The Traffic

In USA, the roads have very short names. In Troy, for example, there are roads by names like Coolidge, Crookes, Livernois, Kirts, Butterfield, Maple and Somerset. The people are not so patriotic and hero-worshippping type as in India to name the roads. In the residential areas, the roads have walklanes, for use by pedestrians and cyclists. In the freeways, no footpath exists. Naturally, no pedestrians will venture along those roads. All vehicles run on the right side of the road. The vehicles observe lane discipline meticulously, especially at the junctions. Each lane has its own signal. In the freeways, there are no signals as there are no intersections. One can get out of the freeways only through 'exits'. The exits are numbered. One should know the exit which leads to his destination and act in time to avoid waste of time. A 'ramp' wll lead him away from the freeway and allow him to 'merge' in the next road to his destination. Many drivers here use an electronic device called GPS (Global positioning System) to guide them to their destination. It is a small rectangular screen which can be fixed to the windshield and powered by the car. All you have to do is to feed your starting point address and the destination address. A road, representing the one you are at, will appear on the screen, with its name below. It will tell you where to take the turn (right of left) after what distance. It gives you sufficient time to take your vehicle to the correct lane and sound a bell to indicate that the spot to take the turn has arrived. It also tells you the approximate time you will reach your destination if you kept up the current speed. Even if you take a turn against its direction, it recalculates and directs another route to your destination. It gives you two options: whether you want the fastest route or the shortest route. It asks you if you want to avoid the freeways. It is a wonderful invention. It works in US, Canada, Mexico, UK and some other countries.

As I had mentioned earlier, all vehicles are left-hand drive, except the postal vans. This is to enable the driver, who doubles as the postperson, to get off the vehicle directly to the pavement, without the need to cross the road. Most of the buses plying in this residential area are empty. But, in Chicago and other towns, I found them fully occupied. Taxis are rare in Troy as all families have one or more cars. but, in Chicago, we could see many taxis. We had an occasion to travel in one in Chicago. Kumaresh paid a tip also over the meter charges.

All the school buses in USA are painted yellow. The vehicles following the bus and coming from the front come to a halt, whenever they see a school bus halting on the road, with a 'STOP' sign put up by the driver.

A notable feature I found here is that the cars have the licence plate only in the back. It is a rectangular plate in white background, with the digits and letters embossed. All vehicles have these plates in the same size, the same font and the siame size letters/digits. In India, it is exactly the opposite. The licencepates are in front and back, and also in the sides. They appear in all sorts of sizes and fonts. Some of the licence plates did not have any digits. I saw words like 'SHRI OM', 'LOVELY', 'SAMVDO', 'NAVNEET' etc. On enquiry, I am told that by paying some premium, you can have any unique name or word in the 'numberplate'.

The trucks are very long and designed to carry specific loads. There are trucks to move the belongings of a house which look different from those to carry cars. The hind-part is attached to the front cabin like a trolley. It was fun watching them negotiate the right-angled turns in the junctions. There are mini-trucks also, of the size of a big car, with its back open to carry load.

Markets and business houses have their parking areas. Normally, no charge is levied for parking here. But, in public parking lots, there are meters fixed at the parkin spot. we have to insert sufficient coins in the slot of the pillar, depending on our coming back to that area to remove our car. A quarterdollar coin allows one to park the car for 30 minutes. If you are found to have excceded the allowed time, you may find a 'ticket' kept on your windshield wiper, asking you to pay the fine at the designated court on the designated date and time. What happens otherwise, i don't know. But, the consequences are severe. In Chicago, we found the parking charges as high as 20 dollars for 8 hours. Here, the vehicles are parked in different 'levels'.

The flora and the fauna of the area

After about a fortnight, I began to explore the area in detail. I found absolutely no plants or trees that are common in India. There were only pine trees and maple trees. Some trees were of a third kind. The pine trees had needle shaped leaves. Two or three types of such trees could be seen. One kind grows in a conical shape and looks majestic. I think, for christmas, such trees are taken as examples. They do not give any flowers or fruits. However, I found some product, which cannot be classified in either, comes out of them and falls to the ground when matured. At this point, they look like flowers made of wood. They are rigid and strong. I felt that they would look beautiful if given colours on its 'petals'. (see photo). Kumaresh told us that they are called 'pine-cones'. Anisha liked the painted ones and wanted to keep them as decorative pieces. Maple trees had beautifully shaped leaves. They resembled the leaf depicted in the national flag of Canada. These trees did not grow tall as in India. They were full of green leaves during spring and summer seasons.


