Being Bostonian

I moved to Boston nearly couple years ago. I have lived the Midwest culture, experienced the west coast life now trying to be a Nor' easter. And I must say.. there is no greater joy like living in Boston and being a true Bostonian. But.. you have to prepare for that!

As soon as I moved to Boston, I felt closer to my home country when I was driving. People honk, that is a means of communication telling the other person to yield, just like in India. You have to be aggressive on roads.. this is how you clear the prelims of being Bostonian. Other things are add-ons. You can honk on turns just to be safe if anyone is coming from the opposite direction. You do not have to show respect to pedestrians as they are not supposed to stop you from driving. (“rastyat sarvat durlakshit goshta mhanje padachaari”). There is no lane system on the roads. Two lanes can change into one or three without any indication. But there is an unwritten code of conduct between every driver. You have to master that to be a Bostonian. If two cars can be accommodated alongside each other (on an internal road, or a freeway ramp/exit), no one cares about how many lanes are there. Organically traffic keeps on flowing making optimum use of the space. And esp in peak hours, people calmly keep flowing as and where they find space. Until there is a “road romeo” who tries to cut through and merge in between a lane to save time/ go faster. That’s when Bostonians unite to make sure he cannot cut through their lane. It’s a matter of Bostonian pride now. That time you’ll hear honks and see fingers flipped at our road romeo. Most of the times, this road romeo is someone from outside Boston or new to Boston ..or from New York. Being Bostonian on the roads is not about following traffic rules, it’s about utilizing space and time optimally so that everyone can reach their respective offices on time (and then bitch about how bad the traffic is getting these days …:aaj kal chi pora na.. “).

A true Bostonian will hate New York, or a New Yorker. A true Bostonian cop will ticket almost every NY license plate seen on Boston roads (and from a personal experience, vice versa is also true :/). It’s much like how a true Punekar feels about a Mumbaikar or living in Mumbai and vice versa. You need pride in being a Bostonian. Bostonian honyasathi abhimanachi garaj aste. (jajwalya abhimaan nai.. to punyakadech ahe ajun). And unlike Pune, where pride can to be of anything and everything, here the pride has to be about the Patriots, and Red Socks (Tom Brady and beards). And when it comes to Red Socks v/s Yankees, nothing can get better than that.

(image from google)

Unlike in Bay Area, where most of the people are migrated from outside, in Boston, you can see people living here for generations. People are family oriented, live with families, together. People are very friendly at work and outside. Not to say there is huge population of students here (due to world class universities like MIT and Harvard), but there is also a huge populace of people living in this area for decades. These people know every gali nukkad of the area. They would not use google maps to “show” you how to get to a certain place, but will tell landmarks, names of streets, restaurants that you would come across as you navigate. It’s similar when you ask you grandmother how to go from shanipar to nagnathpar (google gets confused here but not your grandma). You as a newbie, you would require a personal guidance initially. Google need not rescue you every time. (And yes, its a feeling of achievement and self pride when you are able to navigate in Boston without using a GPS. You are tuning into a Bostonian)

And when it comes to snow…!

Boston gets a lot of snow. A lot! So much that there is no place to pile it up or dump it. This time, being Bostonian is about writing at least one article in a local newspaper (every other weeks) expressing how the govt sucks and does not take any measures to remove snow.

Boston does not have a luxury to have garage spaces for everyone and hence people park on streets. This is where it becomes interesting when it snows. Streets reduce to half there widths and the “spot fight” starts. Being Bostonian in winter is to get creative in your “space savers” A “space saver” is something that you keep on street to “reserve” your so called parking spot. It can be anything, a chair, a ladder, a tire, a discarded computer, a hand glove.. anything. Well, by law, parking on streets is not allocated. Anyone can park anywhere on the street where parking is permitted. But, now you dare to move this “space saver” and park your car in someone else’s “spot” and you cannot guarantee the well-being of your vehicle anymore. Windshield could be trashed, tires may be flat, windows could be broken with snow on all the seats. People can get much more creative. Oh.. and cops.. they have given up in tracking people who put space savers and ticketing them. They have better things to do.

(images taken from google)

 But, being Bostonian means respecting a space saver and not parking your car there. It’s an unwritten rule. A true Bostonian knows the effort one has put up in digging his car out, and he would never go and park in his spot if there is a space saver there. (True reason is he loves his vehicle and is aware of the consequences: P). Still some people clarify the consequences like below

People are very patient in winter. If a car is stuck in snow, some do get out of their own and help push the stuck car. The honking percent goes down. On single lane roads people wait patiently for the oncoming traffic to pass or effectively navigate around them if space permits. Bostonians face winter in a united fashion. The most agitated people in winter are the plough guys though. The people who plough the roads. I guess their boredom in ploughing in this cold winter when everyone “works from home” is reflected from the aggressive driving they do when ploughing. If you are on an internal single lane street and a plough truck comes in front of you, don’t even try to navigate from around it, just back up all the way and let him go!!

