oughts of settling in United States have always excited me, My aunt's children who are living in Los Angeles in U.S.A. have been visiting this country every two years and have always spoken in very high terms of the cleanliness and planned layout of American cities. I have been told that they have never experienced a power failure or the discontinuation of water supply. The heaps of dirt and filth that spoil the looks of our metropolitan cities often disgust me and I revolt at the idea of spending even a couple of years in the midst of such surroundings.
Ideas of settling in a foreign land have brought relief to my uneasy mind. In spite of the excitement produced by the prospects of living in the clean and well-planned city, I do apprehend the loss of certain pleasures of Indian life i have got used to and can hardly do without. I am sure I will not have my grandma around in theUnited States to indulge me in the choicest spicy food and home made pickles which have been the chief attraction of my visits to grandma's house every weekend.
My mother has neither inclination nor time to prepare food like my grandma does. Moreover, she insists that I must not take spicy or oily food in view of nagging stom- ach ailments. My brief visits to grandma's house have been a pleasant change from the dull and mechanical routine of my house and I am sure I would miss my grandma very much in a foreign country. Indian festivals, specially Holi and Diwali amuse me no end. I always look for- ward to Holi - the festival of colours. Holi is celebrated in India with great gusto and abandon. The young and the children frolicking and dancing with painted faces andclothes is an extraordinary and amusing spectacle.
The spicy papads and sweet gujia adds to the charm of the festivities. We equip ourselves with a variety of colours (Gulal) and visit all our friends and relations to apply colours on one another. The trucks and tempos laden with the youth shouting 'Holi Hai' enliven the streets and roads of the town. I know Indians celebrate Holi in foreign countries too but the scattered Indians in a few cities cannot hope to involve the entire population of city in the holi festivities. Some of the foreigners are found to look at the quaint coloured