Similarly, I could not see plants giving flowers like in India. but the flowers in the plants are very beautiful and eye-catching. During the month of June, we saw big red flowers looking similar to our roses. A single plant of just two feet tall, gives twenty to thirty flowers. Since no lady uses flowers to decorate her hair or to offer to God, they remain safe in the plants. Also there is a law against plucking flowers. An yellow coloured flower, similar ro our laajwanti, is found growing among the grass of the lawn. But, they were removed immediately since they spoiled the look of the lawn. You can see the snaps of some beautiful flowers from the compounds of the apartments and even the public road.


Many vegetables can be purchased in the market, but I have no idea from where they are procured. The Indian goods store stacked coriander and curry leaves in a fresh condition in the refrigerators, but how they get them, I don't tknow. The American malls sell beans, cabbage, cauliflowers, carrots, spinach, tomatoes and coriander leaves. But, you can't get tondli, padaval, bhindi, baingan and dudhi, which are however available in the Indian stores. Among fruits, we can purchase watermelon, cantelope, graes (green and black), oranges and apples.Mangoes and plantains are also sold, but their taste cannot match our goods.


No domestic animals could be seen in the locality. The dogs are seen only as pets. And the dogs are of various breeds. There are no cows, buffalows, horses, donkeys or even cats. But there were squirrels and sparrows. These squirrels are bigger than their Indian equivalents and had no stripes on their backs. The sparrows are of the same size as in india but I saw one variety which is bigger and red-breasted. It was very difficult to get it in my camera as it never rested anytime in one place even for a second. The best of the shots I am including here. in the 'beaches' of the great lakes and the Niagara fallsI could see a collection of seagulls. In addition, in a botanical garden, we could see some ducks and swans in the streamlets.

Places of Worship

We could never imagine that the immigrants from India, settled here for years, would build some magnificent temples, that too, in an area like Troy where the Indian population is not much. The fact is that Kumaresh could take us to at least four temples. He says, there are some more but their exact location is not known to him. The following describes about the temples we visited during our holiday in USA.

1. The Bharatheeya Temple.

This is the nearest temple to us. It is just about 15 minutes drive. We attended a Satyanarayana pooja function at this temple on 12th, within a week of our arrival here. The weather was cold (almost zero celsius). We had to pass through a long corridor, shivering all the way, in spite of wearing our jackets. The main deities at this temple are Vishnu and Lakshmi. They were of full size. There were idols of Ganesh, Hanuman, Saraswathi and Satyanarayana also. The priest, clad in upper garments also, was doing the archana and some devoteees were participating. The audience was sitting in rapt attention throughout the pooja. Instructions, naturally, were in English, since the audience spoke different languages. In the end, there was a maha-arathi in which all could participate. The temperature inside had been kept at a comfortable level. As I had mentioned earlier, we passed through two sets of doors before entering the hall. Provision had been made to keep our footwear and jackets outside the hall. As we were entering the car, at 9 p.m., Kumaresh pointed to us the snow that was falling around. On another occasion, we all attended a function specific to Ayyappa and Hanuman, on their birthday at the same venue.
Photgrahy was denied and hence, I can't provide one.

2. The Parasakthi Temple.

This temple is located in a neighbouring township called Pontiac. Here too, the temple looked beautiful and was patronised by South Indians mainly. The main deity is Parasakthi or the Divine Mother as they say. But there were many upa-devathas (accompanying deities). Thus there were sub-temples for Shiva, Ganesha, Muruga, Venkatachalapathy, Jagannadh, Sreeram-Seetha, and (believe it or not) Guruvayoorappan and Ayyappan. There was a place assigned for the navagrahas also. Recently, a big function was held to install temples for Guruvayoorappan, Chottanikkara Bhagavathy and Kodungalloor Bhagavathy. On that day, at the end of the rituals, we were given prasadam consisting of different types of mixed rice and sweet. About 300 persons must have participated for that function. Here too, No photography was allowed. However, I managed to click a snap of Ayyappa sitting majestically at the to of eighteen steps.

3. Shirdi Sai Baba mandir.

This temple is located at about 30 minutes drive away form Kumaresh's colony, at Livonia. It is a large hall. with a basement. It was Sree Rama Navami (April 3) and the Seetha Kalyanam function was in progress. There was a good audience, mainly of South Indians. At the end of the function, all were given prasadam in the form of mixed rice, like puliyodarai, limboo rice, curd rice, sweet rice and sambar rice. They were packed in carry boxes of thermocole-like material. In addition, we were given panagam also in disposable tumblers. It was very nice to see such a good and active participation in the religious activities at the far-off land. The deity of Sree Sai Baba was represented by a picture only. There was no idol, but on that day, there was an announcement that a Mumbaite had offered the vigraha of Sai Baba for that temple.

