PAGES FROM NEW JERSEY

FRIDAY, 29 MAY

It's a beautiful sunny day. While walking in the park, I reflect on the boundary wall free houses here and all of a sudden, these lines of Mending Walls by Robert Frost' flashes across my mind-

"He only says, "Good fences make good neighbours."...
I wonder If I could put a notion in his head:
"Why do they make good neighbours?
Isn't it where there are cows?"
But here there are no cows.
Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offence.
Something there's that does not love a wall,
That wants it down...
In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed.
He moves in darkness as it seems to me,...
HE will not go beyond his father's saying,..
He says again, "Good fences make good neighbours."

Some poems become immortal because of their universal theme. Robert Frost's poems are rich in symbolism that rakes up the brain of the high brows and the thinkers on a much larger scale than petty issues of day to day life.

When I see no boundary walls here, less cases of assault, theft or trespassing reported here, I question the use of walls in India where such cases create everyday's news headlines in spite of the boundary walls. Why are we so possessive of our worldly insecurities that hinder our self-progress. It then, comes to my mind the lines of 'Geography Lessons' by Zulfikar Ghosh-

"...it was clear the earth was round                      
and that it had more sea than land.
But it was difficult to understand
that the men on the earth found
causes to hate each other, to build
walls across cities and to kill.
From that height, it was not clear why."

I find people in the park, greeting me with a smile and then, I fail to understand what stops us from smiling back at strangers which I find quite common in India. I don't find people here, staring at others' clothes that makes one feel so uneasy and self- conscious, giving a kind of feeling of sin committed. Clothes are not character here. People have respect for others esp. women and old folk. Why are we like that primitive man with stones in each hand? We call ourselves educated but are we making proper use of education? Do we have rational thinking?

Questions after questions rumble in my mind. What must be done to overhaul the entire thinking process of our mind? That primitive man is so deep rooted in our mindset that it will take many generations to uproot it. These questions haunt my mind and the only answer I find to them is the quote-"Be the change to bring the change." Changes are there taking place in the present generation in India but at a snail pace. However, it is better late than never.

I have cooked rice and 'Besan sabji' in mustard paste for lunch. Yasmin likes it. I love to cook, esp. for my children. It is a kind of meditation/querencia for me. 

I have almost completed the acrylic painting. This one I have made it especially for Shammi. He is so fond of dogs.

PAGES FROM NEW JERSEY

THURSDAY, 28 MAY

Yasmin's cell phone charger has developed some kind of issue. It did not work yesterday after the rain and is still not working. May be I was late in taking it out from the socket near the window when rain started seeping in through the blinds. These iPhones are very delicate and sophisticated. They need careful handling. However, she has another device to charge her cell phone.

It seems it did not rain in the night because the terrace floor is damp but not wet. The sky is still overcast with clouds. I won't be able to go for my walk today if it continues to remain so.

The rain has brought the slight lingering smell of compost manure. I hear the twittering of one particular bird that keeps calling in a distinctive 'tulli, tulli, tulli, tulli'-four times at regular interval. Birds enjoy the onset of summer as winter is very harsh and snowy here. They fly west then.

Standing on the terrace, I find walkers in the park. Their presence there clears my doubt and I change into my tracks and shoes and off I go to join them in the park. The grass is all wet but the jogging track is clear. I complete three rounds, walking 3.2 km. There is no wind. It seems a lull before thunder and high wind, may be so in the afternoon or evening again like yesterday.

The rain has scattered the flowers and seeds of the Birch trees on the track. They lie there, soggy and wet looking like maggots and doe worms. The Trees in the park are quite old. They have spread their roots deep around the soil. Some roots are so thick and strong that they have created cracks in the jogging track.


People bring their pets to the park but I don't find any litter there. There are two separate wastage bins- Trash and Glass/Cans for recycling. That makes me wonder how good it is to see people follow the Dos and Don'ts. A little effort by everyone saves a lot of waste of time and money. There are trash bins, large and small at every nook and corner of the parking lanes and road sides. The parking lanes are wide like roads. What seems like a road is actually a parking lane in front of every apartment. Vehicles are parked in a line and that leaves  for no question of encroachment by others.

