This is a two-years-old mail which recounts my first two days in this country. Was reading this and trying to figure-out if my writing style had changed.
hi all,
since i am one of the first few people to reach SB, i thought i'd share my experience of the last 2 days with you guys.
30th aug.- i landed at LAX at 12.50 pm. my thoughts were - ok, so now i'm at amrika...but hold !!! i still have immigration and customs to clear before i am allowed to set foot on amrikan soil.
Immigration and Customs - so with slight bit of trepedition, i stood in the HUGE queue of the immigration counter. struck-up conversation with a Japanese guy who was going to Seattle from LAX. it was almost one hr. before my turn came, and i was standing in front of a stern-no-nonsense looking lady immigration officer. she gave a cold smile (i guess there guys at immigration are trained to look at everyone with suspicion), took my finger-prints, scanned my visa and passport and took almost 5 minutes, looking hard at my details that rolled-up in front of her computer screen. and my thoughts were - well...now what ?? pls dont ask me to turn my backk !!! but she seemed to have taken her time and satisfied herself. it took just 10 min to clear immigtation, but it felt like an eternity. ! but thank the lord !
went to the baggage-counter and surprisingly got both my bags in record time (according to my standards because in India, i am inexplicably one of the last few people to get my baggage). this was the very first time i had to heave two 32 kg. bags onto the trolley..and boy !! my spine almost split into 2 !
Customs - i had ticked on 'Food' item in the form. so the officer just asked me about it. i gave him my best possible innocent expression and said - ready-to-eat VEG stuff. that seemed to have satisfied him and with a large-hearted smile he said - welcome to the united states ma'am ! it felt good :)
LAX to SB : my friend was there at the arrival, was meeting him after a long time. he helped me with my trolley and we went out and waited for the SB airbus. at about 3.40, the bus came. the driver was a big-guy with a bellowing voice and a wide smile, he put my bags inside the belly of the bus and asked me to follow him inside the bus. paid $ 46 and went inside and sat. felt like taking the entire 2 seats and lying down after the tiring 26-hr journey, but resisted the urge to do so.
the drive from LAX to SB is a beautiful one, mostly beside the ocean. but i was too tired to notice the beauty and was fighting to keep myself from falling asleep, trying to make myself admire the passing landscape - the farms, factories, ranches on one side and the ocean on the other side. made a call from the bus at the first stop to Poornima saying i was on my way. at about 7 pm, i reached SB - last stop at Thornwood drive.
Poornima was there with 2 other people with cars - my 2 gigantic suitcases need a car each :)
@ SB: from 30th evening till today (Sept. 1st) - i am staying with Poornima and a third person at El Colegio Road.
31st Aug - Day 1- Poornima took me to her dept. and gave a print of the UCSB campus map. she also made a sketch of the direction to the apt. where we are staying. so from her dept., i set myself to the OISS. the campus map being my bible. reported at the OISS, where apart from Luz Maria Cabral , who was at the desk, i was greeted by the Director Mary Jacob - a tall imposing lady with a wonderful way of talking to people. it so turned-out that her husband was from Bengal. So my conversation with her went beyond the usual - hello-welcome-to-UCSB....
from there, i navigated myself to the University Center, where we get our student card. all you need is your name and perm no. they take your instant photo and give you the card in about 5 min., unless there are people ahead of you.
in front of the university centre, was accosted by an elderly gentleman and a lady (am not using the word "couple" because they were not married to each other). it so happened that they had set-up a free-for-all temp bookstall for bible. although i had nothing to do with that, i thought - what the heck ! i wont lose anything by chatting with them ! so after some wide-eyed exclamations of how i looked like a seasoned student (???) even though i had been here for less than 24 hrs., i managed to get myself away and went to the library and sat at a computer terminal. for about 2 hrs., was bombarded by friends/relatives alike about how i was, how was the place etc. after assuaging their queries, realized that my tummy was grumbling for lunch.