4. Sree Balaji Temple

This temple is situated in Sterling Heights, about half-hour drive from Troy. This is also known as Sri Blaji Vedic Centre. It is located in the ground floor of a building, in what looks lik a big room. Balaji and his consorts ar placed in the centre of the room, by the wall, richly decorated. The devotees stand or sit at the same level as the deities. I mean to say that the conventional sanctum sanctorum is absent. There are pictures of Garuda and hanuman opposite to the deities. In one side, Lord Satyanarayana is kept in the form of a picture. A tape recorder sings the hymns of M S Subbalakshmi. A priest gets up to show the aarati to the deities. H gives us theertham and some prasadam in the form of fruit or dryfruit. There is a notice asking the devotees not o bring cooked food as offering. This could be to avoid any spillage which could damage the costly, well laden carpet. Although there were not many devotees when we went there, I could see that the temple is patronised well from the list of names offering different varieties of offerings for the religious functions.
5.. The Kasi Temple
This temple is situated in an area known as Flint. The deities here are Kasi viswanatha and Visalakshi. The temple had a pair of whie gopurams in Tamil Nadu style, hite painted, but without much decorations. There are beautiful idols of the deities. They had kept the sanctity of the temple very well. One interesting notice at the entrance said that entry for devotees wearing jeans is prohibited. Adjacent to the temple, there is a separate temple for Hanuman. The idol is big (life size) and well ornamented. Madhuram was so overwhelmed that she sat down there to chant the Hanuman Chalisa. There was a huge tree in the lawns around the temple, with its leaves resembling those of a banyan tree. However, there were no hanging roots characteristic of a banyan tree..

















6. The ISKCON Temple
This temple, dedicated to Sree Krishna, is located in the city of Detroit. There are idols of Krishna-Radha and Krishna in various incarnations. On the day we visited the temple, we could see the idols of Jagannadh, Balarama and Subhadra, in the same style as in Puri, kept in the Hall, where a big line of devotees were standing in disciplined line, hoping to get a chance to do the abhisheka. A group of volunteers were handing over conchful of various materials, like honey, milk, curd, sandalpaste water, coconut-water etc to the devotrrs in the line. Each proceeded to do the abhisheka to the three dietees and returned the conches to the volunterrs. In the background, bhajan was in full swing. We all had the chance to do the abhisheka too. Here, no one objected to our taking some snaps. I could take about ten snaps which included the various deities, our performing abhisheka, and the landscape around. You can see some of them here.
On June 20, 2009, I had the opportunity to witness the radhayathra in the same style as in Puri. The Chariot was a replica of the original. All the three idols, Balaram, Subhadra and Jagannath were seated in the same chariot, unlike in Puri, where they have their individual chariots. There were hudreds of participants. The chariot moved to the accompaniment of bhajan singing, dancing and percussion instruments. Devotees took turns to pull the chariot with the ropes. The rpocession was followed by a sumptuous lunch for the participants. The items included pooris, plain rice, curries, sweet and juice.
7. Swaminarayan Temple

This temple is located in Canton, about 45 minutes drive from Troy. The temple is built in the middle of green lawns and looked beautiful. The doors and ceilings had carvings in wood. Inside, the idols of Swami narayan, Atheethanandswami and some Hindu deities are installed. We did not find any devotees at that time of our visit, which was 3.00 p.m. on a Saturday.

My First Impressions

Kumaresh and Anisha lived in the first floor of Block No. 1925 of Somerset Boulvard, in Apartment No. 213 in the city of Troy. So, the text following is what I experienced in this area. Many of my findings could be applicable not only to the city of Troy, but to the whole state of Michigan or even that any state in USA.

Although I said that Kumaresh's flat (oops, apartment) was on the first floor, in USA it is called as level 2. The ground floor is level 1. His flat no. is 213, meaning that his flat is on level 2. We passed through two entrance doors. The first door did not need a key to open. But the second could be opened only with a key, which each allottee would be possessing. But, to open it from the inner part, no key is needed. We entered the flat through a single door, with just one latch. There was no provision for an overlock. There was no second (safety) door either. The rooms are carpetted wall-to-wall, except the kitchen and the toilet. The carpet had woollen finish to prevent to some extent the coldness affecting our system. The floor is made up of polished wood. The internal walls are thin. They could be of some porous material like hardboard, which is painted. Kumaresh has hung a clock, some pictures and a tube light, on (believe it or not) push-pins. No nails are used. There were no fans. Kumaresh has a pedestal fan for the use in the small summer season. I learnt that the external walls are built of either bricks or aluminium. Neither cement nor any form of concrete is used. There is a glass sliding door separating the living room from the long wooden-floored balcony which is open to the sky. Vertical blinds are suspended along the sliding glass, which is operated by strings. The apartment is equipped with a large refrigerator, a cooking range, a fire extinguisher and a dishwasher. The toilet block has wash basin with two large mirrors, a western style commode and a bathrub. Kumaresh warned us that we should be careful not to spill water on the floor. There is no drainage in the bathroom. We have to use the bathtub to bathe, with the partition, adjacent to the tub, closed, to prevent any spillage of water outside.

