Slice of Life
The American connection
V. GANGADHAR
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There are striking similarities between life in India and the U.S. And, important differences too...
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I miss the hustle, bustle and frequency of my own BEST in Mumbai.
PHOTO: AP
Not chaotic enough: A bus terminal in the U.S.
FROM the time of Jawaharlal Nehru (as well as Presidents Truman, Kennedy and Reagan) we have been told that the United States and India are two of the greatest and biggest democracies in the world and they are bound by cultural, economic and other kinds of ties. At every summit meeting between the leaders of these two nations, this fact is emphasised.
Many similarities
On my third and longest visit to the U.S., I can confirm this sentiment. There are so many similarities between the U.S. and India, between Alexandria (Virginia) and Mumbai that I don't miss India at all. Take, for instance, the newspapers in both the countries. In Mumbai, to comment on the media, I spend around three hours reading seven or eight newspapers. Here in Alexandria, I spend more time reading just three dailies, the Washington Post, The New York Times and The Washington Times. These papers make me think of the akshayapatram, in our mythology: they just don't seem to get over. There is so much matter and so much variety that I can spend an entire day reading them.
Now, to the contents. In Mumbai, our dailies have a magnificent obsession with themes. For days together, we had nothing but the Volcker Report and its impact on poor Natwar Singh. Almost half the newspaper was filled with the Volcker episode. This was followed by Arjun Singh and his reservation policy and then the Indo-U.S. Nuclear agreement. These were flogged to death. The American dailies are no different. From the day we landed here, we must have read billions of words about the Senator Foley scandal. Mark Foley, the Republican Senator from Florida who happened to be gay, sent explicitly detailed sexual e-mail messages to the pageboys of the Senate and was caught in the act. Since the elections to the Senate and the Congress fall on November 7, this indiscretion could cost the ruling Republican Party dearly.
A politician's folly
The leading papers and TV channels seem to have nothing but Foley and his folly. Everyone from the Speaker of the Congress to the junior-most politician have commented on the scandal, though to the casual visitor to the U.S., the approach appears trivial. But, like our own media, there is too much overplaying of certain issues. In this case, the humorists and satirists are having a field day and Foley jokes come faster than one can keep track. In American society, a politician discovered to be gay seems to be the source for thousands of jokes. Thank god, it's not the same in India.
Looks familiar?
Apart from the media, there are quite a few other similarities between the two cities. The day after we reached my daughter's home, the drier in the washing machine broke down. These problems are taken care of by contractors engaged by the building. After seven days and 25 or more telephone calls, the repairmen finally came. The huge coloured man Eric, with an engaging grin, dismantled the machine, kept the parts lying around and went out several times, every time with "I will be back soon". Finally, the drier was put back but when the machine was tested, it wouldn't work. Eric came back with two more men, the "I'll be back" scenario continued and finally the entire machine was changed. This is exactly how it would have happened in Mumbai but for the fact that entire machines are seldom replaced.
We travel a lot by local buses, but unlike Mumbai, where there are buses every 20 minutes, here the buses come once in an hour. They are seldom crowded, and a $1 ticket is valid for four hours. But I miss the hustle, bustle and frequency of my own BEST in Mumbai. As for shopping, every supermarket and department stores is as large as a football stadium and every item is priced some dollars and 99 cents. Did the American shops follow the pricing strategy of our Bata Ltd., where the shoes are always priced in some obscure decimals?
Simple pleasures
Winter is setting in, America is preparing itself for the festival season of Thanksgiving and Christmas. Shops are bursting with goods. Slowly we are counting the simple blessings of life. After years of boiling and filtering drinking water, it is a pleasure to drink water straight from the tap. The shoes never seem to get dirty and the air we breathe is so different from Mumbai. There are some wonderful new books out, biographies of Katherine Hepburn and Audrey Hepburn, the first major non-fiction work from John Grisham and the latest on the Bush White House by the Watergate-fame Washington Post journalist, Bob Woodward.
Yet, unlike in Mumbai, the human touch is lacking. Everything is automated in the local railway stations and with no booking windows or clerks, it is difficult to get proper guidelines. Human beings appear to be scarce and as for noise, it does not exist. In the days to come, we hope to overcome some of these difficulties. We wouldn't, of course, be cracking Deepavali crackers!
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