Last August we came to the US from India, beaming with smiles on our faces, almost shouting in our hearts "Westward Ho ! ".
The happiness to see our children and grand children was motivating us to withstand the rigours of the long haul flight of almost 24 hours. We were immensely happy to see daughter in law Neetha , she was the first to sight us and greet us, son Avinash and grand daughter Ananya, almost four now, at the JFK Airport, New York.
The next few weeks flew just like that, happiness and nothing but happiness with Ananya keeping constant company and showing us round all the places in and around New Jersey. Temples at Bridgewater and Strodsburg, Bushkill Waterfalls, Wilkesberre, and the Great Metropolis New York, spread over 4 leisurely visits
Once to see the famous Time Square, Broadway Theatrical Experience, the Central Park and the Empire State Building. Then to Flushing Meadows to see a Grand Slam match sitting in the Arthur Ashe Stadium, an experience which will be cherished through out the rest of my life. Then the New York Public Library and Ground Zero, the 9 / 11 Memorial. And of course the Statue of Liberty one whole afternoon, exclusively. Meticulous planning by Avinash helped us see New York, at our own pace, Aaram Se !
Then we went to Niagara Falls. My second son Deepak and daughter in law Rajeswari joined us from Toronto, across the border. A truly amazing experience to see these Falls !
Then on to Boston to see the World Famous University, Harvard, and the equally renowned M I T. It was great to walk through the Harvard University Lawns, and Buildings, which breathe the unique feeling of a Great Place of Learning, though for only the exclusively Rich. But I was told any number of Scholarships are available for the really meritorious brains.
It was soon time to move further West, to Omaha,Nebraska, where my youngest daughter Divya, son in law Manoj and grand son Arjun live. It was a touching moment to bid farewell to Ananya after almost 11 weeks of joyful holidaying. Poor thing she broke down at the Newark airport, seeing us off to Omaha. For days, she would tell me, with tears in her tiny eyes, on the webcam, "I miss you, and Naani, Thaatha ".
At Omaha, Divya was the first to sight us and hug us emotionally, crying, "Daddy, Mummy ". Then Manoj warmly welcoming us and loading our luggage into the car. And lo, Arjun was dozing in the Child seat, fully belted ! After a while he woke up and slowly smiled a welcome smile trying to match the real faces with what he was always seeing on the webcam.
He was hardly 17 months when we saw him off at Hyderabad in April last. Now he was grown up ! He was a good 23 months old and getting ready for his second birthday, which was being planned by his parents to be at Les Vegas ! A colleague of my son in law wondered where his 18th birthday would be, if the second birthday was to be in Les Vegas !!
When we came to Omaha in the last week of October, their summer was just ending. Still, we could go one day to a nearby Farm for Apple picking ! This Farm outing we really enjoyed, seeing the Rural America at close quarters.
Then we were off to Les Vegas via Phoenix. And what a visit it was, Oh My ! The glittering city of Les Vegas, which some of my friends back home called it Swargam on Earth, was a remarkable Memory !
We went to the Hoover Dam, one day and to the Grand Canyon on another day. A magnificient sight seeing experience, the Grand Canyon visit !
In between Arjun's second birthday celebration in Les Vegas. Oh truly enjoyable visit it was.
Omaha is a beautiful city. Spread out and very spacious you just love the lovely spread of all those lovely shopping Malls, Restaurants, Down Town area, lakes and parks and jogging / cycling tracks so well laid out through out the residential areas, are all pleasing and soothing on the eye and soul. Residential Communities so well planned and self contained make living a pleasure. The Halloween Festival gave us an opportunity to see the friendly people of Nebraska State in general and of Omaha in particular. We even saw the house of Warren Buffet who lives in Omaha, in his old, modest house in spite of his phenomenal wealth.
The Omaha Zoo, the Strategic Air and Space Museum, the New Year Eve Fire Works in Down Town, were places we loved to see and cherish those memories. We got to experience the rigid winter temperatures of Minus 25 degrees F ! It was an experience, yes, it was !
Omaha really captivated us. No doubt.
After almost 12 weeks, we are leaving for New Jersey, en route to India, by end of January. Leaving behind Little Arjun is going to be really tough for us. The Little Hero really got used to us or it is the other way, we got used to him. God Bless him.
We could not visit San Fransisco, Seattle, Spokane, Chicago and Charlotte, though friends and cousins in these places were constantly goading us to come over. Similarly we could not go to Toronto in Canada to see and spend some time with my second son Deepak and daughter in law Rajeswari.
May be we will cover all these places in our next visit to this part of this world !
As we prepare to go home with a sad moan in our hearts "Eastward Ho ", it is a very tough odessey back. Going back to an empty home, with all the children and grand children abroad, makes the heart heavy as a rock !
Emotions are one inevitable part of our lives. They are inescapable.
Ramachandra Parsa. Jan.14, 2014, Omaha NE. USA.
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