Boston

This is great! It`s 3 in the morning. I just registered at Chowk to reply to this article I had some beef with, and ended up having spent the last 5 hours at the same website! That is definitely a first! But really, this is what`s so nice. Just one article about your unassuming, honest memories have evoked sooooo many varied responses (as I`ve just discovered from all the ``interacts``) from all kinds of people. Even though I live in Chicago, your article and especially the chemistry it`s generated with the responses, makes me want to check out Boston pronto. I should have belived my brother when he told me so!
Anyway, great job. Your stuff is a lot better than some crazy pseudo-heady crap I`ve read tonight. Why do people make life more difficult than it needs to be? Keep writing. It`s inspiring me towards many more sleepness nights! I wonder, if I were to move back to Pakistan, if I would have such vibrant memories of Chicago. I should start logging my days by color, and maybe I`ll be able to whip something pretty up in a couple of years. Thanks!

Ahh , so boston is THAT great, well I think i will get to know, I am here for last 4 months now. Being a Sydney boy for last 6 years with warm weather and white sand beaches and desi restaurants where u can walk into kitchen to order the chef exactly what you want, Boston is coming as a shock to me. Perhaps, the reason is that i wander the town alone and without the company of frens who wud be planning to play cricket on one of the north shore beaches.


I dont know if that is the lazy Australian summers or the cold Boston summers but i still have to start appreciating Boston.

Lets hope that I become one of the devotee followers of Boston !!

Spending hundreds and hundreds of dollars as if it were candy- that sums it all up for the Parents. It appears Boston is not THAT expensive afterall!
Nicely written and very evocative. Thanks.
PRK

Damn, Homie...! I just joined Chowk for some enlightened mature articles and the first one I read is this wonderful piece by Bina. Nicely written, though Im alot late, who cares! :P Yes clam chowder... though I first had a tasted of it on the other side of the country, US. But I`ve seen alot of New England area... Boston I vaguely remember... now its a must see. Cheers. Write another one when you go back there again.

You have wonderful memories of your stay there. Thanks for sharing them.

Boston! I just got back from there yesterday. My in-laws are there & my husband & I try to return a few times a year since we moved to San Francisco in 2002. This was our first summer visit--the others have been in dead winter when I couldn`t wait to leave. This time was different...so beautiful, sunny, relaxed with the streets, cafes and flowers in full bloom. I visited old haunts & became overwhelmingly nostalgic. Boston has that magic of being able to draw you in so close during the summer that she blinds you to the reality of the very long harsh winter. And BTW, I think Diva in Davis Sq & Kebab Factory across from Dali both serve excellent desi food. Not as good (or halal) as the desi food here in San Fran but pretty good! :)

# 36

it used to cost a dime to make a phonecall?

wow...

my not-from-boston friends tell me boston is really expensive....

#jang

there ARE no good pakistani resturants in boston. in fact, i think there are only 2... one of which is ``indian/pakistani``. so nowhere to get yum real kababs from.

who even likes rasam? in any case, curry is hardly an all-encompassing definition of ``authentic desi food``...

waise, the last time i went to legal and asked what spicy stuff they had on their menu they said ``we can put hot sauce on anything``. v. disappointing.

there is a desi place i like though... bhindi bazaar! they have amazing chaat papri.

Boston. Aah. I miss Boston. Even though they tell me San Francisco is so similar to Boston. I have now been here for 8 months but I still miss the ol` Beantown. I miss the T. I miss The Good Life, I miss Lucky`s. The Boston live jazz scene. The warm summer nights. The late nights at the beach in the winter to check what happens to the ocean when it snows. Every year. I seem to forget.

And as much as I hate winter, which is the reason I left, I really do miss the snow.

Bina, did you know it is no longer just a dime to make a phone call?

#33: But interestingly, it`s back to one menu vs. having two different menus. It`s indeed an amazing move to find the Legal S. serving South Indian food. The scallops tanjore tasted great. Presentation certainly adds to the aroma, taste and everything else.

My all time favorites: Coconut Shrimp; Rhode Island Calamari and Apple/Taco/Goat Cheese with alah blah & shalah salad.

bad-zauq :)

Re #32 ``...I wish more desi families (with aunties and uncles and babies) would settle in Boston so there`d be more authentic desi restaurants here. ``

please...there is way too much curry in boston already..
The city food which used to be happyly provincial...now even legal has hing-flavored curry rasam chowdah, and Scallop Tanjore (not to be confused with Tandoor) on their menu. Apparently the dishes were started to cater to the taste of tech-boom programmers. Now the programmers are gone but the menu smells hingy forever.

