The Conflict

"The person you are calling is not picking up calls at the moment, please try again later." Jeevika was simply disgusted hearing the same woman speak in the same tone for around the twelfth time. She was irritated, frustrated and annoyed of standing under the sun at the local bus stop on Hillsborough Street waiting for Sam for the last one hour. Sam was always known for his annoying time management skills and everyone knew this but Jeevika. This was the first time she was going to his place. They planned to eat at his home and then watch a movie at a local theater nearby.

Samay or Sam as his friends called him, was in Raleigh for last 6 years. He did his undergraduation in Sociology and being the topper in his department, was awarded a full scholarship for Phd in North Carolina State University. Born in a Tamil family, with strict Tamilian disciplines surrounding him all the time in India, Sam's intentions of coming to the United States was essentially to get rid of the 'stupid Indian culture' as he used to call it. According to Sam, United States was the only nation where every individual got a chance to live life his way and not do what his parents want him to do. Hence he chose not to pursue an engineering or a medical degree, much to the disappointment of his father.

In six years, Sam was almost an American now. While in school back in Chennai, Sam loved watching Hollywood movies. He always maintained distance from his friends who would usually watch Tamil and Hindi movies in theaters on weekends. He would bring english movie cds and watch it on his computer all night. He did not make friends deliberately in school as he felt he had nothing to discuss with them. He did not like cricket and watched NBA playoffs every season even if he had to wake up at 6:30 in the morning. He loved burgers, and breads and imitated everything that he watched in the English movies. Oprah and Late Night with Dave were his favourite shows. He knew US politics more than his friends knew Indian politics.

Jeevika was rather new to the university and absolutely antithetical to what Sam was.

She was also from the city of Chennai. She completed her undergraduation from NIT Trichi in Electronics Engineering and had applied to NCSU for masters with thesis. Jeevika was from a middle class family. Born to a Maharashtrian mother and a Tamilian father, she was a rigid and conservative Indian. Culture was oxygen in her family. She was trained in Carnatic Clasical music in early childhood which she excelled in later. Her mother would eavesdrop into all her discussions with her friends in schoool just to make sure she was with good company.

She was the apple of her eye. As a pampered child, Jeevika would follow each and every instructon from his mother over the phone to the extent of even lighting an incense stick in front of the Ganesha idol on her study table. She would light it for sometime and then put it off much before the smoke alarm would start beeping and his roomies would come and shout at her. Jeevika was still struggling to adapt to the American culture. She found it extremely indescent for girls wearing mini shorts exhibiting their long legs to everyone. She had started wearing skirts and jeans much to her dislike, but only to stop her friends gazing at her gaudy Indian kurtis. She often cursed herself for making a wrong decision and sulked within. Prior coming to USA, her mother voiced a hundred times the fact that she should not go out with any American and that her parents would want an Indian groom for her, who would at least have the same taste of Tamil food.

The only friend she could be free with was Samay, who himself was an American patron, but never forced anyone else to do the same. It was completly Jeevika's decision and Sam was more than happy to hang around with her. It was strange that they had become really great friends in a very short period of time. There was nothing in common between them but yet they were close buddies. Jeevika had come to know about him through a social networking site where she accidentally discovered that there was another guy from her city in NCSU. They had talked over the phone when Jeevika was in India and it was because of Sam's helping and giving nature, that Jeevika decided to befriend him right from day one.

The blackberry in Jeevika's rang this time and she knew it was her buddy.

"Hello! Jeev, 'm sorry I ran late. 'M on my way. See ya in a couple of minutes", Sam exclaimed.

He was terse.

"Do you even know how long I have been waiting here in the sunlight? Its been so hot today. You should have at least called me."

There was no answer from the other side. He had hung up.

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"Sam, you said couple of minutes, and you took 20 minutes to be here." Jeevika howled at him while buckling the seat belt in Sam's new Mustang.

"Chuck it girl! Just look at my car girl. Say somethin...Have you ever sat in a Mustang?"

"The only good car I have sat inside is Honda City that my uncle had back in Chennai. I sat once and I loved that car."

"Forget it! Waste it is...indeed.."

Jeevika smiled. She never used to get annoyed at Sam inspite of his American dialect. She knew his nature very well. She always found herself very secure in his presence. He was her only true friend in Raleigh.

"Okie, now tell me whats so great about this Mustang car?"

