I had to travel for my work when I used to work in the States. Those were the pre-covid times, when traveling was easy, there were no restrictions, no face masks worn, no social distancing, and no fear of getting ill by coming into contact with people.
One of the trips I often did was to St Louis in Illinois. I found St.Louis to be a typical mid-western city. People were laid back, things were taken not that seriously, people started work at 7 and left the offices at 3. Unlike the hustle and bustle of Atlanta or New York, where day often starts late and ends late, those 3-4 days in a week when I stayed in St.Louis were quite different.
Infact, one of the major visits I did was to travel to Decatur, Illinois, which is in north of St louis, some 2 hours drive. That drive just seemed like miles to go….It was a plain land, with fertile agricultural land on both sides. As far as I drove, it seems that the road never ended.
Often during those drives, I used to feel nostalgic. I was faraway from my country, and i was driving on the streets of Illinois, which is also known as ‘Lincoln’s state’. I had never imagined that someday I might be sipping my coffee at 30000 ft on a weekly basis, that I might be driving with 80 miles a hour on a 6 lane drive in the States, that I might be having food in some of the best restaurants in the States.
Many things came as a total surprise in my life. While some came as a shock as well. Its hard to believe that life can take dramatic twists and turns in anyone’s life, without even our consent. We often worry about our job security, bank balance, career growth, and bla bla….but the irony is life itself does not provide any security to anyone….Nothing to be nihilistic here, but sometimes, looking back or even looking around us makes us understand the deeper yet simple philosophies of life…..
That drive between St Louis and Decatur felt like never ending miles….same is about life, its a journey of miles to go….
When I first landed in America in 2015 for my graduate studies, before even my classes stated, I wanted to have an on-campus job. Infact, every who came from India searched for a job. The need for a on-campus job was driven by not only by the need to earn some dollars which would help us to payoff our day to day expenses, but also it was needed to get a SSN card which is immensely useful for staying in the USA.
But apart from these perks, I was also excited to have a job because it would not only be my first job in USA, but also my first job in life as I had never worked in India ( atleast never worked for money). Hence, I was quite enthused for that experience.
So, after landing in Raleigh, North Carolina, and taking rest for 2-3 days, I immediately started looking out for jobs on campus. I also wanted to visit the campus, and meet new people. NC State has two campuses, the old one known as North Campus and the new one known as Centennial campus. The old campus is known for its arts, history, library, student center, business schools and other pure sciences buildings. While the new centennial campus hosts the engineering and research buildings.
For some reason, I always liked the old campus. This is because it not only is more beautiful and historic (built since 1889), but also it was more lively and full of young crowd as compared to the new campus, which is more like a serious campus, where engineering nerds and old ph.d folks stayed ( not just worked), and hence it was more of a serious and dull type of campus.
So, I started seeing the old campus, and I stumbled upon a building known as ‘Witherspoon Student Center’ It hosted the NC State Student Newspaper and media office, known for its student weekly paper called ‘Technician’, its campus radio and other journals it published. Somehow, I was drawn to this building when I saw it first. I entered the office, and being a guy who had just entered America not more than a week, I was surprised when a pretty girl saw me and started talking with me. She asked if I had come from India, and in which course was I enrolled. We chatted for sometime, and then she invited me to see the Student media office.
I assumed she might be working there. She gave me a walkthrough of the office, and then she asked me if I would like to work there! I couldn’t speak for next few seconds. I was elated, and then I told her that it would be a pleasure to work there. She smiled at me and immediately walked into the office of Editor in Chief! I was stunned! Did I just have a conversation with the Editor in Chief of the NC State most read newspaper ‘Technician’? And she seemed to be so young for an editor, because I had all the ideas in mind of an Editor being an old generation person. But as all these thoughts were racing in my head, she came back with a form to fill my details and asked me if I would like to work as a correspondent or in photograhy?
I couldnt believe that I had landed a job in USA, my very first job after a casual conversation in just few minutes. She did not ask me about my background, or if I had an education in journalism or mass communications, nothing! That was the fastest and the easiest job interview I ever had in my life! I told her that I am more interested to work as a correspondent, and especially as an opinion column writer. She said yes, and that was it! Boy, I got landed with my first job in the USA at first sight….
And later I came to know that the pretty girl who hired me was Kaitlin, and she had been elected as an Editor in Chief very recently. As the new semester had not started, hence most likely I was the first person she hired. And she was persuing her final year in Bachelors degree, while I was there for my grad studies. In America, age really doesn’t matter, and hence, it was not uncommon for younger people to hire senior folks, just like she hired me. But at the end, this experience surprised me and remains one of the best I had in the USA!
and no wonder, during my brief time I worked with her, she indeed was one of the best editors and managers I worked with. I remember her because she was the first one who gave me an opportunity to persue writing, inspite of my engineering background. It was Technician job, which made me realize how much I enjoyed writing, even though I am still learning the Art of Writing! But I like writing, and hadn’t I got that opportunity. I would never have started this blog either. That pleasant experience showed that however times have changed after Trump, but America once had been a land of opportunity, and even more important, ‘unbiased and unprejudiced’ one. I am grateful to her for giving that opportunity and Wish her all the best for her future endeavours!