I catch up with my painting left for the last five days. Shammi asks me send the picture of it in progress and I do that. He says that it is coming out well. That gives an extra ounce of confidence to complete the work. The dog in the painting is a bit difficult to do. Drawing or painting animals is always difficult for me. Even then I make up my mind to complete the painting by tomorrow and I like the way it is coming up.

To have a little change, I open Netflix to watch a movie. I start watching the episodes of 'When Heart Calls'. It's an interesting watch about a teacher who starts teaching the children of Coal miners' widows who lost their husbands and sons in a mine blast. I feel the truth in the dialogue,"There's a reason for every fear we face and every hardship we suffer to make us stronger than ever..."The episode are rich in the philosophic observations made by the Teacher which I feel at many places resonating mine.

Tomorrow is Yasmin's work from day. The charger of her cell phone is working now.

PAGES FROM NEW JERSEY

WEDNESDAY, 27 MAY

It is again a sunny morning. I get up rather late today at 5.30 AM. Yasmin prepares the Tapioca globules (Sabudana) poha for breakfast. It tastes good. She leaves for her office at her usual time.

I feel moist in the warm air today while walking in the park. I complete 2.2 Km and come back. The flowers planted yesterday have straightened themselves in the bed and look fresh with red and white Petunias, Flocks and different varieties of Vinca Rosea.

I leave the glass door open today as it is warm inside too. It is not hot like India but I feel the humidity inside the room. The movement in the park increases with the evening approaching. I stir fry lady fingers and Hyderabadi green chilly for dinner.

All of a sudden, I hear the pitter-patter sound of the rain drops. I rush to the terrace and find the sky overcast with dark clouds. The rain drops are quite big. There is thunder in the air and within a moment, it starts raining cats and dogs with high wind.

I worry for Yasmin. She must be on her way back home. I send a message. She assures me that she has the umbrella and is on her way back. The intensity of the rain makes me doubt whether the umbrella be of any use in such a heavy rain. But I can't do anything. I keep the glass door of the terrace closed. Just then I remember the window of the bed room and rush only to find rain seeping in through the blinds. The carpet near the window has become wet. I close the glass quickly and spread a towel to absorb the wetness on the carpet. Weather is really very unpredictable and moody in New Jersey.

Rain has cooled down the heat. Yasmin has reached. I make chilly and cauliflower pakodas to enjoy the rain together. The leaves of Sycamore look fresh but drooping in the rain. It stops raining after half an hour. To my surprise, I see the sun rays on the terrace floor. Clouds have parted a little to let the sun peep through. The weather changes its mood here like the dresses of a ballerina. The pakodas are very crispy.


Yasmin is working on her laptop and I, on my page of diary. Just then, we hear  some kind of strange sound at a distance. We rush to the terrace. I look up to see a flock of large sea gulls flying overhead, flapping their wings and squawking loudly. I ask Yasmin to click their photo but it is late. They fly fast and disappear round the corner of the tiled roof.

I should always keep my camera handy to click because 'the moment is there and the moment has gone'.

PAGES FROM NEW JERSEY

TUESDAY, 26 MAY

I wake up to the twittering of birds coming from the branches of the Sycamore trees. Yasmin, too, gets up. The twittering continues.

It is a working day for Yasmin. The weather is again clear today. I remain busy in updating the diary entries in the morning. Yasmin leaves at 7.30 AM for Office. I see her off. Before leaving, she asks me to remind her to get the print out of the booked ticket of the New York Tour.



I sit back again to complete my work. I can hear the different types of chirping by birds. They keep attracting me with their delightful noise. Finally, I leave my chair, go near the glass door and see outside it to find a brown sparrow sitting on the branch of Sycamore tree. I come back to take out my camera. The bird is still there to be clicked. I oblige my self doing this. I found one black sparrow with a yellow speckle on its neck, sitting on the wall by the railing of the terrace. I click it and the squirrel, too. It seems they are all in a playful mood today to enjoy the warm sunshine.