To all those Punekar’s… just be like those oaks and leles from sadashiv peth, and it’s not very difficult to be a true Bostonian thereafter.

(This article is not written to insult anyone and is a work of fiction… Boston chya snow madhle sanskar ahet amche!)

The land of MIT and Harvard

It’s been close to three months that I relocated to Boston to explore a different job opportunity and this city is already doing great in giving me all sorts of life experiences. I have spent couple years in Midwest (Michigan), couple on the west coast (Silicon Valley) and now it’s the time for east coast adventures in the city of MIT and Harvard.

I moved to Boston in summer so the transition to the coming horrible winter after a sunny honeymoon in California will be smooth. So I am good on that front. But I was then used to Californian style of driving! Now I have become an aggressive driver to adapt to the Bostonians! Here the state road infrastructure is radial (Boston being the center) and not a simple grid as in the west. This means more curvy roads, more randomness and hence more excitement in driving without a GPS. For the person who loves driving, Boston is the place. Further there are many potholes, thanks to snow. I sometimes feel that development of the west is like “learning from mistakes” of the east. Here you honk to express your anger (and you get angry quite often), you do not wait for pedestrians if they are about to cross. Lane width is smaller, many places there are no lanes and you have to use your Indian judgment to drive through. Some places, four lanes merge into two without any prior indication and hence you need to be alert and ready for traffic congestion. And most importantly.. too many women drivers here!!!

Am getting used to this now. My colleague from Tesla (who was in Boston for last few years) had told me to be prepared for at least one dent in the beginning couple months in Boston! .. well he was right! J

Now that I am living here (and not a tourist as I was a couple years back), I get to see many aspects of Bostonian lifestyle. People are more welcoming here. They are social and more family oriented that the west coast counterparts. They are more attached to the American history. I see people from various backgrounds like engineering, medical, advocacy, economics, social service etc etc (and not only Indian software engineers). I like this variety. I can see many more people who are staying in this area for multiple generations so they have their own quirks. (Unlike in California, where you rarely see any core Californian). To give an appealing example is how a core Puneri will behave in Pune! (dukanat sarvat durlakshya karnyasarkhi goshta mhanje girahik) ;)

I live in a big 7 bedroom house with seven random people. We share the kitchen. New people come and go and bring a different lifestyle with them. Currently there is on guy from Saudi Arabia, one from Iran, US, India, Czech Republic etc. These are engineers, economists, founders of startups, serial entrepreneurs, media journalists, academicians. I feel really fortunate to experience the interaction with them. There is so much to learn beyond if, for and while loops which I code daily. My friend from Iran has travelled a lot. He shares tons of stories from various nations like in EU, Aus, Middle East etc. The journalist is up to date with all the current affairs throughout the world. I can discuss my current Indian economic situation with the economist in the house.

The area is surrounded with schools like MIT, Harvard, Tufts (Fletcher), North Eastern universities. Great talent of students in the areas of technology, science, business, medical etc is around. (well pan punyat rahun shanivar wada ajun pahila nahi.. ase hi loka astat! ). Boston has too many things to offer. I participated in a midnight bike (cycle) ride around Boston. This was a 30ish mile ride from 12am- 7am finishing on an island with the sun rising in front of us. It was just amazing to ride at night, visit places that you will never go on a bike, see some bike tricks, give high fives to drunk girls on the road at the time when bars start to close, see the people who honk in a rhythm to cheer a crazy group of 50 riding at 3am in midnight. People are enough crazy to do weird things. There was one guy who rode most of the miles just on his rear wheel. There was one person who had speakers, music and disco lights on this bike. Riding besides his was fun!! 

Samuel Adams come from Boston. The brewery here offers a free tour and totally free bear tasting.. how about that!! There is something called as a "freedom trail". It is a bricked path from the heart of the city which pretty much goes through all the important historical landmarks that the city has to offer. The more interesting part is that there is a series of couple minute audio files about each location on the web that you can download on your cell phone and do the entire trail by yourself. This is a best way to get closer to the city, get to know what the city has to offer you. I am very impressed by this idea to promote tourism and American history and culture. Walking, biking and using the "T" has brought be closer to the city.

I am not sure how lively the city will be during the white months. But, there is still some time for that. Before that, after almost two long years, I will be experiencing something that no one in California can ever experience!! :)

A weather change from summer to fall!  Looking forward for fall!