Of Visitors...

Recently, an old friend from India came to visit. I was able to see my home of ten years, my country of residence for nineteen years, through new eyes and to revisit the time when I was a newcomer to the land. To her, America was a nice break from her usual routine. She felt cold in May, for it was much cooler here than in India where the parched land was sweltering, still waiting for the monsoon rains to break. We spent much of the time, chatting, chatting, chatting, making up for time not spent together in the last thirteen years.

Through B.'s appearance and actions, I recalled my slow adjustments in the early years. My friend looked good in her hand-sewn handloom cottons and her big bindi. Her dresses glowed in the luminous spring light at this time of year. But I had looked so out of place nineteen years ago, wearing clothes that looked odd in 1990s Chicago. A lot of handloom cotton whose colors and patterns didn’t look right in the grey fall and winter of the Midwest. A hairstyle that wasn’t quite right either. Like an exuberant peacock in a grim Arctic land. It’s something to do with the way the light falls on the colors in the autumn and winter. I quickly moved to dull plaids and knits, merging my body into the winter landscape.

B.’s little moves also reminded me of my earlier self. The conversion of rupees into dollars and the horrified realization that one had spent so many rupees! The rushing steps to the buses and trains in New York City, only to realize that there was no enormous rush of people all fighting to squeeze in (well, maybe during rush hour, but we went into the city at off-peak times). Her intake of breath and lit-up eyes at the glowing, beautiful buildings on Fifth Avenue, especially the Met, made me remember with affection my similar response to the grandeur and beauty of Chicago’s skyline and Lake Shore Drive. By the end of the trip, I saw B. relax gradually, like I had years earlier, and enjoy the abundance of resources that I now take for granted. What a wonderful visit for both of us!