From the Warmest Place on Earth

This is the true account of my travel to the North-Western Hemisphere and my first impressions of Canada and Ottawa.

23rd August, 9:30 PM

I arrived at the Anna International Terminal only to find I'm the earliest among the 3. MK arrived shortly and after some wait, KG came at 945 (he had, as you might have guessed, promised 915). Reddy anna had come to seeoff KG. My family, my extended family AND my dad's colleagues came for my send off (you know some times popularity is difficult to handle).
The ban on visitors' entry, which came into effect after Mumbai TRAIN blasts, was lifted soon after the London AIR-scare. I wasn't complaining though. My parents, bro, patti and uncle came inside to talk to me till I went inside for immigration. The check-in guy told me the hand item which is usually allowed in addition to the hand luggage is prohibited after the Heathrow episode. I had to put my Intel bag into my travel back pack to convince him and though it weighed 10 kilos after that, he din't mind. MK had to check in one hand bag (which was done for free) becaue he couldn't squeeze one in the other.

After bidding my parents adieu, we went in for immigration and security check. There were 2 loooooooooong queues. We were confused as to which one is ours. A lady in sleeveless looking at our blank faces offered to help and told u any queue is fine. We stood behind her. I needed to take out my passport so showed my sweater at KG and said, "konjam pudichchikonga..."

KG: (with a dirty smile on his face) yedha?

I looked at him, and then the girl ... Hmmm... this is going to be a looooooong journey!

Since KG entered the airport a bit late, we couldn't get consecutive seats. Only me and MK were together. And as luck would have it, it was the very last seat of the plane. Hmmm... this is going to be one looooong bumpy ride! On a brighter side, I got the window seat. I fell asleep immediately and missed the dinner which was served. KG, of course, hogged.

When I got up, the sun was at the horizon and man how bright the rays were from that altitude! MK and KG came around shortly. KG and MK swapped places. I chatted with KG over the breakfast which was good hot pongal. KG was now and then gaping at the german air hostess who, he said, looked like Monica Belouky. The descent at Frankfurt was cool with splendid views down... cities and towns are planned with human settlements separated by vast tracts of green pastures and woods - lands which would otherwise be converted into engineering colleges in India. We landed at Frankfurt at 1000 hrs local time. The climate was pleasant with gushes of cold wind every now and then.

The airport is huge and beautiful. We went to the gate where our Air Canada flight was waiting. After the security check, we boarded te plane. This time, KG and MK got seats next to each other while I was next to a window seat.

I picked up Canada's national daily "Globe and Mail" and was shocked to see the lead story "Four Tamil Students arrested in Ontario while smuggling weapons to LTTE"... Oh... thats a good start in a new country...

They showed Ice Age 2 and X Men on the flight. My neighbour was a middle aged stocky man in shorts. I learnt that Allen was a psychiatrist in Calgary (Oh yeah... soon MK or Suren or La Chappel will see this guy). He graduated from Cambridge and was born and brought up in Johanesburg. He told me about the conditions which arise out of lack of sunlight in winters in Canada. This syndrome, which results in depression, is cured by exposing the patients to a table lamp 20 mins a day! Allen asked me where am I headed for and said , "Ottawa"

Allen: Pardon?

Me: Ottawa.

He was silent for a while and then exclaimed "Oh! You mean 'Auto-wa' !" (the spelling has been altered to accomodate the pronounciation)

Oh... I must remember that one!

KG, meanwhile, was having his own share of fun. Now, our Ma Kanna was having problem cutting his cheese pizza, and guess who did it for him? A 81 year old patti sitting next to him!
We entered the Terminal 1 at Toronto and after a very long wait at the Immigration at Port of Entry, went out to identify our baggaes and re check them. We bought some calling cards and called back home. I My flight to Ottawa wa leaving in an hour and so I left immediately bidding KG and Mk good bye. Of course I remembered to collect the gift KG had for me- a book on science and philosophy... you know, the things we psychos usually discuss.

