Day 2 in the Big Apple!

Got up really late, at around 9.30 a.m.Uploaded all the 72 snaps that I had taken from my new digital camera into Vali's laptop and viewed a slide show of the same. The snaps had come out wonderfully and I relived every moment of the previous evening in those snaps,just like I will do for the rest of my life!

Got ready,had a quick bite at a doughnut joint,hopped onto the Path train to New York.The train was a touch crowded and I had my first taste of crowds in New York.Almost reminded me of good old Bombay city!

Got off at the 33rd Street station near 5th Avenue and headed for the Museum of Modern Art.As we crossed the different lanes and bylanes in midtown New York,my eyes hit the Times Square.I just stood still and saw the famous vertical structure of advertisements that are aired all over the world, in every describable TV channel. And next to the Times Square was the famous NASDAQ board,with great illuminations.Stopped at this famous Square and clicked numerous snaps,digesting the significance and popularity of the location every second.The famous ads in Times Square were actually rolling ads,erected in motion in a tall wall hanging on to the edge of yet another skyscraper in the vicinity.It was not actually a Square,but had assumed significance because of the popularity,and centralisation of the location in New York.This was possibly the most expensive Square in NewYork to place ads.

Once we did that,my eyes were rolling along a bunch of movie screens stretching all around the Square.As I was reading the signs,Beauty & the Beast,the Lord of the Rings etc,Vali told me that,those boards had Broadway shows behind them in huge auditoriums.I gasped!I had just seen Broadway,the world's oldest theatre!Wow!And apparently,Beauty & the Beast has been running to houseful shows for the last 2 decades!Was convinced that such shows are still ruling the roost because of travel fanatics like me!

We were getting late and Vali got hold of a New York map from one of the officers around the corner of the Square.We found out directions to the Museum of Modern Art and finally located it after a 15 minute walk.It was a lovely museum and well, we had a free entry,as Goldman Sachs' employees have free access to all the museums in New York,except the Museum of Sex(groan!).

Spent the next 4 hours in this beautiful,artistic museum and was exposed to some of the world's greatest paintings.It was a sight to behold,the architecture,the decoration,the arrangement,the flow of the paintings and artifacts,the diversity of the items on display.....just got lost in it completely.There was also a mini- TV room where they were airing the evolution of sex as an art.Now,now now...!

First evening in New York- Manhattan & Brooklyn

I wasn't really ready for it.It was almost as if it was still too good to be true.The reason I am saying that is,Vali chalked out my program for the next 3 days in NY city.It was unbelievable.The different landmarks in the city were all clogged together in different belts.So if I were to leave home from Jersey city and head in a particular direction,I could cover almost all the major landmarks in that part of New York.Organised chaos,as it were!

Left home in the evening at around 5.30 p.m.First stop was at River Street in New Jersey.Lovely spot,with a great walkway and overlooking the entire NY skyline and the Hudson river.This was an overview of what I was going to see at much closer range later.Really nice start to the trip from this spot,actually.Almost etched a mental picture in me,before getting to the nitty-gritty of the trip!

We had decided to go towards the very name that defines the skylines of New York.The very name where former GE supremo Jack Welch bought a house with every amenity imaginable after his retirement.The vicinity that houses the biggest names in the financial world.The very place,where some absurd,insane anti-social elements demolished two pulsating skyscrapers in 2001 using a bunch of planes.The area that is the pulse of New York city on the global map - Manhattan!

Got onto the Path train again at Hoboken and still was staring stunned outside the train windows at the dark tunnels and feeling the speed of the ripping train.We got off at World Trade Center station.Oh!The venue brought back the memories and televised pictures of people scurrying for their lives near this station back in 2001.When I saw the actual venue of the erstwhile World Trade Center,I swallowed hard.Possibly my heart skipped a beat even.Even though I am not an American,I could feel the solemness in that place.It was renamed as Ground Zero,with a challenge thrown by the American authorities, that they would erect an even bigger building at the same place.But the rings around the devastated venue,the dug up sand,the hurled and shattered rocks and cement were all ringing in my ears and running in my mental eye.Was trying to imagine how people would have jumped off the 83rd floor of that WTC tower back in 2001.There could not have been a choice of living for them then.It was death all the way.Took a snap at the WTC station,and this was possibly the only snap where I felt genuinely sad in my trip.

Went to J & R electronics store and bought a 512 MB memory stick for my new Sony camera.I had just 32 MB,which would've just gotten over in less then half an hour!

But just like in life,we moved on,into the heart of Manhattan.For the first time in my life,I watched in awe,the huge,famous skyscrapers of New York,with my own eyes.Saw some great landmarks there - Trinity Church(gave me the feel of a haunted house!),St.Paul's Cathedral(wanted to go in,but it was closed).And then,the big moment arrived.I saw a small little board a few blocks ahead,between those tall buildings.The board read,Wall Street.

So this is it!This is where it happens all the time.This is where the famous investment bankers make or break,or at least contribute in making or breaking,so many lives.This is where the pulse of millions of human beings is tested.Stood under the board of Wall Street and took possibly one of the most memorable snaps of the trip.I was vibrating,and was thinking of the condition of the people who work on that street!We walked ahead into Manhattan and I saw one of the most symbolic structures that I had ever set my eyes on.It was a mad,raging,wild bull!What a brilliant piece of imagination and metaphor!To have the statue of a bull right near Wall Street spoke volumes of the reach of this Street and the sentiments emanating from it.It could have been a stag,or a bear or whatever else.But no,NY runs on energy and the BULL typified it for me!

Beside the bull, stood the American Museum of Financial History.Had it been open and had I entered it,I would've simply gotten lost there!This is one of the many museums in NY,and just,yet another attraction!This museum,as the name suggests,has tracked the evolution of the financial pulse of NY in Manhattan!

