Contact lenses

My eyes have gotten to that irritating, in-between state, whereI can just about do without wearing glasses, but wearing them makes everything looks so much clearer!

But when you want to watch television lying down sideways, glasses are painful. I thought of finally moving on to contact lenses.

But getting lenses in the US meant an appointment and a visit to the doctor, which my laziness didn't let me do. I instead called my brother in Bombay and got them delivered from there.
All excited, I opened the parcel to not find a case for the lenses. I ordered a set of 3 immediately on Amazon, and waited two days to get them. I was now ready to watch tv!

I had never wore lenses before, and had no idea how complicated wearing lenses for the first time is. A contact lens, being so delicate, can be held in both directions. The direction with the greater convexity is supposedly the correct direction. I was absolutely unable to decide which was the correct direction, so I started trying. I poked my eye for half an hour, and after my eyes were as bloodshot as I've never seen them before, I gave up.

The next day, I turned to Youtube to teach me how to put on the lenses. A ridiculous quack explained the procedurein great detail, but my trials still did not succeed.

I took these lenses to San Francisco, where I was visiting my sister, to learn from someone with experience. She had gotten her Lasik surgery done, so she did not have any solution for the lenses. She taught me how to do it, but only in words.

After a month of giving my eyes some rest from my poking, I took up the task again yesterday. Voila! The left eye lens was friendly enough to stay in! Now that I believed that something was not wrong with the shape of my eyes, I poked my right eye with more determination and finally succeeded. I cried; mainly due to the poking, but also in happiness!

I went to a friend's housewarming party after that, and he pointed out he thought I cried and came! After hearing my story, they started a conversation about how if you sleep with contact lenses on, they could end up stuck inside your eye and could require surgery! So I came home last night scared but ensured I took them off before sleeping.

I woke up in the middle of the night, and thought I was still wearing them. I ran to the mirror and started poking my eye. When you wear lenses, it's easy to forget you're wearing them, especially with my not-so-bad-that-I-require-glasses eyes. After nothing came out of either eye, I checked he case and realized I had taken them out the previous night! So much for watching TV!

Neighborhood watch - Chinatown

Neighborhood watch - Chinatown

One day at work, we got talking about food in Chicago; supposedly the restaurant capital of the country. Everyone raved about Chinatown; the hole-in-the-wall shops, the cheap goods, and the brilliant, open late at night, restaurants.
So I met up with a couple of friends to celebrate 4th of July at the immigrant neighborhood. We went to Lao Sze Chuan; probably spelled in Indian as Lao Schezwan. The place was quite busy; a half hour wait at 8.30pm. Once we were seated, no one came to take our order for 15 minutes, supposedly since the kitchen was too busy to accommodate all orders! Of course, we hadn't expected great service. The server simply said No to most of the requests that my vegetarian freind made! After he finally did take the order, we waited another half hour for the food to come.
Upto this point, our expectation of Schezwan sauce was that of a red, hot, sour-ish sauce. The Sze Chuan gravy turned out to be transparent, bland, sweet-ish. It is only then that I realized how Chinese food for me, was still the Indian-Chinese that I ate at Mainland China!

City, matters.

June 6, official or not (I'm unsure), is a date etched in my mind as the start of monsoons in Bombay. I share a love-hate relationship with the rains there. Five years back, I hated the rains; but since, I absolutely love them.

Rains for me meant getting out of the building extremely armed, with a wind-cheater (I don't really know how that's spelt) and an umbrella, but both in the bag. It was about getting drenched. It was about making that run from college to Shot Club, and then trying to dry out the skin between the thumb and the forefinger so that I could cue. It was about going to Dhiraj for the coffee. It was about morning drives to the beach, and trying to park an enormous Innova in the by-lanes of Juhu. It was about avoiding the puddles on the ground while trying to kick the football.

It was about cursing the rain, while ever so loving it.

India and the youth

When the UPA government came into power, India went berserk proclaiming the decreasing age of the politician. The focus was on Rahul Gandhi, Sachin Pilot, Milind Deora, Jyotiraditya Scindia and the likes, who seemed weirdly out of place but welcome in the leadership. Everyone revelled in the representation of youth, and how Indian politics would change forever.