Arrows St. Crepes? Ewww...... That place literally stinks.

So, no one else likes Maharaja in Porter Square either? I wish more desi families (with aunties and uncles and babies) would settle in Boston so there`d be more authentic desi restaurants here.

Bina, did you ever try the little crepe place right on the edge of Harvard Sq? The banana-nutella is to die for! They recently bought over Tosci`s (sob!) in the MIT student center.

Let`s see - other fun things/places: the Harvard Bookstore basement, Avenue Victor Hugo on Newbury, Quincy Market (how`d you miss that one!), cannolis from Mike`s Pastry, (even) the duck tours, Punjabi Dhaba in Inman Sq (for some reverse nostalgia), Marrakesh on Cambridge St (is sadly no more :()

and then there`s the snow in may you forgot....

but - hey! - you can walk across the harvard bridge and ``sun-bathe`` on the esplanade...

[excuse me, but, being from karachi, im used to october being the hottest month of the year and not freezy like boston already is....]

though at least there`s pretty foliage in the fall....

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I made a point to visit the the bar, ``Cheers`` when I went there as I was so much addicted to Sam Malone, Rebecca , Dr.Frasier , Woody and carla...
The damn bar actually had a museum at the top...

I think all the nostalgic feelings are about `that` time period. And if its the student life, then nothing else comes close to it whether its Boston or cheechooN ki malyaaN.

Stuka #20.

{{ getting a glimpse of Noam Chomsky …"

He speaks often to Harvard audiences. I heard him at the H Sq Church.}}

So have I, at least once. He spoke on globalization on that occasion.

Not that I agreed with all that he had to say. This puts me in the good company of the worthies of the Maoist International Movement (or the World Socialist Workers, I forget which) who were handing out flyers to attendees excoriating Chomsky as a capitalist stooge, imperialist running dog, etc. Only in Cambridge!

I really hope we don`t fall into the trap of debating #22, 23 and 25. That would really detract from the purpose of my essay. As a personal request, can I ask all interactors to please refrain from commenting on that topic or those posts. It has nothing to do with what I wanted to write about.

Thank you all for your positive comments. I really loved that city and urge you all to go visit. It`s a beautiful town. Coincidence that it`s called ``Beantown`` and my nickname amongst friends and family is ``Bean`` or ``Beans``!!! (Although I hate beans for the most part)

Ally - I don`t speak Punjabit so you will need to translate - just kidding.

``Memories...`` (singing VERY off-key)

my sister is doing her phd thing there at harvard and is even planning to settle there . i don`t know why really but she so loves boston. perhaps even more than karachi!

I apologize for sounding racist! but Boston Strangler and Atta Mohammed cannot be compared, one represents mad fringes of christian society which are condemned by the christian society all along but Atta and others are representatives of a very dedicated group of modern Jihadi Assasins who obey great respect and sympathies world wide.

Remember, Atta Mohammed and his team achieved their foremost aim. They have become martyrs and gone to heavens (PBUH).Their aim was not of killing some 5000 Americans or demolishing some of their towers of power, but it aimed at uniting the muslims by terrorising the non-muslims to look for Atta Mohammads amongst the next muslim they meet.
They wanted that such discrimination should become explicit and institutionalized so that the muslims can be untied all over the world and then nuke the Americans.
Death to Infidels!!!! Muslims all over the world, unite in jihad, take to arms and kill the profilers!!!!

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RSaxena:

You running a travel agency now? Pretzels and tickets? :)

I do go there but it`s not that close. NYC is convenient that way, in between DC and Boston.


Ali_1

Kiddan? Welcome back...

Actually, SFO and Boston are very similar. Acadamics, liberal politics, multi-ethnic populations, strong tech influence..all combine to give a cultural similarity. Outside of the weather, it is just that SFO looks to a stronger Asian and Spanish influence whereas Boston has more of a European feel.

Why would you call the city pathetic though? Isn`t that too strong a word even if it is not to your taste?

Aleph Null:


``And someone who hangs out in Kendall Square stands a good chance of getting a glimpse of Noam Chomsky …"

He speaks often to Harvard audiences. I heard him at the H Sq Church.

