Big Fish in Big Pond

"Ding dong.”

Door opens.

"Namaste Uncle, Namaste Auntie," you greet with your hands joined.

Auntie responds, “Namaste Babu.”

Uncle responds by offering a handshake instead. You reach out your hand, feeling foolish and grinning.

You look around at everyone and it’s like you’re in a different world. After living by yourself, this whole family living seems so alien. You wander along, maybe there’s a familiar face in the crowd. None. Everyone seems so old, like a generation of people you had not seen. It feels like being Peter Pan among Captain Hook’s crew.

You sit at a table and try to strike up a conversation but can’t find any ice breakers. There’s a bunch of kids running around and of all the things, you say “baccha haru lai ta kasto ramailo hai” to the 50+ person sitting next to you.  Wow, even small talk is different now.

Twiddle you thumbs, drink some beer, all the while thinking of some topic you may have in common. Maybe you can ask him what he does here. But wait that may be offensive or you may sound too inquisitive. Maybe you can ask them about their children. Naah. How about the 49'ers? Considering the grey hairs, I don't think that would lead anywhere. Twiddle some more. Drink some more.

A man comes and makes himself comfortable in the next chair. Confidently and authoritatively he asks, “Bhai ayeko kati bhayo?”.

“8 barsa”, you answer sounding as stolid as you can. “Ani tapaiko?”

“Ye, 30 barsa bhayo”.

Okay, guess it’s time to listen now. Every now and then you put your 2 cents in and people listen, but you get the feeling they’re not taking you seriously.

“Ani, bhai ko umer kati bhayo?”

“28.”

“La, tyaso bhaye ta biha garne umer bhayecha.  Yesso yata ko keti samatera bihe garnu.”

“Ka,” (momentary pause to decide whether to call him dai or uncle, then you say neither) “gf le marihalcha ni.”

Everyone responds with a laughter and you feel lighter.

“Ding, dong.”

The doors are opened and another group of people walk in, a younger group. Last among them is someone you know, an old friend. Yay!

You finish up the conversation and head out to the younger group.

“Hi!, haven’t seen you for a long time.”

“Oh my god! Hello. How've you been?”

Introductions about and you’re feeling at ease now. It’s a generation you can identify with. Catching up, talking about the job market, how their college years were, and Ocean City.

Breaking Brittle

Winter in Minnesota brings snow, lots of it. There's so much more than just snow though, there is soft flaky snow that feels like the heavens sprinkled icing sugar to give us a sweet taste of what lies underneath. Then comes the heavier sticky snow that you can form into small balls and playfully throw at your girlfriend, as she looks at you with those teasing horror-filled cute eyes. Those couple of feet of snow that you frolic around in like a little child.

Then comes a sunny and warm day melting the snow and making a mess of the beautiful landscape. There's puddles everywhere and you have to be careful that the cars zipping past don't splash those slushy dirty water onto you. It's all warm with blue skies until the night freezes the melted water and the next day you step out of your house. Still in a sleepy mood you carelessly take a step out and slip on the ice. (curses). You lie on your back. (more curses). Your feet are in a weird position and you pray that your laptop has survived the fall, but of course there's no time to open it and check it. So you pick up yourself (more curses) and walk on to your classes.

These were my seven seasons of winter in Minnesota, until now. This is a more enjoyable winter because I've found another playful form of ice. It had always slipped me, until now. Maybe it's this winter where we've had days of lots of snow and then nothing (global warming anyone???). But the ice is so much fun this year around.

I step on the ice and they break so easy. Maybe its the freezing-dry season we're having. But the ice is cracked like large transparent crackers. One step on them and like rippled chips they break into little pieces. I return everyday from college playing with them on my way back. One step here, another here, and see how they break, like car windows, into little pieces.

*She is irritated. She glares at me and commands me to stop. I step on one last one and walk along with her. Controlling my urge to whisk my feet along the others as I pass them. She is satisfied that finally I'm acting like an adult, but secretly only I know the truth.

I'm just saving the rest for another day.

(alt ending)

She is irritated. She glares at me and commands me to stop. I step on one last one and walk along with her. Controlling my urge to whisk my feet along the others as I pass them. She is satisfied that finally I'm acting like an adult, walking with dignity the two of us like a boring couple, just trudging along the snow. Then with an impish smile, she skips to my side and brushes her feet along the little icicles on the snow piles.

3:30 pm

3:30 pm
Somewhere a bell rang and a boy started to put all his books into his colorful book bag. His tiffin was all eaten and he was in a hurry to go home and play. Everyone started closing their books and the teacher lost her voice in the symphony thus created. All she could do was shout out to all the students to bring some money and the slips signed by the parents for the field trip to the zoo.

3:30 pm
The teacher glanced at his watch. She knew what was coming. The bell was about to ring and within a fraction of a moment all the students would close their books and rush out of the class. She had to remember to remind the students about the field trip to the zoo the next day. They would also have to have their parents sign the permission slips, after all tomorrow she would be the one responsible for all these children.

3:30 pm
The bell rang, the zoo warden was very happy. It was rare moments like these that made his days interesting. The bell meant all the schools were closing for the day and in another part of the town, there was a school closing that he was close to. The children would be leaving and she would be trying to tell the students about the field trip. Tomorrow she would come with the children to the zoo and this was his opportunity to get close with her, while giving the students a tour of the zoo. She was responsible for the children and he felt it was his responsibility to take care of her.

It had been so long since they’d known each other. Even as children, he had felt protective about her and wanted to take care of her. But being born in disparate societies prevented them from coming close. Even so, their love had taken root in such a difficult society, which made much stronger. Neither of their parents would agree to this love between them, he knew that, but that was a problem for the future. Maybe they could convince their parents or maybe they would have to elope, but that didn’t matter for now. For the foreseeable future all he saw was them together giving the children a tour of the zoo. Him talking, all the while stealing glances at her; and she, telling the students to quiet down, modestly brushing her hair back.

Drawing parallels

You'd think it would be hard to find it. Something that draws parallels with your own. But its right there. Without looking it draws itself against you and then compare and contrast you see the two of you have so much in common. So much parallels going towards infinity.

They seem to meet at the horizon, but they never do. You have to cross over and stop with the equal distance.