Water Water Everywhere !

There is something about a big water body, that is immensely soothing to the eyes.Many of us can spend hours together, doing nothing but simply watching the ocean and the waves, and feel completely relaxed.

It is even better when it is running water. The gentle sound of a stream and the majestic cry of the waterfalls are both equally wonderful sounds ! Some of my best memories from childhood, include a tour of Hrishikesh, Haridwar, Kedarnath and Badrinath, many years ago. The one unforgettable memory that I have of this trip is the sight and sound of the Ganges accompanying us, in various forms - streams, multi-hued rivers, water-falls etc, all the way. Most of us forget our age, when we get into the river with ice-cold water.

Little wonder then, that I jumped at my first chance to visit the Niagara Falls about 6 years back. I fell in love with the place and now try to find an excuse to visit it every time I am in the US. Last weekend, I again got a chance to go there and take in the beauty of the Falls. The excuse this time was my brother, who was visiting the US for the first time and was flying down to my place. My cousin, his wife and I decided that we would pick him from the airport and drive down to Niagara as soon as we could and return the same night.

The Niagara Falls actually consists of atleast two major falls - the American Falls and the Horseshoe Falls. Niagara Falls is situated on the international border separating US and Canada. While most of the attractions are on the American Side, the view is splendid from the Canadian side. It is almost as if the American side is the stage and the Canadian side is where the audience sit! I had the chance to see the Niagara from the Canadian side during my first visit, but this time, we only went to the American side.

The onward journey was uneventful. We started at about 10:45 am and reached Niagara by 5pm. We then immediately set off for the 2 main attractions in Niagara. The first one, called Maid of the Mist, is a boat ride on the Niagara river. You are taken down the elevator to the river level. The boat takes you across the American Falls (spectacular), the smaller Bridal Veil falls and then the breathtaking Horseshoe Falls. It is impossible to see much of the Horseshoe falls. The water falls with so much force, that it is difficult to keep your eyes open. You are dying to take in all the beauty of the falls in the small stretch but find it difficult to do so. You are hoping to capture atleast half the magic that your eyes experience in your camera, but realize that it cannot come anywhere close !

The second and more interesting attraction is called Cave of the winds. Here you are taken down in an elevator to the Niagara river level. There are some wooden decks built here that take you near the base of the Bridal falls. This point is called the Hurricane Deck and what you experience here, cannot be described in words. It is impossible to keep your eyes open, the water spraying from the falls, literally beats down your face. In spite of the yellow plastic coat that everybody is provided with, each one of us came completely drenched. Unlike the Maid of the Mist ride, this one has no time restrictions. It was becoming increasingly difficult for us to move away from the place. We were like children, telling each other that this would be the last time and would go and stand on the corner of the deck to get fully soaked and slapped on our faces by the crashing water !

Every time I see the Niagara falls, I think it is milk and not water falling! It is terrible when you feel so poetic but can simply not put down your thoughts in words!! Niagara Falls surprises me every time, because for a water-falls of this size and force, it is very quiet from the outside. You would think that you would hear the place before you saw it, but no ! You can hardly hear the sound of water falling till you enter the state park and go very near the water falls !! So typical of everything American !!

We finally left the place by about 8 pm. Rain God who had been extremely co-operative throughout our time in the Niagara, decided that enough was enough. It started pouring and my cousin had a tough time driving. We could hardly see anything ahead, nor could we see the lines separating the lanes. All our plans to eat a hot meal somewhere were quashed, as we had to pull over in a deserted rest area to eat the left-over idlis and curd-rice from morning.

Trust me - Rain-God is one mischievous person! He has a terrible sense of humour !! All the time we were in the parking lot of the rest area, there was not a drop of rain ! My cousin started reversing the car to pull it out of the lot and it started pouring !! Anyway, he drove a little more and we pulled over in a gas station again to get some gas. I had promised to take over from there and I went to get my gas - a large cup of coffee. It was 11:40pm when I took over and we had about 350 miles or so to cover.

