Chapter 12

The valleys raining mist

In frost-covered America, people will never come out of their blankets even if the rays of the rising sun penetrate the shutters and wake them up. The life here is frozen during the winter months. Most will remain under blankets in the air-conditioned rooms without knowing that the sun has arrived in the morning sky. That is the weather condition here. It will be noon when the ice starts melting. To be to able take the car out to the road the municipal staff has to come and remove the ice. In our place, when people are engaged in cleaning up the courtyard, people here will be labouring to sweep off the ice. They use special implements here instead of the broom we use in our place. We will freeze into ice in minutes when we come into the open, even if we have covered the entire body barring the nostrils. When the cold pierces our bones, we start biting our teeth.

The snow, shedding like powder, would cover the grass in white. The children usually engage in playful antics. They would collect snow and blow in the air. Everyone would wear gloves, stockings and hat when coming outside. I was excited like a child in winter seeing the sky, moon and stars for the first time. Each sight in America in winter was soaked up by my eyes.

All the houses in America are built to withstand the severe cold. The houses had slanting roofs with the inside walls made of wooden panelling. The floors are also of wood and thickly carpeted. Though there were a number of apartments, people loved to stay in independent houses. The compound walls for houses are very rare. They are not concrete walls, but only fencing with shrubs. In spite of the system of capitalism prevalent there, we can also see some socialist ideals in American life.

The employers mainly belonged to the private sector. The hospitals and transportations under the government were far and few. For these reasons, unemployment was very rare. Skill and sincerity were necessities in the workplace. When all are employed, it is natural that development takes place in all spheres.

The farming sector is mechanised. There are no barren lands. Though, generally, it was very cold all over, all varieties of vegetables are cultivated in all states. All the produce will be bought by the government. Even if the surplus goes waste, that wouldn't affect the agriculturists. So the farmers there had nothing to worry. There is no exploitation by intermediaries. The farmers are also rich.

Most residents go to the open market once a week and buy vegetables and fruits. Tapioca, yam and other tubers are also available in the markets. The fish market, full of buyers and salesmen, is unbelievably quiet. I came to know that sale is possible without shouting or loud bargaining. There are also a lot many instances to show the difference in culture.

In the beginning, I would stand aloof without buying anything. "Can't we buy one gram of gold for the price of one kilogram of tapioca?" I would ask Baby. Though she had asked me umpteen number of times not to compare the price in US in terms of Indian rupee, I would calculate the comparative prices in my mind. She would make fun of me saying "if it is so, it would be good to live without eating." When I could settle with that reality, I stopped the calculation. The problem is when we calculate that we can buy a bag of rice back home for the price of one cup of tea. There is meaning in such comparison only when we use the money brought from India. The difference would not affect us when we spend the money at the same place from where we have earned it.

When I reached America, the stars on the roads were cars from Japan and Korea along with the ones from America. I was proud and a bit jealous when I saw the underground metro railway and the electric and water lines 800 feet below the ground level. Any development would be planned 50 years in advance there. In Kerala, when a road is built, the next day trenches will be dug for some other work. When we account for the money thus wasted, we can build two Americas in our country. We have so many resources. But when it comes to the utilisation part, it would not conform to a democratic system at any time.

The working class in America had better living conditions. The government provides assistance to ward off poverty. Medical insurance is a very good example of this. Probably, that is the reason that there is no great demand for government jobs. Each works according to his own liking. This vitalizes the job sector. In other words, the private companies there have great freedom to extract the maximum out of the working class. The punching system is another example. The employee will be fined heavily, if he reports for duty five minutes late. If late by five minutes for four days, a day's wage will be cut; that is a day's wage for 20 minutes of absence. As this greatly affects the workers, nobody dares to report late for duty.

In spite of all this, it was not be very difficult to adjust to life in New York. We may have to make some lifestyle changes. The rules are very strict in any area of life. Bribery is never tolerated. One day I tried to dial back home. Instead of the international code of 011, I dialled 911. There was the doorbell in five minutes. There was the armed police when I opened the door. I did not have any idea what was happening.

"Did you call 911?" asked the police.

"No, I did not call, Officer." By that time the police showed me the call record. Baby came down and apologised. The police was satisfied with the explanation that number 911 was dialled by mistake instead of 011. Police interference in domestic violence is usual there. They came in haste thinking that there was a family dispute.

A number of rules would confuse us when we come out on to the road. It is left hand driving there. It puzzled me greatly when I saw the steering wheel on the left side of the vehicles.

I had taken a driving license as soon as I reached America. As I had the license from India, I did not have to go for the road test, but had to go for only a written test. Soon a small car came to us parked on the road in front of our house, as an unexpected guest. The 'Chevette' model of 'Chevrolet' company cost only under $6,000. It reminded me of the American car of Sri Chitthira Thirunal (King of Travancore) which used to pass our way during my childhood. My bragging to my friends then has become a reality now! Such coincidences in life have surprised me a lot as we could own a car, it was my duty to drop off Baby to hospital in the morning.

One day I decided to return home by bus after taking Baby to hospital. There was a board in the bus stop: "No Stopping , Bus Stop." Thinking that the bus would not stop there, I started walking to the next stop. A similar board was there also. I looked around for a Keralite to find out what was happening, but could not see anybody except the white Americans. Because of the reluctance to talk to them in my poor English, I walked forward. There was again another board with the same message. Thus I reached home. Baby was not in a position to control her laughter when she came to know of my stupidity. The boards meant that other vehicles are not expected to stop in the bus bay. I started my efforts seriously to learn the grammarless American English from that moment.