Backtracked into Wall Street and saw the massive(in every sense of the term!)New York Stock Exchange!How many lives were made or broken here.Vali told me that he had been on a full tour of the NYSE and had even reached the trading floor, but not traded there!Diagonally opposite the NYSE stood the memorial of George Washington.That is what struck me the most.The choice,placement and symbolisation of key landmarks in New York city!

We then just walked down the aisles of Wall Street,stopped by at a Starbucks Coffee, and trudged along to the Brooklyn bridge.Along the way saw the offices of one of the numerous investment banking houses, most notably, Vali's office - Goldman Sachs!Felt great that our man was working in one of the most renowned firms in the world!

Twilight had set in by now and we walked out of Wall Street and reached the Brooklyn Bridge.It was a sight to behold.The sun setting, the ripples on the river Hudson,the music near the Bridge,the colour and splendour of the place sure did make me feel that I was attending a festival!I just stood by the edge of the grills overlooking the Hudson river and the Brooklyn Bridge and watched the landscape in awe.It was a rather romantic setting,if I may add!Brooklyn Bridge,another of those names I had heard and seen on TV.Wow!

Didn't have the heart to get back,as the lights came on the bridge,once the sun set and it was looking absolutely beautiful.But we had to get back.I saw a bunch of boats going on the water and managed to con and pull Vali into taking me back to Hoboken by ferry!It was to turn out to be one of the good decisions of my trip,as I would get to see the entire NY skyline,a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty on one side and the Brooklyn Bridge on the other,and get hit by a stiff breeze on the ferry ride from Brooklyn to Jersey!It was really a great start to the trip!And was raring to go for more!

Came back home, had dinner,uploaded the snaps into the computer and went to sleep at around 2 a.m.

LaGuardia to New Jersey

I exited from the airport terminal, with my heart absolutely racing. I couldn't quite believe that I had landed in New York.I mean, it just couldn't have been me.But there I was,walking down the aisle to the exit door, and going through those first exciting moments of having landed in a city that I had dreamt of seeing for close to a decade and a half.

Got out of the terminal and looked for Vali,my good old school friend.And there he was,lazily leaning against a pillar,with an iPod in his ears and lost in oblivion,almost!It just didn't feel that I was meeting him after close to a decade.Almost felt as if I had just bumped into him outside the classroom in school and was meeting him the next day.I guess those are the little things and charms of life - seeds of friendship sown and grown naturally, without one having to water it too much. Felt damn good to meet him after so many years. He had lost a lot of hair, but if anything, had gotten wiser,which tended to get reconfirmed in the course of my conversations with him over the next 72 hours!

Hopped onto a bus from LaGuardia to Penn State station.It was a nice long drive through the entry roads to New York.Both Vali & I got into some serious, animated conversation during this bus drive, catching up on old times,updating each other of a few happenings in our lives,and not to miss capture the essential differences from the times we grew up till today.It sure had been an action-packed journey for both of us,in our own individual ways.I strongly felt our personalities coming through, as the bus treaded along the interiors of New York.Almost made me forget that I had come to the big city,and ended up enjoying the deep conversation with an old,deep friend!

We then walked through Fifth Avenue - one of the many landmarks that I had seen on TV all those years ago and would see for myself in flesh and blood in the next 3 days. The first big landmark I saw on Fifth Avenue was the NY Public Library.Vali told me that its one of the largest and members can borrow up to 30 books at a time!Now,that's an ocean of books for sure.Imagine the scale of operations,the magnitude and volume of books that a library would be having to cater to the needs of tons of New Yorkers!Granted,not all New Yorkers are voracious readers,but still,servicing even a miniscule percentage of readers from the Big Apple,would need a reservoir of books!Well, this was just the start of the numerous stunning moments I was to have!

We then crossed Macys' Departmental Store.Vali told me that it was the world's largest departmental store.I almost shook simply because, I found it hard to believe how a store can be coined as the world's largest.On seeing the board outside Macys, I remember Forum Mall in good old Bangalore.And that was the biggest "mall"(not a store,though!)that I had ever seen in my life before.Well,everything is BIG in New York,king-size,almost!

Finally,my eyes rested on that magical building with historical significance - the Empire State Building.My eyes narrowed when I saw that building.My heart was racing as usual.And I was hit hard by the sheer size and power of the imposing bit of architecture staring down at me.Once upon a time, before skyscrapers hit the other parts of the globe, this was the tallest building in the world.I just said, WOW ,to myself.

Following this poignant moment,we entered an underground station.I thought it was the famous New York subway,only to be corrected by Vali that it was a Path train station - one that connects NY and New Jersey.I got into the train with all my baggage and froze when the train entered a dark tunnel.It was pitch dark and the train was ripping at the rate of knots.I refused to believe what I was seeing. I mean, how in the wild world,can a train run with such pinpointed accuracy at such crazy speeds, underground,without an iota of light?Beyond my comprehension!The only 'light at the end of the tunnel', were at the stations.That's when I understood the whole mechanism, that the Path trains are not meant to disturb the traffic above,nor can they actually travel above the earth- one has to cross the Hudson river to get to Jersey city you see!That's where we got to eventually,and I liked the quiet and peace of Hoboken in New Jersey,where Vali and his roommate lived.

Touchdown at LaGuardia airport,NY!

This was the moment!This is it,as the sports commentators say.The Northwest Airlines Boeing aircraft glided over the New York skyline for about 15 minutes,giving me an aerial picture of the great city.My heart was pounding when I saw the Statue of Liberty from the top!

Finally,at 12.27 p.m.,the plane landed at LaGuardia airport.I just couldn't believe it.I just couldn't and I doubt if I will ever forget that moment when the plane touchdown on the tarmac of that huge runway.Oof!What a moment.To have ACTUALLY,PHYSICALLY landed in the city of dreams,as it were,even if for a vacation,just shook me.I know its not great deal these days to be globe trotting or seeing places,but this moment was different.It was the culmination of something built,nurtured and harboured over the best part of a decade and a half.Maybe,it was a touch selfish,but hell,I realised long ago,that my life is too short to be spent cribbing.I may as well do what I want to do and what I wish to make of my life.That definitely was the greatest decision in my life.Got to see the Taj Mahal this January,and now just landed at New York!Life sure is great and a journey by itself,however cliched that may sound!

