My Fifth US Visit

Sept 11 2014

Yes, I travelled on this date from Pune to San Francisco on a Lufthansa Flight  via Frankfurt. I missed the opportunity of visiting the new swanky terminal at Mumbai airport - but the choice to take off from Pune did pay off - simple and quick airport movements , less crowd , smaller craft, peaceful travel. The United Airways journey from Frankfurt to San Francisco is best to be avoided in future. 

Fall Colors, Palo Alto

Palo Alto 

I stayed for four and half months at Palo Alto , at my elder son's house, thro Fall to Winter. His house was going thro' a make over - kitchen was demolished and being rebuilt which means cooking without a kitchen. 

Palo Alto has this amazing greenery, tall trees and fall paints the landscape with bright colors of orange, red and yellow in that order over months of sept-oct-nov. Lovely long walks with nature for company - love it. 

My grand daughter all of 3 years is a bundle of pure energy and live demonstration of "Power of Now"  An absolute joy to be with, in these four months I saw that she was growing up so rapidly , absorbing so much from people around her, her vocabulary swelling up with new words each and every day. I learnt a lot about life from this wonderful grand child of mine.

Tall Trees in Palo Alto

Unfortunately this visit to California did not add much sight-seeing except for a visit to beautiful Oakland Zoo unlike my last 4 visits. It was however a time of great awakening within. Lots of very long walks admiring how Americans cherish gigantic trees in their garden and their love for nature. 

Visit to Minneapolis

Snow Covered Landscape - Minneapolis

I went to Minneapolis and spent 20 days from mid Nov with my niece. Every one remarked "Minneapolis?? In this cold weather?" I wanted to experience how our children face the adverse winter conditions. Minneapolis was covered in a thick blanket of pure white snow which fascinated me. The leafless trees were etched dark against a white back ground and the whole scenery was a picture painted by God himself. The landscape in "White-Grey-Black" is a artists delight The temperature was minus 20 type with a chill wind adding to it. I went for walks covered in several layers from head to foot which made my neck movements impossible. I even lost my way in that endless stretch of snow It is also a difficult life of so much time spent indoors especially if one had small children full of energy. This is an unforgettable experience in my life

Visit to Philadelphia

Market Street Philadelphia

I spent a month with my other son at Philadelphia. He lives on 6th floor in Market Street which is a hub of intense activity - The road itself is extremely busy with tall buildings on either side of the road and the imposing City Hall at one end. The area is down town Philly humming with life. The river Schuylkill flows close by and offers some spectacular views and walks of the city. 

Philly has so much to offer to a visitor - it is historic and buildings all reflect this feeling as being a part of history. Again the chill weather bordering on 0 deg F and a wind of 30 mph restricted free movements. Philadelphia has these numerous huge hand painted wall murals all over the city as we drive here and there. It is also called the "City of Brotherly Love" - Philadelphia left a very pleasant warm feeling.   

      

Evening Walk along Schuylkill river                      

Visit to New York

A day's drive to New York was the high point of this US Visit. How can one not be touched by WTC memorial? I felt a deep sense of loss standing there and reading names of people who had died.  Why is mankind so cruel to their own kind? How can we ever justify even a single killing? What is the use of this superior intelligence that we have that puts us right on top of the living organisms and we use it to create such wonders and also inflict such miseries? 

WTC Memorial, New York

Central Park covered in snow was a pure joy as also the vibrant high energy Times Square. New York Visit left a permanent sense of admiration for this great country called America

Path to Self Realization

Living for almost 6 months with my sons and their families took me a step closer to self realization Human relationships are complex and constantly evolving. Priorities change with age. A visiting Indian parent to USA experiences a very different life style and value systems. 

Life should be filled with beauty, peace and tranquility. Where ever I am I seek these aspects in my life.

Back Home

As in all my previous trips, I look forward to going back to my country, my home and my people.  Of course one cannot but miss the beauty of this great country called USA. Every visit enriched me in many ways and added like some 10000 photos to my collection. 

Home in Nigdi, Pune