My trip to USA (Part 1)

Kids are a gift of God

June 26th 1:00 pm and I arrive at the St Pauls Domestic airport after a 15-hour flight from Mumbai to New York and then from NY to Kentucky. That was probably the most anxious 24-hours of my life. The wait to see the little ones was sometimes over-powering and sometimes too boring that I slept my entire way to the twin-city (Minneapolis). The guy weighing the bags at the counter could not get over the fact that someone from India traveled with baggage which was actually lesser then the permitted levels. Quite un-heard for us Indians who always travel with excess baggage and plead with the poor lady sitting in the counter to not charge us.

There was this clean-shaven tall and thin guy waiting to pick me up. I looked at him and looked at me again… I looked up at him and looked back again. Did the lack of sleep catch up with me or has time caught up only with me and forgotten the others around me? I was left with this thought lingering in my mind as I walked across to the parking station. As my brother in law just swiped through the parking system which was un-manned and yet so systematic and calm with each car going about its way of swiping cards, paying their parking fees and driving across, I was left with a new thought- America is really on a cost-cutting spree and none of the toll-booths have a sprinkling of human beings while our country would have a person standing next to an automatic machine at our malls to just take the slip and give it.

And then as we drove through the green pastures and fields, I was left wondering if I was in the deepest of Kerala or the so-called “Uncle Sam’s land of prosperity”. And then I came back to the million dollar question- My brother in law who is all of 8 years elder to me looked as old as I am, if not younger!!! It can’t be just the fact the time pieces stopped. It obviously was a factor of me being lazy and finding a reason in the fact that work kept me busy, while he found that extra time to cycle and mow his lawn to keep himself fit. What was most apparent was my bulging paunch (my friends joke my paunch comes before I do J) and his non-existent one.

Enroute we dropped into my eldest sisters little one’s school and picked her up. She (Navya as she is known) was a replica of my sister. She looked at me with those tiny little innocent eyes. Those eyes had a sense of anxiousness to it and yet had this heavenly twinkle each time it blinked. I lifted her up and she twitched around and then slowly went to her father, holding him tight. She got all packed literally into her car seat (Hmmmm!!!! I wonder if my cousins in India can ever be told to sit in a car-seat without creating a ruckus and getting some undue attention from passers-by)

We got talking from her friends to her favourite character- Dova (Dora the explorer!!!) and I gave her a small make-up set and she clasped to it with that innocent and anxious eyes. Those eyes spoke a thousand words. She spoke about her bvotheh (brother) and how she voves (loves) him. We reached home and she just ran in once her father freed her of her clutches called seat belt. She ran in saying hey Vekha (Rekha- my elder sister) your bvotheh (brother) has come. My sister was standing there along with mom and the herd of little ones- my elder sisters daughter (the latest entrant at 1.5 years), my look alike (son of 6 years) and my eldest sister’s son and Navya’s bvotheh (brother)!!!

I had this sense of being a Santa Claus!!! The paunch that I had added to the feeling!!! I arrived with 2 boxes full of gifts for my little ones!!! What a pleasure it was to dole out gifts for the ones who mean more to me than I had ever imagined. On hindsight, writing this piece is more emotional than the actual event, for the whole experience was enjoyable, enthralling and once in a generation.

Navya was in her elements. She was all happy and jumping!!! She took the role of being the distribution agent, handing over the gifts to the respective recipients. Her commission a gift for every gift the kids get J “Not bad eh”; remarked my elder sister.

The kids were a bundle of joy and the joy was also dispersed by moments of WWE style entertainment between the two boys on which of the cars were actually faster and which of “Buzz light year’s” were actually stronger.

In between all this joy, there was a loud shrill followed by tears. My elder sisters little one just happened to have a real look at me and guess she was reminded of the hairy thing she saw inside a cage just a week back and was left wondering how in heaven’s sake did the grizzly bear enter my home. My mom and sister tried in vain to convince her of my human roots but she refused to and that rejection stayed on for over a week!!!

Then my eldest sister came. Now I had no more words to spell out for she had reduced over 18 kilograms and was as fit as fit can be. Can I even think of finding a reason- Work? Well, she works like all of us and pretty successful at that. She cooks, takes care of her children and keeps fit. Well, something had changed around me but I hadn’t. Work was ultimately not the end all!!!

Navya came running again- Amma- Your bvotheh (brother) has come. See See!!! Ha ha ha ha. What a joy it is to see her call me that.

And then started her Q&A session-

Navya: Mom- Is Rohit mama a girl (For those who don’t know what mama means, in my local language its called Uncle)-
My sister replied- No, does he look a girl? Why you asking me that sweetie?
Navya: But his name says Mommy (Mama). He should be called my Uncle or Daddy
Sister: No dear- Mama means uncle and that’s the way we call mother’s brother in our place
Navya- Then should he not be called Brother (Etta in my language)

My sister was left scratching her head. To my sister’s saving grace, my mom called out dinner. We all had a good laugh and headed for the dinner table.

I was now clear what people in India keep talking about- ABCD- here is a perfect example of “American Born Confused Desi” She had no roots in India but her parents wanted her to. Well, she has no reference point and how is it even possible for her to think like an Indian? I was so in love with the moment that I never wanted it to end!!!

With that thought I went to bed at 11:30 pm.