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!

Office Office!!

It was the day when I got my first ticket.. a parking violation.. and I realized that even this leading economy, a so called perfect country to live, is not that perfect at all. The difference being.. here corruption is coded into rules.. so it is “by the book!”

A few days back when my car was parked off street, I saw an envelope on the windshield. I guess it right.. it was a ticket. It mentioned I had to pay $53 for not displaying right registration sticker on my license plate. Here it is called a 5402 violation. The envelop mentioned that that under correctable violation section (4000a) if I provided a proof of correction within 21 days then my fine will be reduced to $10. Well..I was happy.. Thought it’s not that bad! :) So the next day I corrected it by sticking an updated tag on the plate.

After correcting my violation, proudly, I went to the Sunnyvale police station to get a sign of an officer as a proof of my correction. (The ticket was issued by City of Sunnyvale). I was surprised to learn that in a police station here, I have to speak over a phone to the officer who is standing few meters away from me with a bullet proof glass in between!! Well, police station should be supposedly the safest place in the city right! :P. Anyways, so I told him the story and asked him if he can sign off my ticket. He smiled, said "yes" and then pointed me to a notice which said I will have to pay $41 for an officer to walk to my car, check the plate and then sign off. So, for a $53 ticket, which would then (probably) reduce to $10, I will have to pay $41 to get it signed!! Wow!.. and it’s not wrong huh.. it’s written in the rules! :-/

Then he himself suggested me that I can ask around at other places (he did not know where) where I can get it signed for free. So I called up Mountain view police station.. $25 for people not living in Mountain view (free for residents). Thinking on the same lines that I am a resident of Santa Clara, I went to Santa Clara police station.. $11 no matter where you stay! :D .. God.. yahan bhi log lootne ko baithe hai. I can catch a cop on a road and ask him for his sign (probably when he is at Starbucks).. but interrupting a cop on duty.. could be another ticket. So these guys tell you alternatives and then tell you how that alternative is not possible :P. Then I visited San Jose police station.. where finally I got it signed for free. !! The adventure does not end here…

I asked the same officer to confirm that now I had to pay only $10. He had no clue why in first place the ticket issued was of $53. According to him it should have been much less. So again.. now I had to go to Sunnyvale police station to clarify what I had to pay. The same officer at Sunnyvale saw the ticket and said that the fine will not be reduced as it is a 5402 violation and the ticket mentions correctable violation (section 4000a). Well..  4000a means not registering the car at all. So I asked him that not registering the car should be a more serious violation than not displaying the correct sticker right? Then how come that is correctable and mine is not!! His answer was.. “it’s not what we think, it’s what written in the rules”!! :D :D

So then, I did some internet browsing and found that my violation was correctable. I went there again and told him that the website mentions 5204 is correctable. His response “well, the website may mention it is correctable, but that does not mean your fine will be reduced, it only means you can correct it!” …now I had started losing my calm!! I asked him where I can confirm this.. and he said “We  do not handle payments here.. we do not know”.!  I called up the citation processing center (place where I had to submit my payment) and they told me I had to pay only $10 after getting the proof of correction. So I had both answers.. and no way to confirm what I  should be actually doing.

Sunnyvale court is next door. I had read on the internet that I can pay off the tickets at the court,  so I stopped by. I asked the officer there about the ticket, and he directed me to the police station for parking violation inquiries….. Now I am stuck in an infinite loop!! (and I can’t inquire anywhere else as the ticket is issued by Sunnyvale.. so other places won’t have any clue). Bhai SAB TV par Office Office  lagta that bachpan  me.. uske jaise halat hui hai!!

Speaking with my friends I heard few more such instances. A moving violation (like speeding etc.. which is safety related and more  serious, which accumulates points on your license) can be “converted” to a parking violation by paying the lawyer double the amount of the ticket. Any ticket can be “settled out of the court” by paying the officer some amount that you negotiate. All the officer does is tells the judge he does not want to press charges. Well.. all this “lobbying”, “off court settlement”, “converting moving violation into parking” is perfectly fine as it might have been written somewhere!!!

