Its been 6 months so far. I came here in the early August. Finished one semester, and gettin' slowly deeper into the second. The classes are ok, I mean nothing to actually tell that "Oh God! Masters is so grilling". In fact, it probably is at the same level or lesser at times, in terms of coursework compared to the poor VTU - the Visveswaraya (Yes, I did get the spelling right) Technological University, under which almost all the colleges in Karnataka are affiliated to. I'd have expected post graduation to be atleast more challenging than the work atmosphere at the Indian Institute of Science. My research project there was far more research involving, and comparitively strenuous, well, atleast when the gasifiers ran and we were required to stay in front of the heat and dust for 12 hours a day, taking readings every 15 minutes or so. The analysing part sprung up later. It was like a strong building being built on basics. It was fun. Seriously. (Oxymoron? NO!)
I do research on air quality here. The general laziness in lifestyle forces me to complain and whine to do work. Though it is probably one quarter of what I'd been doing back at work, and no way strenuous, with super equipments handling most of the work. I'm required to put filter papers in an equipment and leave it for 8 days. When I go back, Voila! I get the results and I take the samples and put them in another machine to analyse (I just started work, and haven't gotten to that part yet, but still) Convenient? Yeah. Totally. Do you know what is happening? Yeah. Totally. Tell me, lets see. The machine is doing the work, can't you understand that much? :P
No wonder people grow to such proportions in this part of the world! There could or would be other reasons for that, but I'd like to attribute this as one of them. :)
Beaumont, South East TX, is a village off Houston, some 89 miles off. The university here, is on the outskirts of such a village. I've seen people branding India as the land of casteism, where in people of inferior status are looked down upon. Yes, I agree. I won't prevaricate here. There are problems, regional, communal, cultural, casteial (??). There are also the good things that few people, few educated people understand that there is nothing of the sort and dismiss it off. It is also a pity that few educated people tend to get absorbed into such cheap, vulgar distinctions that I wonder why they are called educated.
In the United States Law, everyone is treated equally. Every person is given equal opportunity irrespective of where he is from or what caste he is.
This is what I'd heard, till I saw.
If casteism in India is Brahmins, Bunts, Subsects and Other Backward Classes, caste in US is Caucasians, African americans, Asians (the word by itself is expressed in such disgust, by the way). It is no different. Caucasians are the priveleged people who hold the most prestigious jobs. African americans - the sect of people popular mostly in South East Texas, states of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, who are known for their aggressive nature and mugging talents. Asians, comprised primarily of our North India border sharing country - China. I saw chinese people and was stunned. They go totally out of the way to comprehend a topic, or create something new out of it. Each minute detail is studied. If you thought Indians were hard working, learn from the Chinese. I'm sure you'll be lost half way.
Beaumont is a sad place. I see buses rarely, and I see that trains in texas, are so fast inbetween cities that they take 24 hours or more to go to a place that is barely a 8 or a 9 hour drive. My bed bug-cockroach-weird insect laden house is very close to the college, saving me the time to walk across for a long time. Saving time? Sorry! Wrong expression :)
There is not much to do by saving time, apart from the groceries which we religiously buy at walmart every saturday or sunday, or the nearby washeteria where we go once in every 3 weeks. This area is supposedly having a low security. Not to brag about my bicep's size, but a person of average strength like me can break open my house door, without much assistance. Neighbours? Never seen them. Surroundings? Bad. Fear constand mugging at nights, or just gettin beaten up black and blue, or sit up whole night killing bed bugs or scratching the body. Yes, I'm in America.
Weekends are a total no-no for teetotalers like me. Watch people drink, see some movies and pass those 2 dreadful days. I miss the improptu trips or treks that were planned on thursday night and executed on friday evening in Bengaluru.
I'd stayed in India, in Bengaluru, in the same house for about 24 years, and knew the locality pretty well. There were incidents of robbery, but nothing, (thank God), close to the vicinity of our house. The last week, i heard what i'd heard in movies till then, in the middle of my sleep at 4 AM, which made me look at a guy coolly climb on his red SUV and drive off. Gunshots. 4 of them. Not a cry, not a sound after that, no cop cars, no nothing. The few hours of my sleep was spent in thinking, what if the angle of the gun changed? Yes, I'm in America.
One day, I'd left my book in a lab. A freaking $70 book. Convert that. ~Rs. 3500. Holy shit! Quite as natural, I freaked out. To add to my woes, I realised that I don't have the book with me on a saturday, when the lab was closed and when my mood was to study the subject, to face an upcoming examination. I spent the whole saturday thinking about what to do, and the whole sunday vowing that I'd learn to be extra careful and not forget such things. The next day, I go to the lab to see my book sitting right where I left it. I was overjoyed. I was more amused. Had it happened in India, I'd have chastised myself for losing a 3.5 k book and would have definitely taken care to see that it goes into my bag, next time. Here, I know that if I leave it again, I'll get it back. You getting the state of mind? People here get the easiest of things. Sometimes, the easy way of doing things helps. Not all the time. To know in what position one is, it is necessary to think of how worse a situation could he/she be in.
All the way I knew I was a celebrity and there would be some numbers of girlfriends flocking around me. I was wondering which nationality I'd have to choose and you know, go ahead! Things aren't as nice as you think they are, unfortunately. So thought of proclaiming that I'm single on the internet would help [:P]
That is the 6-month update I thought the world needed to know about. I'm still going strong, not losing will power and multi tasking. My Indian attributes are way too strong to be encompassed by something American. Hell, I don't eat chicken still!
