Revisiting America

I have been open about my obsession with America. I recently visited US after 7 years. Revisiting US was like discovering an old T-Shirt which was hiding at the bottom of your wardrobe for many years - feels alien initially but then it fits like a glove but then again, you sneer at your own juvenile fashion choices.

I feel I resonate with US because it has some of the growing pains and dual identities that I have. It was interesting to see how some of my reactions to it have changed over the years. In a way, revisiting was an act of looking yourself into a time-machine mirror - feeling and juxtaposing your feelings with what you felt so many years ago. I went to the US for the first time in 2005 when i was a graduate hire for  Microsoft. Its been almost 20 years since i first set foot in the US. So a few things changed.

1. America's juvenile antics amuse me less and less - I feel so sad/ridiculous that a country supposed so far ahead on so many things can get such basics twisted around - especially heart broken on how their healthcare system is so broken - I heard about how Matthew Perry's doctor is getting tried for allowing his patient to get hooked on some drug etc.
2. The Brownies have arrived - Indians have truly arrived and have shown that they can be the more American when it comes to work ethic than all its other national constituents. The last time I visited, Indians primarily constituted the coding class in Seattle/Bay area. But now they are in senior leadership and investment community ubiquitously. 
3. America is Great - This young land freshly stolen from the Natives is still awesome. Nature's bounty is too much and lies protected and celebrated by its conquistadors.
   

Some other random thoughts:

Every pacific sunset tells me about the slow and inexorable change all around us - we are all growing old. My friends are growing old - their children too.  Our time at Earth is reducing day-by-day. We cannot take any day for granted. This is the day - this is the Life - Life is happening now and will not be postponed for some mythical milestone sometime in future - it is happening right now as we think and plan for it. I stopped at so many places while driving down US 101 highway to see these epic sunsets. The sudden dramatization of life moving on made me aware of my breath - I effortlessly went into meditation - it was a trance aided by the sudden feeling of urgency.

I am in my flight back to Bangalore. I was looking at the in-flight GPS application - We were flying over the Af-Pak border. I suddenly realized about the first international flight that i took - It was a singapore airlines - It had some crazy number of hops from Hyderabad to Seattle - Specifically, those days, airlines used to take the scenic route covering cities such as: Chennai, Singapore, Tokyo, Los Angeles and finally Seattle. I remember the kid-in-the-candy-store moment. I was not bothered one bit about the constant changeovers and the wierd foods being served. Everything was imbued with childlike curiosity and fascination. I distinctly remembering scorching my mouth by ingesting an inordinate amount of Wasabi. I shudder at a possibility of a similarly long flight - and i shudder also at this tiny loss of innocence.

Subverting cliches by having Iced tea in a coffee shop in Seattle

Waiting in downtown Bellevue for my friends

It's the Land of the Brave

Traded Chevy classic from 2005 to Chevy Camarro in 2024

"One touch of Nature makes the whole world Kin"

California Dreamin'

Bliss on the Beach

Mexican food

SF Vibes