I leave my work and put on my sports shoes and go to the park for walk. The sunshine is bright. So, I walk under the green cover of trees. There are only a few walkers today. Two boys are practicing Basket ball. I take two rounds and come back to do a little stretching exercises. I find that they have planted flowers in the flower bed near the swimming pool. The red and white wild roses in the road dividers, are in full bloom. They look very beautiful.

I take an afternoon nap today after lunch. It is warm inside too. Yasmin comes back early today at 4.45 PM. We go to the local shop for vegetables. I feel good to take a leisurely walk to the shop. When we come back, we carry chairs onto the terrace and sit there for quite a long time watching people in the park.

I complete my page of diary before going to bed.

PAGES FROM NEW JERSEY

MONDAY, 25 MAY

MEMORIAL DAY- HOLIDAY

It is holiday today on account of Memorial day. This Day is a federal holiday in the United States for remembering the people who died while serving in the country's armed forces. Yasmin stays at home. I upload the Pictures on my page of Face book. I have to update my diary entries too. So,I remain busy updating the backlogs.

It is a sunny day again. We go to the local shop for grocery and vegetables. Yasmin shows me how to cross the road. There is a button on the pole on the pavement near the Zebra-crossing to push She pushes it and wait. There flashes the sign of pedestrians to cross the road. All the traffic comes to a halt and wait for the pedestrians to cross the road. There is seldom a case of hit and run here. Pedestrians are given much attention and care. People are very law-abiding. It is good.

Yasmin buys leg pieces of chicken from the Chinese Super Store and vegetables from the Indian store. While returning, I find the swimming pool cleaned and inhabited by beautiful White Americans basking in the sun on the pool-chairs around the swimming pool. They are enjoying the sunshine.

In the evening, we go for a walk in the park. After taking two complete rounds, we sit in the bench and relax in the seemingly warm, gentle breeze. The park is abuzz with walkers, runners, children, volleyball-players, basket-ball players and a lot of other activities. There is a children park too, within the park. Little children are playing around on swings, sea-saws and sliders.

Yasmin has to go to office tomorrow. We come back. 

PAGES FROM NEW JERSEY

SUNDAY, 24 MAY

TOUR TO THOUSAND ISLANDS

As usual, I rise early at 4.45 AM, unable to sleep any longer, I leave the bed and drew the curtains aside. The veil of the darkness is slowly lifting with the approaching sunrise. Yasmin is sleeping and I don't want to disturb her sleep. So, I move on my toes. She wakes up at about 6 o'clock. I miss my tea and lemon water. There is a percolator with coffee sachets in the tray on the table. I think of making a cup of black coffee but coffee can not be a substitute for tea. So, I drop this idea of coffee. Besides, I have had the little water in the bottle. Here, drinking water is not free, like in India. People have to purchase mineral water...so, nobody misuses or wastes water here. 'How much do we waste water in India', I just keep pondering over it for a few minutes.


We get ready, pack things and go to the ground floor for breakfast which is not complimentary in our tour package. I am not a foodie. So, I always get muddled when I am to choose from the menu card. I leave it to Yasmin to decide. She orders 'Egg start with fresh fruits' and tea for me. When asked to make a choice between brown bread or muffin, sunny side up egg or double sided egg, I prefer to have muffin with egg sunny side up. This is something new for me. I feel happy to learn the difference between sunny side up egg and double sided egg. We prepare these things but are not familiar with the terms/names.

Really travelling gives us an opportunity to learn numerous things. I remember Francis Bacon's view on Travelling- " TRAVEL, in the younger sort, is a part of education, in the elder, a part of experience...It is a strange thing, that in sea voyages, where there is nothing to be seen, but sky and sea, men should make diaries; but in land-travel, wherein so much is to be observed, for the most part they omit it; as if chance were fitter to be registered than observation. Let diaries, therefore, be brought in use..." Remembering these lines by Bacon, I feel so happy that at least I am making the most of my travelling by recording my observations here in Pages from New Jersey.

