Alice in wonderland...

This is about my experience in USA. Hmm I will write this in parts... They are just my thoughts and are not in any order.. just as and when i feel it..

So here is part (I) :

As i finally landed in the USA after a journey of around 25 hours, I knew i was gonna be up to alot of surprises during my stay. And ya, USA has given me more of surprises till now than ever. From people: their dressings to their attitude. From infrastructure: facilities for everyone whether poor, rich or even disabled. Seasons: from the rains to the summer and now the fall. Their culture their thinking.. so different from what we see in India. I really felt like i was Alice in Wonderland.. so much to explore so much to learn and so much to appriciate...

Well, I am staying in my rented apartment. My apartment is in one of the posh localities of Pittsburgh with the main Shopping malls just around the corner. Very few of such apartments will you find here. Mostly people live with their family in houses: Small cottages/bungalows. Beautiful ones having the look of ancient houses made of stone and some even like castles.

These apartments are owned by a company and are given on rent. So mostly those who stay here are ones who don't own a house. Indians who work here, ya lots of them, stay in these apartments. Since they cannot afford to buy a house as soon as they arrive or like me they have come for a small assignment. For those who staying her for long, I am guessing after working for around 6-7 years they can think of buying a house.. again, if they are sure they want to settle here. So other than Indians, I think those who stay in these apartments are old couples. Those who have sold off their house and are ready to retire and no longer want to take care of a house. After all it is a Big job here..
Here is one thing that surprised me..Mowing the lawn after the grass in ur lawn grows to a certain height is mandatary and can be punishable by law if not taken care of.. I have never heard of smthing like that in India.. There during rains, the buildings would have a whole lot of wild plants, weeds growing and noone ever objected.

One So good thing is, Here an average old person lives for at least 80-85 and yes they are pretty strong and independent even at that age. Here facilities for old people amazes me. There are the automatic wheelchairs for those who cant walk. The roads, the apartments and even stations: they are so well maintained and kept for the disabled. The roads are not a bit close to Indian roads. So clean and so good. One can easily maneuver their way themselves even on the wheelchair. The stations have elevators and even escalators to help the old. The
apartments have special car parks for the disabled and elevators. You can Grannys and Grandpas zoom away in their car. They need'nt be dependent on anyone.. Coz driving is so easy and Yes so systematic. Old people at the age of 60-75 easily move out in car. Now how good is that. I feel so bad for our grannies who are so dependant on their sons and daughters. A life like this would have been so Good.

Talking about roads.. Its Fantastic here. No "khadda" like pune roads. No potholes and manholes. I haven't seen dust or mud ever since i came here. Along the roads there will be lawn or trees. No land is left as it is. There will be a lawn or sometimes the wood shavings or even flower plants. The path to my office through which the Tram goes is through forest like area. Full of trees and flowers. Lawn and plants.
In Fact, there are deer and rabbits roaming here freely. Ya this is something i was so excited to see. I have seen more deer and rabbits than cats and dogs. There are NO stray animals. But the number of pet dogs i have seen are less than the deer i have seen. In India, u see a deer and next minute he is shot.. :-D

Really feels like paradise. The infrastructure is so good. So well maintained roods, pavements, tunnels and bridges. Downtown is an area where there are intersections of 3 main highways.. there are double decker bridges and the way all the highways stand, its really amazing. So well studied and researched city for building up an infrastructure of this kind with wonderful roads and highways. The well maintained buses and trams. All automated to collect money from passengers and all with air conditioners. All so comfortable.

Traffic rules are followed so well by people. Even the roads are marked so well. Some lanes are there, only for those who wanna turn left at next crossings. You cant go there just beocoz there is noone on there and yet go straight. There are some emergency lanes which are used only by police or ambulance in case of emergencies. That lane has to be kept empty completely. I had never even heard of something like that before.
Pedestrians are given highest priority.There are fixed crossing where you should cross roads from. People drive very fast here. But at the crossings, they make sure they slow down and let the people walk. At some places there are buttons you press and vehicles are made to stop and then u cross. In India, If you cross the road and a vehicle comes, he definitely takes you to the other side.. way to far on the other side.. up in heaven :-) but here you will never see that.


Great isn't it !! That was only about the infrastructure and facilities. Living here is really like living is Paradise. All so goody goody. Life here is so much simpler. If i could get my family here and stay here forever.. i would def. not think twice of settling here. Or let me put it this way.. How i wish India was like this.. So clean, well planned...so systematic.. so easy for all... I wish i could take all the good things from here and go back to India and change India to be one like this..


.. to be continued..