அன்னியன் - Anniyan

18.04.2005

New Ark, US

Whew!!! Such a big airport, so many people moving around and suddenly you feel alien like among them. So many shops of chocolates, drinks, eatables all were eye catchy. The I-94 procedure, it was so much blown up and it was nothing. They just asked my passport and to fill in a form and everything was done. Even after I left the counter and to collect my lug gages,

I was still thinking did I miss any counter, did I miss any procedure, have I escaped through any wrong entrance, what will happen if they catch me for skipping a procedure, more confused (or feared ;-)

My first $ was spent was for getting a Cart to keep the lug gages (3$). While collecting lug gages also, I was told that maximum cases they get lost, so I was keen in collecting my lug gages, and my luck or so both the suitcases came safely.

Then went out to find out where to report next for the connecting local flight. Roamed here and there (didn’t feel like calmly sit and watch around the people, the new place) and found the counter and got the pass. I had to wait for another 2 hours. Now I get time to look around things.

The shoe polish counter was the first one I was looking very strangely, a chair fitted to the chair in a pretty good height, both the guy who comes to polish his shoes and the one who polish the shoes sit in their comfortable places to do their work and get their work done. Hmm… so no job is considered as mean here, that’s a nice thing to know first.

The kid and his gigantic father playing, the group of college guys and girls sitting behind, it was very different when you are a foreigner, rather than you watching a foreigner strangely, you are watched strangely. Don’t know when I slept, suddenly when I woke up, thank god it was right time.
Went for the flight and this domestic flight was much like a town bus, so narrow, so small. I didn’t get the feeling that I’m in a flight, until I watched outside the window after this took off. I used to think, the airhostess instructions and their actions in our domestic flights to be very mechanical, but the old (very old rather) female, announcing her did everything in a mechanical way. She seemed to talk very politely, over well mannered but everything was very mechanical, it looked as if she was programmed to do it.

It was an excellent view outside, the night view of the city , superb. Another 2 hours travel, and I reached Cincinnati airport.

Ohio, the state in which this city is located is the "Birth place of Aviation", yeah its here where the Wright brothers did their invention. Just felt for a moment, that I have come to the right place :-).Cincinnati, this city is famous for its lots of firsts.. few interesting things are…

1853 - First practical steam fire engine.

1869 - First city to establish a weather bureau.

1869 - First professional baseball team - Cincinnati Reds.

1902 - First concrete skyscraper built in the U.S. - the Ingalls Building.

1952 - First heart-lung machine - makes open heart surgery possible.

Ok… ok… enough of this history and geography, now is the real comedy starts.

After reaching, I went to collect my lug gages. I wanted a trolley now to put my lug gages. I found couple of trolley’s placed together in a place and when I tried to remove them, I couldn’t remove. I just started to pull very hard and then saw the notice that, I had to put 3$ to get one trolley out.
Huff!, 3$ for one trolley for just few minutes,

hmm.. ok now where will I go for 3$ exact coins to drop in. I had only denominations starting from 10$. I also couldn’t find any machines giving change. I was now confused what to do and was moving here and there to find anyway I could get some change.

There was an "Indian Thaatha" who watched me do all this funny things and he called me up. May be it was written in my forehead that I was confused, he understood what I was up to and he asked me to wait till his brother comes with some change. Then I asked him, where could I make a phone call, thank god, he gave his mobile to make a call and when the BRM attended the call, he shocked me, by saying he was expecting me by tomorrow only.

No accommodations arrangements made. Then immediately he made some arrangements and said and address. After the address, he said he’ll give the directions to it and started saying some numbers I-75,Exit 15, this that… I was thinking what directions he is giving, because I expected something like go straight, find this place turn left, turn right kind of directions. Anyhow, noted it down. Thanked the "Thaatha" for the call.

Now it was "Indian Paati" turn to help me, she took my 10$ note and inserted to the machine where the trolley is attached and it gave me the 7$ change back. The place she inserted the $ note was written as Bill, these people here mention the notes as Bills.

Huff!, I didn’t know this and I was looking only at the hole for the coins. Ok, first thing to be learnt here BILLS means $ notes :-).

Got a Cab (wow a Chevrolet as a cab, cool), and gave him the directions. Tried speaking to the cab driver to know about the place (just the same way I used to do wherever I go new), but this guy didn’t guy expect the passenger to talk to him other than the directions I think (don’t these people over here interact more than what they actually need?)