Tea arrives first and a happy, contended smile spreads on my face. I pour the tea into the cup fondly and with each sip, the smile widens on my face. The breakfast is served. The waiter brings a basket of various kinds of jams. He asks Yasmin to pick any flavor. Before she decides, another waitress asks him to leave the whole basket saying that they want to have all the flavors. I like the people and their small gestures of understanding. I take out each one of them and spread it on the muffin. They are simply delicious. I notice two White Americans sitting on the breakfast table to my left. The man is busy telling about himself to the woman to which she is listening very attentively, speaking less, nodding her head sometimes. People speak very nicely with gestures and expressions to make themselves well understood. Moreover, they are attentive listeners too. The Chinese old couple, on my right side are eating silently. People don't speak loudly here unless required.

After the wholesome breakfast, we board the bus to leave for the Thousand Islands. We reach there in two hours. Joe gets tickets for us. Meanwhile I go to the rest room. There I find people standing in a queue, waiting for their turn to come. Nobody outstrips anyone.

I have never been on cruise ever. It's first of its kind for me. So, I am much excited about it. The cruise arrives and after the passengers alight, we board it. There is a man to collect our tickets. This time we prefer to be on the top to get a full view. We select a corner to stand. In the beginning, I thought that it is just for namesake 'Thousand Islands' but as the ship starts sail, I am astonished to see the beautiful castles, boat-houses with docks, gardens on those beautiful, scintillating islands. Would that I get a chance to spend a weekend on any of these islands some day...!

The fast current of wind, ruffling my hair, brings me down from the dreamworld. I can see ripples of waves dancing on the rocks trapped underneath at the bottom. The ship leaves behind a
trail of foams, bubbles, froths in the water. There are other
private jetties too with a couple or some people who wave at us while passing by and we wave back in return. We have to pull back
our hair or sweep them behind from our face because they keep blocking the view of picturesque islands. Still I feel nice with the fast wind playing wild with my hair. There are wild innate
feelings that keep surfacing up in some very wistful moments...

The man behind the mike keeps us warning to stand away from
the rail. But who pays attention when you are too engrossed in living the rare moments knowing that they are short lived but are to remain etched out in memory forever?

I am lost in the beauty of this unreal world of fairies and castles.

The man informs us that there are one thousand eight hundred
or some small and large islands. There are beautiful resorts,
hotels, houses with gardens, lawns dockyards built on them
for the tourists. Hmmm...It is all a matter of money, honey,
for such recreation and fun in life! For a while, even my
self-contended nature wishes for the little Elf to appear
before me asking me to make three wishes and I ask for
abundance of wealth to stay here...but who knows!


The ship keeps on moving steadily and looking down at the
waves parting for the ship to move, I remember the lines by
S T Coleridge in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner-

"The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew,
The furrow followed free;
We were the first that ever burst
Into that silent sea."

For me, the reality, the practicalities of life is the silent sea.

I know that it is a far cry for me to hire any of these islands for a summer recreation. Nevertheless, I feel quite happy even to get this chance to visit these far off lands and waters, seeing and writing about them, thus, getting enriched in the experiences of life.

There are sea gulls and migratory birds flying over our heads, making different kinds of sounds. They keep fluttering their large wings.

They are not the Albatrosses waiting for us to offer food to them. They have plenty to eat here and rest when they get tired flying for days. I just wonder at the dark side of the Mariner, "What prompted him to shoot the bird!"


I take a look at Yasmin. She seems lost too, in the beauty of the
islands.There seems the same kind of wistful look in her eyes.
May her dreams come true!


A light house comes in view. We are approaching the dockyard now. Soon the dreams are to ground there, to be anchored and harbored there waiting for an opportune moment to arrive...

Joe and Jason are waiting for the passengers to come back and board the bus for return journey that will take some four-five hours.

Joe is quite pleased with our punctuality and expresses in words, "I am so happy with my people. They are good fellows. They always arrive in time and I don't have to keep waiting for them. We are ahead of other buses."

