Every summer, as Seattle shakes off its winter gloom and cherry blossoms give way to rhododendrons, a curious parallel migration occurs. No, not whales, but something equally predictable: Indian parents descending on Seattle.
If you’re at SeaTac in the afternoon, you might recognize them standing patiently by baggage claim with necks craned for their ‘VIP’ suitcase that hopefully made it through transit at Dubai. Outside, their children’s Teslas (inevitably freshly washed) idle patiently, ready to whisk them to SLU, Bellevue, or Issaquah. Once they recover from jet lag, they emerge in public.
Find them at Pike Place, unimpressed by the hullabaloo about flying fish that’d be business as usual in any Indian fish market. Instead, they turn their back to the fish and are wowed to see a chai stall. Aditi’s chai is pretty good, but you’ll be sure to hear the disbelief that it is 540 rupees ($6). A sentiment that will recur in purchases for the next few weeks, until they bridge the dissonance that their child earns six times the US median income.
If you are having a hard time spotting them at Pike Place, head over to the nearest Costco, another Desi ritual. While the Sukhi’s Tikka Masala and Haldiram’s on shelves is fascinating, they are not here for that! You’ll see them clustering around the samples cart (if vegeterian) and around dry fruits and chocolates - staple gifts back home for Diwali that’s a few months away. Although they better be careful, only two check in bags of 50lb each!
But my favorite spot to observe them is in parks. Eager to absorb all the sub-20-AQI air they can and truthfully, a little bored at home on weekdays, they are out for daily walks with hoodies zipped up. It may be summer on the calendar, but this is colder and less sunny than winters in many parts of India. Like migrating species, they too are attracted to all the new flowers. Photos of which will be whatsapped before they call it a night, just in time for good morning messages back home. In some of these parks, they flock together. And like school, the ladies and ‘gents’ will sort themeselves into different groups. Topics of conversation are their children’s visa status, recipes, and don’t be surprised to find some matchmaking too. I have it on good authority that there is also a group chat “Amazonian Indian Parents in Seattle” with a few hundred members. Here plans are made for Bainbridge Island on a Tuesday by ferry and Golden Gardens (by charter bus!!) on Thursday. Weekends are for the kids.
My parents have not visited the city yet, but the season brings me joy nonetheless, a comforting slice of home thousands of miles away. Watching “fresh of the boat” immigrants marvel over all the small American things that I did when I first came to the US a few years ago, children proud to show their parents where they have arrived after all these years, and hearing my native tongue in the wild. Thank you to all of you who included me with your families and shared lovely stories that inspired this blog.
The days are long, but the weeks pass in a blur. Just as summer wanes and the rains hint at their return, the parents repack suitcases. Provisions of spices and dals for their kids now replaced with Kirkland nuts, vitamin bottles, and Trader Joe’s Crunchy Okra. Mothers’ meals are cooked and frozen, Teslas line up again, and airport goodbyes linger. Seattle settles back into its rhythm, waiting patiently until next year’s bloom and the inevitable return of the Indian parent.