Land of dreams

Disclaimer: It is totally fictitious. This is an attempt to write something different. The story will be continued in the next few posts.

Some of us land in US with umpteen number of dreams. Umpteen number of visions! Most of us do succeed in achieving what we set out for. But there are a few who just struggle. No matter what, bad luck is something that would have caught them at the wrong moment. People who are nothing short of whiz kids in India face the music here! This is not a post about how good USA is and what can be achieved in this land of dreams. Instead this is a post of how ****** up life can get here if one goes astray. A la five point someone! What I-Hari Prasad aka HARRY- did not envisage when I landed in USA, was that things can go from great to weird to bad to worse in just a period of 2 months. I still remember my ride from the airport to Press Avenue on August 1, 2005. Though this was what I had wanted all along right from my early teens, there was this strange empty feeling within me. A feeling that would build upon on its own and later go on to be called as Home Sickness. Immediately as soon as I reach Rakesh's place, I realize that to make a single call to my parents I would have to shell out a dollar or two! Yet the first night that I was here, I had a sumptuous dinner-courtesy Rakesh and slept peacefully. The next morning (it being a Saturday) I woke up to the sound of some music and chitter chatter. I come out and I am introduced to Prashanth by Rakesh. Of course after freshening up I join in their idle conversation and I am introduced to the daily routine followed by these guys (something that even I will be following from now on I guess!). The first priority I realize is to find a good house for myself and the three others-Sai, Suniel, and Narayan. I met the three of them back in Chennai and we had decided to stay together. I realize with envy that Suniel and Narayan would still be in the cozy comforts of their parents in Chennai. Sai had flown down along with me and he was put up at Prashanth's apartment. I was brought down to earth from my day dream when Rakesh said that Saturday being a holiday would be a good time to start searching for an apartment! I retort stating, "Dude, after all I have landed here just last evening.". To this Rakesh stated with a shrug, "During the weekdays you will be busy contacting professors or looking for assistantships. You will have very little time to search for apartments. You might as well start today, and try to get settled in soon." With just a feeble nod in response I got ready to go out. I realized that it might as well be a blessing in disguise as I have my friend to guide me through this initial phase.
So after a couple of days of tiring search and having contacted each land-lord in person, me and Sai were finally able to find an apartment which was close enough in its proximity to the College and also to our senior's apartments! By Sunday evening we had moved our belongings to this new place and after some hurried shopping (for our day to day needs) at the nearest Walmart, we dragged our tired bodies back home. Of course Rakesh was there to remind me that I would have to wake up early next day as I would have to open a bank account...I just nodded and fell asleep...So much for life in USA!

To be contd...