I'm extremely bored, tired of sitting in a place for 3 hours and more pissed off thinking that I have nothing to do for another four hours. Yes, I'm in a flight to San Francisco from Philadelphia.
It is my thanksgiving/quarter break and my ultimately patient, sweet and lazy brother sends me tickets to come to his place. I'm all excited to meet him but this journey is way too much. The two seats next to me is empty and further two seats away, there are two people who are equally as bored as me and staring into their Macs. I was staring out the tiny window next to my seat and all I could see is white. An occasional pop up of lights indicating a small, sweet/ghostly town where people are tucked into their cozy little homes and watching tv or just equally as bored as me.
I passed an hour by sleeping, another 45 minutes staring outside. This was the first time that I saw 3 flights passing by mine in a span of 15 minutes. Then, I'm bored again. This is when it strikes that I used to write a blog. It has been almost a year since I last wrote in my blog.
So, what has happened in a year. I graduate as a Bachelor of Engineering and now I'm in the US pursuing my masters in Computer Science. That is a huge step, isn't it ??? A lot of things happened in a year. For now, my first quarter in the university has ended and here I'm in the flight.
So, I was thinking about what to write and the thought of writing how different it is in the US struck me. It has been lingering in my mind for quite sometime. Although, I have been to America earlier, it was not the same this time. It is........................say different !
What is ?
Let me start with my regular day. It starts with my breakfast.
In USA :
The day starts with a bowl of cereals and orange juice.
The bus is on time and it always stops. Lol. One might find this funny but people from India, you know what I'm talking about.
No running and catching the bus.
Buses have doors, A/Cs, heaters, cameras and a string to pull for stop. Oh yeah, this is common. In India, this is there too. A flimsy string attached to an ancient, rusted bell to the left of the driver which is totally useless with the amount of noise made in the bus. Here, it is hi-tech. You pull the string and there is an LED lit screen that says “STOP REQUESTED”.
Everybody thanks the driver when they board off the bus. Usually, it is “Thank you, have a nice day !”
Working in the cafeteria is no big deal. It is just another job though it has only the minimum wages.
Classes never get canceled even if there is a snowstorm or thunderstorm or rainstorm. :P
You see somebody on the road while walking, they usually greet or smile at you.
There is no attendance in class.
You can eat, sleep, open your laptop, listen to music with your headphones on, walk out of class anytime and maybe even snore in class.
Students are tested over time. Assignments, home works, midterms carry marks to your final grade. Plagiarism is a crime and punishable by death. Well, not death, something as equal as death. You might as well wish that you were dead.
Midterms: carry around 15% marks of the final grade.
You walk into a restaurant, you thank the person who serves you. “Can I have that please”, “Thank you ! “
While standing in the queue, you stay at least 2 feet away from the person on front of you.
In India :
Dosas, idlis, pooris, upma and paniyarams with a variety of chutneys and sambhar is a regular breakfast.
The bus is never on time, mostly overcrowded with people dangling one of their foot just a few inches above the road. The bus is slouched to one side with the weight. Forget the A/C and heater. There are hardly any windows and the ones there are are stuck. There is a downpour and you are drenched.
People's talk when they are in the bus : “Porambokku, yeppidi ottaran paaru”. There is a sudden break and everybody falls on the engine.
Working in a cafe ? But why ?
Classes get canceled if the professor isn't prepared or on extreme student pestering.
If somebody smiles at you, “Do I know him/her? Why is he smiling at me? FLIRT !”
75% attendance required to pass the semester.
Doing any of those mentioned in (10) above in college , would result in an “ENQUIRY” and “DISCIPLINARY ACTION”.
Student : “Assignment'a ? When was it informed? Anyway, have you completed? Give me. I'll finish it during class.” Putting it in tamil sounds more funny. So, here it is. “Assignment'a? Yeppo sonnanga ? Avanukku vera valaiyae illa, torture ! Seri seri, nee mudichiya ? Kududa, naan DSP class'la ukkandhu yeludhuraen. Yeppidi irundhalum andha aalu/bonda vaayan/pal azhagan nadatharadhu onnum puriyadhu”
Internals : 50 marks, 25 to pass. Learn for 25, aim for 20, get 23, passed by grace marks and repeated “ Pls sir/ma'am” and you get 20/20 on the internals. The 25 marks obtained by knowing the questions from the professors.
“Oru vadai sambhar, oru rava dosa”. End of conversation with the server.
Never even ask, just push right away or even the occasional “Konjam thallareengala” will be followed by “innum idam irukku, innum konjam thallungo please”.
What do I miss here ? Loads....
Ma's food. Dosas. It has been 3 months since I had a dosa.
You are sick and there is Ma to take care of you. I remember, when I was sick, I started crying. Had to make something on my own for food.
Running and catching the bus and getting into it though knowing I might suffocate and black out.
Driving. It has been months since I drove a car.
Bus rides.
SMS'ing.
Talking in tanglish.
The idea of being independent. Never care about how do I go to a place.
Talking in tamil and dappanguthu dance. Man, how much I miss college and all those comments passed during class.
The number of public holidays.
The frequent visits to aunts and uncles houses, calling Vishnu and Sukesh and Gunda, laughing out loud with my aunt, birthday cakes, wedding anniversary dinners, never have to bother about food.
Hanuman temple and Sneha complaining about the small size of the prashadham cup.
Agarwals chaat and ladoo and badam milk.
Weddings and Sunday lunches.
My scooter.
My room and Mr. Smith, Chipper and Penguin.
The shrills from Ma when she sees my nasty room, overflowing with clothes and wires.
…......... the count goes on.......
Nothing beats home ! Love you Ma and miss you loads !!! Muah..
For now, I'm all happy about meeting my brother and asking him to take me Saravana Bhavan. I can imagine the wide smile on my face when I see that rava dosa and the tri-colored chutneys and the cup of sambhar.
I have passed and hour on this and I'm glad. My battery is draining and off I go....
Will be writing about my thanksgiving vacation....
Luv !