Exited the plane and slowly walked through the airport terminal,at times shaking my head at the disbelief of the moment.Finally,got my moorings right and walked to the exit gate.

There he was!Vali Riyaz Ahmed leaning against a pillar,and lost in his iPod!He was always a tech geek!We were meeting after 12 years or so.And I felt wonderful!!He is doing very well in life.Did his engineering and is now working in Wall Street in NY!

We walked out of the terminal and got the ticket to a bus that would take us to the station.It was very,very hot indeed.But who cares!Engaged in animated,long conversation with Vali and caught up with so many things.Lost friends,lost love,jobs,career,life in NY as against the rest of the US,how India is catching up,etc,etc,etc!

Got off the bus in midtown NewYork(over the next 2 days,I would learnt that there is midtown,and downtown,along with 5 boroughs in this city).We walked through a not so congested street,on this Friday afternoon.Everybody around me seemed to be in a weekend mood and it was just lunch time on Friday!I guess that is how all of us live these days,be it here or back home in India!

Soon,in the course of the next 2 days,I would actually,physically see the famous landmarks that I had seen,heard and read about.

We entered Fifth Avenue first,as we headed to the railway station,after getting off the bus.The huge buildings around me,as expected,continued to amaze me.Vali made a very significant remark - these buildings look short from the air,but will strain a human being's neck in trying to look at them,right up to the top!I would discover how right he was!

We crossed,Macys',the world's largest departmental store.And right across that was the Empire State Building, a 103 floor marvel of architecture!And was gleaming in the summer heat!This was one of the first of many buildings that would give me a neck ache.But who cares!I was going to enjoy it!

Got to the station,and saw these e-ticketing machines.Took sometime in figuring out how they work,but Vali got the tickets before I could finish reading the instructions on that machine!

Got into the train,and well,it was spick and span!As the train exited the station on 33rd Street(everything is named Street or Avenue - the comparable India address is say,1st Cross,3rd Main in any city!)

The train raced ahead into a dark tunnel.My jaw drop - like it would again and again the next 2 days - when the train entered the tunnel.I mean,it was pitch dark!And made unearthly sense that a train can rip at 100 mph at least,in pitch darkness.Granted the rails would be sturdy etc,but it was weird!

We reached New Jersey,at Hoboken and trudged along to Vali's residence.This would be a guy I will never be able to thank enough,after the next 3 days are over.

The flight to NY!

At the San Antonio airport,just before going through security check,I took a snap in front of one of the airport's stores.I was actually rather sleepy,after the lack of sleep the previous night and considering the pace and magnitude of work I had this week.But it just didn't show.All the tiredness vanished when I got to the airport to board the Northwest Airlines flight NW 630 to LaGuardia airport,NY,via Memphis Airport(a brief stopover).

Got through security check and still couldn't believe that I was about to board a plane to the Big Apple!Just couldn't believe it.Finally,my stomach brought me back to reality,as it started grumbling.Alas,the human biological cycle had returned - I was hungry,as I hadn't eaten in 12 hours!Walked down to the Starbucks coffee joint at the airport and grabbed myself a Tall Hot Chocolate.Gulped it down as we awaited the announcement for the flight.

Since we had a stopover at Memphis on the way to NY,I wasn't quite sure if I had to change aircrafts.So the minute I walked into the aircraft,I met the eyes of the airhostess(so what's new,some people would say!).She was actually an old lady,almost well past her prime and appeared to be one of the oldies on that airline.But since she was so sure of her ways around,it did appear that she has been in this industry for a large part of her life.Anyway,told her that I am an international traveller and wasn't sure if I had to change aircrafts at Memphis to NY and requested her to come and let me know.She said,in typical American accent,"Sure"!

Got to my seat,which was the last seat on the plane - I guess it had its own meaning,without my actually reading too much into it - in that,God had decided to leave me in a corner all to myself to sit back and enjoy the build up and the excitement of landing in NY!But providence had even better plans!As I settled into my seat,a nice looking bespectacled blonde came by and sat next to me!We did have good conversation, here and there.For a change,some thing else altogether had my being occupied,and it wasn't a

Tried to sleep through the flight,but actually didn't sleep too much at least till Memphis.At that airport,we had a 55 minute stopover,and I went around some wings of the airport terminal.Took a couple of snaps too.Didn't realise that how significant a purchase I had made on the July 4 weekend till then!

Headed back to the same plane that I had boarded at San Antonio,as the lovely airhostess had informed me earlier.And she greeted me at the door saying,"How is Memphis?"I grinned at her ear to ear.Taught me a lesson or two in marketing,in how to create the hook for a customer to be happy and remember a moment of his experience with a service or a product!

Hit my seat again,and did sleep well on this leg of the flight from Memphis to NY.

The morning of the flight to NY!

Ah!What a nervous flight it was!I got up at the first alarm ring that I had set for myself:bang at 3.45 a.m. in the hotel room!Quite incredible,really,as I hardly ever hear the alarm systems.I think the last time I got up at the first alarm was during the 1992 Cricket World Cup in Australia when the matches used to start at 3 a.m. IST!Now,to have that syndrome after more than a decade speaks volumes about what this trip to NY means to me,even if I say this myself!

Got ready,and guess what I did!I wore the t-shirt that I had ironed and kept ready the previous night before crashing.But no!When I wore it in the wee hours of the morning,I didn't like it.So,I opened my big suitcase and picked an olive green half shirt to wear for the flight to NY.I guess I wanted to look,shall we say, colourful - just to see myself in the pink of moods as I approach NY,rather than wear some dull,drab t-shirt which I otherwise so adore!Sigh!