there's a subway-cum-departmental store in front of the library. took a subway sandwich and a bottle of mineral water ( total of 3 holy dollars !!!) and got myself a seat in the open-air seating area. tried to look like a seasoned student having s regular meal...dont know how successful i was
post lunch, went to the registrar's office to clear a couple of doubts. most of the people were not there as they had already started their 3-day weekend (monday being holiday because of Labor Day).
at about 4 pm, decided to walk back to the apartment. now, although the walk is a 10 min one, this was my first alone-venture outside the campus, hence it took almost 45 minutes to get back to the apt complex. managed to lose my way twice before asking about 4-5 people. once inside the complex, it was a further 25 min. before i located the holy door.
decided to take a nap, but sleep was elusive, although i still felt tired. Book-5 of Harry Potter decided to give me company till Poornima was back. She made an awsome dish of tomato pasta and i had my first taste of American Corn..its such a sweet corn !
after filling ourselves, we watched indian idol on youtube, listened to bollywood songs...sang our heart out too !
and before long, my first day at SB was over. turned-in at 12.00.
1st Sept.: Today, the campus is almost deserted as its a 3-day weekend. i am one of the few people, sitting in front of the comp and typing-away to glory.
will go back after a while, lets see if i revert back to subway or cook-up something on my own !
One thing i would say - Please dont worry about getting here and going about this place. it probably will taking longer for others, but having a map of the area is an ultimate necessity. armed with that and a good dose of confidence, SB is easy to go around !
take care and safe journey to all who are yet to cross the threshold...
----------------
Observation: my tongue-in-cheek writing style hasnt changed much. But my choice of words would be slightly better ;)
Friday, November 13, 2009
People or Place ?
Does the adage: "People maketh the place", still hold true ?
I have never understood the difference until recently. When someone complains about the place, why does the "people" factor always crop-in ? When you live in a place that is dreary, cold, has bad roads, far-off utility stores and entertainment areas, hard to reach with bad public transportation, the only factor that makes those kind of places habitable are the people around, the friends we make. I for one, will never undermine the importance of people in our lives.
But on the other hand, can I dislike the people and still love the place ?
When I make the above statement, you might think of me as someone who doesn't really get-along with people, who doesn't care about making friends. Or worse, who has friends but hates them. In short, a misanthrope. Sure, I don't have a huge circle of friends. To all those few people who I am close to, you know who you are. So please don't raise your eyebrows. I love you. Perhaps, I will dedicate another blogpost only for you people.
So, coming back to the place issue. Is it still possible to make a relationship with the place, independent of the people ? By this I mean a dual relationship. You might sometimes hate the place from the bottommost core of your heart. I guess hate comes with the territory. Now-a-days. when everyone champions the cause of the individual, I am not claiming to be different. But i am also saying that who needs to be alone when you have the place to live with ? When you can clearly say why you like the place, without bringing a single mention of any people. When you can also refrain from
mentioning how clean, beautiful, and safe the place is. When you don't even have to praise the beautiful mountains,the river, the sea, the grasslands, the evergreens, the houses, buildings, and weather. What remains is something very intangible. Yet, any of you who might have loved a place, can understand. I am talking about a bond that you forge with a place, when you feel the place loves you back, holds your hand,
consoles you, comforts you, laughs at you, and with you.
From the time I started living outside of my home, I was in regular touch with the people back home. I usually got the "bullet-point version" of an incident from my mother (who is a person of very few words) and the extended, spiced-up, hilarious version from others (thanks to some brilliant story-tellers I have in my family). So I was always in the loop.
But those telephone conversations or e-mails could not simulate the environment of
something that I desperately missed. The familiarity of my home, my place and my city. Of having "my comfort space", which was not just my room, but even a random place in my city. Of never feeling lost in that city, even if I did not know my way back home, because that was my city.
I missed K as a place. It isn't that I have lived in that city or home since I was born. This city even has a language that, although I can speak, but can neither read nor write fluently. I am not proud to admit this, but it is true. I would rather read and write in english or hindi. I sometimes cringe at the hoardings and names of places written in the local language.