It surprises me then that today, two people who are revolting for national causes, paint a very traditional picture. The common man responds more to these two more than he does to Rahul Gandhi's farmer protests.

The reason is the cause. I haven't read a lot about the farmer protests, so I won't comment further on that. However, the demands of Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev are in sync with most Indians. If there is provision for the money stashed away in foreign banks to be brought back, who wouldn't want it. It's like telling a child that you have his chocolate, but making him cry for it, and still not giving it to him. Cruel. (Well, unless the child has bad teeth, in which case, get him treated, teach him to brush his teeth, and then let him eat the chocolate.)

I understand the government's apprehension to telecast the Lokpal Bill committee meetings live. The Indian media is irresponsible. Every word said by anyone's dog is dissected and twisted and edited to create sensational instead of accurate news. (I wonder what happened to the live phone conversation between India TV and the Cama House terrorist on 26/11?) However, when you take responsibility to lead a billion people, the least you can do is think before you speak.

The government has two and a half years left to rethink its ways. The Indian of today is difficult to please, because he has started to think.

From home to work

I skip down four flights of stairs to get out into the sun.

I walk to the train station with a hundred other people heading in the same direction.

I get into the train, which reminds me of the Bombay Local.

There are people holding on to the handrails, doors, whatever else they can find, and other hold-able objects. Still, almost half of the train is reading a book, either physically or on one from the Kindle or the iPad. The other half is listening to music.

Once at the station, I speed-walk past everyone else, and there are others who speed-walk past me. It's the morning exercise.

Sometimes, I hear a little music on the station, good music.

I get on to the next train which is usually a little emptier. It is now that I take out the book I am to read.

I get through 10 pages and I'm ready to get out of the train.

I walk past the security guys, the badge-in machines and get into one of the 8 elevators.

I pick up cereal, a banana, sometimes a toast or bagel, and coffee and head up to the 23rd.

Thus my day starts.

Phase 2: The friend

Since coming here, I have come to know a lot of people, who have of course become friends by now. However, there is a slight difference in the definition - not actually the definition, but the line differentiating the friend from the acquaintance.

It might be because of the short span of time that I have lived here that I feel this, but the fact that there are such less people who you can actually talk normally with; in your own language, about things that you would normally talk about back home; that whoever can at least listen and respond to such conversation automatically becomes your friend.

People you hang around with are your friends, and then there is no necessity of being close to them.

Phase 2: Commencement

My mom sat with me in the afternoon; asking if I was ready for the new phase in my life. She thought I was, and so did I.

The flight to Newark was full of some of the best words written to/for me; with the upgrade to Business from Brussels onwards adding a lot to the excellent experience.

Jersey City was hot, to say the least. I was ready with a sweatshirt in one hand, and a raincoat in the other. The weather was sure to play a large role in this new phase of my life.

After a smooth immigration and an excited hug with my sister, we moved on to her house. The living room was a guy's dream; a 32" Sony LCD, a Harman Kardon sound system, a Playstation 2, a Nintendo Wii, and the Rock Band Set. I spent a couple of hours singing, drumming and playing the guitar; obviously out of tune.

The next few days passed by in eating different cuisines having really large portions, roaming around Manhattan like it was Bombay, experiencing Eureka-like moments for some engineering problems, and cooking a little bit of food.

We drove to Pittsburgh on the Friday. After a brilliant brunch of eggs, sausages and the world's yummiest pancakes, we arrived at the Steel City. Pittsburgh at night was quiet, to an extent that we felt a little scared walking back to the hotel at 10.30 pm; but that is how Pittsburgh is, not unsafe, but quiet.

Most of the next day was spent apartment hunting and settling down. We took a tour of Carnegie Mellon and fell in love with it.

America has really impressed me; at least with the food if not more. In the 10 days I have been here, I have had Indian, American, Italian, Mexican, Middle Eastern, Chinese and Thai food. On my list next are Polish and Spanish.

It has been a good first few days of the new phase!