Sun, Sand and Sea

Here are a few visual impressions from, shall I say, the 'Kerala' on the Atlantic?.... I was there on a little vacation some time earlier this month.


If you're looking for something on the lines of an itinerary, nah-uh. Florida conjures too many images, sounds, smells, for that. I was only in the southern area, so that's Ft.Lauderdale onwards to the Keys, with our last evening in Key West. Here are some "let's rewind" points on the reel running in my mind:

• First glimpse from the flight? Alternating light and dark blue colored sea for miles beyond the shore
• My first whiff of salt and sea, right at the airport
• My first dip ever ever in the Atlantic (or, for that matter, in any large, fairly unlimited, water body)
• White sand, golden sun, blue waters
• Walking barefeet on warm beaches (I have rarely walked barefeet anywhere in the US)
• Tan lines on my skin (still not gone)
• Eating lunch on a gently swinging table and chairs (aids digestion?)
• Air and Sea show at Ft.Lauderdale, airplanes whizzing by as we sunned on the beach
• Getting scared of sudden seaweed under my feet when in the water ("Mummy, snake!!!!")
• Mangoes, South Beach Miami... woo-hoo! (Man, that is a sexist place, though. And their martinis aren't that great either. Nor their margaritas. But the music is. I'm into Latino beats these days, and the more 'live', the better. Which this was. Hence the woo-hoo.)
• Speeding through the Everglades on an airboat... what a rush!
• Alligators (Missed you, Steve, Terri and Baby Irwin! The alligator shows here torture the poor creatures, methinks.)
• Herons and vultures and coots and egrets and duckies and....
• Bouganvilles and periwinkles and hibiscus and palms and mangroves... and, Mumbai-meri-jaan, I missed you.
• Snorkeling at Key Largo... the quick boat ride in the sun, the two-minute snorkeling lesson, getting off the boat for the very first time into the ocean five miles from any land, flippers, safety vests, goggles and snorkels, seaweed and water plants, "don't ever put your feet on the seafloor!", fish and a fairly large sting ray!!, corals... purple, red, white, yellow... color on the seafloor, magnificent, entrancing, "can I live in here forever?"
• SHARK on the seafloor (I have to mention this separately from the rest of the Key Largo experience, because I saw it when alone, and had to swim away very discreetly so that I didn't provoke it in any way... and also because this, to me, constituted the 'high point' of my vacation. I saw a shark!! Live. Six feet away from me. No glass walls between us. Ominous music playing in my head. But I loved it. What an experience! I'm sure the only thing that rates higher in the wildlife kingdom is seeing a snake from that close, when I'm alone.)
• Driving across the keys, water on both sides of US-1
• Brief stop at Islamorada to refuel vehicle, at Marathon to refuel ourselves
• The Seven-Mile-Bridge across the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean. I respect the people who envisioned and accomplished it.
• Key West, the blurred memory of a dash from the Southernmost Point of the Continental USA across to Ernest Hemingway's home across to the westernmost point of the island to see the sunset
• Key Lime Pie on Key West, ummm-hmmmm-yummmmm!!! (then again, Key Lime Pie is great anywhere.)
• Late night moonlight-watch from Islamorada, lying down comfortably in a hammock, waiting for the sun to rise
• Sunrise off the island, through palm trees
• Blackbirds nesting in palm trees (Thank goodness they didn't go after my hair... the crows in Mumbai seem to think its' good nest material. I won't blame them.)
• Coming across mommy and two tiny baby blue crabs all of a sudden in some plant-filled water
• Driving all around for Cuban cuisine, only to find that the place we're looking for was shut for the day
• I wish I lived here!!!

Us Vs. Them

When I first came to this school, one of the 'advantages' I was promptly informed of was that there was a sizeable desi population here. And, indeed, not only in the college, but around the train stations, the Mile, the supermarkets, I'd be bumping into someone 'cast into a mould like mine'. On the day of the formal introduction to this school, "Orientation Day", I was introduced to an Indian girl in my department, who went somewhat like, oh, I'm so glad I finally found someone I can hang out with, and seemed visibly excited, so much so that I was feeling guilty that I wasn't really that interested in hanging out with her. I'm the non-social one, in my most affable moments, I just about succeed in playing the "I'm apart, but still a part" part. And that too, far from perfectly.

Anyway, so for a few days, we exchanged notes in class, talked about homework, and, in general, were as chummy as it is possible for me to be with a total stranger that I have no intention of really getting to know. After a while I realized that in associating with her, I was spending one-half of my time in class with people who conglomerated to speak a language I didn't even understand, and talked about subjects I wouldn't even have any interest in. Gradually, within a couple of weeks, I excused myself from that company, and went my own way. I still have no people I can call friends in this school, in the department or within the classes I take, but I got friendlier with the others... there was this Cyprian guy that I hung out with for a while, a girl from Spain who was studying as well as working, a lot of the South-East Asians that you inevitably find along with us Indians in engineering courses, and others that I'd associate with in the bus or in the cafeteria ("Hey, you're --- engineering too? You're from --- country?! Wow, that's a coincidence, my cousin did her PhD on something there!", followed by a most interesting discussion), like intermittent sensory specks in a comatose day. Meanwhile, I'd go home in the bus sometimes, smiling at the way two comparative strangers greeted each other once they realized they were both from the same state, or spoke the same language and were from the same cultural background. It has consistently amused me that I tend to run away (or at least, treat warily) people from my cultural background as much as they try to hold on to others of the same background.

Here, I'm going to pause and say, for the record, that I'm not one of those who thinks any less of my country or my countrypeople just because I'm now in a different world. I love my country, if possible, even more than before, and I miss the people I used to be in touch with when I was home. And moreover, I don't think it's just a desi thing. Each person tends to mix with the kind of people he/she feels most comfortable with. And yes, culture does have a lot to do with feeling comfortable. It's just that with "US", culture isn't the most important thing. Intellect is. Talent is. I actually realize I feel a bond with my littlest Nigerian room-mate even though I've known her only two months, I recognize in her a thinking person, a capable person, and I respect that. I guess my comfort comes from the fact that the person I'm interacting with has qualities I admire, that I try to cultivate in myself.

With "THEM", on the other hand, almost the first question you're asked is, say, are you from South India/Delhi/Bombay? Or, do you like Hindi film songs? Can you be cool (i.e., bindaas)? Do you speak this language? Are you married? Don't you think Sindhis/Malayalis/Bombayites are awful? Join in if you answered yes, and if not, well.... you'll see the disapproval. You'll know they prefer someone "safe", someone conventional, someone around whom they need not think. Not my criteria at all.

I don't know why I should launch into this, except that today I passed by the girl I met at Orientation. I averted my eyes. She averted hers. Then I thought better of it, she must've too. So I smiled the smile I reserve for strangers, she muttered the hello she reserved for them. And we walked past each other on the street.