It’s not often that life throws at us few pleasant surprises whose snapshots will be captured in our mind for ever. One such experience was a perfect date with her. Needless to say, I wish it happens again.
‘Goo straaaight, first lefth, lasth room', she said and I thanked her. ‘Aaah, naat a praablem’, she replied while I was already on my way she directed. I stopped at room no. 318, fiddled with the key and when it finally opened, toppled in almost trampling my specs as they fell onto the floor. It should have been a blistering hot day at Chandigarh, but at Hotel Hard Rock, Orlando, Florida, 16th of May was a great-for-a-date kind of evening. But my mind is a strange beast, it already started whispering – ‘Allz-not-well’, ‘Allz-not-well’. Being together for 25+ years, bonding between all my parts is outstanding. They all started singing in unison – ‘Stomach- is-not-well’. First thing I looked for was bathroom.
No matter how many switches I turned on, the lighting was very gloomy. I hated these incandescent lights all my life. I always imagined them spewing all the ominous things at me. I get nauseated in no time. I switched off everything except for a bed lamp and slid the window curtains. I ate almost nothing for 24 hours in my journey from India via London. It was a question of survival now. Reached out for the menu and the items I found belong to this genre– rabbit roast, fry bread, moose steak, venison stew. I anxiously looked for the 4 letter word R.I.C.E, and was on cloud 729 (nine cubed!) when I found one. But it was definitely not in the form I want. Called up the chef and he was very concerned. I just said ‘Stomach terribly upset, I want rice with simple vegetables and lime water’. God bless him, he provided just what I was dying for. I ate in a complete peace-max-and-satisfactory mode. Called up Kristen and asked her to mark me absent for team dinner. The cozy bed, the jet lag, the urge to rest, all swayed me to a blissful sleep.
The next day started with arey-mein-tho-hero-ban-gaya type of feeling. Had a massaging bath and walked out towards hotel lobby through the maze of silent corridors. It was abnormally silent till I spotted a tall grave old man with milky white skin wearing a long hat. He walked towards me with all the seriousness he could muster until he was a foot away. Suddenly he bent and said – ‘Good Morning’ and kept walking away. It scared me for a split second and I blurted – ‘Morninnggg’, heaved a sigh and kept walking but a bit slowly, turning back twice to make sure he is no more in sight. With a rattled mind as I stepped into the elevator, a waft of stunning fragrance welcomed me. Even more stunning was a beautiful lady in business formals. She as well surprised me, but in a lot pleasant manner –‘Morning, how are you doing today?’. ‘Fantastic, fantastic’, I said as we walked out, unable to utter anything else. Now it was confirmed, people greet here even to strangers. I liked it and it took less than 5 seconds to implement it. ‘Good morning Amy, how are you doing today?’, I said, quickly glancing at the badge of receptionist.
I literally fell for the awesome weather which fondled me in her pristineness. More than any other damn thing, a non-hot weather with cold gentle breeze interlaced with drizzle, makes me a child again. It was exactly this way each day and I was living a dream. Despite living in most torrid conditions for a quarter of a century I am so much allergic to sunshine. A/C at work made things worse, actually worrusstt! The pic is in the campus of University of Washington. I seriously regretted for a while for not thinking of pursuing MS.
Liking number 3 was the concerted effort of the public in ensuring that the country remains clean. It clearly reflects the sense of belonging. I am sure sparse population makes it easy to maintain. But I confess one aspect which I detest about my country is the lack of this feeling. Public places are used like shit, period.
Take-it-easy attitude which people carry here is exemplary. They seem to just enjoy what they are doing respecting every kind of profession. Work in morning/night and go to college in day/morning, fend for yourself while thoroughly enjoying the whips and nestles of life - real cool thing I say (green grass on other side?).
Finally biggest eye opener was the love and care parents have for children here. All my misconceptions were washed away. Apparently parent’s love doesn’t inhibit child to develop all-around personality. The child in the adjacent pic slided down atleast from a height of 40 feet, swam against the water current to get high-five from his instructor all while his parents were on the bank. My mum would have stood right at the bottom of the slide to catch me come what may and shower kisses and tight slaps all at the same time (provided I sneaked to anywhere near water!). This kid rightly embarrassed me saying – ‘What are you doing there?, come in’. I grabbed him for a kiss and a snap and said to myself – ‘No son, my mum just loved me too much’.