Anyway,I was hungry after my early morning bath,but I just skipped it in sheer excitement!And this,for a person who eats on time,whatever happens!Ok,the wee hours of the night is not the appropriate time for a breakfast,granted,but hell,I was starving!Didn't bother too much and even my hands were shaking as I lifted my suitcase to NY - not because of the weight,it was hardly 10 kgs - but more because of the weight of the moment,so to speak!

The cab guy came,and was talkative right through the trip to San Antonio airport.I didn't even realise what he was talking or saying(just gave him a 2 buck tip!).I was mentally and emotionally completely elsewhere,imagining Manhattan the way I had seen it on TV all these years.And my heart skipped enough number of beats on the way to the airport,just imagining those locales - I was actually going to see those places,dammit!Arun Ranganath,a normal,homegrown,middle-class Indian,hardworking but dreamy-eyed,a chap like me who is not from the 'so-called' Ivy League yet,with dreams of his own,was actually just about to realise one of his great dreams.A dream he had dreamt when he was in school, the trigger being the word, melting pot.I had studied in school or somewhere during my childhood that New York city is the world's melting pot.I quite could never fathom how a city can be a melting pot!But,I wanted to see if for myself oneday.That was 15 years ago.

And I was just about to do what I had dreamt all those years back!

Warming up for NY!

It was a very tough day at the office.Had so much to complete,but my mind and heart had already entered my forthcoming New York trip.My heart was absolutely racing when I realised that I was just a few hours away from realising something I had dreamt of since I was a child.

Anyway,finished work,and after yet anothre long day at this office this mad week,reached the hotel room at 9.25 p.m.Guzzled down some icecream and cake,flirting with my room mate's new camcorder,and scouted the other rooms for a while.Called up Houston and spoke with parents,Priya,Anand and Anjali,thoroughly excited about the NY trip.I guess they realised that this was the eve of the culmination of a very long dream for me.

Finally,got back to the room,and started packing at around 11 p.m.Will quite never forget this night,as my heart was literally running at a high pulse rate.I didn't know what I was packing,I was just following a list I had done up earlier.I chopped and changed the choices of my clothes for NY 3 times after I finished packing - I normally make the fastest decision on what to where and for what occasion at home,but this time,even I could not get myself to decide what is it that I am going to wear to make my NY trip that much more special.

At last,finished packing,called up the cab service in San Antonio and asked them to send a cab at 4.45 a.m.Hit the sack at 00.45 only though.And even then didn't get sleep.Was just too excited.The last time I was so excited was when my ex-girlfriend and I used to itch to be with each other after college hours!

I don't even know if I slept properly,I just know that I was very,very,very,very,very excited about the next 3 days of my life!

Lost with myself in music

Sitting in the room all day,all by myself,with my room mate slogging in office,I decided to inaugurate my new Sony speakers.

I Took out my Sony discman after nearly 3 weeks from my suitcase today. Decided to spoil myself with music.Picked up the 1942-A Love Story CD,put in new batteries into the discman,connected my new speakers,closed the door,tightened the blinds on the wall,put on the AC,put on the dim lights in the room and got lost in the R.D.Burman magic!

If ONLY I had the "appropriate company" for such a "setting"!Sigh!It was quite a peaceful experience to be humming the tunes of those lovely songs and feeling the echo of the speakers in the room.

Life sure is too short,there is so much to enjoy,especially days like today,when I had myself for company!It was fun!

Saturday FireWok lunch & dinner at room no.1108

Spent Saturday morning going to the bank and then sat and chatted away to glory for a few hours with Ashwin,Anand and Sachin.Talked about millions of deep things in life,such as losses,gains, you name it.I felt that it was a moment of the trip that would add up to my basket of memories!

For lunch,went with Ashwin and Bharat to FireWok and indulged in Szechwan Pao with Tofu and brown rice.It was very delicious and one of the best dishes in this part of the world!Enjoyed it thoroughly,with the drive there being full of Daler Mehndi!

It was the eve of Sachin's departure to India on Saturday evening.Namrata and Sucha invited us for dinner at their flat!And what an incredible dinner it was!Slurp!Started off by actually decorating the food on the dining table and taking a snap of the beautiful food!It was lovely!They had made a terrific veg pulao with raitha,and roasted potatoes along with chips were there for company.Very fattening yes,but quite irresistible, to be honest!

Sachin and I dived into the food quite shamelessly.It was that good!And that was not all,we were busy fooling around, praising the food,almost wishing that we get such a wonderful girl with a great hand and taste for food!After all,the way to a man's heart is through his stomach!Of course, there are exceptions like me who will get swept off my feet by sheer romance and not so much by food, more on that some other time!

Once dinner was done,we dived into strawberry with chocolate icecream.Mmmm!Som had joined us by then and we were all so full that we couldn't even get up from the dining table!GOT to start jogging this week,whatever happens!

After that,Sachin and I went to Kishan's room and copied all the trip's snaps so far into his computer,and burnt a CD out of it to treasure for eternity!But somehow,I still like the good old analog camera,by printing out the photos in a photo studio, however much we may have advanced with this digital technology in photography.

The highlight of the night was a singing session where Ashwin,Anupama,Sachin,Namrata,Sucha,Kishan, Som and I gathered and sang to our heart's might.Kishan cast a spell with his classic version of the eternal Mere Naina,Sawan Bandhon and two other contemporary songs.What feeling,what power,what emotion!Felt it deep!That set the tone for the night, with all of us pitching in with deep songs,all of which had one theme - pains in life!It was fun,great fun!

Sat out the night,sang till about 2 a.m.,then helped Sachin pack his bags,dropped him off at the airport,came back to the room on Sunday morning at 6 a.m, found my lost room key in one of the shopping bags and hit the sack at dawn!

