Shanti Thokchom's Life Experiences
- Part 35 -
Meeting with Astronaut's family at Houston

By Shanti Thokchom *

This year was a very good year of ups and downs.I would emphasize more on the good side.

In May 09, we had the opportunity to be at the function of the welcoming of the US astronaut Michael Fincke after successful completion of the Expedition 18 on International Space station as the commander. He is married to a sweet Assamese lady.

The organisers wanted a broad representation of the NE people residing around Houston in Texas so when I was contacted by Mr. Rajen Barua and his wife Mrs. Ajanta of the FASS (Friends of Assam & seven sisters) group, I could not say no as it was a really good opportunity to showcase the NE region in front of the NASA community (colleagues of Mike Fincke) in Houston.

I called up Roshan Ngangom of Houston and asked if he could be present there and he assured me that they would do so. As for us, me, my son, Victoria Oinam & Priya Shimray were all agog with excitement as we gonna see and meet in live and shake hands with him live astronaut. They had arranged for their off days after months of deliberating whether to go or not.

We were like giggly school girls and so was my son cos this time around, he was going to have company for the ride to Houston for over 9 hours. I baked masala chicken, aloo samosa & other snacks to keep us well fed during our long drive from Tulsa. We had so much fun talking and just blabbering away in side the car and enjoying the countryside.

We stopped at travel centers for restroom breaks an some stretching. It took only 4 hrs to reach Dallas city. The 635 Dallas Loop was very busy as usual with road constructions and other vehicles in a hurry....!!

It was a very hot after noon but we kept ourselves hydrated and our food supplier was Priya as she sat near the cooked food box. It was pretty fun thing for her to do because she just had to dig in her hands to fish out any thing whoever wanted to eat whatever was there in the food basket!! Gosh, we ate non stop.....We all Manipuris love to eat "achapot" (snacks) and chit chat and have fun.....!!

When we reached Dallas, we turned on the radio station named "Salaam Namaste" which played so many old and new Hindi movie hit songs and that kept us so much entertained and not boring at all. We even sent in our "Farmaishi" (request) songs. The RJ was very funny and she asked us our names and she was very happy to play the song for us on air during our drive.

My 2 friends were asleep when they got tired. I had to ask my son to help me out with directions, or exit signs, in case I got tired and missed it at any point of the drive. I must say he comes in handy as he is over eager to help. Though he talks too much non stop!!

Anyway, we reached safe and soundly around 4 pm way ahead of any of the atendees. The ceremony was being held at the south side of Houston in an Indian restaurant called the "Moghul Restaurant". The FASS head honcho Mr. Rajen Barua was there to welcome us warmly. He was so pleased to see us all make it there. We all went inside the bathroom to change into our Manipuri cultural dress which was very colorful.

I must say the NE is real unique as we have all different dress, culture and tradtions. It was a great privilege for us to be there at such an august do and we felt very proud of our NE region. Bole To Ham Kisise Kam Nahi ( we are not lesser than anyone else....)!!

Many in the gathering started taking our pictures. I was a little uncomfortable of the camera flashing but consoled myself by saying "you fool, they are taking pictures of the colorful tradtional Kuki costume I was wearing and not me!!" and also the other two friends wore equally beautiful Naga and Meitei traditional dresses which was a real kicker. It made us realised how special and beautiful the NE region was ! No wonder Rajen Dada was adamant for us to attend.It was also a big boost for him for all his efforts to have a common platform for NE issues.

For me, I was very happy to see and meet up once again with all my Assamese friends I met at last year's Bihu. I brushed up on my Assamese when I tried to speak with them. They are so warm and welcoming. I could not believe the astronaut's wife was so simple and down to earth. She was short like us so it made us feel very comforted...ha..ha..ha...!!

Any other lady would have been very snotty just cos her hubby was an astronaut...Welll, she has that warmth and infectious smile on her always....! Her parents too were so happy to see us and appreciated our driving all the way from Oklahoma !! Her kids are named after the moon, sun & stars ....chandra, surya, tarali who are all sweet kids.

I thank Roshan Ngangom and his dad for joining us. It was funny how his family divvied up among themselves to represent at this ceremony and the other one at his aunt who lived a little distance from where we were gathered. But I am appreciative of the fact that he showed up with his dad and we could meet up personally for the 1st time.

Thanks also goes to Nengboi Haokip of Houston for coming in with her family. We all made a good representation of Manipur...!! My two friends were so excited and went around taking pictures with the Assamese ladies who wore beautiful Muga silk mekhela chaddar( Assamese tradtional dress). You could see how they got so animated meeting so many people there.

There was a question answer session with astronaut. I remember the "Space Talks" organised by the FASS back in january where NE students gathered to ask him questions and here we were, able to see him in person, shake hands with him and ask whatever questions we wanted. I asked him how he managed to do the Bihu dance in space with zero gravity.

We had a lot of interaction with the NASA community and that did break the ice with them for us. There was a very good and sumptous dinner catered by the Indian restaurant. All kudos go to Mrs. Ajanta Barua and the astronaut's wife for making it happen and organising it.

I liked the part where they compared the functions and duties of the astronaut and his wife at home and on space. It was a very hilarious moment!! We also took pictures but many of mine did not come out okay as we had to request anyone and available person to do that for us...I ate so much of the good food. I made small talk with other friends. My son was busy playing with his video game with the astronaut's son and did not even want to eat !!

There was Bihu dance and I must say Mike Fincke has truly mastered the art of this dance form. No wonder the whole state of Assam considers him their son-in-law and he is living upto it !! and making everyone proud of him! What I liked about him was his down to earth nature and easy going personality.. He has met his match in his wife !! Good for both of them....

We stayed the night at the Barua's home. This couple is so hospitable and I am thankful to them for making our stay so comfortable. Ajanta baidew (sister) made so much yummy breakfast. She is such a real good cook and a very economic one at that. She does not appreciate any kind of wastage of food.

Thats a very good trait I learnt from her afetr observing her. Next morning we drove to Lake Wood Church to attend the service of Pastor Joel Osteen and took pictures with him for Saboot(proof ) that we seen him and shook hands in person. Its not everyday that we get to drive down there to attend his services...! It was a real fruitful visit...

We left Houston around 12.30 noon and reached Tulsa after midnight...all my passengers were quiet as a mouse because they were all so pooped out and exhausted.....while I was the only one awake and driving...!!

More stories later...Be patient...ya'll....!!