I saw a place in the living room reserved for the deities and Anisha told us that they pray everyday in presence of a lighted lamp after bath, before leaving for office. They repeat it at sunset time also. I was delighted to hear it. But, she added, 'Appa, we should not leave the lamp unattended any time. If, by accident, the fire catches any neighbouring material which are inflammable, a fire alarm will go off. The consequences would be not only repairing the damages to the structure but pay a hefty fine also.' To prove the point, Kumaresh then led me to a closet near the entry door where a fire extinguisher is kept ready for such an emergency. It was alright that day to chant my Vishnusahasranama in front of a lighted lamp. On other days, I should be satisfied to chant it without a lamp.

Peeping out, I saw that the apartments and other houses have sloping, smooth roofs terminating at the end of the wall. There is nothing equivalent to 'chajja' on the walls. It is a mystery how the rainwater does not seep into the rooms! The roofs have the slopes so that the snow does not accumulate on them during winter which is severe here. Another feature I observed was that the ground was full of neatly cut healthy green grass. There were many trees too, but most of them were bare. It was because of the 'fall' season, I was told. However, the pine trees were full with green leaves. they looked beautiful with their conical shape.

Slowly and steadily, I began to explore the area. Often, I braved the cold breeze by wearing thick jackets. Hands could not be kept out of the pockets since they became numb. When we arrived at this place, the temperature was about 0 degree C. After a month, the weather became better for my wanderings. However, I did not venture to far off places or cross the roads as we do in Mumbai. With Kumaresh's knowledge about the route I would be taking for my walk, I did a study of the area. Here is what I saw, characteristic to this place.

As I said earlier, the vehicles plied on the right side of the road. All of them were of left-hand drive. But, I noticed one exemption. The white coloured postal service van was right-hand drive. (see photo). Kumaresh said, 'It is to enable the driver, who is also the postman/postwoman, to get down directly to the pavement, without the need to cross the road, with the pack of mail. It also helps him/her to drop the mail into the pillar letter boxes, if any, from the seat itself. Obviously, these pillar boxes are kept at a suitable height.'

The roads had their dedicated lanes, and the vehicles have to keep their lanes strictly. Each lane had its own traffic signal at the junctions. Pedestrians could cross the road only after getting the clearance for their request, by pressing on the button provided at the pillar where you cross.

The paved footpath (they call it as walkway) is separated from the road by a broad grass lawn.
(see photo). This walkway is also used by cyclists (or bike riders). I did not find any public vehicles like taxis or autos. Buses were rare and mostly empty. Almost all the families living here possess at least one car. It is impossible to live here without one's own transport. Markets, banks, post office, workplace, parks, places of worship-anything is situated far far away from the residential areas.

The roads and the surroundings were clean, with no scattered garbage. Big garbage bins have been placed at convenient spots. Trucks empty the garbage from these bins almost everyday.
I found even good furniture, electronic and electrical goods dumped there. It is because it is not possible to get anything repaired here, like in Mumbai. 'Use and throw' seems to be the motto here. The residents also do not mingle freely and hence, unwanted but usable materials are not offered for use to anyone. Whenever one family has to move out, if they find it uneconomical to transport some things to the new place, they simply dump it near the garbage bin. People, who need them, simply pick them up from there.

The various colonies, market buildings and office buildings do not have compound walls or watchmen guarding a gate. These buildings are just open to the road with a lushy green lawn and pine trees in front. Most of the buildings here have double entries. I mean, you have to go through two sets of doors to enter inside. The inner door will have to be opened only after the outer door is closed. This ensures that the temperature condition inside is not disturbed with the passage of people in and out. (I have experienced this feature in the CIRUS reactor entry point).

One day I saw a school bus. It was painted fully yellow. When it stopped to allow the students to get down, I saw the driver putting out a big signboard, 'STOP'. Immediately, all vehicles behind the bus and those coming in the front came to standstill. Only after the driver folded back the signboard and started the bus, did the vehicles start to move. This ensured the students to cross the road safely. This has to be seen to be believed.

