Why I am fed up of America.:--------------------------------
From the very beginning my wife and children told me that medical help is not available in USA. Doctors are not readily available in states. And in general so many rules and regulations to follow that one becomes fed up sort of. The non availability of medical practitioners is so ingrained on our mind that mind began to think why go to America? Medical help is available but the cost of it is prohibitive. Amol tells me that Kashmira’s birth cost him nearly $ 60,000/--. From the very beginning I was debating the idea of going to America. But desire to see and to love Kashmira was overpowering. At last two old Indians alighted on the shores of San Francisco. Slowly it was realized that apart from this medical misconception everything else was just fine with America. We got accustomed with American ways in due course and began to consider American ourselves. But the fear of medical fraternity is still there in our minds. Because as my wife tells “what will happen when one does not know”. We fell in love with San Francisco and our Chinese neighborhood. The wonderful Richmond locality is situated between Golden Gate park and Mountain Lake park. This is a mixed community with Chinese, Thai, Indian, Philippino and of course Black and White Americans. But such a sweet community is hardly available anywhere else. Whether you are acquainted or not people wish you or at least smile at you graciously. It is most unfortunate that there is crime and violence in such a sweet community. As a saying in Marathi goes ‘where there is village there is a dumping ground for garbage.’ I remember my friend the late Sainath Dawane invariably at such times because he used to quote such strange and outlandish sayings at times. Some of the sayings he coined himself.
Ever since in San Francisco I read Examiner regularly and if I did not get Examiner as it happens on Sunday/Saturday, I read it on internet. I read with interest the news about mayor Gavin Newsom and Governor Arnold –his surname is impossible--. In fact Arnold is my favorite hero but the mayor is more handsome. Even some of the Chinese supervisors are cute for example Fiona Maa. In USA corporators are known as supervisors. Those who conduct business of municipality. The city hall is in the downtown where the business of San Francisco municipality is conducted. The Examiner gives details about what the mayor is doing at what time. I have always looked with wonder and awe to political personalities though many of them were my friends in young age. TELEVISION is also not as spectacular as we have in India. Most of the channels have either cookery programs or good house-keeping programs. Entertainment part is taken care of by Spanish language TV. A news channel like star news or aajtak is not there. Similarly programs on many Indian channels are far better than here. Even vernacular TV is far superior than American TV. This is because in India TV happens to be main source of entertainment and knowledge whereas in American society that position is taken by Internet. Chinese channel is showing sometimes Indian movies. But that is mostly on Sunday or Saturday, and that too in the mornings. I watch usually BBC evening news or old movies channel. Spanish I don’t understand but Spanish TV is spectacular and women more beautiful. Chinese women are as beautiful as white women and Chinese programs are equally good. But I drew a blank in both cases.