She asks Jason to drive fast. She says that she is starving and want to have a sumptuous Chinese buffet at a Chinese restaurant on way back. Jason is happy too. The journey is nearing its end and he would be able to have rest. He is a very quite, adorable little man with decent ways. They talk in a very friendly way. It is actually Joe, doing most of the talking and he, occasionally, giving his opinion or remarks. So, when Joe asks for passengers' opinion for buffet at a Chinese eat out, he says lovingly, "Where there's a Joe, there's a will."

It is later on, when Joe asks us to give good rating to her, that we come to know that Joe is doing her part-time job as a tourist's guide to pay her tuition fee of her higher studies. I feel overwhelmed.

The food at Chinese restaurant is really a treat for me. I enjoy all sorts of fruits, donuts, momos, noodles, chicken cooked in different kinds of sauces. Never had I eaten such a variety of Chinese food in my life before! No doubt, Chinese look so healthy! The food makes me feel drowsy when I get on the bus. I sleep all the way.

The Bus reached The Hong-Kong Super Market at about 7.45 PM. Yasmin books a cab on her cell phone but the cab arrives late. We sit there waiting. It comes at 8.20. This time it is the cab owner. He has now become quite familiar with Yasmin. Even in the cab, I keep dozing off. We reach home at 9.30 AM.

Adieu Niagara Falls and Thousand Islands till we meet again!

PAGES FROM NEW JERSEY

SATURDAY, 23 MAY

TRIP TO NIAGARA FALLS, THE MAID OF MIST

I get up early before the alarm goes on and keep the remaining things in my bag. The ruffling sound makes Yasmin get up too and together we complete with the final packing and get ready. It is a bright windy day. We cover ourselves well, check the locks, knobs etc. and get into the cab that Yasmin has booked to take us to Hing-Kong Super Market, East Brunswick from where we are to board the bus to Niagara Falls.

This time, the cab-driver is an American White (I dislike telling White and Black; it is not to discriminate them but just to be distinctive in writing) in almost new Maroon Sedan. With the initial exchange of greetings, he switches on the ignition and off we go with the cab driver's relentless talking. He tells us about himself that he is an unmarried man, has an apartment, is working to earn money to buy a house for himself and spend rest of his life there. People are very hard working in US. They do not idle away their time. They work real hard, even do part-time jobs to meet out the expenses on account of travelling and other passions or dreams to spend quality time with their family/friends. There is no such word as 'Retirement' here for Americans. That's why I see most of the working people of mid-age, in the 5th stage of their life, in the words of William Shakespeare.

The cab- driver, asks about our destination and describes the geographic location, the food, the stay and the weather. He, then, asks Yasmin if she is married and getting the answer in affirmation, proceeds with a story of his school mate who married his school sweet heart, had two lovely, adorable kids but tooks to drinking later on... his wife tried all the possible methods to stop him from ruining himself and his family..., ill treated his wife...she started living separately with kids, she needed money to bring them up, took help of court to arrange monthly payment from her husband for their education...situation worsened and he lost his job...finally, his wife divorced him and remarried another man who respected her and took better care of kids from her former husband. His friend joined a rehabilitation center...tried to start afresh...met a woman, got close to her, married her. One day again, he came home in a drunken state...his wife came to know about his drinking, his previous story but stood by him...made him amend his ways...ultimately, he became a better man...now living happily with his new family.

The cab-driver concludes the story saying that one should try to live happily by making others happy. He is happy to see Yasmin with her mom on tour to Niagara. He also compliments Yasmin, "You are very beautiful." People are open-minded and free from unnecessary inhibitions here. I appreciate it. We remain too engrossed in his story to notice that we have left behind Hong Kong Super Market a few minutes earlier. Then he takes the side lane to come back on the main road and reach the boarding point. The man takes leave saying to see us again. We, too, do the same.

Our bus is at 7.30 AM and we are there by 6.45 AM. The shops are all closed. The wind is cold. I take out my stole and wrap it around. Yasmin gets the ticket confirmed by the tour guide who is a smart Chinese girl. Her name is Joe Liu. Our group number is One and we get the seat 1A, the front one. The bus departs on time at 7.30 AM. Joe is busy on her cell phone talking to a passenger who fails to turn up on time. She is very firm there in politely refusing him to wait for him any more because she would be late for Niagara Falls. It takes almost seven hours to reach there and the bus has to reach there at least by 2.30 PM.