Bina

If thats ur picture up on your profile, tu boht sohni kuRi aN ;-)

I think Boston is pathetic, compared to civilized cities like San Francisco.

bina, lovely article..i was in champaign, which is verrrry smallll compared to boston, but i guess if you have good memories of any place, then the size of the city doesn`t matter...i used to love going to chicago which was 2.5 hrs away...aah, good memories :-)

Very interesting and light. It seems like the public transport system in Boston is very good and gives people a sense of freedom and also maybe a sense of community. What a pleasure it must be to live in a city where driving is not needed.

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oh my god axis is STILL open ! i spent four years in manhattan but quite a few weekends were spent in boston, on comm ave, and walking up and down newbury street -- only if one could go back to college again

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...this $hitty city shuts its bars and metro too early to be called civilized... ;)

re: stuka

{Bbina, thanks again. I will save this article forever. }

...get a grip...it costs $80 to jump on a shuttle flight to boston, if you miss it so much... :)

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Well, the chess-players are still going strong at the Au Bon Pain in Harvard Square. One of the more significant changes in the Harvard Square area has been the closure or migration of several used bookstores – supposedly priced out of the area by the University. The Coop bookstores are now allegedly run by Barnes and Noble, of all people. Cambridge still remains one of the few remaining hotbeds of Red revolution in America, together with Berkeley, I suppose. And someone who hangs out in Kendall Square stands a good chance of getting a glimpse of Noam Chomsky … used to, at any rate.

Bina: Thank you for being the tour guide. Very nicely put piece. Having been to Boston for both business and pleasure in the past few years more frequently than ever, it seemed that you were my tour guide in your article. Last year, as my father was visiting me. He joined me for one of my meetings as I drove up to Boston from NJ. We stayed at the Inn at Harvard, a unique and historical place. Now everytime, I pass by that area, I am reminded of my father`s presence. I have developed certain association with that Inn. St. Charles River and its outskirts are simply beautiful during the fall season. Fall is amazingly beautiful in uspate NY, Virginia, and Boston. Having a number of friends and family attend both MIT & HBS, I have observed the same pangs of nostalgia. I think it all boils down to your associations and affiliations.

Stuka:
It`s interesting that you mentioned Legal Seafoods. One of my all time favorites. I have tried their food at different locations in Boston, but I must mention that their best service is in NJ. Fortunately, I live very close to the NJ Location of Legal Seafoods and have had most of my weekend meals at the said location since its inception in Northern Jersey. For me, since I do not eat red meat or chicken(halal or non-halal), Legal Seafood is my haven! Welcome to the Legal Seafoods` Club!

Thanks Bina, pre 9/11 this was America where even the guys like atta mohammed could have roamed around freely without beng discriminated because of their being muslims,...Islamists like them have sc***ed up theirs and our destiny for ever.......

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Though having graduated a year and half ago, I can sense the exact feelings that must have crossed you Bina! Those first experiences that were a forbidding territory, and those giants leaps made into the adventurous world was a sweet forsaken delight! I wish I were back at college, however, living in the same city after graduation does not hold the same sentiments!! But just reading your trip down to memory lane just reminds me how life was simple and uncomplicated!!……………………….. a certain satisfying gratification has arrived upon my face, and I feel glad it has!! thank you!!!

binoo:

...good one!...it is nice to take a turn down memory lane...advertently or inadvertently:)...

...i can almost sense and taste your nostalgia...had experienced similar feelings when i did those three karachi pieces on the old speaker`s corner ...the forerunner of the unplugged...

lve,

t

lovely article Bina, seems like u had a good amreekan experience... its good you can take these memories back with you, nice to read these experiences... thanks

Oooohhh, My heart aches now. Boston does that to you. Bbina, thanks again. I will save this article forever.

God, I love this article. Boston is the best city in the world and I miss it terribly.

``And I really did find myself feeling so very nostalgic, reading about clam chowder and baked beans,``


I know I know....

``and Legal Seafood,``

which has moved from its old location at the Park Plaza Hotel and is a couple of blocks away. The Park Plaza has McCormick`s and Schmick`s.

``and looking at a picture of the South Station train and T station, and reading the names of clubs I used to hear about all the time on the radio: the Middle East, ManRay, Axis... ``

Ha! Went to the Middle East once, the otyher two a couple of times. There`s also, Roxy, Caprice, good ole M80 which shut down and the current ones are Avalon and Embassy..Good ole Central Square, and Fanuil Hall and Theatre District and Lansdowne St.

This article made my day.