Ah! What a trip it was. I went to Minneapolis and Chicago in my thanksgiving break, not to see these places, but to meet a friend who is very dear to my heart. I went to Minneapolis on Wednesday 11/21, the day when 2.5 million people travelled in the US. Chicago airport was full of news channel people, trying to cover the weather (it was raining just a little bit), flight delays, the trauma and all that jazz. Luckily my flight was on time. I reached Minneapolis in 55 minutes (athough the flight duration was 1:30 hours), and boy, was I disappointed. Looking at Minneapolis made me feel like I was going from Bloomington, IL to Bloomington, IL. Downtown Minneapolis has some huge buildings, but that's it. Nothing exciting. The highest building probably would have no more than 50 floors. Anyway, I reached the airport, and took the "light rail" to Downtown. I reached Downtown at around 4:20. Roamed around a little and bumped into this beautiful Indian restaurant called "Bombay Bistro", but unfortunately it was closed, and was to reopen at 5. I waited for some time (I was damn hungry) and went in when it opened. I started with aloo tikki, and I really cannot tell you how orgasmic it was! I have not eaten such an amazing Indian dish in the US in the 2 years that I have been here. It tasted exactly like the tikki you would get from a roadside vendor in Delhi (except that they added a little sophistication to it - you know, ceramic plate instead of a pattal, sides of 3 chutneys and all that, and a spoon that had some beautiful design on it). After finishing my tikki, I had malai kofta and nan, and to tell you the truth, It was fantastic! So rich, so smooth (the gravy), so yummy! I felt like I was eating in a restaurant in Delhi!
After finishing my dinner, I decided to pee. I went to the bathroom where another Indian guy was already present to give me company. He looked at me, waited for like 15 seconds, and then said,"India?". I said,"haanji". Then he goes,"kahan se?", and I go, "Dilli". Well, that was just the start. Turned out that this guy was my neighbour in Shalimar Bagh. His brother still runs an apparel store there. He introduced himself as Teetu (He was in his 40s btw!). I told him my name, and we exited the bathroom smiling. In the restaurant Teetu loudly tells all the waiters, "arey ye to mere padosi nikle!". I kept smiling. Then a lady came wearing a chef''s dress. I told her that the food was simply amazing, and that I had never eaten such good food in the US before. She smiled and said thank you. I wished all of them good night, took a cab and reached Richfield.
Seeing Joshi after two and a half years was funny. At first, I felt that that he has gained a lot of weight. He was also wearing those big shoes with big heels. In short, he looked big. Or huge. Immediately after seeing him, I started making fun of him (like the good old days). And he could not stop laughing.
We were in Minneapolis for 2 days, and then we went to Chicago for another 2 days. I have always liked Chicago, and the city brings a smile to my face everytime I go there. Joshi liked it too. A lot. I hope.
We roamed on the streets during daytime, and drank in our motel in the nights. Talked a lot about all the people we know - when, how, what they are doing, who got married, who is about to and all that usual crap. Joshi is still confused about America and its culture. He thinks I have become very sophisticated, but I corrected him. I am still the same old...just a little polished ;).
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