Suddenly the windy city turned cold, damn cold. It felt really like the real Chicago as by evening the temperature dropped down to freezing point. The cold snap accompanied by howling wind gusts of 25 miles per hour gave me a cold slap, forcing me cover my other cheek with the jacket hood and rush seeking warmer comfort.
For someone from deep South it felt as if I reached the foothills of the Himalayas. The most exciting human experience is not joy but relief. I was relieved when I entered from a cold, heartless outside into the warm comfort of home. It felt like the warm hug of the beloved, her sweet, warm breath from the lungs filling the heart of the lover.
It's not unusual for the weather in middle America to plummet in a few hours, as unlike India, there is no Himalayas in North to protect the cold winds blasting its way from Canada. Himalayas stands tall as a barrier from the marauding chill of the Pamir plateau giving India its unique geography and demography. While the runt Rocky Mountains in USA running from the North to South hardly prevents the intrusion of the Canadian artic chill which blasts through America's heartland.
The north-western Chicago suburb is as white as snow, with a few Desis (Indians) and Chinese strewn in. Having stayed in the Dixie Land for a long period of time, the demography here felt distinctly different. Chicago is located in the midst of the Northern Prairies. One can sees miles of its famous grasslands, scattered lakes, undulated mounds of meadows interspersed with a few bald trees, some of them still sporting a few golden colored fall leaves glistening under a setting fall sun, like Donald Trump's hair, ready to fall off from its height from pedestal.
The commercial minded Americans have converted these rolling Meadows into Golf courses, a few I saw criss crossing the Chicago suburbs where I am staying. The accent of the midwesterners is as flat as the flatlands of the Prairies. It is far cry from the Southern drawl I am more conversant with. Didn't hear anybody talking y'all at all.
The English accent varies a lot between the North and South, with the New Yorkers having their own Yankee accent. The midwesterners have a flat accent. I can see that the English accent of my nephews and neice who grew up in Chicago quite diferent from my son which has a southern tinge.
Same in Odisha where we have Katati, Puri, Baleswari, Barhampuri style southern accent as well as the Sambalpuri western Odisha accent. When a Minnesotan says "you betcha", it reminds me of "GAMATA EKKA" (Fun only) in Barhampuri Odia. Same as Mein (in pure Allahabadi Hindi), Hum (Bihari Hindi) vs Apoon Ka Hindi in Mumbai. Accents do vary, so also slangs with their regional punch exist in every language across the world. More later...
No comments:
Post a Comment