Coffee went in and sleep went out and I started driving. My cousin’s wife was in the passenger seat and the two men were sleeping in the back seat. We decided that if we could not sleep, they should not either. So we started singing at the top of our voices - complete with orchestra. Nothing could deter my brother, who apart from fatigue, was also suffering from jet lag, but my poor cousin gave up his attempts to fall asleep and joined in for some time.

The last 2 hours were like a scene from an old ghost movie. There was heavy fog and I could not see more than 5 ft ahead of me. Sleep Deprivation+Night driving+ Heavy Fog on the road = Deadly combination !! In fact I think every time I drive at night, I would prefer if it would rain or would be foggy !! I would be so scared out of my wits, that I wouldn’t dare fall asleep !!

Anyway, it was 3 am when we finally reached home sweet home. Another memorable weekend and another memorable visit to the Niagara.

Below are some pics from the trip. They were taken using my Fujifilm finepix camera. Dont ask me about the model name or the specs because I dont remember.

First Look
Another First Look

The Niagara River
View from the Maid of the Mist

Maid of the mist
Cave of the Winds


Cave of the WindsObservation Tower

Freedom of Expression

I am a fairly tolerant person.

I don’t mind people around me having some fun or enjoying what they do.

I am not one to question the source of pleasure for other people.

And yet, every afternoon a little before I start my lunch in my cubicle, with my friend - the PC, when I hear the heavy thunder, or what sounds like it, I wonder whether people in this country (or any other) take the term ‘Freedom of Expression’ too seriously.

Now before you start wondering about the source of the thunder (or what sounds like it) and what freedom of expression has anything to do with it, let me clarify. This noise was nothing but my next cubicle neighbour having her daily pack of chips or something like it. It is a wonder how some small thing getting ground within a small grinder(the mouth) can create so much noise !

I was born with extra-sensitive sense organs (I wish I could say extra-sensory perception instead - that would sound so much cooler !!) . Consequently if I have to chew something crunchy, that causes a lot of noise, I would rather do it in an open space or within a room without anyone around, so that I dont have to subject others to the torture that I go through ! Not everyone is as considerate as me though.

In our country, being loud is considered indecent and people who indulge in it are ridiculed - not that people stop being loud because of it. During my first trip to the US, I was shocked at how normal it was for people to blow their noses loudly in public. In the client place, where I was the only Indian, I used to shudder in my cubicle, when someone in the office suffered from common cold and made no secret of it. They would blow hard and seemed to be taking a perverse pleasure in inflicting pain on my poor ears ! If one person sneezed, the entire office would loudly utter ‘Bless You’ - the idea being to drown the sound of the sneeze with their voices.

People here are loud in their normal talk, mistaking decibel levels for enthusiasm. The louder you are, the more enthusiastic you are perceived to be. So I now know that my colleague in the next cubicle went to watch an opera last week, has a baby, plays on the playstation and other well-known secrets of her life. I sometimes think I know more about her, than she would probably know about herself and that too without even bothering to know. Not just my next-cubicle neighbour, I know a little about all the colleagues sitting around me (within a 1/2 mile radius), without even knowing how they look like!!

If assaulting the ears is the Americans style, assaulting the eyes is ours (not that we are bad at assaulting the ears - just drive in India and you will know what I mean). It is a pain to watch people partaking their meal with pleasure. They are under the mistaken impression that food can be ingested through the skin too. Some seem to be of a kinder nature and prefer to reduce the effort of swallowing food by directly placing the food in their tummies instead (just watch them putting their hands well inside their throats !!). Their idea of enjoying food is to make a lot of weird noises while eating (and I am not even talking about the loud belching after food !!). I have also seen people eat food - fruits like mangoes usually and let it drip all over their hands and lick them - it made me stay away from mangoes for some time !!

I now realize that the trouble is with me. I am too finicky and too fussy. I wish I can do something to reduce my sense of hearing for such things and don’t get offended by the sight of others having their meal with relish. Or I wish I could become one of them !!