And then it was a long discussion. Sam's love for cars was evident from the way he used to talk. The technical jargon he used, the intricate detailing in every part of the car he descibed made it look like he was an automobile engineeer. Jeevika could hardly understand a single word but never gave him the slightest inkling that she was getting bored. In fact she took extra efforts to undertsand what he said. Sam was always like this. He was the cynosure in his group of friends, and even among the professors in his department. He was so good at everything.

Sam was good at driving. He drove his car at a flaunting speed through the roads, little caring the speed restrictions.

"So where are we going Sam?"

"Where do you want to go?"

I thought we were goin to your place for dinner!"

"You hungry, so soon? I thought we would hang out at Starbucks for a while and then head home. What say?"

"Okie", replied Jeevika with a tone that meant that she was going only for his insistence.

Jeevika hated American coffee. She always loved the home made filter coffee with the concoction added by her mother.

The Cameron Village Starbucks was one of the biggest Starbucks in Raleigh. It was a part of the Harris Teeter store and was large enough to hold more than 30 people at a time.

"Can I have a Grande size Java Chip with extra whip and dark chocolate? And one...Jeev what are you having?"

"Nothing.."

"Now c'mon...have something. Should I order a latte?"

"No. I think a double espresso is fine." That was the only drink Jeevika liked, as it had a lot of caffeine in it and tasted like real coffee and less of syrupy flavors.

They sat on one of the corner tables. Jeev liked few things about Americans and one of them being their table etiquettes and manners especially when Sam would wait for her to sit first and then sit on his chair. She was observant enough to notice all this and make a note of it in her mind.

"So, Jeev, why are you lost today?"

Jeevika was looking out at the woman in the parking lot who was struggling for a long time to get her car parked in between the two SUVs.

"Jeev, 'm talking to you."

"Oh...I am sorry, what did you just say?", replied Jeevika.

"Jesus! Are you nuts? Damm it girl, you are still that Indian village girl; shy, apprehensive and timid. Open up girl, open up! Don't you see the world around? There's no one to look back and stop with you. You have to be energetic, on your toes all the time. Why do you seem so lost all the time?"

Sam continued, "Man, this is America! I am just deeply love with this nation. I love its roads, its people, the food, the tv shows, the clothes that I wear. They are simply so good. Did you ever find such a place in Chennai like this. Keep apart Chennai, even Mumbai. Do you think in any way it matches any of the small cities of USA. Look at these people, they are so well organized. I don't get simply why people in India are so pathetically emotional about their culture?"

Jeevika had no answer for his questions. She knew it was useless to start up a debate with Sam. No one could ever beat him with words.

"I did not say that Americans are bad, Sam. But don't try to mould me into someone like you, who has forgotten his roots. I am happy with my sambhar-rice and I am happy with my so called 'pathetic Indian emotion'."

"Oh Jeev, but you know what. You are a sensible girl. And I have always felt that you are smart and intellegent. You have a touch of elegance in you that makes so American like. But the problem with you is that you are rigid. Be flexible. Do whatever you feel like. No one would stop you here, but don't be so rigid, for Christ's sake."

"Christ??? Tell me something Sam. Is Jesus your God? Why do you keep bringing Jesus Christ in all our discussions?You are a Hindu Brahmin. Isn't it?"

"God...impossible! Why do you..."

"Grande Java Chip for Sam and Double Espresso for Jeev", the barrista girl exclaimed.

Jeevika thanked her at her heart as she knew that this discussion was leading nowhere. Last time she was here with Sam, they had talked about the same issue. They argued, they fought, they had a verbal debate, so much that she was not in a mood to go to his place and instead had walked back home alone.

"Sam, we have discussed this thing so many times. Do you think it is going to help? Be happy in your world and so be I."

"I never stopped you from being yourself. All I said is just be a bit flexible. That's gonna make you stay more comfortable here."

"Sam...please. Remember last time what happened? I think I am simply not destined to visit your place."

Sam was not that pursuasive though. He knew Jeev was stubborn and she always had her own opinion about things. She always looked at the world through her own eye and not what someone else would want her to see. But that was something she really admired about her. Somehow within her, Sam saw a great friend and companion. He could talk sheer non sense for hours with her, much to her discomfort perhaps he thought, but very much to his own pleasure. Sam had never had a friend who was a girl an at the same time from India and that too chennai. His mother would have been the happiest person to know this, he thought.

