At 1:15 AM at night we were able to reach to our booked destination at ELM's Hotel, in downtown Chicago. With me was Sujaya Ramachandran, from our company.
The first impression was a shock! We were so tired we could hardly drag our luggage to our room. I got a call from the reception asking me to collect my bag, which we left in Airport Express cab that dropped us at hotel. I checked mine. Looked ok. It must belong to Sujaya. I was right. Trust, it brings people close together. Rare in our place.
Within that night itself I realised that many other things seem totally opposite. People drive on the right side of the road. Lights are on when switches are up unlike ours. Taps operate on the other way. Fans move in the reverse direction. Locking the door is the way we unlock it. After several tries when I was able to call back home I realised it was really a day and night difference.
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Friend in need :
The second day was Sunday. Looking for an apartment was the top priority on my mind. But before that I need a good jacket to keep myself warm. Sometime in the afternoon I was walking down the busy street of Michigan Avenue. Bunch of unknown faces were passing by. My soul was searching for someone who could give me peace. Can anyone read my mind ! Probably except one person who was standing on the other side of the road and staring at me. His face was covered behind a monkey cap. We moved towards each other and recognized each other. It was Anupam. Anupam Sarkar, we spent lot of time together in Jadavpur.
Amazing !! He was kind enough to accommodate me in his hotel room. A true friend in indeed. My life wouldn't have so enjoyable without him.
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Work is worship:
During my three and half months stay in Chicago, I had a chance to work closely with people who are highly professional, very helpful and of diverse culture. I was so excited to go and sit in a wel-equipped cubical on 66th floor of one of the tallest building of the world.
But even all these could not divert my mind from my family back in India - my parents, my wife and specially my one-year old little daughter who just started calling me 'dady..'.
In January, '98 when my family was all set to come and join me here, I got my next assignment in New York City, NY. It was a pilot project PCN (Plastic Card Network) for Bank Of America. With a joy to see the 'City never sleeps' and hoping for safe journey of my wife and daughter, I proceeded to New York.
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