Reached the hotel, my ML/Team Member was waiting, checked in my lug gages and he took me to his house nearby to have dinner. Rice, Bengali food and that too home made food as my first meal in US. Tasty food or my hunger, I didn’t know that but had a good dinner :-). Called up home to inform that I reached.

Returned back to hotel with some bread, eggs, juice packs, sweets to survive for the next day.Tried to watch TV for sometime, and then feel asleep. My FIRST NIGHT ;-) in US, deep sleep without knowing what all comedies I’m going to do tomorrow.

Top of the World

18.04.2005
Somewhere between India and US

I hadn’t asked for a window seat, so it was pretty boring just watching people around you. But thank god, there was a small baby and its mother (she seemed to be like kid) and it started crying. Trying to make in stop crying and then laugh, each time it stops and I turn around again it had started (was it scared of me?). Somehow, it was a nice time pass for sometime.

Out of curiosity, first time when I asked the Air Hostess, where exactly we are, it was Afghanistan, over the hills of Afghanistan.

One thing I had noticed in Air India was the hostesses were working (or allowed to work?) even after the young age. Still the charm they showed, the courtesy, the way they approached different people, handled each ones different mood, it was quite interesting to quietly observe them.

Other than that, a book was my time pass (?) “Diary of a Young Girl”, somewhere I came across an about the book. It was the situation in which the content of the book was written interested me to buy that book before hand for this travel time pass. But the book turned out to be a disappointment for me (may be few places of that book really made think a lot after sometime that’s all).

Didn’t know what time it was, didn’t know what part of the day it was, and I was just reading the book, gazing around and eating whatever had passed my way ;-), whether it was a drink or a snack or a lunch or dinner whatever it was. This was another good time pass, tasting all the food, juices, and snacks :-)

What date is it ?!
XX.04.2005
Paris, France.

First halt was in Paris, there was a cleanup of the flight, god! How dirty the flight was (the same people, once they reach US or any foreign countries where there are strict regulations and fine’s for this kind of behavior how responsible they behave, why don’t they have that individual responsibility when they are given a freedom, this is the difference between the life in India and in US).

Here, you keep your car in wrong side for a second while driving then fine, park in a wrong place for a moment fine, put your dustbin just outside fine… whatever you do, there is a path to follow. You aren’t allowed to deviate from it.

But in India, we are given so much freedom, one laid down our own paths, be ourselves, but the Individual responsibility is the one that is missing among a majority of the people. When in Cal, while freaking out, if we don’t find a dustbin (which happens 99% of the time), we put the papers or whatsoever we have in our pockets till we reach our home or see one, somehow or the other this habit had become a practice for us and even if one of us had forgotten, the other would remind promptly.
City was green, organized, skyscrapers (wanted to see Eiffel Tower, but didn’t see it), cars, a typical foreign city ?! As in movies :-)

At last after crew change and lots of other formalities the flight started. Next landing should be in the New Ark airport (which I was thinking its New York and why everyone are pronouncing so different, until I realized this is a different place than New York).

Same routine and I managed to while off till we reached New Ark.

Time to Leave

17.04.2005,Sunday
Chennai

Reached Chennai. It was pretty odd feeling out there for me. Called up mama and reached his new house. Mama was expecting me to come in a car, while I landed up in a temp van (thanks to the travel agency for the royal treatment ;-)

Hero was also there in his house, it was really good time spending with them chatting all old stories, Cal stories, happenings in Chennai. Satti and Vishnu came after sometime, felt very comfortable among these people. It’s been just 4 months after that Diwali vacation but looked very long time before I had seen these people.

Then we left mama’s house to meet Subha and Ambo and then to Spencer for spending that Westside coupon. We all met in a restaurant, had some good time chatting, teasing each other (but don’t know why, I wasn’t able to have the same closeness as it had been in college with them all). May be that is how, life goes on. Or may be if I had been in Chennai for this past 1.8 years I wouldn’t have felt that way. But still enjoyed their company.

When it was about to leave, and I was wishing Subha for her marriage, really felt badly of my part for not able to attend her marriage. Even though I had booked my tickets and made my travel plan for her marriage very sure, my thought of leaving to onsite as soon as possible that is what, made me fell bad (I don’t know how to express it in words).