The bus driver is an American white person whose name is Jason. He is a sensible young man, a little obese. I keep savoring the scenes sweeping fast outside the window with my eyes. The wide roads, the neat pavements for the pedestrians, the fly overs, the gardens, the trees, the sprawling lawns and beautiful houses. Here, pedestrians are not allowed to walk on the road. They are neither supposed to walk on the grass but for the pavements. That's why it is green all around. Though trees have shed and a few still shedding leaves yet nowhere do I find any dry leaf on the road or the pavement. The neat flower beds as road dividers are full of white and red blooming roses and the pavements have the cool cover of various kind of trees- Birch, Sycamore, Maple, Red Oak, etc. The civic bodies work very promptly and efficiently for maintaining the cleanliness.

Our first stop is at Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania for 30 minutes where we grab a brunch of Burger and Wrap at Mac Donald. I want to have a cup of tea but tea is not very popular with Americans. So, I get a large glass of hot coffee. Coffee relaxes my throat. Joe has asked us not to be late. She addresses the tourists in both English and Chinese language. Her English has the Chinese accent. She keeps us updating about the places we pass through. The Pennsylvania mountains run parallel the road. We leave past Mount Pocono which has many fallen rocks. It is well known for trekking and cycling. It is the weekend with The Memorial day falling on Monday. So, people are out to enjoy the long weekend.

We reach Niagara by 3.00 PM. It is a huge crowd of tourists over there but everything from entry tickets to the elevator tower, there is system and discipline. When we reach down 500 meters, we are hit by chill in the wind but that does not deter my excitement of seeing the Fall of which I had read much about in Geography in my school days.

The heavy gush of water falling from this tremendous height is worth viewing. We are given blue rain coats to wear. It is too large or say of free size.

We then board the ship. We don't go above the board as the waves are turbulent and so stay in the middle part of the ship, open from all side but a roof over head in order to click the incredibly unforgettable moments to come.

The ship starts with a jerk and there escapes a roaring sound of exuberance and exaltation from everyone drowning the voice of the commentator. Who cares for the Don'ts before such a rare euphoric moment?

 Our rain coats ruffle and flutter with the high wind. As we draw in close to The Maid of Mist, we are drenched with the spray of the mist from the Falls that rises from the bottom to spread around the rocks forming Rainbows.

 Ah...words fail to describe the moment which will remain etched out on our mind and preserved in our memory for lifetime.

Yasmin and I keep alternating clicking pictures and videos of the Falls taking intervals to protect the camera from getting wet, now and then hiding it under the rain coat and wiping the  mist off the lens and the screen.

After reaching the far end of the Falls, the ship takes a turn around and I see the tall buildings and towers, bridge on the high shore,

There is an another ship boarded by tourists in Pink and yellow rain coats. They have boarded from the other side of the Falls where stands a resort...must be the private ship of the resort reserved for its own stayers.
The ship has come back to the dock and we alight it with a wish to visit it once more in this life. We want to take one more round but then we will have to go through the same process of buying tickets and snailing down in the long line, from the elevator to the ship.

 There is side railing with stairs to go near the mist. We climb it and reach its mid platform, feel the spray of mist on our face and then come down. The sleeves of my wind cheater is wet and dripping, the socks are wet too. So, I take them out along with the rain coat. I decide to carry the raincoat back to India as a souvenir, a memory as explained by Joe, our tourist guide. The elevator carries us back to 500 meters above where we bask in the sunshine savoring the beauty of the fall from that height and clicking the scene. The sun is warm and bright but the wind is still chill here.

It's about 5.00 PM and we have to assemble near the Food Court at 6.15 to collect the tickets for the cultural show at 7.00 PM. we still have a lot of time to ramble around. So, we come down by the elevator. Yasmin buys a souvenir 'The Maid Of Mist' for me. We roam in the sprawling green lawn, stand by the railing, sit on the bench and then reach the assemble point, the Food Court by 6.00. Joe is there. She hands the tickets of the cultural show and ask us to be there at 7.40 PM after the show to be on the bus for night stay at a hotel.

