Tuesday, February 13, 2007

snowed in....

i just cant believe this. 1 blog earlier i had complained about the winter in chicago, and decided to take it in stride since we plan to live here. but today, it is just too much. we had an overnight snowfall of 4-7 " and it is still snowing outside as i write. living in the suburbs can have its pros and cons. right now one of the thing i donot appreciate is being snowed in. me and satya woke up early, and got ready to go to the office. we take a bus frm our place to the railway station. well, we were waiting for the bus to show up, but it did not. the roads were not ploughed in yet completely by the street and sanitation dept. for us to drive down to the station. And if the buses are not working , chances are that the trains are not working either. The wind was working things up and blowing snow everywhere. In short, it felt like someone shook a snow globe, and had snow blowing everywhere. So me and satya trekked back home. I called up my office and let them know abt the situtation. and rightnow i am enjoying my unplanned holiday. We had a great lunch by the way. shrimp pasta and garlic bread. Everything ready in 30 mins. satya loved it, said i am a good cook:)
its still snowing outside. it reminds me of those days in thane, when our school used to get cancelled because of rain and later on the trains used to get slowed down and eventually cancelled because of water accumulation at sion-kurla. i remember that being home from school, me, my sister, dad and mom used to play this boardgame "Business". mom used to make hot soup and pakodas:). but whatever happened in mumbai 2 urs ago was very different. the human and property loss was enormous. It being mumbai, the rail and road way systems have recovered if not improved, but for people who lost their loved ones in the rains/flood, even time wont be able to heal them.
hopefully this is just one day thing here. tomorrow everything will be back to normal. Atleast it snowed just 4-7" and not more than that. many citites in USA have high snow fall. they get snowed in for days. Many people live without no heat, water, electricity. They canot drive anywhere, so the only thing to do is stock up on the groceries.
Chicago, for once, is not one of them. and that makes me happy.
D

Monday, February 12, 2007

so they lost.....

So the BEARS lost last weekend. This is something that satya doesn’t want to talk about. He refuses to discuss anything that has to do with the BEARS offence/defense/special team and the entire franchise. Right from the time when the bears won the NFC championship, he collected our newspapers as souvenirs. He resisted the temptation of buying the championship gear saying that he would buy the stuff when we win the super bowl (notice I said we…this is the SATYA influence on me) I was nervous a day prior to the game and I am not even a fan. My colleagues were all excited and had plans to go to all you can eat buffet places. One of them was going to open a vintage bottle of alcohol for the after-victory drink. My boss (he who is born with loads of Irish luck) went down to Miami for the game, had great seats and stayed at the same hotel as the BEARS athletes. I, satya and my bro-inlaw amol wore the team colors for the game. We ordered the American quintessential pizza and beer. The entire city was decked up in orange and blue and the bear jersey nos. They had even planned out the route for the victory parade. People had pre-ordered the Superbowl championship gear. Talks were going on for pay increase for the bears coaching staff. Other teams were interviewing the coaching staff and were trying their best to lure them. The entire city believed in Rex Grossman and his team and had forgiven them for their past debacles. People were ready to forget the 1985 BEARS team which had won the championship and crown the new rulers of Chicago- the BEARS OF 2007 In short, this was OUR time. This was THE year. All we need was the score to be 17-29 BEARS.
But the defense (so I am told) had something else in mind. They decided not to bring their A-Game to Miami. Probably left it at Soldier Field in Chicago. Rex was in his “bad REX” avatar again (so I am told). All the dreams hope and aspiration (of the parade, new championship jerseys, a great finish to an exciting season, being crowned the champions) came crashing down. The BEARS were ridiculed everywhere, from ESPN to the late night talk shows. The people of Indianapolis joke about Rex Grossman (the BEARS quarterback) as their M.V.P instead of Payton Manning (by the way, the Colts quarterback is great, after Tom Brady of course). People around me are sad and depressed. They tell themselves that they had a great season and next year would be THE year. After of course, they run Rex out of the town. As I said, Satya doesn’t want to talk about this. He says it reminds him of 2003 world cup. He is sure he will be better if baseball season starts soon. He is looking forward to the WHITE SOX play ball.
I hope so too that the impending baseball season turns out good and before that the World Cup. Though again I am told that India has a good chance as they play Ireland and such countries in the first round. Otherwise, it’s going to be one very long year at my home – till of course the next football season.

the arrival of MR. FROSTY

It’s been a very cold winter here in Chicago. This year, they say, has been one of the coldest in the past seven years. To tell you the truth I very much expected it. Winter in Chicago starts around thanksgiving and continues through the Christmas, New Year and other frosty freezing icy months through May I would say. People don’t notice how cold it gets during November and December simply because there are other things to occupy their minds. That time of the year, when people get drunk (but they hardly ever need a reason here), dread the family gatherings and scramble around to get an invite for the new years party, I would say is one of the coldest month. All cities around USA are lit with lights and decorated throughout November and December. But come January, and just as you are getting over your new years hangover, the entire city is stripped off its glitzy, warm look and it turns from the young hip uber place to a dark gloomy sad frost stricken place. And I hate it. I hate the sudden transformation. You tend to notice the cold, the snow and the freezing wind-chill that Lake Michigan blows over to Chicago.
You start dreading going to office. Wearing 3 layers of sweaters, 2 layers of gloves, 2 layers of socks, snow jacket, ear muffs, and hat doesn’t seem to help. Wish for warmer places. Think about going to Texas for vacation but this year it snowed over there too. Here last week the recorded temperature was -10deg fah with wind-chill taking it down to -20 deg. dragging yourself to office is a chore especially when you know that you have 3-4 months more of this to endure. Satya says being cold is a state of mind. I beg to differ. Till now I have complained just once about how cold it was here. But after learning that “this is Chicago” I have stopped complaining and tried looking at the warmer side. I am still looking for it and am starting to think that there isn’t one. At this time I wonder what the hell happened to global warming? But still at least it is February. Just 2 more months of freezing hell to endure.
On the other hand, I am enjoying eating bhajias, making different soups, shopping for new sweaters etc. thank god that all the buildings and the public transport are heated. I think I can take 4 blocks of walking in the cold. I am looking forward to spring. Chicago is once of the most beautiful cities to be in spring. This city DOES have 4 seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter (of course winter being the longest). And at times it is beautiful here in winter too. The Chicago river is frozen and so are parts of the lake.
Like someone once said, “life is something to be endured, not enjoyed”, I try applying that maxim by replacing the noun by freezing hell.