Seriously!! What is the point in blaming our police officers, blaming our system? Bus hum illegally karte hai isliye?? Ya khule aam dikh jaata hai isliye? Log itne jyada hai.. to obviously such instances will be more evident right? Point is.. it’s everywhere and it is wrong.. We should be proud that at least our government does not legally permit these kinds of things (probably?)!!

Don’t know how much I am going to pay for this ticket! :)

My first bike accident and the amazing Walmart

This was a pretty eventful day. Right from my Puneri maaj to American customer service, today I went through everything. The beginning was not that great. Generally I bike up to my shuttle stop where I board the shuttle to Tesla. I was at an intersection traffic light in my left lane. The light went green and I raced my bike to turn left. A car, directly in front, facing me, was in her left lane supposed to turn to her left. I don’t know what the driver was thinking he started taking a wrong right turn.

Seeing me he stopped in between. But… I kept looking at him, my eyes fixed on him, and giving all Puneri khunnas I had in me! :D My expressions were clear enough that I didn’t have to utter any word. The next thing I saw when I turned my head was the curb that I was going to hit! I slammed my brakes hard, my rear wheel skid through a 90 deg rotation and it had a rough interaction with the curb. The brakes were awesome and I came to a dead stop within seconds. Realizing I was completely in an awesome condition, I forced my bike pedal to cruise ahead, but it refused to go. Curious, I looked at my rear wheel and it was totally warped and distorted, like a circular rim of metal heated in a furnace!!!!

I couldn’t go home as I would then miss my last shuttle, and the stop was still far enough to drag the bike there and reach in time. I had no option but to opt for the second choice. Lifting my rear wheel dragging the bike all way along and cursing myself for the unnecessary khunnas I gave to him, I finally made to the stop just in time! All the way to Tesla I was thinking what should be done next! At Tesla, I was a star attraction and I had to narrate the story at least 4 to 5 times before I reached the lab

During the day I called some bike shops to check if there was any possibility to straighten the wheel. They suggested me to bring the bike to the shop to inspect. In case it was not possible to straighten (which I think was the case!) it was going to cost me about $70 to fix it. Instead I would as well get a new bike!!

So, without having any hope, I thought of calling Walmart to see if they can help me out (I had got my bike from Walmart). I had heard about Walmart’s return policy, but it was all fantasy to me until I experienced it. My bike was just 3 weeks old and hence I called Walmart for replacement. My shuttle driver was kind enough to give me a ride to Walmart in the evening. There I asked them if I can get a new wheel. Looking at the bikes condition (everything being in awesome condition except a really screwed rear wheel) the manager asked the sports section to see if it can be fixed. The answer was no.

Supposedly, you cannot replace items that you order online from Walmart, so the manager herself suggested me to return the bike for a full refund. I was awestruck! “What.. that means I would get a full refund??” I asked her three times to double check if what I was hearing was correct. “Yes, absolutely”, she said, “one can return anything for a full refund until it’s within the return policy guideline period”.

Apparently, there were many customers in the “return items” line at Walmart. Come to think of it, has this policy made Walmart grow? No wonder Walmart is leading everyone with its annual turnover of $421.849 billion! Being in retailing sector, customer service and customer satisfaction are kept on highest priority. This may be the reason why despite of giving full refunds on so many products still they make huge profits.

I was amazed. It kept me thinking. The very night I ordered the same bike, obviously from Walmart.

Mechie Cabbie

This happened in a cab I hired to go to the airport for my trip to India. Within first few minutes of interaction with the cab driver I understood that he is a mechanical engineer having 9 years of experience in Ford. (Every person in US has some experience in Ford!!). He asked me about myself and realized I am from his area of interest.. powertrains!

Now my amazing cab journey started with he saying whether he can ask me some questions to judge my knowledge! Yes those were his words! J I was surprised.. replied assertively. What is a HEGO (oxygen) sensor.. his first question. Well, now by questions I felt he would ask some generic questions and not directly the technical details of the operation of an oxygen sensor. My ME 569 days flashed in front of me and I started “storytelling”. Now he interrupted me asking me to answer in exact words.. short and to the point. Aw! Before I completed my explanation, he himself started describing how exactly the switching takes place in the sensor and its other technical details.