We grab a hurried supper at the over crowded Food Court and then sit back in the chairs in the hall which is on the second floor. There is a stage for the show performers surrounded by chairs for the spectators from three sides. The commentator of the show throws light on the story of the Maid of the Mist - how the lovely, charming daughter of Chief Eagle Eye- Lelawala, lost her huband at a young age and could not find her way through the sorrow upon sorrow that became her lot in life, stepped on day into her canoe, singing a death song to herself, paddled out into the current...caught by the rough waves, the canoe hurtled towards the Falls and she fell tumbling down the gigantic force of water but is saved by the God of Thunder, Heno, who lived in the Falls... carried her to his home beneath the thundering veil of water...she falls in love with His youngest son and gives birth to a baby boy...lives happily ever after.

There are four performers- The Chief of the tribe, his daughter Lelawala, Heno, the God of Thunder and his son. They perform beautiful Native American Dance on drum beats and songs. The show gets over in almost 45 minutes and then we all ride back in the bus to hotel 'Holiday Inn'.

Yasmin is quite happy to see the hotel as she knows much about this 5 star hotel. The room is expensively furnished. I connect my cell phone with the hotel's WiFi connection and do some updates on WhatsApp and Facebook. We have late dinner of homemade puri-bhaaji. Yasmin goes off to sleep but I am not used to such cozy and soft bed, so, keep on tossing side to side till sleep embraces me.

PAGES FROM NEW JERSEY

FRIDAY, 22 MAY

A bright, sunny morning greets the day though the temperature is in between 7-12 degree Celsius. I see the morning walkers through the glass door. Some of them are with their pets, some jogging in their shorts and sweaters, some walk with their babies in prams and some with their toddlers. People wait for such sunny days to be in the park. Americans are generally in shorts whereas Indians in full track pants. Americans don't feel cold in their legs. I decide to go to the park today in the afternoon.

Yasmin and I have 'chole-puri' in breakfast. She has opted to work from home today as we have to do the packing for tomorrow. She has cleaned the carpeted floor and after the breakfast, now working on her laptop for her office in her room. In between her work, she does the other household chores. She is very methodical, organized and systematic in her work. It is her laundry day too. She is the Elf surrounded by all sorts of machines in the house to work at her command. I admire her way of working. She has her lunch late at 4.00 PM due to work-pressure.

The Sim Card Adapter Kit, ordered by Manish through Amazon shopping, arrives. Yasmin logs out from her work at 5.30 PM. She and I try to fix it up in my Nokia Lumia. But something has gone wrong. The sim card adapter kit is of Mediadevil and its name is Simdevil. It seems the devil duo conspire against us. I take out my original sim from my mobile and then try to insert the sim card adapter. but it refuses to bulge in. However, after a little effort, it goes inside the slot quite easily. Our faces lit up with a smile. "Good, now let us take it out and insert it with the nano sim," says Yasmin. I push out the sim adapter with my finger...no use, It is stuck inside and refuses to bulge out now. We try all the possible methods- iphone sim inserter, safety pin, scissor, everything with a pointed edge. But the sim adapter stays inside like an insolent tenant. Finally I resort to pleadings and prayer before the duo devil. It is heard and the sim adapter obliges us by coming out of the slot. We heave a sigh of relief. but the relief is as short-lived as bubble's reputation. Now none of the sim- micro or nano gets in the slot. The whole process of inserting the sim and taking it our make us sweat buckets. Then we arrive at the utility and futility of all these efforts and finally conclude to drop the idea of changing the sim. However, I fear that my phone will work the same as before with any sim at all. Whatsoever, at present, it is working fine with that WiFi connectivity catering to my need of the hour.

So, after wasting our almost one and half hour, we start with our packing for tomorrow and decide to go to bed early. but I know that my excitement is going to hinder my slumber.