It was a window seat again for me and a chineese girl was siting next to it. I stood next to her and she looked at me and asked, "Do you want to go inside?"

Me : Yes.

And in a flash, she just crounched and jumped over and stood on her seat and said, "Hop in!"
Stupefied, I went into my seat. A punjabi guy came and sat next to her. He was about my age and was wearing a college t shirt. I had a feeling that he might also headed for Carleton but I didn't mind asking him. I burried my head into my book occasionally looking out of the window. The journey was short- Toronto and Ottawa are like Bangalore and Chennai.

At the Ottawa Terminal, I was welcomed by Mr Nihal- an associate of my uncle back in Chennai. He is a Sinhalee who is now settled in Ottawa. It seems he had served as secretary to Sri Lankan Finance Ministry long time back (good to have a diplomatic welcome into a country!). He drove me to the accomodation I had booked. The land lord of the town house, Mr Shahadat welcomed us in and inspected my room to be. Shahadat told me he is expecting another student to arrive shortly. Nevertheless the bell rang and I was surprised to find the same punjabi guy at my door step!!!

He was Harjot Singh, the guy I had met in orkut TWO MONTHS back and to whom I had passed on Shahadat's contact details on request. But I had no idea he had actually booked the same town house as mine. And I certainly had no idea that we would travel in the same flight, forget about being in the very next seat! We see each other in the flight, he gets a feeling that I'm Arvind but doesn't ask me because I'm busy reading a book, he is then received at the air port by his acquaintance and I, by mine and then we converge at the town house surprised to find each other... Look at the odds to that!

After we came over our funny little episode, Harjot left to return the next day with his stuff. I moved into the room immediately though. Mr. Nihal soon left after he was convinced I was in the right hands. Mr. Shahadat, is from Dhaka and a staff at the business school in Carleton. The town house is really good, neat, furnished and with a well equipped kitchen. There are 3 rooms on the first floor. Me and Harjot took one each. The last one will be taken by Gurpreet Singh who arrives on Sep 8th from Bangalore for PhD under Ram Achar. My room is relatively small but adequate. I was too tired and just slept off.

The jet lag persisted the next day. I got up pretty early and had sandwich breakfast. Harjot arrived in the afternoon and Shahadat took us to the University in his car and showed us around. I had an appointment with Ram Achar at 3 and he took us to the Graduate Office and got some formalities done prior to my registration. He took us to the CAD lab and showed us our offices and introduced us to the students there. After a briefing about our course work, we headed back home. Later in the evening we went to a couple of grocery stores nearby and Shahadat took us on a tour of the beautiful neighbourhood. People in Canada are very friendly, polite and accomodative. People stick to traffic rules, give way, and show a hell lot of courtesy to the pedestrians. All cultures have been accepted here with a very open heart and there is absolutely no racism or crime here- the Stranger in Black inside me finally smiled after 20 years!!! ;)

Shahadat is a really nice and help ful guy and has made us feel home in here right away. He lets u use his stuff and gave me a sweater to use.

Shahadat and Harjot cooked delicious Rajma and Rice for the dinner. Saturday went eventless and we spent the day mostly at home.

It rained today morning which made it really chill down here. Some 16 degrees. At 11, Ram Achar came over to our place and picked me and Harjot up for the Vinayaka Chathurthi function at his place. There was a small Indian community attending the function and we had great South Indian lunch. We were chatting with Ram Achar's freinds over it. They are from diferent domains, from banking to Ottawa Electricity Board, and were really nice to us and gave us some winter tips. Professor's wife packed us some Idlis and Bisi Bella Bath for home!
On my request, Shahadat drove us to the Temple near by. Its a very huge one like the Birla Temple in Hyderabad. Shahadat keeps recounting his experience as a new student in Ottawa and is always praise for the city, "This city is not so fast but is fast enough... no crime, no hassles. People are very welcoming. It is ideal to raise a family"

Half way around the globe, I can feel my mom's stomach turning!