Spent the entire Sunday in my room itself.Just didn't venture out.Cleaned the room, did my laundry for the week,helped my room mate cook,went for a jog in the evening.

Started the exciting countdown to my New York trip in 10 days!

Week of phone calls

It was a mad week this, the first week of July.Head was almost spinning,chasing these clients,having so many internal meetings and working on these deliverables!Just couldn't wait for Friday evening to arrive!Hit the pool at the hotel and pretty much lazed,much deserved almost!

On Friday afternoon,went to Olive Garden for lunch.Had the most amazing breadsticks possible with salad and an exotic soup.Was feeling so full when I returned to the office!But it was well worth the trip - exotic Italian food was a perfect end to an otherwise dull week that was spent slogging!

Bought a digicam!

Got hold of my first ever digital camera at Houston!Bought it from Anand for a steal!A lovely Sony Cybershot camera,sleek looking,with LCD panel!Really loved it!And got two Sony speakers as a bonus from him!

Now I am going to capture the moments in my life on film for eternity!

Mom and dad arrive in Houston

Went with Anand to George Bush International Airport,Houston to pick up mom and dad.They arrived from Chicago in United Airlines in the dead of the night.When Anand and I reached the airport,the flight number was not listed in the Arrivals screen.We were left wondering what was wrong, till Anand bumped into an old colleague of his and discovered that the flight was late a wee bit. It finally landed at 1.20 a.m.

Mom and dad came out of the aircraft almost immediately and we went to the baggage claim area,and came home at 2.30 a.m.Generally chatted around for an hour before crashing at 4 a.m.

Mi Luna and salsa dance!

Wow!What an evening it was on July 2!Quite the most memorable moment of the trip so far!Went with Anand to Mi Luna, a cute little bar near home in Houston!Incredibly cute place.Lovely music,great crowd and fantastic ambience.Had a lot of class to it,unlike the junk noise usually associated with bars.

The highlight of the evening was of course,a one hour free salsa training session by a couple!Man!They made us vibrate and shake the place up!I was initially hesitant in going for it,as I have never ever done salsa in my life before and didn't want to make a fool of myself. But I soon realised that nobody there had an idea of salsa except the trainer,so I am as good or as bad as the rest of them!My bro-in-law sure did egg me on,when he saw my opportunity to grab hold of a blonde or two in that class!

I needed no further invitation than that!We began the initial steps of forward and back,all by ourselves. The trainer was one helluva enthu cutlet!Really jazzed up the place and taught us all very well,and soon a lot more people joined in!As we gained momentum in picking up the basic movements in salsa,the trainer increased the pace of the music and the pace of the steps!That got the adrenalin going.I was almost sweating!

Things got even better, he made two lines from our batch - the first line was called leaders and the second line,facing the leaders,were the followers(full of blondes)!And I was in the line for leaders!So I had a great time,with those blondes.As I said,the trainer increased the pace of the class and all of us danced with our respective partners,holding hands,rotating under the other's arm,making the salsa steps in symmetry and unision...it was just great!

My luck got better as the class went by;the trainer changed our partners,so I got to dance with 3 blondes!Wow!All of them were really hot,in typical summer wear of a short denim skirt and a sleeveless top and a broad smile to boot!Simply great!Danced with them with full vigour,a big smile on my face and enjoyed every minute of it!And when the class got over,well,I was tired and so were all those girls!

Hmm..who would've ever dreamt that I would come to the US like this,go to one of the cutest bars in the country,and end up holding hands and dancing with 3 lovely blondes! I'm not complaining!!!It was greaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!Thoroughly loved it!

Forgot to take those girls' phone numbers,though. Will remember that next time;after all,we learn by experience, right?!

Chasing a June 30 deadline!

Its been a mad,herculean race against time over the last fortnight.Had quite lost track of time,date,day of the week and everything else.Even hunger at times!Not to miss,haven't slept properly for more than 10 days.

Just been chasing my June 30 deadline!And am thrilled to bits that I managed to pull it off!Ofcourse,had a fantastic team mate to help me sail through.We spent groggy nights in office,staring at these excel spreadsheets and word documents,dreary-eyed,hungry,lost for energy,and living on sheer will power!Will never forget the breaks we used to take every couple of hours,when one of us used to walk up to the other's desk,chat up something totally out of the ordinary,walk down to the vending machine and pick up a soft drink of a chocolate!Why,I even discovered that he'd just been promoted!Wow!Was so happy for him - hez not only a swell guy,but a brilliant chap at his work as well!

The typical schedule over the last fortnight was - reaching office by 9-930 a.m. getting to work straightaway,taking breaks,and breaking down our deliverables to more achievable tasks,leaving office early only to hit the sack in the hotel for 2-3 hours.Once we felt rejuvenated,we had dinner and headed back to office at around 930 p.m. or 10 p.m.As the energy waned through the night, we used to sit up and pull through till 3 a.m. or 4 a.m. by the sheer dint of will power and will to pull it off on or before June 30!And we did just that!Things were done on the night of June 29 itself and we were thrilled to bits!

Went out in the dead of the night and celebrated in the heart of San Antonio at a lovely bar,stopped by at International House of Pancakes (IHOP) for a hot cuppa coffee and strawberry pancakes!And on July 1,we went late to office,took off for a lovely lunch at Olive Garden and had one of the best luncheons in town - breadsticks,salad and soup - all Italian delicacies and simply superb!

Not to miss,June 29th night earlier on, was featured by a wonderful poolside party at the hotel!Many of us gathered different food items,and gathered at the poolside,got into a singing spree,danced and had a blast till 3 a.m. that night.Took tons of photos,laughed our gut out and simply had a blast!

Sure was good fun to chill out after such a strenous fortnight!Off to Houston for the long July 4 weekend!Mom and dad arriving from India as well!

