Here, I am sitting in the Richmond International Airport waiting for my flight back home. Constantly checking the status of the flights, praying that there are no delays/cancellations.

It is really a good feeling here. After 10 months of being independent, landing in home ground on the Independence Day! (Aug 15).

Just packed enough to please all people at home, gifts, toys, music players.. Time to ponder on what happened in the past months here in US.

I began liking US for what it is! Strict Rules, People following Rules, Cleanliness etc. It doesn’t mean that I hate India for these. I like India as it is! After all, it is my home!

Learnt to live alone, cooking, washing, travelling, making friends… Transforming from a Dependent Kid at home to the Independent Man.

Now, awaiting the flight!

For the past one month, I am getting to meet families of my colleagues, having lunch, tea and dinner with them. Socializing!

This is giving me the break from the monotony of living alone and single in my apartment. Getting to meet people, share thoughts, playing golf, badminton, etc.

With it, my tummy has again started to grow. Nice food, Indian food, South Indian meals, from Vijay’s, Renga’s, Murali’s and Bhavneet’s houses, travelling on my car, getting used to driving in the nights and the rains. These are those nice things that happened in the past month. I have decided to try every nice restaurant in Richmond, eat the specialty dishes.

Started off with omelette’s, hash browns and pan cakes in ‘ihop’… More to come…

Another year has passed, I have added one more step to my life as a software engineer. Four years into the industry, it is long time now. In this year, I have groomed myself up.

I am no more the rough, lesser jumping to conclusions, lesser assuming stuff, improving listening and notes taking. Nowadays, I spend more time attending meetings, take the points, propose design. I have grown, but I don’t have a way to measure.

One more step forward is done. Stepping into the fifth year. All the best to all my friends who did join on the same day as me.

Now that I have a car, the next thing that comes is maintenance. I am not that person, interested in cars, for me, car gives freedom to move around here in the United States.

For the past two months, I have been spending on the car, getting it to live! First I had the “LOW COOLANT”, that happened to be a leak in the coolant, that had gone bad and damaged the radiator. I had it fixed. Here in this country, labour costs more than the cost of the spare parts. I was astonished to see the bill. Then I had the “CHECK ENGINE” light coming on. Man! Why!

But, I started loving the car now. I clean it every time, I take it for a ride, give it a wash regularly and take care of all those monthly maintenance stuff that I have to. Living alone, the phone and the car are the only two companions that I have. So most part of my weekends are spent either on the phone or on the car. The remaining time, sleep, watch movies and cook!

Life is not that interesting at all times. Maybe I must start spending time before my laptop as I usually did when I was in India. Now it has turned to be just the entertainment center. I also added a new policy, “not doing office work on weekends…” Cool

Licensed to drive in the US.

I got my driving license now. Got to get a car, and get mobile. I am planning to get a car from my friend Abilash Nair. A chevy. Heading full steam on the life in America, the land of opportunities.

Yeh Jo Desh Hai Tera!

In India, in most households, parents take care of all the things for the children. Food, clothing and whatever. I am one among those spoilt Indian kids.

We are spoilt totally, that we cannot take care of ourselves. At least, I was never into the kitchen to cook food, till I was in India. I have never washed dishes, rooms, etc. Everything my mother used to take care.

I would help her with talking her to the shop on my bike. But it was she who would do all the shopping. I have never wished to learn how to shop for groceries, vegetables, etc. I think that is the case with any kid who grew up in towns of India. In the villages, kids are to an extent independent. This I can say, as I see a lot of my friends from the villages, know quiet a lot than me.

When I was left alone, that is when I realized, the world is too big. Getting things together, cleaning, washing, cooking, making the bed, everything seemed to be an area of study for itself.

I am turning independent. It has its own thrill.

This is going to be a musing… A rant, a self confession, a analysis.

WARNING: Boring rant ahead.

I have never been to the kitchen at home, in neyveli, or in chennai. I was just as worried, when my company offered me a H1B visa and wanted me to work from the client’s location. I am a foodie. I can’t live without tasting the great Rice for at least one meal a day.  But things have changed quiet a lot now. I am cooking my own food here. What has changed?

Is it love? Might me. My girl helped me pack all the luggage for me. She got me two good books on cooking. She wanted me to help myself so that I don’t miss home food. She packed up everything I would require. It was very nice of her to do it. Also my mom did the final touch ups. It must be that I am in love and I end up doing something to please her?

Survival? I am reminded of the film ‘Puthupettai’. There are two songs ‘Oru naalil valkai’ and ‘Nerupu vaiyinil oramai’, two of my all time favourite songs. The theme of the film is ‘Survival’.  When you are pushed to the limits, you tend to fight back, face the reality, tend to move forward. The simple ‘Darwin’s principle for evolution’. Not perpetuation, or theory of natural selection, I am not going scientific here. It is just the ‘Survival of the fittest’.

