Sushi Speaks

Immigration Story Hello everyone. Today, I would like to share my experiences at the immigration during my travel to the United States for the first time. I recently wrote the same as an answer on Quora and I do not know why and how it went on to get 46,000 views and over 600 upvotes. So I thought maybe I need to share it on my blog as well. And here it is. Link to the Quora answer I was traveling for the first time to the U.S. for my master’s. I had been admitted to the University of Cincinnati, Ohio. I took off from Hyderabad, India, and had a layover in New Delhi, India, and then the final destination was O’Hare International, Chicago. (Yes it is more than a 16-hour flight and it is not a pleasant one). This was on August 5th, 2016. It was my first time traveling abroad and I had no clue how things work at immigration. They gave us a form in the flight an hour before landing to be filled out. Below is the customs declaration form. I only knew one of my friends in...

How far is too far? When was the last time you had to prove a huge mathematical formula, maybe for one of your exams or assignments? While trying to prove it, did you ever give a thought to why you were proving something that has already been proved? Everybody would reply that it was for grades.  When was the last time you were trying to prove a point to a friend or a colleague while having one of those feisty arguments?  We often see in some of the Indian cinema, the main protagonist is challenged by the villain to prove that he loves the heroine and the hero turns out to risk his life to prove that he loves her. Ironically, the girl does fall for such a thing (wouldn't work in real life though, unless both of them are stupid enough to meet each other).  Hello everyone. Thank you for coming back again and again and rolling in the views.Happy new year to everyone. By the way, what is it that I am trying to prove with my statements above? I will get to...

At a Cross Road Hello everyone. Another year is coming to an end, another year to look forward to. Time just flew by, as it always does. Everyone would ask at this time what our new year resolution would be? Why not just ask what were the moments you cherished or hated, who were the people you met for the first time and for the last time, what was that you started to like and started to hate and so on. Every day we come across at least one crossroad. But did you ever just sit near a crossroad and observe? You would always see people taking the roads without thinking so much. Because they know the destination, so involuntarily they know which road to take. But did you ever stop at a crossroad not knowing where to go and just waited there to decide? Try doing that in the middle of the day, and people behind you get impatient. They start honking and you are forced to take a road that you might not have intended to take. Was it your choice? Maybe. But you would have had ample time to...

Memories Hello everyone. Thank you once again for staying tuned to my blog. Your views inspire me to write more and more. I am not a frequent traveller. But whenever I travel, my destination is always home. No matter how far you go, how far you live, your home city is always the best. No place is better than your home city. My home city, Hyderabad. I can travel here just to have chai all day. I always wanted to try out the new places that serve different types of tea.  I'm right now in a coffee shop that is called Chit Chat Chai, trying out their different teas. What else can be a good place to spend an afternoon to sit down and put down my thoughts.  When you are alone sipping some chai, sometimes memories run back to you. Maybe the place, maybe the food, maybe the ambience, maybe someone else beside you discussing something, maybe the bus you see outside the window that you used to travel in, all these can get back some sweet memories that ...

Some care for you? Hello everyone. Thank you once again for an overwhelming response to my last post. I am happy to say that it was the highest viewed post so far. I usually write something when I sit in front of my computer and rarely do I write while travelling except for one post I wrote almost a year ago. I am writing this one though while I’m flying.  Flying maybe routine to many people. For me, it’s more of a marvel that the human mind has created. It is more than sitting for long hours to travel. While I board a flight I observe more than what many people see. A small thought struck my mind when I was looking around today in the flight. I was observing how much attention one pays to the safety instructions given at the start of the flight. It isn’t shocking to see that less than 10% of them pay attention to it. Not that I do not pay attention to it, I always do, I even read the safety card on every flight. How many of us do that every single time? If you have flown...

Broken Boundaries Boundary: A line that marks the limits of an area; a dividing line Countries have boundaries. States have boundaries. Individual homes have boundaries.  Humans? Do we have any boundaries?  Yes. A line that separates us from the rest, is kind of a boundary. The line that our family draws for us is a boundary. A line that the society draws around you is a boundary. Economic status draws a huge boundary around you. Many of these aren't something you can change a lot but, the line one draws around themselves is totally under their control. This boundary one creates can actually change the ones that were once not in your control.  Comfort Zone This is the only boundary we draw around us. Emotionally, mentally and physically. A nation's boundary imparts a feeling of safety for the citizens. Similarly, we create the boundaries where we feel safe. We do not want to get out of the safety of our comfort zone. Is it a bad thin...