Lean part of the trip

Its been a good ten days since I visited this place and wrote something. But the thing is, nothing major has been happening. This is the lean part of my trip. Work has been crazy and I am chasing a deadline for June 30. Can't wait for it to arrive and then have a blast over the long July 4 weekend!

The highlight of the last ten days has been my confirmation at the workplace after my 3 month probation. And I got a rating like I have never ever seen in my life before.Boss was incredibly happy with my performance and has given me a top rating. I almost couldn't believe that it was a rating done of MY performance!But felt great to have been evaluated on merit and being given tremendous encouragement for my future. All those dirty years of slogging, people accusing me of being incapable, etc just thrown into the backburner. Its my time in the sun now.

The Texas Folk Festival - June 12!

Ah! What a colourful Sunday it was! Got up at 12 noon, went and spent the next 3 hours in Kishan’s room. We had all planned a trip to visit the Texas folk festival happening right here in San Antonio.

Ten of us left the hotel at 4.45 p.m. and reached the venue after changing 2 buses. We were hit by colour, fun and frolic for the next 3 hours. Amazing fun! What liveliness! What energy around the place!

Got hold of the entry tickets and prowled around for a while, digesting the animation and colour at the festival. Grabbed a coke as it was blazing hot and then all of us took turns taking snaps at different spots inside the festival ground. We attended a small classroom, where an anchor ran us through a session where he explained how schools and classrooms worked centuries ago in Texas. There was even paper and quil ink on the tables that we were seated in. We had to write out our names in calligraphic versions on that paper using that quil ink. I just managed to write out the first letter of my name; just couldn’t hold that quil pen!

After this class, we cut wood! There was a huge axe in the middle of that foyer and we took turns cutting the wooded pieces strewn around the place. We then realized how tough it must have been for those guys in that era, cutting axe for a livelihood. And here we are, complaining about faulty air-conditioning systems in office! Get real!

The highlight of the festival had to be the next stop we made. There was this small hut where a man was playing some scintillating music with a wooden instrument that had 6 strings on it. We went into that shack and had an amazing musical composition. He patiently taught us the basics of using that instrument and we played it all in unison. It was as if, all of us were attending a music class. Simply breathtaking instrument! And then he removed another instrument that resembled a santoor! Not to miss, we took turns to play that instrument as well and when my turn came, the trainer remarked,” I like the way this kid is playing it”. Well, I was just shaking my head as if I was a expert at playing that instrument with my head movements synchronized with my hand movements etc!

And then, the belly dancers!Oops! All of them were amazing! Simply too good and so was the music. Fast, furious and the way these girls were moving on stage, sure did get all of us going! Can’t blame us, the girls were awesome, both to look at and at their dance! There was one girl who was especially good, in a lovely green attire. I thought I was the only one eyeing here, only to discover later that everyone who had come with me there was eyeing her as well. Hell, competition everywhere! Inside office, outside office!


Scouted around the rest of the festival, saw the Tower of America, tons of flags, a small museum and finally returned to the hotel by 9 p.m. Went with Ashwin to buy some groceries, returned and spent time in room no.1111 till 1 a.m. Vaishnavi was leaving back to India, and it was her send off. Had some terrific Indian grub that she had made for everybody! Sang my heart out too!

Trip to Bob's Cove

It was a day out in the countryside of Texas. Good fun indeed. There was an office picnic organized at Bob’s Cove. After yet another late Saturday morning with dawn at 11 a.m., five of us huddled into Ashwin’s car and hit the picturesque road to Bob’s Cove. We had a gala time in the car, with Sachin, Pavithra, Anand, Ashwin and I humming song after song, getting enamoured by the beautiful, winding road along the interiors of Texas, till we momentarily lost our way only to regain it in a few minutes! And finally arriving at the venue of the picnic, bang in time for lunch! Got there at around 2 p.m. and there weren’t too many people around from office. Looked like most of them would still be in bed…!

We hunted for other Americans we knew, but found nobody. Only Ashwin knew a few people. Pavithra found a couple of hunks and struck up conversation right after lunch, which was a sumptuous vegetarian burger with chips and coke! True blue, American food!

Once we were done with lunch, Ashwin and Pavithra hit the water, and Anand, Sachin & I went exploring the landscape around the Cove. We saw some beautiful ducks, a couple of private beach houses, which we were sure would be occupied by new honeymooners! After a long, animated conversation we explored the rough terrain in the interiors of the Cove, walking up muddy paths, taking snaps along the way, crossing a wooden bridge from which I almost fell off, and finally returning to the waterside. On getting there, Anand and Sachin wanted to jump in and called me in. I had unfortunately not taken my swim trunk along. So I told those guys to carry on and I would take care of all the paraphernalia that we had brought along! Not to mention, ogle at the babes in the bikinis there! Ooo, they were hot! It takes these American girls just a second to strip down to their swimsuits! Scores of girls came near the edge of the water, removed their robe and just jumped into the water in their tight bikinis. Amazing culture. For an Indian, I guess its something I have only seen on television.But I wasn’t complaining one bit to be seeing the action right in front of me!

Had a couple of cokes, took snaps of the beautiful landscape and all these guys were having fun in the water. I was humming songs and looking at the crowd around me. Looked around for a couple of the American girls from office, who had told me that they would come, but couldn’t find them.

Finally, these guys got out of the water after major fun and frolic and dried themselves off. It was 5.30 p.m. by the time we packed our stuff and headed back to our hotel in San Antonio.

On the way back, we stopped at an elevated position that had a snapshot of the entire horizon. Mind blowing sight and just took our breath away. Superb feeling of belonging with nature! Really got lost in the mountains, the trees, the blue water and the sights of the jet skis ripping on the water, as if somebody were riding a scooter in the middle of that huge lake! It was quite breathtaking, to say the least! We took tons of snaps there and on the way back too.