Does that mean that I need a "physical connection" with the place more than the people ?
On a similar case is SB, where I live now. I cannot say that I completely adore this place as much as K. I didn't miss it for a second I went home for three weeks. But this place has taught me a lot about my attitude to different cities and places. Even forced me to take a good look at it out of sheer compulsion. Maybe it has instilled in me the ability to understand a place, no matter how different, or difficult it is.
A friend once said, "I like the place "X" because i have great friends. If you take them and me and put the lot somewhere else, I would love that place "Y" too."
Does that mean that this friend is more concerned about the people in that place ?
Does it mean that this person is (overtly) dependent on the people ? Doesn't that make this person more vulnerable ?
Perhaps it isn't fair to judge.
But as of now, I am enjoying my recent-found revelation. And also trying to understand it.
I have never understood the difference until recently. When someone complains about the place, why does the "people" factor always crop-in ? When you live in a place that is dreary, cold, has bad roads, far-off utility stores and entertainment areas, hard to reach with bad public transportation, the only factor that makes those kind of places habitable are the people around, the friends we make. I for one, will never undermine the importance of people in our lives.
But on the other hand, can I dislike the people and still love the place ?
When I make the above statement, you might think of me as someone who doesn't really get-along with people, who doesn't care about making friends. Or worse, who has friends but hates them. In short, a misanthrope. Sure, I don't have a huge circle of friends. To all those few people who I am close to, you know who you are. So please don't raise your eyebrows. I love you. Perhaps, I will dedicate another blogpost only for you people.
So, coming back to the place issue. Is it still possible to make a relationship with the place, independent of the people ? By this I mean a dual relationship. You might sometimes hate the place from the bottommost core of your heart. I guess hate comes with the territory. Now-a-days. when everyone champions the cause of the individual, I am not claiming to be different. But i am also saying that who needs to be alone when you have the place to live with ? When you can clearly say why you like the place, without bringing a single mention of any people. When you can also refrain from
mentioning how clean, beautiful, and safe the place is. When you don't even have to praise the beautiful mountains,the river, the sea, the grasslands, the evergreens, the houses, buildings, and weather. What remains is something very intangible. Yet, any of you who might have loved a place, can understand. I am talking about a bond that you forge with a place, when you feel the place loves you back, holds your hand,
consoles you, comforts you, laughs at you, and with you.
From the time I started living outside of my home, I was in regular touch with the people back home. I usually got the "bullet-point version" of an incident from my mother (who is a person of very few words) and the extended, spiced-up, hilarious version from others (thanks to some brilliant story-tellers I have in my family). So I was always in the loop.
But those telephone conversations or e-mails could not simulate the environment of
something that I desperately missed. The familiarity of my home, my place and my city. Of having "my comfort space", which was not just my room, but even a random place in my city. Of never feeling lost in that city, even if I did not know my way back home, because that was my city.
I missed K as a place. It isn't that I have lived in that city or home since I was born. This city even has a language that, although I can speak, but can neither read nor write fluently. I am not proud to admit this, but it is true. I would rather read and write in english or hindi. I sometimes cringe at the hoardings and names of places written in the local language.
Does that mean that I need a "physical connection" with the place more than the people ?
On a similar case is SB, where I live now. I cannot say that I completely adore this place as much as K. I didn't miss it for a second I went home for three weeks. But this place has taught me a lot about my attitude to different cities and places. Even forced me to take a good look at it out of sheer compulsion. Maybe it has instilled in me the ability to understand a place, no matter how different, or difficult it is.
A friend once said, "I like the place "X" because i have great friends. If you take them and me and put the lot somewhere else, I would love that place "Y" too."
Does that mean that this friend is more concerned about the people in that place ?
Does it mean that this person is (overtly) dependent on the people ? Doesn't that make this person more vulnerable ?
Perhaps it isn't fair to judge.
But as of now, I am enjoying my recent-found revelation. And also trying to understand it.
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