"I am referring to my recent visit to USA. It was a memorable trip and I enjoyed every moment. Let us begin with our recent visit to Sanfrancisco. Six months ago when we went to Sanfrancisco from India, to live with our daughter's family, we knew it would keep us busy in an alien country by caring for our first grandson, the sweet Gattu.In 2006, our daughter was the first in the family to arrive in the U.S after her wedding. Four years later thanks to the son in law who had been in US right after his Masters in 2000 all have become the coveted GC holders now.
Back home, you get people to do all kinds of chores for you, but here, you get hands-on experience. Once I came here, I realized if I have to be productive, I would have to drive . This way, I could help with grocery shopping. To live in the suburbs, learning to drive is the key to success . It allows me to manage my own time. However, the over protective attitude of my daughter was left to her choice without much debate. For those who don't drive, the Internet keeps them connected to an outside world they want to be a part of. Every day, one can spend a few hours online. A recent mail received made me and my better half sit up and laugh to our heart's content, as laughter is so necessary for us seniors. The mail read as "In case of an emergency, speak only in English and forget about saying prayers in any other language..You never know what kind of translation problem you can run into..."
An Indian in the US suffered a heart attack on the road and was picked up by an ambulance. Being religious, he kept repeating - Hari Om Hari Om Hari Om. When the ambulance pulled into his home, his wife came out and screamed at the paramedics: 'Why didn't you take him straight to the hospital?' They replied 'Because he kept saying "Hurry home Hurry home Hurry home!'"
During the course of morning walks I made friends with seniors of Indian origin. During the course of our general chit n talk and according to one Mr Hyakubune "it's high time Indians got over the hang-up of the concept of retirement homes, which for many in the Indian community is tantamount to abandoning one's parents in their old age and carries a stigma. According to him, anyone who thinks they are going to be living with their American-born children in their old age is living in a fool's paradise. The general perception seemed to be that nobody had any desire to live in an old person's home,and as Mr Hyakubune put it correctly - "As we grow older, we need them more than they need us." One gentleman Sardarji went to the extent of saying whether opting for US citizenship was in the right direction.The talks with the GC and American Citizens revealed certain interesting things which could be concluded in the following words:
The dilemma is while aiming for the material benefits of the west and belonging and be accepted by the west, unwillingness to go to the full extent was observed. There are many people who do not get assimilated with their new environment at the same time the economic compulsions prevent them a return to roots. The next and future generations have no such dilemma. Same the case with the previous generation also.
According to the American Community Survey of the U.S. Census Bureau, the Asian Indian population in the United States grew from almost 1,679,000 in 2000 to 2,570,000 in 2007: a growth rate of 53%, the highest for any Asian American community, and among the fastest growing ethnic groups in the United States. Indian Americans are the third largest Asian American ethnic group, after Chinese Americans and Filipino Americans. "Many of these older new arrivals don't drive and have to spend long hours within the confines of the four walls while their children go to work."
I traveled a lot by local buses, but unlike Mumbai, where there are buses every 20 minutes, here the buses come once in half an hour. They are seldom crowded, and a $1 ticket is valid for four hours. But I miserably miss the hustle, bustle and frequency of my own BEST in Mumbai. As for shopping, every supermarket and department stores is as large as a football stadium and every item is priced some dollars and 99 cents. I feel the American shops follow the pricing strategy of our Bata Ltd., where the shoes are always priced in some 799 or 899 rupees. Yet, unlike Mumbai, the human touch is lacking at every place we visited. Everything is automated right from the local railway stations and with no booking windows or clerks, it is difficult to get proper guidelines. Human beings appear to be scarce and as for noise, it does not exist.
Winter is setting in, America is preparing itself for the festival season of Thanksgiving and Christmas. Shops are bursting with goods. Slowly we are counting the simple blessings of life. After years of boiling and filtering drinking water, it is a pleasure to drink water straight from the tap. In all apartments and country homes at every tap there are two pipes – one steaming hot tap and other one cold. The shoes never seem to get dirty and the air we breathe is so different from Mumbai."
On Saturday I was fortunate to have Sai Baba's "Darshan" at the Temple in Milptas along with members of my family including our sweet Gattu. It is a recently consecrated temple here in Milpitas, CA. If you are in the Milpitas vicinity, I implore you to visit this place. Here is the link for the temple website. We also visited the Swami Narayan Temple at Milpitas near Sai Temple. Pl. click here to go to the site ......
