In June of 1966, Chopra and I spent another summer in Chicago. Once again, I worked at Gus’s restaurant, and Chopra also got a job there as a cashier. We also found jobs across the Illinois border working in a steel factory in Gary, Indiana. The job involved carrying heavy steel blocks. It took two people to carry the beam, one at each end. The factory required us to buy expensive steel-toed boots to protect our feet. The pay was worth it, but after a couple of weeks, being of smaller stature, Chopra and I were struggling to carry the steel all day and grew tired easily. We quit the steel factory and found technical jobs in the second week of July with A. B. Dick & Company, a manufacturer of copy machines and office supplies.
Whenever Chopra and I weren’t working, we walked around downtown Chicago or drove to the beach on Lakeshore Drive. One day in mid-August, we were standing in line at an ice cream shop. Two girls stood behind us and began laughing and giggling when Chopra and I spoke in Hindi. Chopra and I glanced at each other in amusement. Both girls were attractive. One was shorter and stocky with an innocent face and a big, brilliant smile. The other girl was thinner and wore glasses. After paying for our ice cream, we went outside and tried to decide which way to walk. A few moments later, the girls came outside. The shorter one smiled at me but was too shy to say anything. As they walked away, she smiled at me over her shoulder.
“Hey Chopra, let’s try to talk to them,” I said.
We walked after them, and the girls giggled and walked faster. Just as we came close enough, I said, “Hi, we would like to talk to you.”
“About what?” the shorter girl with the big smile asked.
“Would you like to go out on a date with us?”
“Yes, but we don’t know you,” the girl said.
“Well, I’m Kris, and he’s Raj,” I said, shortening Chopra’s first name.
“I’m Larisa, and she’s Zelia,” the girl said.
“We are students at the University of Tennessee.”
The girls laughed to no end. I didn’t know what was so funny, but Larisa gave me her number on a piece of paper and said I could call her. Still laughing, they walked away.
For our first date, Larisa and I met downtown at the ice cream shop. We walked around for a while, and then I drove my car to Lakeshore Drive, where we walked along the lake. Afterward, we sat in the car and talked. We went on a second date after that, and on our third date, as we were walking along Lakeshore Drive, Larisa said, “Zelia would like to go out with Raj, too, if that is okay with him.”
That night I told Chopra what Larisa had said.
“She wants to go out with me? That’s great!” Chopra said.
Soon after, we started going on double dates. At first, Zelia seemed excited to go on dates with Chopra. After each date, I took Zelia home first, dropping her off a block from her house, and then dropping Larisa two blocks away from her home. She did not want her mother or her neighbors to see she was dating a foreigner. On Fridays, she had to return home before sunset, and from that point up until sunset on Saturday, I could not talk to her on the phone or see her at all.
“Why can’t I see you?” I asked.
“It’s the Sabbath,” she told me.
“What is that?” It sounded strange to me.
“I am Jewish,” she said. “And my father is a rabbi.”
“What is a rabbi?”
“It’s like a priest,” she said. “And we go to synagogue.”
“What’s synagogue?”
“It’s like a church. We go to synagogue on Friday instead of Sunday, and we must keep the Sabbath on weekends. We can’t watch television or pick up the phone. We also must eat before sunset on those days.”
On one of our dates, she further explained the Jewish faith and what they believed in. “There are three types of Jews. One group is Orthodox. They believe in the old way described in the Holy books of the Torah. The second group is Conservative, believing in a modified version of the Torah. The third is Reform, believing in the Torah, but they do not follow traditions such as not picking up the phone after sunset.”
“Which group are you?” I asked.
“I am from an Orthodox Jewish family. Zelia is also Jewish. Her parents would also be angry if they knew she is dating a Hindu.”
Lucky for Zelia’s parents, her relationship with Chopra would not become an issue. One day, Larisa told me, “Zelia is not happy with Raj. He is too aggressive with her.”
That night at the frat house, I brought up the subject. “Chopra, you need to slow down with Zelia. Larisa says she doesn’t feel comfortable with you.”
Chopra nodded. “Okay, I’ll try.”
But Zelia still didn’t like how much older he was. Larisa and Zelia had just finished high school, and Chopra was nearly thirty, about five years older than I was, and he also looked a lot older and more mature than I did. Zelia decided to stop seeing Chopra, but Larisa and I continued spending time together.
Since Chopra and I lived at the frat house, I could not see Larisa in the evening during weekdays, nor could I bring her to my place so I could fix her curried chicken. This was a problem. Chopra and I looked for a two-bedroom apartment with a kitchen, and we found a nice place on the second floor of a building near