Next it was Spencer, joined up hero in the bike. It was the conversation we had was more interesting than that pleasant journey. I was just wondering, how fast we are towards our mental maturity; it has been just 2 years after college.

Anil had been waiting in Spencer for a pretty long time, poor guy. Was really happy to hear that he has also got his chance and will be flying soon, two of his desires, getting fulfilled consecutively (Transfer and Onsite). Sometimes, very rarely when I feel that “Have I made a mistake for staying in Cal for a long time?” but before and later there were many times when I had been happy for staying in Cal.

Cal Westside is really cool than this Chennai version (just the inverse of what I had thought). Just for the sake of emptying the gift coupon, I had to purchase from T-shirts to socks and handkerchiefs :-)

Dinner time, I was very eager to have a pretty good, heavy, superb dinner to finish of this trip, but wasn’t able to manage to eat more than a Dosai (that too from my plate only :-(

Reached mama’s house collected the lug gages and again trip with hero to the airport. All of a sudden, when I reached the airport some difference I could feel within myself. It was a midnight 3’o clock flight, chatted with these guys for sometime. As it reached midnight, they had to leave and I was waiting alone for my time.

At time, checked in, embarkation process complete, started to Mumbai. Journey wasn’t that great. Reached Mumbai around early morning thought of waking up these Mumbai guys, but mobile charge was down (their luck?!). Had to wait for another couple of hours after all those checking process, this that. That was really boring.

Got into my first international flight, just looked like a bigger airbus that’s it, nothing more special. Lots of Indian crowd in that, and many babies around (it was this Indian crowd and these babies cries and shouts that later made me feel that I’m traveling from Madurai to Alagarkovil during the Chithirai thiruvizha in a fully packed bus of villagers crowd :-)

Moments in Madurai

16.04.2005,Saturday
Madurai

Woke up pretty before reaching Madurai. I think there was a young lovers couple sitting behind me, whispering the entire travel.

The first incident happened itself wasn’t great, the guy who took my lug gages and came till the auto, looked like another auto driver helping this guy. But got shocked when he asked forty rupees for it, "Mera Bharat Mahaan" and was not leaving the auto to leave. Got very much irritated, tried not to shout but anger broke at last.

Reached home, vasanthi athai in house, I didn’t expect at all. I was feeling very hungry, my favorite "Dosai", old rice was there, but still I didn’t feel like having more (suddenly switching to good food wasn’t that easy :-).

Packed things, went out with pradeep to purchase few things. He would have felt strange when I told that I want to drink buttermilk near his house, juice in Rajam Juice shop (college day memories:-).

Lunch also I couldn’t have the sambhar. Went out and brought flight tickets to Chennai, then went to ponagaram to get wishes from paati. When everything was a bit over, it was night and I wanted to have haircut, Malaya saloon. The owner and the old guy were able to recognize me.
Midnight I realized that I didn’t properly have the Onsite Phone numbers and address noted down. Immediately went to Sify, got them from my mailbox and had printouts.

Pretty fast day, in-between all tensions thaatha. I was able to understand him, when he wanted me to spend some time with him before leave him. He felt very alien like among everyone in house. But the way he expressed was I didn’t like (that is the problem with him, even a valid reason gets defeated with the way he expresses).

I wanted to spend time with him, but couldn’t make it possible.


17.04.2005,Sunday
Madurai

Today the most favorite food "Aaapam", even though I couldn’t have slowly, I had a lot and felt very happy and satisfied. Planned to leave house by around 10. Pitchai and Ramkumar had come to house, chatted with them for sometime and then visited pradeep’s house, harini’s house, boopathi mama and kanna mama. Came back hurrying to house and left to the airport. Kamal had his entrance classes going on and he had left for that after wishing me in the morning.

On the way travel, talked to karur and palanivel anna (should have called him very before, I did a mistake).

Airport entrance had another surprise for me, a foreigner holding hands of a black, Tamil village girl and I could see pain and love in their eyes.

Checked in, flight was delayed, came out and had some final chatting with all and went in. Ind vs Pak cricket match, no interest. Was just watching around. Flight started and more surprisingly the same foreigner sat beside me.

While talking to him, found out that he has married that girl and she is from mellore. He was sighing about the heat in his mother-in-law’s place and the amount and spicy food he had to eat as marriage feast in many houses. I was very much surprised about that.