The timing of my trip was perfect, and of course anything short is inevitably enduring, but the fact is, United States of America, I had few of the best days in my life with you. With a sense of pride, I mark COMPLETED against the to-do item for this year – Visit a foreign land.
‘Goo straaaight, first lefth, lasth room', she said and I thanked her. ‘Aaah, naat a praablem’, she replied while I was already on my way she directed. I stopped at room no. 318, fiddled with the key and when it finally opened, toppled in almost trampling my specs as they fell onto the floor. It should have been a blistering hot day at Chandigarh, but at Hotel Hard Rock, Orlando, Florida, 16th of May was a great-for-a-date kind of evening. But my mind is a strange beast, it already started whispering – ‘Allz-not-well’, ‘Allz-not-well’. Being together for 25+ years, bonding between all my parts is outstanding. They all started singing in unison – ‘Stomach- is-not-well’. First thing I looked for was bathroom.
No matter how many switches I turned on, the lighting was very gloomy. I hated these incandescent lights all my life. I always imagined them spewing all the ominous things at me. I get nauseated in no time. I switched off everything except for a bed lamp and slid the window curtains. I ate almost nothing for 24 hours in my journey from India via London. It was a question of survival now. Reached out for the menu and the items I found belong to this genre– rabbit roast, fry bread, moose steak, venison stew. I anxiously looked for the 4 letter word R.I.C.E, and was on cloud 729 (nine cubed!) when I found one. But it was definitely not in the form I want. Called up the chef and he was very concerned. I just said ‘Stomach terribly upset, I want rice with simple vegetables and lime water’. God bless him, he provided just what I was dying for. I ate in a complete peace-max-and-satisfactory mode. Called up Kristen and asked her to mark me absent for team dinner. The cozy bed, the jet lag, the urge to rest, all swayed me to a blissful sleep.
I literally fell for the awesome weather which fondled me in her pristineness. More than any other damn thing, a non-hot weather with cold gentle breeze interlaced with drizzle, makes me a child again. It was exactly this way each day and I was living a dream. Despite living in most torrid conditions for a quarter of a century I am so much allergic to sunshine. A/C at work made things worse, actually worrusstt! The pic is in the campus of University of Washington. I seriously regretted for a while for not thinking of pursuing MS.Liking number 3 was the concerted effort of the public in ensuring that the country remains clean. It clearly reflects the sense of belonging. I am sure sparse population makes it easy to maintain. But I confess one aspect which I detest about my country is the lack of this feeling. Public places are used like shit, period.
Take-it-easy attitude which people carry here is exemplary. They seem to just enjoy what they are doing respecting every kind of profession. Work in morning/night and go to college in day/morning, fend for yourself while thoroughly enjoying the whips and nestles of life - real cool thing I say (green grass on other side?).
Finally biggest eye opener was the love and care parents have for children here. All my misconceptions were washed away. Apparently parent’s love doesn’t inhibit child to develop all-around personality. The child in the adjacent pic slided down atleast from a height of 40 feet, swam against the water current to get high-five from his instructor all while his parents were on the bank. My mum would have stood right at the bottom of the slide to catch me come what may and shower kisses and tight slaps all at the same time (provided I sneaked to anywhere near water!). This kid rightly embarrassed me saying – ‘What are you doing there?, come in’. I grabbed him for a kiss and a snap and said to myself – ‘No son, my mum just loved me too much’.The timing of my trip was perfect, and of course anything short is inevitably enduring, but the fact is, United States of America, I had few of the best days in my life with you. With a sense of pride, I mark COMPLETED against the to-do item for this year – Visit a foreign land.
Genial post and this mail helped me alot in my college assignement. Thanks you on your information.
ReplyDeleteCool, good to hear that. Please keep reading, would love to know u as well.
ReplyDelete-Best
A