It was 5.30 in the evening when we reached home and after the initial excitement of meeting close relatives located faraway got subdued to a certain extent,(which took about an hour and a half with everyone trying to speak about everything, most of which had already been talked over the phone for hours together, earlier) I went for a refreshing shower. Taking a shower was anything but refreshing as I had to 1. Learn to stand upright in the bath tub which has a rounded base and maintain the position during the showering process 2. Learn to use a single knob on the tap - I had to turn the knob left and right, move it up and down, pull it out and push it in as required- to get the water in right temperature out of the right outlet. 3. Prevent my elbows from knocking off assorted bottles of shampoos, conditioners, soap dishes, liquid soap dispensers and other stuff stored in the cramped “shower” area while trying to reach different parts of my body and 4. Had to take care that the shower curtain remains in position all the time keeping the shower water flowing in to the bath tub so that the next person entering the bath room does not need a boat to get in. (Since the next person, most likely was my wife, I had to be doubly careful. If it were to be any other person in the house, he/she, out of consideration for me would have simply fetched the boat from the garage with out complaining and got in, though it would have taken a while to search for the boat amongst the other things in the garage). I have seen quite a few bathrooms during my three weeks stay. They have a huge mirror and wash basin but a small bath tub or a tiny shower cubicle. I do not understand why? Now, let me not give an impression that I came to the US to learn to take a shower standing in a bath tub or study the bathroom details. Let it suffice to say, that in spite of the learning process involved, a shower after two days was refreshing and we sat for an early dinner so that we could get some much needed sleep. I had not slept well either on the flight or during the two preceding nights and expected to sleep like a log for the next ten to twelve hours and get up fully refreshed to soak in the experiences of a foreign country.
As it turned out, I could neither eat anything during dinner nor get any sleep.After rolling around on the bed restlessly, getting in and out of it again and again, trying to read, watching the TV and searching for snacks through out the night, disturbing the whole house hold, I was feeling much worse in the morning. I was neither fresh, nor sleepy but was in a state of tired drowsiness with out any interest in anything happening around. To top it, my intestines got terribly confused with the unusual activities of the stomach and the brain and the bowel movements went haywire. Attending to their needs using the toilet paper is another story but propriety determines that I do not go in to details. I will just say that we use a lot of tissue paper during treatment in my clinic, cleaning and wiping around the mouth and since I knew to manage one end (not mine, other’s) with the tissue, it was not so very difficult to mange the other end (not other’s, mine) with the same.
After I remained in that state for more than 48 hours I accepted the diagnosis of jetlag and as suggested, tried to remain active with out attempting to sleep during the day and so, managed to get a few hours of sleep at night. It took a full week for me to be normal again. I will be more considerate in future while dealing with relatives who live abroad, when they complain of jet lag after a long flight.
I used to be awake very early in the mornings and went for long walks around the locality. I was terribly impressed with the clean and even side paths running along the roads, the absence of dirt and dust, presence of manicured lawns and gardens everywhere and the consideration shown to the pedestrian by the car drivers. It was extremely hot and sultry when we left Goa, and the atmosphere was very dusty because of summer and pre- mansoon winds. I hate heat and dust. And the sight of indiscriminately thrown garbage irritates me no end. I think the absence of these irritants and the visibly better civic sense of the residents is what made me get a very favourable impression of the country I was visiting. I walked around, though a bit drowsy, enjoying the surroundings, and if it was still dark, surprising a hare, some ducks or a raccoon which had reached the side path in the course of its activities.
I had seen the pictures of houses in this country, standing well apart amidst green lawns and with out any boundary walls and had always wondered why can’t we manage our surroundings like that? At least those of us who consider ourselves civilized and educated? Now, walking along the road looking at the neat and cozy looking houses exactly as they were in the picture post cards and clicking pictures of almost every house and garden, I felt very happy.
After closer observations some questions seem to have cropped up and other thoughts have been forming but I will come to them later at appropriate times, if I remember. But right then I did feel that I was in a paradise.
The courtesy car drivers show to each other and much more of it accorded to pedestrians (specially to those who have grey hair) is very heartening. Back home, I am used to standing by the side of the road waiting for the road to be clear before crossing it. I am used to hearing a loud honk if I try to cross a road when a vehicle is approaching and can almost feel the accusing hand stretched towards my face. I am used to side stepping with agility to prevent myself from being knocked down. So, when ever I reached a road junction I stood by the road side waiting for the cars to pass. The cars reached the junction and they stopped. I thought they were waiting for the signal but the signal was green! I was wondering what was wrong with these drivers when I realized that having seen me standing by the side, they were impatiently waiting for me to cross. I hastily crossed the road, the drivers heaved a sigh of relief and drove ahead. I notice the same consideration while I use a bicycle too. Feels very nice.
The pictures I got in my mind and the feelings behind them are formed by the initial look at a tiny part of one of the states. More exposure, close observation and thinking may bring in whys, whynots, rights ,wrongs, heres and elsewheres (sorry about grammer and spellings) but let me not bother about them now. I was happy to soak in the pleasant experiences of the USA all of which I had read or heard but all of which are still exciting and enjoyable when experienced first hand.
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