I travelled a lot by local buses, but unlike Mumbai, where there are buses every 20 minutes, here the buses come once in half an hour. They are seldom crowded, and a $1 ticket is valid for four hours. But I miserably miss the hustle, bustle and frequency of my own BEST in Mumbai. As for shopping, every supermarket and department stores is as large as a football stadium and every item is priced some dollars and 99 cents. I feel the American shops follow the pricing strategy of our Bata Ltd., where the shoes are always priced in some 799 or 899 rupees. Yet, unlike Mumbai, the human touch is lacking. at every place we visited. Everything is automated right from the local railway stations and with no booking windows or clerks, it is difficult to get proper guidelines. Human beings appear to be scarce and as for noise, it does not exist.
Winter is setting in, America is preparing itself for the festival season of Thanksgiving and Christmas. Shops are bursting with goods. Slowly we are counting the simple blessings of life. After years of boiling and filtering drinking water, it is a pleasure to drink water straight from the tap. In all apartments, houses, condos and townhouses there are two taps – one steaming hot tap and other one cold. The shoes never seem to get dirty and the air we breathe is so different from Mumbai."
We recently went out to a restaurant with some friends for Sunday breakfast, and while we sat in the patio, we happened to notice ZIPLOC baggies attached to the restaurant's patio wall. The bags were half-filled with water, each bag contained four pennies, and were all zipped shut. Out of curiosity, we asked the waiter about the baggies. We were told that they kept the flies away. Naturally, we became even more curious. So we actually watched. Sure enough, some flies came in the open window, and then flew out again, and there were absolutely no flies in the open patio eating area the entire time we were in the restaurant!
Upon getting home, I checked it out on Google and saw several comments from various people who swore that ZIPLOC baggies half-filled with water and a few pennies when attached over entryways will repel flies. Some commented that it also works for wasps. One particular comment on Google shed light on how and why it works. The comment posted on 5/26/2009 said:
My research found that each of the millions of molecules of water presents its own prism effect and given that flies have a lot of eyes, to them it's like a zillion disco balls reflecting light, colors and movement in a dizzying manner. When you figure that flies are basically prey for many other bugs, animals, birds, etc., they simply won't take the risk of being around that much perceived action. I moved to a rural area and I thought these "hillbillies" were just yanking my city boy chain but I tried it, and it worked immediately. We went from hundreds of flies to seeing an occasional one, but it didn't hang around long.
This is surely a new twist to fly control. It's hard to believe but it works. If you have problem with flies, it would be worth a try. We don't have many flies, but one is one too many.
(To be continued)
Pl.leave your comments
Back home, you get people to do all kinds of chores for you, but here, you get hands-on experience. Once I came here, I realized if I have to be productive, I would have to drive . This way, I could help with grocery shopping. To live in the suburbs, learning to drive is the key to success . It allows me to manage my own time. However, the over protective attitude of my daughter was left to her choice without much debate. For those who don't drive, the Internet keeps them connected to an outside world they want to be a part of. Every day, one can spend a few hours online. A recent mail received made me and my better half sit up and laugh to our heart's content, as laughter is so necessary for us seniors. The mail read as "In case of an emergency, speak only in English and forget about saying prayers in any other language..You never know what kind of translation problem you can run into..."
An Indian in the US suffered a heart attack on the road and was picked up by an ambulance. Being religious, he kept repeating - Hari Om Hari Om Hari Om. When the ambulance pulled into his home, his wife came out and screamed at the paramedics: 'Why didn't you take him straight to the hospital?' They replied 'Because he kept saying "Hurry home Hurry home Hurry home!'"
During the course of morning walks I made friends with seniors of Indian origin. During the course of our general chit n talk and according to one Mr Hyakubune "it's high time Indians got over the hang-up of the concept of retirement homes, which for many in the Indian community is tantamount to abandoning one's parents in their old age and carries a stigma. According to him, anyone who thinks they are going to be living with their American-born children in their old age is living in a fool's paradise. The general perception seemed to be that nobody had any desire to live in an old person's home,and as Mr Hyakubune put it correctly - "As we grow older, we need them more than they need us." One gentleman Sardarji went to the extent of saying whether opting for US citizenship was in the right direction.The talks with the GC and American Citizens revealed certain interesting things which could be concluded in the following words:
The dilemma is while aiming for the material benefits of the west and belonging and be accepted by the west, unwillingness to go to the full extent was observed. There are many people who do not get assimilated with their new environment at the same time the economic compulsions prevent them a return to roots. The next and future generations have no such dilemma. Same the case with the previous generation also.