The trucks are very long and the rear part is attached to the drivers cabin as a trailer. They carry heavy load as they have six to eight pairs of heavy duty wheels. I could once see a truck carrying ten cars in two tiers.

The lawns by the roadside are well maintained by the staff riding small vehicles equipped with the tools meant for the purpose. They wear earmuffs as they operate the vehicles , which are fitted with rotating blades. The vehicles produce a loud noise while working.

At regular intervals, in the roadside, one can see a green coloured post, asking you to collect the excreta of your pet and deposit it in the proper bin. This post stocked plastic bags which could be removed for the purpose. Failure to do this would attract a fine ranging from $25 to $250.

I saw no animals except pet dogs. Domestic animals like cows, buffaloes, cats, horses, donkeys-were totally absent. No crows, hens or doves were seen. But there were sparrows and big squirrels. Then there were some red-breasted birds, looking like sparrows, but bigger. Delightfully, there were no mosquitoes, no ants, no flies, nor cockroaches.

Once I accompanied Kumaresh to a petrol bunk. He got down from the car, swiped his credit card in a machine, took out the hose himself and inserted it into the petrol tank of his car. I asked him, 'Why are you doing it yourself? Where are the workers?'

He answered, 'It is not India. Here, we have to do filling ourselves. It is the same case for filling air in the tyres. After this is complete, we will go to that part. ...See, I will insert these coins and use the air-hose to fill air in all the tyres.'

Afterwards, we also went to a 'carwash' in his car. Kumaresh paid two dollars to a person standing there and drove the vehicle into an enclosure. He raised the windowpanes and shut off the engines. The car was taken through various steps like washing, soaping, scrubbing, wiping and drying with a vacuum brush. As the car came out, we could see the image of the glistening body of the car reflected in two large mirrors kept on the sides.

Kumaresh took us to two or three departmental stores, called malls, for groceries, vegetables, fruits and dairy products. The malls were very huge and fully air-cooled. Indian vegetables like padaval, karela, tondli were not available. But, tomatoes, potatoes, onion, cabbage, cauliflower carrots and beans were there. I did not find til oil, coconut oil or groundnut oil. But, Kumaresh said, the vegetable oil sold there was good enough. Milk was sold in one gallon plastic cans. I could find buttermilk also for sale. Most of the customers used credit cards for payment. The trolleys, after collecting the materials, could be taken to your car and the trolleys could be left in a convenient location near the parking spot. There were Indian stores stocking items like the Indian vegetables, curry leaves, various masalas, wheat atta, grated coconut, coconut oil etc. Even ready-to-eat rotis and samosas were sold there.

One day, I asked my son, 'Kumaresh, where can I wash my clothes and put them for drying?'
He answered, "Appa, we cannot wash our clothes everyday here. We have no washing machines. That is because we cannot put up the clothes for drying anywhere either within the house or in the balcony. No clothesline has been provided. Again we have no time on working days.'
'Then, what do you do?'
'We collect the soiled clothes together till Sunday. Then we carry the basket of clothes and the detergent liquid to the basement, where we have a number of washing machines and drying machines. We dump the clothes and the detergent into the machine, insert six 25 cent coins into the slot and press the switch. the machine will start. After half hour of washing, when the machine stops, we transfer the clothes to the drier, again insert the coins and start that machine. After about an hour, the clothes are collected from the drier. Normally, no more drying would be needed. As and when we need, we iron them with our instrument. Today is Tuesday. So, Appa, you have to wait for four more days to get your veshti and banian washed. You have enough stock of dresses, no?'
'Yes, that is no problem.'

That is when I realised, When in Rome, be a Roman.

The Journey

The plane took off at the scheduled time. I and Madhuram were seated in the middle part of the plane, while Kumaresh and Anisha were by the window side. It was dark outside and hence I did not have regrets about my seat being in the middle. The seats, I felt, were somewhat cramped for an international flight lasting 12 hours and more. there was a small TV screen in front of every seat with a remote for choosing from the available channels. surprisingly, one channel was showing the latest Indian film, slumdog millionaire, which won four Oscar awards. This showed the life in a Bombay slum blatantly. The story revolved round a slum boy winning a contest of question-answers on general knowledge, to earn a million rupees. All the answers proved to be correct, even though he had not put any effort to get them. The answers were the consequence of his experiences in his life in the slum.

