14th March, 9 PM, waiting for Dinner
I am back after a break of 4 days!
And man... these 4 days were hectic!
In India I generally wake up at
10 AM and go to office around 3 in the afternoon. But in Richmond, I am waking
up at 6 in the morning, going to office at 7.15 and then after managing loads
of projects return to hotel at 7.30 in the evening. But I am not writing this
post to bore you with describing my work related update.
Today I am going to tell you the
story of a river.
Before that, let me go back to
Sunday, I had my breakfast and got ready for a whole day trip around Richmond.
I asked for a taxi and the lady in the reception not only called the taxi, gave
me tips for places to visit and where to eat lunch and so on. She is very
friendly and whenever I see her in the lobby she gets into a discussion.
The taxi came pretty soon, the
driver looked from sub continent and told me his name is Sabbir and he is from
Kolkata, India! We were still talking in English, when he got a call from home
and spoke in Bengali! And then what else! The rest of the journey to Belle isle
passed quickly, we chatted about his family, his business, the scenario in US,
the credit crunch… everything in Bengali! He is from Basirhat, living in US for
last 17 years and yes, he gave me a $10 discount on the fare!!
Sabbir dropped me near James, the
river, which is passing in between Richmond’s central district. On the river
there is a foot bridge which takes one to the Belle isle, a 54 acre island in
middle of the river. The walk on the footbridge above the river is one of my
most memorable experiences on the trip, especially when the bridge was moving sidewise
due to wind.
(Ok, my food is here… let me
finish it and get back)
Belle Isle is a natural Island
which is one of the biggest attractions in Richmond. Lots of people come here
during the weekend, some with family, kids or with partners. I was alone,
although I was given company by Shreya through whatsapp in my phone.
There were many people jogging,
walking their dogs, rafting, cycling or even just plain relaxing under the Sun.
the weather was good, it was sunny but nice wind was blowing and temperature must
be there around 15-16 degree Celsius. I roam around, took pictures and enjoyed
the walk around the island. It is a very nice place for lazy time pass around
the river and I did exactly that.
After Belle Island, I visited the
Richmond civil war centre and the war museum. They were like any other museums
and nothing special. They played a movie in the war museum pretty much for me, again
nothing special, just showed how those great American soldiers sacrificed their
life and youth so that their country can
remain independent!
Remaining part of the day, I
visited Richmond down town, walked on without any plan. Random stranger, drunk,
old, black man asked for help (I refused!) Returned home in a taxi of an
Iranian man, who said, “You are Indian?? I am from Iran, your neighbour!!”
This is the best part of my
travel. Here I could meet with so many people from so many different countries,
so many myths were broken, so many new things I learn. And yes, I realized
there is no American taxi driver in Richmond. Till now, my daily taxi for office
is driven by Shamim (Sabbir’s father) and I met taxi drivers from North Africa,
Iran and Bangladesh (That man said, “I hate Pakistanis, I don’t even talk to
them!”)
The trip to Richmond is going
pretty good. It’s very cold though, most of the days when I woke up I found the
temperature in the range of 0-2 degree Celsius and none of the days it goes
beyond 15. I also talked to Swagatamda, in US on a business trip too and Arunimadi over the phone and hopefully will meet Arunimadi in Phoenix and listen to the 'Falling from the Auto' story once again.
The trip to Richmond is almost
over. Just tomorrow and then Saturday afternoon I am leaving for Tigard. May be
my next post will be from Tigard, where it is forecasted rain throughout the
week with the expected maximum to be 11 degree C for all the days!
[... The next Part]
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