How does a crankshaft sensor work, what does it measure? What is engine coolant temperature sensor? How does it control the engine idling operation? Then a couple of solid works and proE questions were followed…… and today this Ann Arbor to Airport journey looked endless! Then he spoke about himself, how he used to interview students like me and what are the current trends in the industry. He spoke about the importance of experience and gave me couple of words of wisdom as he realized that I will be soon making a transition from academic life to industry. He made me appreciate that the real learning starts when one gets into the industry, when one has to learn by himself to keep up with the pace, when there is no set syllabi or pre determined annual examinations to judge you, still there is a need to perform for continuous assessment from peers and bosses and a need to absorb knowledge at twice or thrice the rate of academia to keep up with the competition.

The airport arrived. He did not ask for a tip, neither took any. He urged to remain in touch and waved me saying .. “My friend.. once you step in the industry world, in whichever department you go, make sure to show your extremely accurate engineering knowledge. Your success will depend on how good an (technical) engineer you are!”

The People of America!

It was a great experience to travel more than 8000 miles in 15 days covering the entire east coast and southern America. Starting from Chicago the adventure included NYC, Boston, Washington, Philadelphia, Rhodes Island, Niagara, 1000 Island (1840 to be precise!), Virginia, Tennessee and then Florida! During these days I got a chance to interact with all kinds of people, from different backgrounds, different ethnicities and different cultures.

Although America looks the same everywhere with freeways going either N-S or E-W, fast food restaurants wherever you see, smiling people greeting “hello, how are you doing!” just to acknowledge your presence, STOP signs everywhere, Jogging people at odd times of the day or dancing on the rhythm of the music plugged into their ears…. There are different shades to them if one looks closer!

Unlike people in and around 42^nd Street 7^th Avenue NYC (Times Square) who are “upscale” neatly dressed with suit and tie and polished shoes, rushing to their office places in the morning time or sitting on some 83^rd floor in a glass cabin with a mac in front of them and a personal secretary (lady) on their right… the countryside men and completely laid back… Chillaxed!! :P Its simple.. nothing as Grandeur or glittering as you will see on the east coast or silicon valley.

By countryside I mean the people I observed in Virginia, Tennessee provinces. These are the people who tame horses, pigs and cattle, wear hats and 6 pocket jeans, have acres and acres of farm lands and probably a gun. I will call them close to cowboys! These people seem to be more attached to the family. Wherever I went I observed entire family.. a married couple, the in laws and the children.. together (living happily).

Great people with great hospitality! I happened to visit one of their shows (The Dixie Stampede Dining Show) where they portrayed their “cattle skills”, narrated the development

of the race around Tennessee State and enacted the war that took place between the North and South Tennessee. The show was jaw dropping and to add to the flavor the dinner was mind-blowing. We were served one FULL roasted hen!! Along with vegetable soup, boiled corn, slice of pork, a potato and then desert… with NO silverware!! Great experience to eat a full roasted chicken with hands! J The show concluded with countryside music and people dancing happily.

Chinatown is one more shade. Not only people, but everything is in Chinese.. shop names, billboards, prices everything. Its a totally different world when one enters the Chinatown. The buildings have stairs on the outside..The lodges are disgusting with common toilets, there is garbage on the streets.. and also the following sign can be seen in Chinatown NYC.

Florida was all together a different story. Orlando is full of children, tourists.. Thanks Walt! I hardly saw any “Americans” as I descended to south. The Orlando-Miami journey gave a flavor of our good old ST bus (rest is now self explanatory! which includes the driver, passengers, bus, lay over restaurants etc…!). Miami is full of people either from Cuba or Mexico.. I don’t know how to differentiate.. but my point is.. Here I met natives who can’t speak English. Inner parts of Miami had more old people busy in their diurnal activities.. Similar kind of people like you can see when you travel from Panjim to Vasco in the morning. Miami reminded me of Goa except the tourists.. tourists are more “bold” here!! :P

That was my journey.. Next is the west coast… which is one more different flavor of the America… the “Desi America”!!