Back during the days when I was in America, I happened to visit my friend in Asheville, NC. I was working in Atlanta, GA and to reach Asheville was like a 3 hour drive. Even today, I would always like to go to Asheville, as it is such a wonderful and scenic place to visit. Surrounded by lush green mountains, waterfalls, and a perfect hill station, it is one of the best tourist destinations in America.
Blue Ridge Parkway
So, I met my friend in Asheville, and we started seeing some scenic beauty places near Asheville such as Mt.Pisgah, Blue Ridge Parkway and the Looking Glass waterfall. Every place is full of greenery, forests and well preserved for tourists.
Looking Glass Waterfall
Then by the time we saw the above places, and had a quick lunch at Subway ( we both being vegetarians, it is quite a challenge to find a vegetarian restaurant in the mountains), it was already 5 pm, and suddenly a thought came about going to Gatlinburg. Well, it wasn’t a bad choice as Gatlinburg is equally beautiful like Asheville, but the problem was Gatlinburg was 1 hour and 30 mins drive away from Asheville, and by the time, we would reach Gatlinburg, it would be past sunset time.
But sometimes, over thinking doesn’t work well. So, instead of thinking too much, we decided to just go there and lets see how things go. Then, I immediately drove my car to the nearby gas station, and filled the fuel tank full. Then, we embarked on our sudden change in itinerary to go to Gatlinburg. This place is even deep down into the mountains, and the route is surrounded by dense forest, and sparse population ( In USA, many places are such that we can hardly find anyone for miles). During the journey, there was even one spot for 4-5 miles which was remote and dense, that there was no network coverage as well. And being driving there for the first time, I was relying on Google Maps.
So, but finally, we reached Gatlinburg, and we started seeing around the evening aura of this mountain city. The place was beautiful, with many shops selling souvenirs, and gifts. And then it suddenly stared raining. We were in the middle of summer, and hence did not carry any raincoats or umbrellas. But sometimes, the joy of getting wet in rains is far better than the fear of getting ill. Hence, we did not think much and started walking down the street, enjoying the rain. And then we became elated as soon as we saw an Indian restaurant, selling chai and samosa. I bet the experience of an Indian having chai during the rains, in a beautiful hillstation during evening time cannot be expressed in words!
Then, after spending 2 hours in the streets of Gatlinburg, we decided it was time to get back to Asheville. After all, we hadn’t planned to stay there, and it was Sunday, and my friend had to work on Monday in his office in Asheville. But it was almost 8:30 PM, and then the thought to go back through that dense forest during night time was quite challenging. Infact, the rains did not shiver me but the journey back surely made me. But we had no choice, and saying ‘Ganpati Bappa Morya’, we decided to head back to our place. We prayed to not get lost in that jungle, and even worse, for our car to not break down either. Afterall, we had watched enough of the hindi horror movies in childhood.
The journey initially went good, but then that area where the network disappears was about to come. And adding to my fear, the rains started again. Now, it was pitch dark outside, with our only car on the zig-zag small road, no network, surrounded by dense forests and in the middle of the heavy rains. At that time, all I thought was why did I take that foolish decision to drive to Gatlinburg in the evening, when I knew we had to come back and it might be late. But any regrets doesn’t reduce the fear. So, all I had to was make the right turns so that we don’t get lost, and just hope that nothing happens to the car!
I think such moments or experiences brings the best out of us. To my surprise, my friend was relaxed, and laughing as if nothing was serious. I couldn’t understand how can someone be so relaxed during such times when we could get lost or even would have to spend the night in a forest. But maybe it was me as I always had been somewhat fearful and had been raised up in a very comfortable and caring environment. But those 15-20 mins turned out to be best for that day!
Because not only I remembered and took the right turns, but also took the responsibility to get back us out of that jungle without any hurdles or breakdowns. Today, after so many months have passed, and as I remember that dreary night, In life. sometimes, we have to Just do it. Overthinking or over-analyzing might have saved us the trip, but we would have missed an experience for lifetime. And that experience makes me feel good and intrepid, that I am ready to drive in there again during night time if needed. I know it sounds foolish, but I do think that many times, its our fear in our mind, the over-calculated decision we take in life just to avoid any failures, or setbacks, the fear we inculcate in our mind after listening someone’s else experience or watching some movie, which makes us live life cautiously. But if we just take some decisions with a pinch of conscience, then life becomes good and interesting. It is just like good food, where a pinch of salt is enough to make food tasty, similarly, the thinking part should be just like salt, then you’ll see life becomes so interesting and tasty with such goose-bumping experiences!
Gatlinburg
Dear Readers, I hope you enjoyed this small experience, and stay connected for the next story!
AbhiKNotes - The blog of Abhishek Karadkar 