Some friends, finally!

Let me repeat: I'm a housewife as of now in Atlanta, and we have no friends in this city. Make that 'had.' We generally visit the temple once in a while - say once or twice a month. Apart from going to the temple for religious reasons, I go to seek friends. Yes, other Desis. However, dangerous that may sound. I realize that for a social, extrovert, talkative person like me, there needs to be another person to socialize and talk with, apart from AB. Of course, AB does not think so, and hates any sort of socializing. In fact, the last time we went to the temple, and we bought food from the kitchen there to eat (of course, I asked for it), he refused to sit in the dining area there and we ate in the car in the parking lot! All by ourselves!

So, from the last visit to this visit, I educated him on the need to get friendly with other Desis and this time, he made me proud. Read on to see how. After visiting the really crowded temple this time (there was a Kumbabhishekam happening, and it was heartening to see Indian faces, and hear Tamil and Kannada and a myriad of other Indian languages) and there were loads of people. It was going to take some time, so we decided not to wait until the proceedings get over and headed to the kitchen to grab something to eat. Per a decision taken previously, we sat at the dining area. We did not sit on anyone else's table not wanting to look desperate for some friends. We sat alone, he just looking at his plate, me looking around and commenting on others around us. People came in, went out. Kids ran around. Young mothers called curd, yogurt, and puliyodarai as tamarind rice and continued to look harried as mothers of all generations. (I guess that is the one thing that does not change no?) Some people looking around for tables came to ours, and then shifted their eyes to somewhere else. Yes, they either found a friend they knew and it seemed like everyone but us knew someone or the other :( , and would rather sit with them than us. Or, they just did not want to sit with us. There. On a more positive, self-encouraging note, I thought, maybe, they were new like us and did not want to seem desperate and, therefore, sought empty tables like we did. This went on until I finished the tamarind rice (Hey, I can say this. I live in the US of A ;)) Then, voila!

An elderly couple, obviously visiting their kids in the US came and were looking around. AB did the first thing that made me proud. He moved seats, made some space for them. Yay! Someone was going to sit next to us. Then, we ate in silence for another minute until my ears cocked in surprise to hear the very introvert, 'I won't socialise' AB talking to that Uncle asking him which part of India they were from. Woooo hoo! As I stared at him, Uncle did not talk, but Aunty answered for him (in which family does it happen the other way round?) and soon she came to know that I was from Bangalore and AB was from Chennai and was elated about that bit of news. From then on, she rambled on in Kannada telling me how good it was to be speaking in Kannada to someone outside her home in this country. Yes baby! I know, I know how it feels. Then she asked me for my phone number. I was more than willing to give it (Ok, I'm a sucker, but what the hell, I'm human, after all!) But neither of us had a pen, and she did not know her son's number. Oh, did I tell you that she'd come to the US because her daughter had twins and was visiting her son since she was here. ( I just want to sigh). We spoke while trying to think how to get each other's numbers. Then, she made the mistake. Yes, the same one everyone does, and I'm actually tired of it now. The conversation went like this.

Aunty: Neenu doctor aa? (You are a doctorrr?)
Me: (gives out a knowing smile) : Illa (No).
Aunty: (not surprised and a VERY confident look) Matte enginner aa? (Then, you are enginerrr)
Me: (gives out an irritated smile): ILLA (NO)
Aunty: (shocked, adjusts spectacles and concentrates on food for a minute) Innenu matte? (What else, then?)
Me: I'm an MA in English
Aunty: (gives me the all-knowing 'oh you were not a good student like my kids' look): ohh, sari (Oh, okay!)
By now, I obviously did not want to share numbers but the daughter-in-law (who kept on glancing at us from the other table to make sure everything was okay!) came around, smiled at us, asked about us, and took my number with an apologetic smile. There, we exchanged numbers. We are friends now, aren't we? :)

Sigh, if aunty is going to talk about why I did my MA in English, I may be friendless again, but well, she's friends for now. Yes, she's over 50, and probably will not talk about anything but cooking (about which I know squat) and the American culture and how not 'anookoola' (convenient) this country is. But then, it is conversation no?

But hey, I might just become friends with the daughter-in-law who is a doctor btw, and who works in a different city from her husband. See, the possibility of conversation is right there :P Here's to more friends, more temple visits, more aunties and uncles :P and hopefully more younger people, more 'like me' people.

P.S. - I'm celebrating by eating raw mangoes with salt and chilli powder. This is d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s.