In about half an hour, we were served food consisting of a piece of masala dosa, sambhar, dahiwada, fruits and a sweet with tea or coffee. Then the lights went out allowing us to doze off with whatever comfort that was provided. We were woken up again after about three hours by my wrist watch. It was getting dawn outside. We were served some breakfast. At about 7 a.m.. local time, the plane landed in Amsterdam airport. A wheelchair was waiting for Madhuram in the exit of the plane. This helped us to go straight to the gate from where we had to take the next flight to Detroit. There was a connecting flight at 8.20 a.m., but Kumaresh had booked our seats by the 10.30 a.m. flight so that we could relax a bit.

We roamed around the airport for sometime, purchased a souvenir (a pair of glass shoes which could be stuck on the refrigerator door with the help of magnet fixed at its base). The currency was Euros. I felt the absence of a camera. The view was so breathtaking. We spotted one or two crows hopping around the area. They looked fattier and bigger than those in our country.

We boarde the other aircraft at 10 a.m in order to cross the great Atlantic ocean. I was happy to get window seat now, as it was going to be daytime flight. We were flying over the clouds. We were served lunch soon after the take off. The items were tasty but strange. Now and then, they were serving coffee, tea and cold drinks. Here too, one channel on the TV was the same slumdog millionaire. The view was not interesting. Only floating clouds. Occasionally, I could see land and water. In order to avoid the scorching sun, we were advised to close the windows. Then, we had nothing to do except doze. At one point, I opened the window. I could see the vast expansa of the great ocean. Then, I saw what looked like water-bodies. Kumaresh said thay could be the great lakes, namely the Superior, the Michigan and the Huron.

At 2.15 p.m. local time, we landed in Detroit International airport. The time at Mumbai was 11.30 p.m. Here too, Madhuram was taken in a wheelchair and that helped us clear the immigration formalities a bit fast. No embarassing questions wer asked and the customs passed us with no queries. As soon as we got out, Kumaresh sent out a message to Anand through his mobile about our safe arrival. Anand must have been disturbed from his sleep.

As had been arranged, two cars were readily waiting to pick us and our luggage. It was very cold and the wind made it worse. Added to this, there it was drizzling. All of us were accommodated in one car and our luggage in the other. for the first time, I saw that the vehicles driving on the right (I mean, the opposite of left) side of the road and were 'left hand drive'. Both Kumaresh and the cab driver were conversing. Although what Kumaresh spoke was digestible, the driver's dialect was not comprehensible because of his peculiar accent.

We drove for about 35 minutes along the 'freeway' and another main road. We found the trees completely bare, except some pine trees which had green leaves. This was because of the fall season, Kumaresh said. The cabs halted in front of Block No. 1925 of Somerset Apartments. As we were getting out, I heard a loud voice, 'Oh hero, You have come? Wait, I am coming down.' in Hindi. Kumaresh introduced us to his friend Ravi, who occupied the next apartment. It was a bit surprising to hear words spoken in Hindi so far away. Later I ccame to know that there were plenty of Indians around that area.

Here we were, beginning to taste of life in the Other side of the World.

The preparation

The author, with his grand daughter, Manasvi

It was November 2008. As usual, Kumaresh, my second son now in USA, came on the 'skype', the medium through which we keep contact. In between the usual talk, he called me and
asked: 'Appa, what is the name of the injection which mom is taking every month?'

I said, 'I know its commercial name now. If you want the technical name, I have to see the pamphlet in the container of the vial. Well, why do you want it now?'

'Just one of my friends wanted it. So, dad, give me the technical name and other relevant material about it by email, as soon as possible.'

'Okay. You can see it tomorrow in your mail.'


At that time, none of us had the faintest idea that he is trying to invite us, his parents, to US .
Very soon, he announced his intentions. He and Anisha would be coming over to Mumbai in Jan. next year, on six weeks' leave. and that they would try to take us along on their return trip.
I tried to tell him that we are happy as we were and did not have the fascination to travel abroad on sight seeing trip. Again, we have become old (72 and 67) and it would not be a good idea to take a risk. But, he was certain. He said: 'Dad, you and mom are coming with us. No more arguments. that's all. I will be telling you what you should do for the trip by and by.'

When he came on skype next time, I said: 'Kumaresh, 'Things are not so easy as you think. You have to be practical'. He queried: 'What is it that's bothering you all?'
'Kumaresh, we are no longer young. Mother has to take an injection every fortnight.'
'Those are non-issues. You both have good health, by God's grace. On a later day, you maynot be this healthy. As for mother's injections, I have shown your e-mail,about the medicine, to a friend whose friend is a doctor. The doctor has agreed to administer the injections to mom on time.'

'You know mother's physical condition. She cannot walk even twenty steps properly. She gets tired easily'.

'That also is not a problem. I'll make her walk only to her capacity. When we go out for some locations, I will engage a wheel-chair.''

