, however, my heart skipped a beat, when a guy said “You look fabulous, have a great day!” as I am not used to such open, literally on the road compliments.
· Just being 10 days old, I have come to realize that this place can be home too. Like every other kid, going out of their country for the first time, I too had my own difficulties. Nervous, emotional, excited, Air-India travel skepticism and obviously that not-so-good-not-so-bad feeling of going..
· Indianism, as it is called, now I know the true sense of it.. I look for spice in every item that I eat! Forget to stop when there is a red light for pedestrians. Make the bath tub also as washing tub. Secretly wish if at all I get to use water to wash myself, or end up actually buying a measuring jar to be used in the bathroom at home..
· One of the most important task list to settle down is find Indian restaurants, Indian stores and Indians obviously. Being a vegetarian, I am almost starved on a daily basis. People, craving for healthy living, go for it.. salads, fruits, sandwiches, juice, dessert.. Huh! Give me a break! Within a week of my hotel accommodation, I had started craving for food. I’m not a foodie in particular, but that one week made me really understand the importance of food, the food that I have grown up with.. I still miss the Mangalorean food that I had taken to love in the past few years, but I have plans to catch up on that as well…
· People use maps here to navigate their way inside the city and elsewhere. Of course leveraging technology advancements, but isn’t it a little strange, people just don’t know their living space. That’s how I felt, till the time I went out to venture alone in the city.. I was lost, freaking lost just in 15 minutes.. To reach a place that’s just 10 min away, I took about 1.5 hours that too with my husband’s help who doesnt live in the same city, thanks to my worse (worsest?) map reading skills and his better map skills, and the bloody map itself! What more, can’t even find my way back again, even after roaming for 1.5 hours! Phewww! Someone who has basic problems with right and left directions is expected to understand “Head West in East Adams Street”. There are 3 boards at every intersection, one board says W Street, other says E Street, other says S Street.. Which one is actually the east street, that’s my first question, and head west, I mean really ??
· I am just 10 days old in this new place, #Chicago, people compare this city to Mumbai, though I won’t coz:
o I don’t find street food here
o People do follow traffic rules here. In Mumbai, it starts getting crazy if people start following rules. At an intersection, there is only one direction in which vehicles approach.. Mumbai, there will be sure be a 9th direction from where you can see people pushing their vehicles.
o There is no tapri or cutting chai, only Starbucks Coffee – Tall Cappuccino, extra hot!
o There are NO east-west-north-south streets in Mumbai, simple gallis, nukkads and right and left..
o No water, only paper tissues..
o Most important there are no over-crowded local trains here and the enjoyment watching cat-fights in ladies compartments
Yes, true I am settling down with the newness around me.. The old me still wants to stay and says, just chuck it! Be yourself! I am in a mix.. the desi beginning to transform into a videsi…
Or may be.. just remain a mixed, confused desi, vides me!