SLICE OF LIFE
The good and the bad
V. GANGADHAR
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Travelling from India, America can be a mystifying mix of contrasts...
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Amazing variety: An Indian restaurant in NewYork.
TAMIL writers of the past like Devan and Manian, whenever they went abroad and wrote travelogues, mentioned how they were hosted by fellow Tamilians from Argentina to Zambia who served them home-made delicacies like Adai, Morkulambu, Vengaya Kotsu and potato podimas so that they never missed home cooking. In my 10 weeks' stay in the U.S., my daughter Mansie and her American husband Michael saw to it that we tasted a variety of international cuisine at least once a day while my wife cooked for them Indian delicacies. Since the U.S. offered an amazing variety of food, we ate at Afghan, Thai, Vietnamese, Ethiopian. Greek, Japanese, South Korean and French restaurants and enjoyed the voyage of gastronomic discovery.
Land of plenty
America is a land of plenty, its people eat well and many of them are obese. At a Maryland seafood restaurant which offered once a week "As much crab as you can eat for $ 27", I found I could not even see the faces of American diners sitting behind kilos of crab shells and claws and wondered how quickly the seas would run out of crabs. Supermarkets and grocery marts offered an amazing variety of foodstuffs. At my niece's home in La Fayette, her 12-year-old son, facing an enormous variety of cereal packets and unable to make a choice moaned, "O, I don't know". Accustomed to thin, unhealthy looking Indian sandwiches, we could not finish huge American sandwiches.
Yet, America is not just about food. There are millions of people who retain their individual culture. My niece Lata and her husband Ravi, when they moved to La Fayette Purdue university campus and acquired a home, did a traditional grahapravesam in the presence of priests from Chicago. We celebrated a traditional Deepavali at their home and, by a strange coincidence, attended a violin concert by maestro T.N. Krishnan.
Pivotal role
Much of America's greatness is due to the role of the universities, which woos bright young people. Visiting Purdue and Indiana universities, I was amazed at the enthusiasm and hard work put in by the Directors of Admissions, in taking students and parents around the campuses and explaining the salient points. Unlike India, the bright and even the above average students are offered inducements. The choice of subjects is also amazing. The universities are led by outstanding men whose selection had nothing to do with politics. Dr. Steven Knapp, the new head of George Washington University had come through Yale, Cornell, UC, Berkley and Johns Hopkins. A community man and adept fundraiser, he had wanted to be a drummer and found time from his work to run a sheep farm with his wife.
Truly a land of opportunities provided one worked hard, it is only in the U.S. that a humble Ghanaian, Kwah Asamoah, who once sold soap, could end up as a leading outfitter with customers like ABC 7 Anchor, Leon Harris and the new Governor of Maryland, Anthony Brown. No one complains about hard work. The private sector workers in the U.S. do not have a single day of paid sick leave. If a worker broke his foot, got a stomach upset or caught the flu and remained at home, he lost his day's wages. One of the key issues in the last mid-term elections to the Senate and the Congress was the Democrats' promise to hike the minimum wage from the current $5.15 an hour to $7.25. Yet, most industries and establishments were already paying more than this. For instance, shampooers in beauty parlours were paid $8 an hour, dressing room attendants $8.41, dishwashers $8.05 and lifeguards $7.95 though wages are comparatively low in the poorer States like Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana.
The other side
The black spots in American society were also clearly visible. We found no Whites doing manual labour; this was usually done by African-Americans and the Hispanics. The White police appeared to be trigger happy in dealing with any "trouble", real or imaginary, from the African-Americans. The New York police, keeping vigil at a night club, did not hesitate to shoot and kill a young African-American who, with his friends, left the club around 3 a.m., after attending a noisy stag party. He was to be married later in the day. Though he was not armed, the police alleged he tried to draw a gun when challenged by them!
These incidents lead to anger and unrest. But no one thought of noisy demonstrations, bandhs or destroying public property. America needs a rethink from its police officers. But I was impressed with the appointment of the new Washington police Chief. A 39-year-old women officer who had an outstanding career in the force, the new chief had left school while in ninth grade to have a baby. She was then 15 and the father was unknown. Later, she married the father of her son, divorced him after two years and joined the police academy. Working all the beats, she also completed her education, including a Ph.D. in Criminology. There was no adverse comment from the media on her early problems. The focus was on how well she had functioned as a police officer.
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