According to the American Community Survey of the U.S. Census Bureau, the Asian Indian population in the United States grew from almost 1,679,000 in 2000 to 2,570,000 in 2007: a growth rate of 53%, the highest for any Asian American community, and among the fastest growing ethnic groups in the United States. Indian Americans are the third largest Asian American ethnic group, after Chinese Americans and Filipino Americans. "Many of these older new arrivals don't drive and have to spend long hours within the confines of the four walls while their children go to work."
I traveled a lot by local buses, but unlike Mumbai, where there are buses every 20 minutes, here the buses come once in half an hour. They are seldom crowded, and a $1 ticket is valid for four hours. But I miserably miss the hustle, bustle and frequency of my own BEST in Mumbai. As for shopping, every supermarket and department stores is as large as a football stadium and every item is priced some dollars and 99 cents. I feel the American shops follow the pricing strategy of our Bata Ltd., where the shoes are always priced in some 799 or 899 rupees. Yet, unlike Mumbai, the human touch is lacking at every place we visited. Everything is automated right from the local railway stations and with no booking windows or clerks, it is difficult to get proper guidelines. Human beings appear to be scarce and as for noise, it does not exist.
Winter is setting in, America is preparing itself for the festival season of Thanksgiving and Christmas. Shops are bursting with goods. Slowly we are counting the simple blessings of life. After years of boiling and filtering drinking water, it is a pleasure to drink water straight from the tap. In all apartments and country homes at every tap there are two pipes – one steaming hot tap and other one cold. The shoes never seem to get dirty and the air we breathe is so different from Mumbai."
On Saturday I was fortunate to have Sai Baba's "Darshan" at the Temple in Milptas along with members of my family including our sweet Gattu. It is a recently consecrated temple here in Milpitas, CA. If you are in the Milpitas vicinity, I implore you to visit this place. Here is the link for the temple website. We also visited the Swami Narayan Temple at Milpitas near Sai Temple. Pl. click here to go to the site ......
I travelled a lot by local buses, but unlike Mumbai, where there are buses every 20 minutes, here the buses come once in half an hour. They are seldom crowded, and a $1 ticket is valid for four hours. But I miserably miss the hustle, bustle and frequency of my own BEST in Mumbai. As for shopping, every supermarket and department stores is as large as a football stadium and every item is priced some dollars and 99 cents. I feel the American shops follow the pricing strategy of our Bata Ltd., where the shoes are always priced in some 799 or 899 rupees. Yet, unlike Mumbai, the human touch is lacking. at every place we visited. Everything is automated right from the local railway stations and with no booking windows or clerks, it is difficult to get proper guidelines. Human beings appear to be scarce and as for noise, it does not exist.
Winter is setting in, America is preparing itself for the festival season of Thanksgiving and Christmas. Shops are bursting with goods. Slowly we are counting the simple blessings of life. After years of boiling and filtering drinking water, it is a pleasure to drink water straight from the tap. In all apartments, houses, condos and townhouses there are two taps – one steaming hot tap and other one cold. The shoes never seem to get dirty and the air we breathe is so different from Mumbai."
We recently went out to a restaurant with some friends for Sunday breakfast, and while we sat in the patio, we happened to notice ZIPLOC baggies attached to the restaurant's patio wall. The bags were half-filled with water, each bag contained four pennies, and were all zipped shut. Out of curiosity, we asked the waiter about the baggies. We were told that they kept the flies away. Naturally, we became even more curious. So we actually watched. Sure enough, some flies came in the open window, and then flew out again, and there were absolutely no flies in the open patio eating area the entire time we were in the restaurant!
Upon getting home, I checked it out on Google and saw several comments from various people who swore that ZIPLOC baggies half-filled with water and a few pennies when attached over entryways will repel flies. Some commented that it also works for wasps. One particular comment on Google shed light on how and why it works. The comment posted on 5/26/2009 said:
My research found that each of the millions of molecules of water presents its own prism effect and given that flies have a lot of eyes, to them it's like a zillion disco balls reflecting light, colors and movement in a dizzying manner. When you figure that flies are basically prey for many other bugs, animals, birds, etc., they simply won't take the risk of being around that much perceived action. I moved to a rural area and I thought these "hillbillies" were just yanking my city boy chain but I tried it, and it worked immediately. We went from hundreds of flies to seeing an occasional one, but it didn't hang around long.
This is surely a new twist to fly control. It's hard to believe but it works. If you have problem with flies, it would be worth a try. We don't have many flies, but one is one too many.
(To be continued)
Pl.leave your comments
Lovely write up Ganesma.....Pl keep posting....
ReplyDeleteZIPLOC baggies thing amused me a lot.... will wait for your return to try out here...
Sure sir "courtesy" mail from our Don.
ReplyDeletevery nice...interesting about the flies and ziplocs
ReplyDelete