I was absolutely pooped on getting to the hotel and just wanted to crash. But we had a lovely music session going on in one of the rooms. Went there and we sang till 4 a.m. Quite an exhilarating experience to sing all those deep, old Hindi movie songs in the dead of the night with all the guys. It was Saturday night anyway!

Two days with my American boss!

Its been an incredibly happening week! I just booked tickets to the Big Apple! Got a good deal on the internet and decided to blow it up. After all, who knows if I will get another chance at all! So, just caught hold of my colleague, and booked the tickets online with his American credit card, as the airline needed US contact particulars etc. My temporary stay and contact details wouldn’t suffice. Really nice of that colleague, nice guy!

Of course, called Vali at New York and confirmed that he would pick me up and LaGuardia Airport. He said ok and would even take a day off and combine it with my weekend trip. That’s the hallmark of being friends with somebody for the best part of 16 years; some things just come, without having to ask for it. Can’t wait to meet Vali and gallavant all over one of the greatest metropolitan cities of the world! Wow, wow, wow! Not meaning to jump the gun here, but it’s like a childhood dream on the verge of coming true. Just hope no last minute deadline at work crops up. Will have a blast for sure!

The next day after I got my tickets to New York, my boss from the other end of the US landed up in office. It was truly a pleasure to meet him and the two days that he spent with us was an education for me in American, corporate professionalism. Amazing human being and incredibly down to earth. Nobody around could’ve believed that he was a Director in our firm! Sat down and had a long, marathon 2 hour session with him, where he ran me through different procedures of the firm. Our conversation began with one of the most positive feedback on my performance, which made me reinforce the self-belief that has been on the rise lately. Made me feel very good that I was assessed on my own merits and told where I was doing well and where I need to initiate efforts to improve. The meeting then drifted onto the current projects, the deadlines, the procedures involved etc.

After which, I threw some new ideas to him which he was very impressed with. I thanked all the hard work that I had put in over the last 4 years, to finally see a smile on a boss’s face, and a genuine one at that!

That was not all! This lovely boss of mine, escorted me personally to a training hall, introduced me to the training coordinator! Once that was done, we had a team dinner, again sponsored by this great boss! Well, since it was his treat, we had little choice in the venue. He wanted to eat seafood at Pappadeaux, which is one of the famous ones in San Antonio for that type of food. We just agreed. My team mate and I exchanged glances as we knew that we will not get anything remotely vegetarian at that restaurant!

Finally, headed for the restaurant and got in there pretty early. It was a Wednesday evening and to our surprise, the place was choc-a-bloc! The girl at the reception counter told us that it would take half an hour to get hold of a table for three. “Fine”, said my boss. He had his plans mapped out for the evening! He headed straight to the bar counter (learnt later that its called the Tavern) and ordered 3 mugs of beer. Am not too much of a beer-drinker, so left the choice of beer to my team mate! He told me to drink it slowly, lest, I get sloshed in front of the boss, on the dinner table! I just wanted to try what this thing called beer is all about, and didn’t want to miss the opportunity that had presented itself!

Once we were done with the drink, the call came that our table was free. We headed there immediately and had a long, animated conversation that revolved around careers, India vs the US, outsourcing, work related stuff, family backgrounds, how “tam brams” are the brightest talent from India etc! And for food, I had to make do with a salad, while my team mate dived into a plate of onion rings!

That was not all. Our boss sprung a surprise by ordering some dessert for us, after my team mate and I had stated that we were full! Well, in true boss style, the solution was, pack the dessert and save it for later! Wow!

We left the hotel, went to a pool parlour, but had to head back as I didn’t have my passport with me. Dropped our boss off at his hotel, returned to our hotel and crashed!

Music,dance and temple concert & swimming - June 4 & 5 weekend!

Saturday was more a case of catching up on lost sleep of Friday night, when all of us retired at around 3.30 a.m.The guys around me got drunk as hell and it got so bad that I had to physically drag Ashwin to his room and put him into bed. He was out, with some 3 rounds or rum, that too, on the rocks!Oof!But it was one helluva happening night, with all of us in the mood!Each one brought out one song better than the other and joined in the chorus.But the highlight was Pavithra who simply stole the show with her solo recital of that time-tested beauty,Killing Me Softly With His Song. Just stirred the deepest cords in me when she sang it with so much of flair and emotion! More numbers crept in with Ashwin,Anand,Vaishnavi & I hitting off on old Hindi songs - deeper ones emanating from our systems as the night advanced! Then on popular demand, Vaishnavi sang that MSS classic, Kurai Ondrum Illai in true carnatic style. She is am amazing singer and that is an understatement! What passion for singing!What energy!What involvement!What brilliance!And most of all, what a firm head on her shoulders!!More was to follow on Sunday!Got to my room with Hari at 2.a.m. and watched the movie, John Malkowitch for a while, before dozing off on the sofa itself.

We spent the rest of Saturday afternoon in the confines of Budget Suites(our hotel). Ashwin and Anand had still not recovered from their hangover of Friday night! Hunted the internet with Sucha for some good deals to NYC all afternoon,but the rates were incredibly exorbitant!Put the idea on hold, till we get a better deal to NYC, let's see. There are some painful roundabout routes, like getting to Philadelphia and then travelling to NYC etc, but have to look at the logistics.Wait and watch for now. Walked down with Sucha to the India store in the evening and bought some terrific Indian food!Slurp!Got back, checked email and watched Hum Tum for a while in Ashwin's room. We slept at 2 a.m. eventually.

Sunday was a very busy day.Woke up all of a sudden at 8.15 a.m and didn't have a clue as to what was going to come in the next few minutes, though pleasant! Got a call from Vaishnavi at 8.25 a.m. asking me what happened to my plans of coming with her to the temple,where she had a recital?I told her that all the cars headed there from our crowd, was full,so I can't make it. She then said that Alpesh is coming and I could hop in but would have to get ready in 5 minutes! That's it!I rushed,had a quick bath and was up in my new,red shirt and cream trouser in less than 5 minutes!Ashwin,Maalvika,Anand and Pavithra came in Ashwin's car while Alpesh,Hari,Vaishnavi,Harita and I went in Alpesh's car. It was a very fast-paced drive,but the countryside outside of San Antonio was very picturesque!Who said, Texas is a boring state?!!

