Monday, March 1, 2010

Paradeesayaaanam

Feb 20th-> Packed up everything to go to US. We reached Mumbai aiport around 12:00am in a tavera. After the formalities waited for the flight to Frankfurt. It was fun watching all sorts of people in all sorts of apparels with strange baggages. After a long wait, we entered the flight with greetings from the hostesses. The snacks served in the flight were yummy. The television showed speeds upto 1000kmph and temperatures upto -58 degree Fahrenhiet. I had all sorts of scientific questions revolving in my mind like how are the clouds formed, how do flights fly, how do the forces balance, how do birds manage to fly and so on. I promised myself to check for these on the internet. After 9 hours we reached Frankfurt in Germany. As the airlines was Lufthansa (German), everything was explained in two languages German and English. It snowed heavily in Frankfurt. The flight revolved around the airport for a few minutes and finally landed. The airport at Frankfurt was pretty large. We walked for 15 to 20 minutes appreciating the airport facility and reached terminal A. You find moving walkways here. We refreshed at the rest rooms over there. In western countries, you donot have a tap in the toilets. you have to manage with tissue papers or carry a bottle of water along. We could see snow falling outside the airport. The wierd thing at the airport is that the house-keeping for the gents toilet is also handled by a lady. After We were thoroughly checked twice, We took the flight to Boston. The snacks course in the flight had beef and all other meat stuff. I took veggie course, watched movies on the little movable screen. The hostess gave 2 forms viz immigration form and customs form. We reached Boston after 9 hours. There were queues and televisions demonstrating the process involved at the immigration counters. The guy at the counter asked questions like purpose of the visit, duration and other general questions. I was requested to give my fingerprints . A photograph was taken. "Is this the first time you are coming to US?". He said "Welcome to the United states" and attached a departure note to a page in the passport. We collected the checked-in baggage and waited in the queue for customs clearance. The guy at the counter asked me if I had anything edible in my baggage. I said "No". He sent me to another counter where my baggage was scanned. I was requested to open the baggage. I had rice,noodles,dal,pulses,tamarind, peanuts etc. She asked me " What made you say you did not have anything edible". I said I thought by edible she meant ready-to-eat stuff. Then she said food covers all these. She said peanuts are not allowed into US and She could have fined me 300$. But as it is my first time she let me go. I set my foot on the land of the United States. My cousin and his better-half were awaiting my arrival. We started freezing and trembling as the cold wind blew on and on outside the airport. It is not the temperature that troubles but
the cold wave/wind that makes you shiver.

We met Tom, the conventional cab driver for sybase who drove us from the airport to the hotel Element in Lexington. The drive was pleasant. No speedbreakers/tampered roads/autoes/cycles/rickshaws/bikes/buses. It was cars and cars on different lanes. The cars have global positiioning system which guides you through the roads. Tall buildings/flyovers it was like another world. The hotel was very luxurious. It has a gym and a pool.
Breakfast is complimentary. Evening snacks are compilmentary thrice a week. The room has a king-size heavenly bed, seperate sitting area, a fully equipped kitchen featuring a fridge,microwave, dish-washer, two-burner cooktop and utensils. It has a spa-like bathroom. My cousin brought vegetables to the hotel. I settled in an hour or so. We went to the nearest stop n shop to get a gallon of milk and eggs.

Feb 22nd 2010(Monday). Andy met us at the hotel. He rode us to office. He showed us the buildings and introduced to everyone there. There are 6 buildings for Sybase in Concord farms. There is a small aiport nearby. We met Lilly,Dave, Kent,George, Dean,Rolland, Mary Chapman, Rosemary, Tamilla, Naga, Aparna, Guy, and Neil. Andy, Kent, Hanu and myself went for lunch in the security building. We reached the hotel pretty late in the night. I slept at 10pm but wokeup at 4am possibly because of jet lag.

Feb 23rd 2010(Tuesday) We had a delicious complimentary breakfast and went to office in a shuttle provided by the hotel. This was 'the' day of jet lag as we felt sleepy in the office. Andy went to gym to exercise while we had lunch with Kent. We left to the hotel early.

Feb 24th 2010(Wednesday) We had a snow fall last night. Cars in the parking were covered by snow all over. Our body cylces got used to the US timezone. Joe hu gave a ride to burlington mall. The mall was huge. we roamed around. Some shops had expensive products.

