Back from the USA - yeah!

Well, time flies and I am almost on the way back to India - aah! Home sweet Home.

Spent close to 3 months in this country - and it is a nice place, but somehow... it leaves me yearning for india. Yeah, India has all its problems, but somehow - it has a warmth that is missing in the US.

I have been to Yosemite National Park, Los Angles, Las Vegas, Santa Cruz, San Francisco ... more of pilgrimages than real visits.

A day each at these places does not justify a visit. Yosemite was a big let down. That place is not a jungle - its only a big park . Really nice roads - winding through the country side. Camping grounds - with around 100 camps stuffed into a small area - and a BIG tourist center where you get everything. Come on folks - where is the wilderness ? Oh! its been landscaped for the publics convenience. Helloo !! Whats the point of wilderness if there is tamed ? Give me the untamed, unkempt jungles of India anytime.

And did i tell you everything is BIG ? Food you get in BIG helping ... And that makes people really BIG in size. BIG cars which guzzle BIG amounts of fuel. BIG roads to take these cars from point A to B. Man, these people think BIG. Take the case of Las Vegas. Its a desert city - but they decided to make it a hub for gambling. So, they create big casinos - nothing small for them . And instead of just making big buildings, the create HUGE worlds there. Luxor - a replica of the Great Pyramid of Ghiza. Venice - the water city inside a building in the middle of the desert.

And the Malls - they are so Bloody huge. You get tired walking from one end to another. If you are an electronics freak - don't even think of going to FRY's. This shop (is something so big still called a shop ? ) is so BIG, that you can buy any electronics from battery to huge plasma displays. There is no way you can come out of this place without buying something. I always end up pikcing up some computer game or other :(

If there is one thing I have learnt from this country is to think BIG ! I feel , most indians are so worried about losing, that they don't even try.

But there is someting missing here. There is no warmth. Yes, people are really polite - but that is all make believe. Yes people here have the great concept of Girl friend/ boy friend , and do you know why ? Well, what I have seen here - thats the only warmth people get . If you dont have a gf/bf, you are all alone. And even with gf/bf, you only have one more person.

If there are 2 guys together - they are thought to be gay. There is no friendly putting your arm on anothers shoulder ... don't you know - Bay Area : Gay Area !

India should learn a lot of things from the US. The road system is great - we need great roadways in India. We need to think BIG. But, we should not lose our touch with the past. People are so enamoured by the west that they forget how great India is.

USA does not have a history of its own. Whatever it had - it has killed off. I don't want India to follow that path. There is no cultural heritage that USA has - while India is rich in it. The family ties are nothing here - old parents are put into old age homes , and youngsters are let out of the house early on in life. I hope this does not happen in India.

Its good to learn from the west - India has to. Its an upcoming country. But I hope we dont end up aping the west. Just to copy blindly - which a lot of people seem to be doing - would be our own undoing.

Coming back to india for now. I know its going to be a dirty over poppulated place - but I hope, in the coming years, I will be able to make some difference to better my country of birth.