Just analyzing on the same subject, we tend to perform or succumb when we are pushed to the limits. The is a comedy in a film that I watched recently, where the comedian says ‘I am cornered’. This has nothing to do with this post. Is it survival or love or desire or just a new learning? Questions unanswered.

Hey why am I ranting. Actually cooking is good. So why this post at all in the first place. I have time to kill!

Here is more update on my life in America. It was hard finding an apartment here. Office is in Downtown area. I don’t own a car. So I had to consider that fact too, either, the office must be reachable by Public Transit or walkable.

I found one. A nice and a beautiful apartment (That is how anyone from Chennai will feel about any house here). I am now a resident of Downtown, Richmond, VA. After the apartment hunt, then comes setting aside enough money to furnish your apartment. I had to buy a bed and a few kitchen utensils, the minimum requirements to stay in any apartment. With no car to get to places to shop, I resorted to shopping online.

In India, we just buy a bed (wooden or steel), then we order a mattress or we just leave it off. Here, we have more. First you have to get a bed frame, then a box spring, then the actual mattress. Still, I have not gotten used to not tracking dollar conversion to rupees. I have asked my stupid mind to stop counting it. And there are 4 sizes to choose from, King, Queen, Full and Twin. That is when my college friend, Abhilash (Nair as I call him), came. He was the friend in need. He has been here for sometime now, he dragged me to the omnipresent Walmart. And that ended all the shopping.

We also made it a point to visit the local Indian Restaurant ‘India K Raja’ and the Indian grocery store, ‘Lakshmi Palace’. It was good to do a bit of shopping. Now I have moved to the new apartment. It is just 5 mins walk to my office. Also the SSN application is over. I am getting settled.

I arrived at the Chicago, O Harare Terminal on 20th October. Just like any other first time traveller to the United States, confused, excited, wondering, awe-struck, I entered at Terminal. My flight carrier was Lufthansa. It was a long day for me, I started from Chennai, India at 1:45 AM IST. I landed on Frankfurt airport at 8:29 AM German Local Time. Then the connecting flight landed me in Chicago at 12:26 PM CT. What a long day with 4 meals already done.

Immigration and Customs were a breeze. I brought 2 huge check-in luggages, one with all items to wear here, and one with all groceries, equipped to run a Indian Grocery Store. Well packed with goodies, and love of my lover, mom and sister. I had my domestic flight that took me to Richmond, VA only at 4:49 PM CT. I waited all that time in the domestic Terminal 2, flipping through “2 States” by Chetan Bhagat. It is a nice book. (More about it in a separate post)

There was Manoj here to pick me up. A nice colleague. He took me to a grocery store, restaurant and then to my apartment. He even took pain to see that I got myself comfortable in my apartment. Thanks Manoj, if you are reading this. Jaswinder Singh was there with him. He is my lead here. It was in his car, that I got to the Apartment.

Till now, everything was fine. Then, I wanted to open a bank account, get a phone connection and all these wanted a SSN. God! Everyone and every service wanted to know my SSN. I am brand new to America, and I can’t survive without an SSN. The SSN application can be done only after 10 days, after my immigration information and I-94 forms have moved to the office. I was stuck.

I work out of Virginia Retirement Systems office. It is located in the downtown area. Got used to the place now. I have started cooking. The second day, I cooked rice and ate it with “paruppu podi”. The next day morning, I did Top Ramen’s Noodles. Simple items though, this was my first try at cooking. Day before yesterday, I did “Pongal (Ven)”, it came out well. I was very happy! Today, I wanted to try more. So I cooked “Venkaya Sambhar” (Onion Sambhar). Though it came out with little salt, it turned out to taste good.

From a software engineer, America turned me into a cook. Those in Richmond, looking for room mates, who knows to cook, you can look out for me. More ramblings in future posts! Watch out!

And people out there, recommend me if I should take a separate apartment or go for a shared one with a room mate. Also, I hold a valid Indian License, will you advise me to buy a car and start driving now or 6 months later!

United States, Here I come. With lots of dreams, awe, fear, feelings. I am now an amalgamation of various feelings. I am about to get into a country, that had transformed dreams into reality for many, changed lifes completely from riches to rags and rags to riches. People chasing dreams, money and pleasure. A land that I have always wondered about all these years, Here I Come!

Dreams of what is in store… Computers, People, Music and Stuff.
Awe of the single name… United States.
Fear of what is yet to come… How is America going to treat me, A lone traveller in a stranger land.
Feelings of leaving home land, leaving home food, leaving my beloved here for a while..
Questions about life….

America! Here I come!