One of my first writings after experiencing different continents

From Mouchak to Mövenpick to Mc Donald’s......

I plunged into the adventure along with 226 boxes as the 40 foot container marked Basel to Boston drove off with my home–‘Fragile -handle with care’. The same words were invisibly visible in me too. I was leaving my job, joys, friends and familiarities to honor the word family that I blindly believed in. Never before had I realized the calm comfort of knowing my environment and being known.

I walked up to the US immigration officer with my children. Questions? None at all. All they look for are authenticated, valid documents and the non- staggering look in your eyes. I looked forward to letting my Indian iron bangled , Swiss watched clad hand to rest upon my heart and take the pledge of allegiance along with my students in schools here.

I had felt a tingling feeling of peeping wings when I left my 6 year settlement in Delhi and landed into the land of beauty and Bollywood song scenes .I realized I was leaving much more today. It had taken labored integration to embrace ‘Gruezi’ and be comfortable with melted cheese next to my turmeric powder! I had left a life in the exotic East to embrace the magnificent West! And now from the Alps to the Rockies it was déjà vu although I realized the flying grounds in USA were boundless and within them were countless turns and mazes where it was easy to get lost.

I often lost my automatic sedan amidst trucks and 4x4’s in huge parking lots, got lost out on 16 lane highways unable to arrow out of the innumerable bow exits left and right. Lost the charm of sidewalks, a quick walk to the bus stop, 15 minutes non-pondering grocery shopping, hearing a human voice on the other side of the phone ....... along with some precious black hair!

I’ve gained too..., unforgettable notes from my students from 3 to 18 year olds, new vocabulary to add to my English teaching, a new greeting that doesn’t wait for an answer even though it’s a question ’how are you’! The roaring , ravishing garbage disposer in my kitchen sink, a few more vaccinations and ....... few more kilos- Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, Chipotle, KFC, Friendly’s, Wendy’s, Burger King, mouthwatering cuisines from all over the world and high fructose corn syrup didn’t make it hard at all ! Most of all weightless experiences, positive colleagues, friends-old and new and some confident doctors- who can take weight off without a treadmill.

Amidst my losings and findings, I’ve searched too. Why houses were bigger than hearts. Why signatures were trusted more than words. Why individual reasoning outweighed rules and rights outweighed responsibilities. Rush ran faster than respect. Big houses, big choices, big roads, big festivals and within this ‘big’ my small world formed unknowingly.

My son found his way from a 22 peered kindergarten to a 350 seated cafeteria in one of the largest elementary schools in Connecticut.My black-haired daughter emitted mystery when she spoke fluent German. Unfolding themselves and all the mysteries around them they learned to sweat it out and enter a sports team, an honor roll and remain in it as they prided themselves in wearing the school/ team sweatshirt with their printed name. Sense of humor, competitiveness, healthy opportunity, and entrepreneurship. I held on tightly to my birthday present given by my 8-year-old who earned the price by putting the garbage out and vacuuming our house. America had touched him, but Switzerland hadn’t left him either. Along with my present was a wild flowered bouquet and a handmade card! It was a pleasure to walk through the high school hallways and hear ‘she’s Ambika’s mother’...a cherished title rather than Mrs. M. Measured scoops of ethics, discipline, and entrepreneurship sprinkled with family bonding – the magic.

Variety of minds and malls, ethics and emotions, choices and charms, condos and comforts. You could walk into dollar shops or to Louis Vuitton in little or big crowded plazas. From California to Massachusetts, from Texas to North Dakota the options are countless. You could dive into your chosen life or spend your time couponing, shopping, watching American soaps, Netflix, and Indian or Regional channels on the TV with occasional visits to the Chinese pedicurists. Driving though is the common side with any combo you choose in America! Burning hot summers to freezing long winters where the autumn colors of New England are the painting ground for God with his palette consisting of red, orange, brown, gold, green, bronze, and a mix of all six- I spread my wings and flew with change, sometimes cruising, sometimes bumping.

It is easy to mix into large crowds of people here. Our division creeps in with us because we allow it to! Whether it’s the Alps or the Rockies you’ll see Christmas and blueberry muffins, Onam and coconut oil, Durga puja and mustard oil, Eid and full moon nights. Few groups enjoyed biryani, celebrated Christmas, cooked with mustard oil, and attended Onam, while others broke all barriers and dived into the difference. Even if we have reached the moon, do we realize that the color pumping our hearts on Earth is only red?

I was different too. My difference stung me when I held my toddler, standing amidst two long aisles of milk in a supermarket in Switzerland. Alone and speechless! My language, color, confidence, everything was different. I stood there statued with helpless yet angry tears rolling down my cold face. This difference gnawed me. I wanted to integrate by being myself and yet spreading among them. Perhaps this was integration in its true sense and it was the little town of Baden that pushed my seventh sense. One loses the true meaning of integration in the vastness of America if one wishes to. It isn’t necessary. It’s easy to find places of your own worship, own language, festivals, and food and be completely content.

Fun and friendliness have created a new kind of freedom here. The protectors of this freedom hide around unexpected corners to swoop down at their preys. If rules don’t make you give them the right of way during a chase their ear-piercing sirens and their eye-blinding flashy lights will. The police -they protect the 3000 miles spread over inhabited coastal areas along with the deserted midst from various storms to uphold their national bird. Not only from Katrina, Sandy, and Nemo that mothers the 5 feet icicles hanging from my windows and ruthlessly tears out houses and the homeless, but also from those storms that weather machines don’t read. “Guns and Goons”- They come unwarned every now and then at nooks and corners, aiming at young and old. When I see a uniformed trooper walking around my school or just munching Chinese at the table next to mine in their Hollywood style my heart cries out for the Tollywood Home guards I left back home! I haven’t had many encounters with the Swiss police though. One doesn’t hear or see them as often as in America. They are the quiet cruising kinds compared to the fast fiery ones here but you wouldn’t want to meet either!

However, it’s impossible to pen down my story of a country which can be covered by my little finger on the world map to a country that even my hand cannot hide. There are striking differences because of the size but while soaring high if you occasionally stop to dive deep down, you’ll see the difference in energies.

The unambiguous Alps portray the strict limits that Switzerland has with its precision, punctuality, and uncompromising chocolates. From the disciplined lines, children learn to make at kindergarten to the most expensive fines, wines, and dines -the country stands unblemished to the common eye.

America breathes the birth of Earth through the Grand Canyon and Old Faithful. The country is protected by its freedom, incomparable National parks, innumerable flying flags, extraordinary customer care, competitive markets, complicated immigration laws, paperwork, and signatures.

Whether I would fly out of the towering, amplified America with moist eyes and a heavier heart than when I flew out of pricey, precious Switzerland or my inborn incredible India isn’t important anymore. I am humbled to be tutored to enjoy a plate of steak and cheese with violet onion rings dipped in chat masala and lemon juice!

Riti Mukherjee