Feb 25th 2010(thursday) Lilly took us to costco, a wholesale shop. Only members can buy merchandise here. After some window shopping, Lilly gave us a ride to the hotel back.

Feb 26th 2010(friday) Kurt's wife gave birth to a baby boy. He took parental leave for 2 weeks. My cousin took us to Mohegan sun casino in Connecticut. There are three general categories of casino games: table games, electronic gaming machines(slots), and random number ticket games such as Jackpot. Slot is a gambling machine with three or more reels which spin when a button is pushed. It is usually played by one player. It has a currency detector that validates the coin or money inserted to play. The machine pays off based on patterns of symbols visible on the front of the machine when it stops. Slot machines are the most popular gambling devices in casinos
and constitute about 70 percent of the average casino's income. Random number games like jackpot are based upon the selection of random numbers, either from a computerized random number generator or from other gaming equipment. In Roulette, players choose to place bets on a number or a range of numbers, the colors red or black, or whether the number is odd or even. To determine the winning number and color, a croupier spins a wheel in one direction, The ball eventually loses momentum and falls on to the wheel and into one of the numbered pockets on the wheel. then spins a ball in the opposite direction around a tilted circular track running around the circumference of the Table games like bacarrat and blackjack(21) are played on a table and operated by one or more live dealers. We reached Mansfield by 1am.

Feb 27th 2010(saturday) We went to walmart, staples, market basket, BJ, shop n stop, to get some vegetables and groceries in the morning. In the evening we went to a mall near mansfield. It was windy. We browsed around to look for shoes,watches, kitchen ware,and t-shirts. Costco and BJ are wholesale shops where you can buy only if you have membership. They sell merchandize in bulk amounts at inexpensive rates. They send discount coupons every month to
all members which can be availed on selected products. My cousin's car has a GPS system which helps in moving from any source to any destination. The roads are generally pretty good. Some roads do have patches that will be repaired after winter by closing corresponding lanes. The lane system is cool. Generally speed limits are 65mph. At some places it could be still higher. Cops wouldn't mind you driving upto 75mph in general. The leftmost lane is overtaking lane.
You have to give way to any cars speeding up behind you if you are in this lane. Cars are cheaper when compared to ones in Australia. My cousin's car is Acura. It gives a mileage of 17miles per gallon. The gas stations are self-help types. You swipe the card and pump gas on your own. My cousin showed me a retirement colony where old people live in independent houses if their pension is decent. Others live in a place with common dining and eat paid meals. They are
pretty happy here and do not wish to depend on their children. They exhibit self-dignity.

Feb 28th 2010(sunday) My cousin took me to Alewife station which is a subway train station. There are 5lines red, green,blue, orange and silver which reach various places in and around boston downtown. The charges are 10$ for a day pass and 1.7$ per ride. With the ride ticket, you
can actually do multiple rides but without going out of any of the subway stations into the streets. It is all electronic self-help system. Parking at alewife station costs you 8$. We took the subway train till Harvard square. We visited Harvard university, the science centre,
library and memorial hall. We went to MIT in train. We found ISKON american folks dancing energetically chanting Hare Rama Hare Krishna. We visited Public Library, Apple store and Prudential, the 52-storey building in Boylston street. We lunched mexican food. we took skywalk tickets(10$) to get a hawk-eye view from the 50th floor of Prudential. Boston downtown looked beautiful. We could see the airport, MIT, Hancock place(tallest in Boston), Harvard in Cambridge, baseball ground, symphony hall, sCharles river, roads, flyovers, houses and tall buildings. We saw a video of the history of boston. We visited public gardens and took the subway train to haymarket station. This one is like american version of rhythu bazaar where farmers sell their products directly to customers. We then went back to Park station
to get into the red line to go back to Alewife. When I saw the courteous poilte way in which Americans greeted me at the hotel and office, I assumed that it is so everywhere, but I was wrong. This polite behavior is visible only at less-populated communes. In malls, shopping complexes, it is more or less like India, but they tend not to be rude, give you way most of
the times, respect you etc. But they dont say 'hai' to strangers deliberately as was the case at my hotel. In big malls, you also have an option of self checkout where you dont need assistance of staff to bill the products. My cousin dropped me at the hotel by 6pm I had a hot spa-bath and finished writing this blog for the 1st week.