'Now, what we will do at home when both of you leave at 8 am and come back only at 8 pm? How do you think we will spend 12 hours doing nothing?'

'Dad, I know mother likes to chant slokas and reading religious books. Let her bring some books to read. I can get DVD's of bhajans, epics like Mahabharat, animation films etc. During the week ends, we will go to temples.'

'What do I do?'

'You can do plenty of things. You can refresh your memory of drawing and painting, write aticles about your trip to USA, browse the internet in my laptop, go for a walk. And, we have a
big library where we can borrow books on any topic under the sun.'

'Agreed. What about the money? It is not like going from Mumbai to Pune. It is going to cost lakhs of rupees. Is it necessary to spend so much unnecessarily?'

'Who feels it unnecessary? I can afford to spend today. My assignment in USA could end soon. Afterwards, I should not be regretting that I lost a chance to take you to USA.'

'But..'

'Ther is no 'but'. You have been staying with Anand for long. I am deprived of your presence at home for last two years. This is one chance I am getting. You also will have a refreshing change'.

'Okay. Let you have your way. May God fulfill your wish!' I said and closed the topic.

Good Heavens! Here I am going to the other part of the world, where things are topsy turvy, in comparison to where I live! There they have the day while we have the night and vice versa. In
many other things too things are just opposite. They drive the vehicles on the right (I don't mean 'correct', I mean opposite of left) side of the road. They operate the switches upward to
put ON. Their electrical equipments work on lower voltage. They have showers and precipitations while we have rain. They use elevators to go up to the upper storeys, while we resort to lifts. We have footpaths adjacent to the roads, and they have walkways. We use toilets but they need restrooms. For their vehicles, they use gas (short for 'gasoline') and we use petrol. I am told, they measure temperature in Fahrenheit scale, measure liquids in gallons and weigh things in pounds, unlike we where we have Celsius, litres and kilogrammes.

Madhuram was indeed very happy. She could hardly suppress her joy. She called up her mother to report about her possible trip to USA soon. On my part too, I began to discuss with my
close friends about the visa interview, about the life in USA, about things to see there etc. I began to contact some travel agents to know the return fare to Detroit, by different airlines on
different dates. I updated about them regularly to Kumaresh through the skype. Finally, he chose a travel agent suggested by his father-inilaw, Shri Subbaraman. Both me and Madhuram
took our photographs in the size (3"x3" ) stipulated by the US embassy. I applied for the visa with the HDFC Bank. It costed me Rs. 14,000 or so as fees. I collected the two receipts, to be
kept very safely for submission to the officers at the time of the visa interview. Kumaresh fixed the dates for our visa interviews on line for Feb. 5. He began to tutor us how to answer the
questions, what not to tell them, what things to carry with us, how to dress up etc. Of course, he would be here with us in Mumbai at that time.

Our excitement grew as days progressed. I started the preparations for the trip. The travel agent had blocked our tickets by North Western Airlines for March 9th for our onward journey.
Our return trip was scheduled for June 28th by the same airline. Kumaresh could even select the seats in the aircraft 'on line'. The travel agent was willing to hold our tickets till we cleared the visa. I purchased a pair of pants, three filmrolls for my 35mm camera, some drawing pencils and notebooks and repaired some dresses. I consulted my friends Bhatia, Pacha, Rastogi and Peter about the questions normally asked in the interview. Madhuram got two sets of salwar-kameez stitched. She also collected enough medicines to last six months from our dispensary.

On Jan 25th, Kumaresh and Anisha arrived. Every night, ater dinner, Kumaresh gave us lessons about how we should behave in the visa interview. The type of questions and the answers
were given in detail. Finally, he even conducted a mock interview for both of us individually and collectively. Actually, the exercise made me more nervous. He warned us again and again,
that we should pass the test since it could be our last chance to visit USA. We should rehearse again and again to ensure that we did not falter at the time of the interview.

We attended the Visa interview on Feb. 5 with all tension. I had carried the xerox copies of our passports, our fixed deposit receipts, our Society's share certificates, spare photographs
etc. in a plastic carry bag. We could not have used a folder with zip. We were not allowed to carry our mobile, camera or belt. In order to keep us at ease, Kumaresh had arranged a break at an air-conditioned hall, where they gave snacks and coffee, provided lockers for keeping the objectionable articles and arranged a transport to take us to the office of the interview. Seeing our nervousness, one gentleman belonging to our community, got himself introduced to us and assured us that the interview for senior citizen was just a routine. Our case would be just a cakewalk. They would take just three to four minutes for each applicant since they have to conduct 80 to 100 cases in a day. I thanked him and enquired about him. He and his wife are going to USA to be with their daughter for a few months. It is their second trip to America, the first one being to Canada. He worked as a consultant to some companies after his retirement.