Sam had already gulped 2 Java chips by now. They were laughing and talking the whole time. The lady on the other table had a grin on her face everytime they laughed or clapped each others hands in air. They talked about their professors and the fun in their classes; how pathetic their american classmates were in mathematics and geography; and how the Chinese professors would talk in English that no one could understand. 

And then time and again, Sam would talk about his trips to California and New York. He would explain each trip in detail and descibe the places beautifully; he was always good in choosing words for describing things. Jeevika would listen him with all patience everytime he spoke about these trips. She could almost view the beaches of San Diego, the forests of Redwood and Sequioa and the canyons of Arizona to the Empire State Building of the NYC, only through his words. 

But within such beautiful words of exchange, Sam would surely prove how American he was know. Jeevika could at times not get his slangs and phrases that he would use, but would never ask him their meanings out of shame. She would wonder everytime he used the words "Shoot", "Jeez" and so on.

"You know Jeev, I just love the way these Americans see their lives. They take it their only opportunity to enjoy, their only chance to see things. They dream big and they do big."

"But Sam, did you ever realize that out of so many people working in the USA, who are the ones who contribute to the technical knowhow. Its the Indians. Look at NASA Sam, look at all the biggies, the multi-million dollar companies. Look at the number of Indians working in these companies. Look at Vikram Pandit, look at Deepak Chopra, Sanjay Gupta, Sabeer Bhatia, all of them are Indians."

"Jeev, you got it wrong again. The names you just uttered, either half of them were born in America, or they were in USA as their fathers and their forefathers were here a long time back. Look at the big picture, Jeev. Everyone comes to this nation at some point of their life. Why? Why am I here and why are you here?

And the debate began again. It went on and on. An endless ordeal, she thought.

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When they reached his home, it was already 9:00pm and it was time for dinner. It was late and they had to drop plans of watching the movie that night. Sam picked up a chicken burger from Burger King on his way. Jeevika chose not to eat one of them and decided that she would cook something for herself at his place.

Sam's apartment was really nice. It was all furnished. There were 2 rooms and there were proper beds in there, unlike the one where Jeevika stayed on the Avent Ferry Road where most of the Indian students favored staying. She found the wrought iron furniture very elegant and befitting with the home decor. She saw a dining table after a long time since she had left her home in India. For a second, she liked the place. She loved the smell of the apartment. Was it the linen potpuri? Or was it a smell of the freshness she always longed for? She kept wondering.

"Hey Jeev, would you mind if I can just take a quick shower, while you cook your stuff?", remarked Sam with a bite of  the burger in his mouth. "There's a bottle of red wine in the kitchen. Can you pour me some wine? You will find the glasses on the shelf."

Jeevika quietly went into the kitchen. She was feeling a bit awkard and scared to open the fridge and the kitchen drawers. She looked around and saw that the dust bin was overflowing. There were polythene packets around, with opened cans in the sink and unwashed knives and forks lying here and there. And then there was these Maggi noodles packets on the platform. Sam needs a wife badly, she thought.

Jeevika stopped for a moment. Maggi! She wondered. She could not understand.

She opened one of the drawers quickly. To her amazement, she found Indian masala packets inside. There were packets of biriyani masala, garam masala, coriander, cumin, red chillies. She opened the fridge to find garlic and ginger pastes, pans of cooked brinjal and dal. She could hear the shower from Sam's bathroom still. She hurried into his room quickly. She opened his closet. She searched through the book shelf. She was surprised every second. She discovered books on Gandhi, and some autobiography of Sunil Gavaskar called Sunny Days. Jeevika couldn't believe her eyes. She opened his wallet lying on the bed. There was a small picture of his mother and father and there was a small white piece of paper that had some vermillion in it.

Jeevika was shocked. She was dumbfounded. She was bereft of words.

Quietly she went to the kitchen. She looked at her watch. It was 9:25pm. It would be 9:00 am in India now and her mother would be doing the daily puja. She quietly opened the wine bottle, poured it in a glass. She smelled it at first and then took the glass to the table.

She still could not sink all this in. She sat and wondered. She took a small sip of the wine from the glass. She gazed at the partly eaten burger lying on the table and smiled at herself.

Jeevika heard Sam coming out of the bathroom. "Hey, Jeev, did you find something to eat?" He came out wearing his white towel and saw the wine glass in her hand.

"Would you mind if I take a bite from your chicken burger?", she smiled.

Samay looked at Jeevika, into her eyes and smiled back, saying, "What? Chicken burger and wine? I think that's a good combo. What say?"