Postcards from Florida

Subramanian Swamy says he'd rather wear chappals in US while Miss India USA would go for academics, writes Lalit K Jha in Dakota Diary.

Beginning last weekend the State of Florida has been in news for two reasons: the hype created over the launch of the space shuttle Discovery and the hurricane Dennis.

It is during this time - in fact the day the hurricane hit this coastal State - I had my first visit to Florida to be witness to a significant event for the Indo-American community in the United States.

The occasion was coming together of some 80,000 convenience store owners of the US, majority of whom are Indian and that too Gujarati on a platform to form Asian American  Convenience Stores Association in the presence of leading community leaders.

Although the event has already been reported, here are some of the experiences which I would like to share with HindustanTimes.com-netizens.

Subramanian Swamy in Chappals

The former Union Minister and Janata Dal leader, Subramanian Swamy, is in the United States these days on a summer teaching assignment at the prestigious Harvard University. Whatever be his reputation in India's political circus, he belongs to one of the rare breed of politicians who is still interested in academics.

But the most crucial question now is: Why Subramanian Swamy is always seen wearing sandals and rarely - if not never - in shoes. Lot of people like me is curious to see this, which is quite unusual here.

So I asked Swamy, who was staying in the same hotel with me at Tampa (Florida) where he had come to attend the conference. Unlike my presumption that it was his preference or some allergy, he said this was because of security reasons. I too was surprised.

Swamy, he is on travel over every weekend addressing meetings and delivering lectures, explained: After September 11 airport security has been tightened, as a result of which the passengers have to undergo strict security clearance wherein everything is subject to check.

And a must for all the passengers at the security is the open your shoes, keep it in a tray along with other items in your pocket and move for physical check if needed. Removing shoes upsets me every time. So I decided not to wear it in the US. Indeed a lesson for all those politicians, who do not want to open their shoes - wear sandals.

Travel with 'Bihari' Miss India USA

It is nearly a year now that Reshoo Pande, who though born in Ranchi is from Bihar, was declared Miss India USA. She stays along with her parents at Mississippi. I happened to met her at Tampa where she had come to attend the Miss Florida Pageant.

Though, I was introduced to her by Dharmatma Saran, before the pageant, but did not get much chance to talk to her as she was surrounded by her fans. It was on my way from the hotel to the airport early Monday morning - our flights being at the same time around -- that we talked sitting in the car, being driven by Chandra Patel, a local community leader.

Being a journalist, I asked about her preferences and what she was doing. To my surprise, unlike the other gorgeous girls like her who would have grabbed such an opportunity, she has refused several offers to act in feature films from India, both from the Bollywood and also from the South Indian film industry.

Though she has done few modelling assignments and has several prestigious offers before her, Reshoo, who the other evening had a scintillating dance performance before the local Indian population, said she wanted to concentrate on her studies. "I am also working as a part time auditor. I want to remain in academics," she said, before we departed for our respective flights to Mississippi and Minneapolis. Interestingly, many of her predecessors have gone on to become successful film actresses.