At last the announcement came for us to board the bus for the interview. When we joined the queue in front of the window allotted for us, I could see that the applicant had to stand to answer the interviewer through a glass pane. He had his headphones. A mike had been kept on the window sill for the applicants. We saw a couple being interviewed. The interviewer did not look cheerful and took a lot of time with them, questioning them collectively and separately, finally rejecting them visa.

Then we entered with a lot of apprehension. To my relief, the interviewer was an Indian. I could follow his questions very well. If it had been an American , his accent could have given me some problem. I could tell him that our interest in visiting USA was just to see places and that I intend writing a travelogue. Our commitments in India were so much that we could not extend our stay in USA beyond four to six months. During my stay in USA, my son, who is assigned a project in Detroit, would take care of our maintenance. To another of his questions, I answered that I am not employed anywhere after my retirement. He did not believe my statement and got it checked with Madhuram. While in service in BARC, I did analysis of minerals, alloys and some antique materials. I was afraid he would ask me if I had anything to do with nuclear materials. In the end, he declared in Hindi, 'Aapko visa mil gaya hai.' (I have cleared your visa). With a big 'Thank You', we departed. None of the materials I carried in my open plastic bag was used for the interview. We later visited Mahalakshmi temple nearby to thank God for clearing our way to tour USA. As we climbed down the steps of the temple, whom did we see? It was none other than the gentleman who comforted me about the visa interview. Assuming that he too had come to thank the deity, I enquired with him how the interview was. I was shocked to hear that his visa application had been rejected. He could not explain why. What an anticlimax! I had no words to console him. I said not to get disappointed. Better luck would befall him next time.

Then I began to attend to my other commitments. I declared to my firends in Atomica about our leaving the shores of our country to the other side of the world on March 8th. I deposited enough money in my PPF account to avail full concession under 80C of the income tax rule for the current financial year. I took out the FDR's maturing during my stay in USA for renewal and handed over to Sarada for submission to the banks. I rang up Jayaram, Kamalam, Bhagyam and Geetha (my siblings) and my cousins to tell them about our intention to visit USA. I had my hair cut on March 3rd, so that I can have my next hair cut after my return.

Next day to our interview, we got back our passports with the visa stamp, valid for 10 years. It meant that we need not apply for visa for 10 years. The airlines tickets also arrived by courier very soon. The stage has been cleared. Now, we have no option but to act.

Kumaresh said that both of us need medical insurance for our stay in US. Although it is not essential requirement, medical expenses is very extremely costly. If by chance either or both of us fall ill, the medical expenses could be met through the insurance policy. The premium varied from company to company and the amount covered under the scheme also varied. Some companies insist on medical examination by an MD for persons above 60. We insured ourselves through Oriental Insurance Corporation, which did not insist on medical tests for Madhuram, she being not yet 70. but, I underwent an ECG test at our dispensary and blood test (fasting and post lunch) and a urine test at a private clinic. Doctor Anand, husband of Dr. Subbalakshmi of our dispensary, went through the reports and cleared my case. Kumaresh took our insurance cover for an amount of $1,25,000 each. He paid about Rs. 31,000 total as premium.

Gradually we two started to pack up our suitcases. We were told not to lock our suitcases during the trip, as the security would like to open them any time. But, they assured us that nothing would taken away without our knowledge.

On March 7, we celebrated little Manasvi's third calendar birthday in the terrace of our building. It was attended by about 60 participants. A big cake, depicting Tom and Jerry, was procured as per the desire of Manasvi. Eatables and decorative materials were ordered and a cloth 'partition' was constructed by a contractor for the event. No need to tell, Manasvi got many presents.

The next day was a day of high activity. A 'Qualis' car was arranged to take al the four passengers, our luggage and Anisha's parents who were coming to see us off. Little Manasvi was taken away by Sarada to a friend's house so that the former might not cry, to find us going away. Anand had to leave half an hour earlier on an official commitment. Thus, there was none to say 'Good Bye' to us as we left home at 9.30 p.m. on May 8th. Our flight was scheduled at 1.30 a.m. next day. Checking in of our luggage and the immigration formalities were not so rigid as we feared. A wheel chair had been arranged for Madhuram as she had problem in walking. Finally, at about 1.00 a.m., we were ushered into the aircraft, to begin our 12-hour journey across Asia-Europe continents followed by Atlantic Ocean. The local time at Detroit, was 10.30 a.m. as Kumaresh told us that India is 9 and a half hours ahead of Detroit. Bye, bye, Mumbai!