It’s almost time for me to leave Bloomy. A small little place I have come to love in a unique way. Everything about it is so different & everyone I met had been so pleasant to me (us both), I feel good about staying here jobless for 21 days so I could explore the place.  And I wonder if I have seen more flora & fauna of the place than the locals itself.

I never in my wildest dreams thought I would have such an enriching experience in a small university town of USA in such a small number of days. No wonder civilization starts & dwells healthily in villages. Bloomington is a “Melting pot of Humanity” where the people are so humane & polite. I thank all the wonderful people I met from bus drivers to cabbies to sales women at the mall to people at the mall to people at the winery to ……the list goes on! God bless the people of Bloomington. Not just the locals even the other nationalities including Indian students I met were just great, as if the good vibe from the land just rubs off on any one that steps in. No wonder it is called Blooming – ton means flowering in loads…. positive vibes are like flowers maybe I should add an “s” with the “ing”.

Sometimes I used people around me as my study subject for humanity… in a curious way without meaning any harm to anyone. The little sweet Punjabi housemate of my daughter from Delhi was a sweetheart & I spent some time in a day just pulling her leg. The young Sindhi who was born in Pakistan & came to India as a teenager was so sweet & made me realize how her Pakistani childhood made her such a fine human being. She made the best alu parata I ever eaten & was so generous in giving the food to everyone… The tall young Gujju friend reminded me of my son who almost made me feel like twisting his ears…and it was so much fun to watch his face & action change when I told him artificial vanilla is a byproduct of petroleum…

End of it all I have hopes that there is still scope for humanity. Someone asked if I want to live in Bloomington for good… I said I have my own reasons for not living anywhere other than in India that too in Karnataka. But definitely it would be my second… And also I don’t think I would be able to with stand the winter but I definitely would want to see a white Christmas in Bloomington or perhaps in Big apple or in Vancouver whichever is possible!!

Even though I could click endless number of pictures against my husband’s tension of getting arrested I could never get a decent picture of the squirrels, rabbits, deer & otters (guess it were the otters I seem so often in the little pond on the North Pete Ellis Drive every day). May be they want me to come back & learn more about the humanness of the people of Bloomington. I am really glad that I made the trip & stayed in beautiful Bloomington & my husband was there every step of the way not only to care & protect me but also to keep me entertained with his constant fear & never ending tensions.

I still have to go to Post Office which is practically next door & am yet to meet the Sheriff (of course a friendly visit); I am reserving it for my next trip. Whenever my husband scared me of getting arrested for trespassing, which I think was exaggerated, I would fool him by saying if that happens or before that happens I will meet the Sherriff & see if he is my age & single, &  I would ask him out to dinner…

Thank you for reading. Until my next visit a great time for all my readers & like my husband would say a big God bless.

I feel my life has come a full circle & I have seen it all that one has to see in life both good & bad & I have no fear of death. It gives me the freedom to write what comes to my mind. I am sorry if I have offended any one in any way with my writing. I am different in many ways even though I would say there is enough room for expansion in my brain. I write what come to my mind when I start writing… there is no preplan or prerequisite to my writing.

I will surely have to visit Indiana again after all it seems to call all Indians… India – ana (ana means come in Hindi)