After three months of struggling, Rahul and Moksha finally managed to shift to an apartment of their own. They had also managed to buy a two door black Honda civic with a moon roof. The monthly EMI came to about $375 but money was never an issue with them. Their DINK status had assured them the comfort.
The three months that they stayed in the company guest house were not so bad either. Jignesh had moved to a new apartment sometime during the second month after a lot of persuasion and regular hints. Minakshi and Moksha became the best of friends and were almost inseparable. Rahul on the other hand had nothing much to complain about. They took the Caltrain to San Francisco every day sharp at 7 in the morning and were back by 7 pm. The 1976 built EMD F40PH trains were regular, dependable and the journey was quite comfortable.
The Sunnyvale station was about 10 minutes walk from the apartment, they got down at 4th and King in SF and walked another 20 minutes to their work place. But that was before they owned their car.
The apartment had a single bedroom with an attached bath. The living room was spacious with a small portico. The kitchen was narrow but was well designed. The entrance was wide and had a big Avocado tree. Opposite to the house there was a school which had a huge playground. This was in fact the beginning as the task of furnishing the apartment was a bigger challenge. The futon was the first to arrive followed by the cot, which was picked up from a furniture shop down El Camino. Within days they had a home of their choice. So Mister and Misses Sengupta parked themselves at 780 Morse Avenue.
“Can you switch on the room heater?” Moksha asked Rahul.
“Sure” He replied and went about the task of switching on the Gas-fire vented room heater.
After about 10 minutes Rahul realized that this was a different beast. It had no visible switch. After a quick call to the Mrs. Dianne the apartment owner, he came to know that it was a gas operated heater and he had to use a match box to light it up and that there was a small lever which had to be operated for the gas to flow. By the time the room heater was fully operational an hour had passed and Moksha was fast asleep.
All in all the Sengupta’s were beginning to realize the American dream. First the brand new car; then the apartment and not to mention the regular visit to Albertson and Wall Mart and of course the weekly visit to COSTCO and FRY’s.
Pizzas became a regular dinner table delicacy; Burger King the lunchtime favorite and on some occasions Sweet Tomato’s. The choices were many, be it Taco Bell or the Indian restaurant which served buffet during the afternoons or Subway near Kifer Road.
Within another 6 months they bought another car. It was a 2nd generation MX5 Mazda Miata, the convertible was a slick machine. It had a 1.8 liter turbocharged engine with a 5-speed manual gear.
During weekends they drove to the Palo Alto hills and Rahul boasted his driving skills to Moksha. It mostly ended with a visit to the beach during the evening when few souls could be found. Rahul would roll up his beige Route 66 trousers and Moksha would follow him around.
Sometimes, they drove to Livermore where Rahul’s aunt lived. His aunt and uncle were residents of the states and had a son and a daughter. One of those early academic settlers in the United States, they had been around for about 40 years or so and were more American than Indian.
“I just don’t feel comfortable.” Moksha had remarked during one of those visits.
“Well, I guess you will get used to the way of life here” Rahul had assured her.
The three months that they stayed in the company guest house were not so bad either. Jignesh had moved to a new apartment sometime during the second month after a lot of persuasion and regular hints. Minakshi and Moksha became the best of friends and were almost inseparable. Rahul on the other hand had nothing much to complain about. They took the Caltrain to San Francisco every day sharp at 7 in the morning and were back by 7 pm. The 1976 built EMD F40PH trains were regular, dependable and the journey was quite comfortable.
The Sunnyvale station was about 10 minutes walk from the apartment, they got down at 4th and King in SF and walked another 20 minutes to their work place. But that was before they owned their car.
The apartment had a single bedroom with an attached bath. The living room was spacious with a small portico. The kitchen was narrow but was well designed. The entrance was wide and had a big Avocado tree. Opposite to the house there was a school which had a huge playground. This was in fact the beginning as the task of furnishing the apartment was a bigger challenge. The futon was the first to arrive followed by the cot, which was picked up from a furniture shop down El Camino. Within days they had a home of their choice. So Mister and Misses Sengupta parked themselves at 780 Morse Avenue.
“Can you switch on the room heater?” Moksha asked Rahul.
“Sure” He replied and went about the task of switching on the Gas-fire vented room heater.
After about 10 minutes Rahul realized that this was a different beast. It had no visible switch. After a quick call to the Mrs. Dianne the apartment owner, he came to know that it was a gas operated heater and he had to use a match box to light it up and that there was a small lever which had to be operated for the gas to flow. By the time the room heater was fully operational an hour had passed and Moksha was fast asleep.
All in all the Sengupta’s were beginning to realize the American dream. First the brand new car; then the apartment and not to mention the regular visit to Albertson and Wall Mart and of course the weekly visit to COSTCO and FRY’s.
Pizzas became a regular dinner table delicacy; Burger King the lunchtime favorite and on some occasions Sweet Tomato’s. The choices were many, be it Taco Bell or the Indian restaurant which served buffet during the afternoons or Subway near Kifer Road.
Within another 6 months they bought another car. It was a 2nd generation MX5 Mazda Miata, the convertible was a slick machine. It had a 1.8 liter turbocharged engine with a 5-speed manual gear.
During weekends they drove to the Palo Alto hills and Rahul boasted his driving skills to Moksha. It mostly ended with a visit to the beach during the evening when few souls could be found. Rahul would roll up his beige Route 66 trousers and Moksha would follow him around.
Sometimes, they drove to Livermore where Rahul’s aunt lived. His aunt and uncle were residents of the states and had a son and a daughter. One of those early academic settlers in the United States, they had been around for about 40 years or so and were more American than Indian.
“I just don’t feel comfortable.” Moksha had remarked during one of those visits.
“Well, I guess you will get used to the way of life here” Rahul had assured her.
