Many people would've seen the Niagara Falls. I am not going to do the stereotypical, descriptive post-vacation post about Niagara Falls. Instead, here are a few of my very own personal views/happenings on this trip.
-The amount of desis at Niagara Falls is simply incredible. Priya was shocked at seeing so many Indians around. What with the heat, we all felt like we were in Mumbai/Delhi with a few foreigners visiting. I've realized that one of the perks of talking a foreign language in the US is that usually, none around you will follow your language. I can feel free to talk whatever nonsense I choose without getting weird looks. So it was rather disconcerting to get a few inquiring stares when I was talking in Tamil with our gang. Oops.
-We ate at a Punjabi Dhaba. It was set up like a typical Indian roadside stall with the flies, uncleanliness and all. Indian roadside stalls usually offer amazing food but this one was a horror trip. I got Channa Batura with Batura that looked like half-fried pancakes. The only saver was the Masala Chai but even that was cold and I paid $1.95 for it! Net result: a half-eaten lunch.
-Pittsburgh Lord Venkateswara is truly a life-saver. I mean, literally. We got food from the temple on Saturday afternoon. And we hit the road almost immediately afterwards. After a long, tiring drive, a box of thayirsaadham, upma and boondhi really did me a world of good! We had so much left that the next morning, I had pulihara and thayirsaadham (again) for breakfast! :)
- We missed out on all the nice labor day sales at the stores...:( We saw a Kohl's near Buffalo and all us girls were real tempted to go in and shop for an hour or so. Alas, there was a spoilsport amongst us and we missed it!
- I was driving back on I-75S in the wee hours of the morning. Everyone else had gone to sleep in the car. Along with sunrise came the beautiful vista of the Bluegrass region: idyllic, sloping grasslands swathed in golden sunlight with cattle grazing peacefully. A beautiful, light breeze was blowing and suddenly Amitabh's baritone voice boomed out:
....
Magar yeh ho na saka, aur ab yeh aalam hai
Ki tu nahin, tera gham, teri justju bhi nahin.
Guzar rahi hai kuchh is tarah zindagi jaise
Ise kisi ke sahare ki aarzoo bhi nahin
Na koi raah, na manzil, na roshni ka suraag
Bhatak rahi hai andhere main zindagi meri
Inhi andhere main reh jaaonga main khokar
Main jaanta hoon meri hamnafas,
Magar Kabhi Kabhi mere dil mein khayal aata hai...
....
That ever-green voice, the beautiful lyrics and the song brought to life the allure of eternal love and romance....A drive to remember for me!
19 comments:
"Alas, there was a spoilsport amongst us and we missed it!"
Subha - is that u ?;)
Btw - flies in US? U must be kidding :)..
Unnoda Adi aaalungalukku bayanthu mela post panna 2 comments'aaa remove panniten :)
Talking in Tamil, is one good advantage. But it mite land in a lot of embarassment, esp in europe, where most cities are infested by Tams ;).
One of my friends had come down from stockholm for the weekend. We went to buy some groceries, and he started aloud 'yaar pa adhu, rendu kilo puzhu illa dha arisi poduppa', and was hugely embarassed by the 'inga ellame nalla arisi dhaangha' :)
Good that u had a great time!!
u really get swamped by desis whereever u go during the long weekends. We rule!
FYI, Kohls really had very good deals this weekend that I went 4 times this long weekend.
Disturbing poem that kabhi kabhi...especially with Amitabh's rendering!! na roshni ka suraag Powerful words. I wouldn't listen to it while driving!! :P
And you have been tagged!!
Subha,
Glad you had a good time ! Could you meet your friends who wanted to hook up with you enroute to niagara ? :)
As for the Kohl's sale here, inge ellame puli 2 kilo + 3 kilo, sakkarai 3 kilo + 4 kilo maadhiri thaan pochu. I went a few times myself. Miss pannitte !!
shubha,
i think we could start considering the punjabi dhaba wala and his chai world (at least "US") famous!
your description brought back my niagara memories!
The Hindi song in the end ...was it Kabhi Kabhi ( Mukesh) song? Pardon my ignorance.
On Niagara - I used to be a regular visitor while I was in Columbus Ohio ( 1995-1999), atleast 3-4 times an year..Mesmerizing indeed..and I used to wonder about the Desis...50% were Desis.!
About the Dhaba food.. I am not sure..There is a wonderful Indian restaurant there ( Taj Mahal I think)..which used to server great food..I used to think that it was the best..until I moved to the bay area.!
One word of advise - Please be careful on driving in the nights...I've heard bad stories about trucks, deer etc.!
Hello ...Photo enga kanum? Please Please.!
Arjuna,
if you think i would've been the spoilsport, you don't know anything about women..:)) Just kidding..it wasn't me..it was another!
Oii Kay,
summa build-up ku comment vittuttu delete panriya..
tj,
wow, didn't expect Europe to be the same as US...
Prabhu,
I know you went many times to Kohl's and I also know which section you went to and checked out the deals...:)
Anand Ramamoorthy,
true..:) It was a good darshan.
Agnibarathi,
Yes, it is a very moving song. I shall answer your tag this weekend!
Dinesh,
Kohl's miss pannitene....:)
PH,
I wouldn't exactly say "famous" but "notorious"...:)
Venkitu sir,
Our excellent epicure here, VV, advised me expressly against going to Taj Mahal..:) and I heeded his advice. And anyways, the Dhaba food put me off any further experiments with Indian food..
And yes, the song is Kabhi Kabhi sung by Mukesh in the movie of the same name..
subha,
we told u to avoid Kohinoor the indian restaurant we went to, I dont know if there existed a TajMahal restaurant in Niagara.
Athu enna epicure? avana ethi vidara? :)
I ve been Niagara five times and everytime it confirms that it is only us desis who have kept up this place as a top tourist attraction in the United States...
reminds me of the Niagara trip i had been 3 years back. almost 70% desis and was bumper-bumper traffic all the way in I-79.
Pittsburgh vazhiya poirukkeenga. did u miss eating at Tamarind. one of the best in Pitts. anyways Pitts Perumal koil sambhar sadhathukku eedu inaye illai :D.
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