We reached the temple in about half an hour and it was set in the backdrop of some beautiful hills,trees and a sloping road.Really nice place!Got into the temple and did some initial prayers, before Vaishnavi took off. Man!She is an artiste of HIGH calibre!Incredible voice modulation, terrific range of songs(carnatic to hindustani to bhajans!),great versatality,and utmost passion!Loved every single song that she sang and the crowd gathered at the temple instantly became her fan!We joked with her saying that she has an alternative career in singing,and can just chuck her job!

Once the music was done, there was a long discourse on the Ramayana by an elderly gentleman.He was relating the old epic to the current era and it made eminent sense!Quite enthralling,actually.And after all the rituals, we hit the snack room next door. Good Indian food and we gulped it down like starved pigs!Pains of staying away from home country you see!

Got back to the hotel, relaxed and had a brilliant Sunday evening!Swam!Rather, attempted to swim!Had my second swimming class with Anand.And this time, Vijay and Sachin joined in too,with Ashwin chipping in later!It was good fun. I finally managed to learn how to hold my breath under water, practiced kicking the water with my legs for movement holding the bar at the edge of the pool and finally, towards the end of the session, floated a wee bit too!!That gave me a big kick!Learning these two things are the key to swimming and the absolute basics. While I'ven't mastered it,I felt great that I managed to do it in my second session itself! Of course,this time, we guys got lucky in the pool. A lovely blonde was swimming around in a red swimsuit...!

Hit the jacuzzi with flavours of some passive conversation with Ashwin,Sachin and Anand.Finally,walked back to the room slowly,had a shower,and heated up parathas for dinner.Had them with Hari with full flurry and taste!Really enjoyed the dinner!Tried to sleep after that,but ended up helping hurry pack his luggage for his return trip to India!Slept at 4 a.m. eventually!Sigh!

Weekend begins - first fling at learning swimming,June 3 evening!

It was an eve to a weekend that I will remember! After a really hot day in office, Anand, Kishan, Harita and I walked to the bus stop to get to the hotel, but the bus ditches us! So we finally walked to another bus stop while Kishan & Harita walked all the way to the hotel. Anand & I got into an animated conversation about how we guys need to work hard to get the good girls for ourselves! He refused to believe that I didn't have a girlfriend! Left me wondering what I have done to make such a reputation (not that I am complaining, one bit!) .

We reached the hotel finally at around 7 p.m. and it was typical Texas weather - blazing! On a sudden hunch, Anand & Kishan decided to go to the swimming pool. They called me, but I was a touch scared about the water. But then I said, nothing doing, I am not going to miss it, I am coming!

And so, Friday evening began with my first ever dip into a swimming pool with Anand and Kishan, all the way in America! Never ever got anywhere close to a pool in India!

I was initially a bit apprehensive about hitting the pool, as we were approaching pool gate. I don't have a clue about swimming, why am I trying to enter this pool at all, is what I was thinking! But as with everything else in the last one year with me, I decided that I am not going to miss it, while the opportunity presents itself! And so,I jumped with Anand and Kishan into the pool! I froze!!!!!

It was a bit scary initially, but I stayed put at the 4 -5 feet level of water, lest I drown(though they told me that I will NOT drown as long as they are around with me!)! Am just 5'5" anyway, so no way could I drown! But I gulped down so much of water in the first few minutes, couldn't stand, didn’t know any of the intricacies to wade in water, was scared!

Gradually, as I got accustomed to the water, I started feeling a great sense of thrill in the water and started walking in water at the 4 feet water level. Then Anand taught me the first lessons in swimming - holding breath under water. I did that slowly counting seconds to hold my breath - first at 5-second intervals and then at 10 seconds intervals under the water. I was reminded of the days when I learnt cycling - I used to be just like this, scared and used to fall off from my bicycle every day! But now that I know cycling, it’s a life long skill that I have acquired. Same with swimming! Vowed to learn it by the time I return to India in August. And I have a fantastic guy like Anand to train me and er, save me if I enter deep waters!!!!! Skills can be acquired. Never let go the opportunity to do so!

We then stepped out of the main pool and went into a Jacuzzi. It was awesome! Warm water! Terrific experience! Finally, very reluctantly, exited from the pool, lay down on those benches (like I used to see in the movies), dried ourselves off and trudged back to the hotel room as we ogled at a couple of hot blondes entering the pool. Ah, what bad timing! I should've entered the pool then and screamed and gotten them to save me!!! Will remember to do that next time!!

Busy week - first week of June 05!

Its been an incredibly busy week.Just office,office and more of office!No time for anything else. Have been feeling miserable that I'ven't written for a few days!Here is a recap of the action this week so far:

Wednesday:
It was a good mix of office and shopping.During lunch break, went with Ashwin, Anand and Roopa to Frost Bank and encashed the June allowance.We were in such a lovely singing mood on the way to the bank that we enjoyed the lovely old Hindi songs that were played in the car CD player!Got back to office,and all ofus could barely stay awake!In the evening,went to the hotel,refreshed and headed to Target store and Walmart with Ashwin & Roopa. Walked all around Walmart and bought groceries for the first time ever in the US in these mega stores. Mind-blowing range of products!Just felt like buying one of each stuff from each shelf!

Am told that Walmart makes the manufacturers dance!Must be the ONLY retailer in the world who does that!Bought a long list of items and just blew up $50 on that - was not converting into rupees, but had I bought that merchandise in India,it would've dipped a hole of nothing less than a thousand bucks in India!Amazing prices here!Oh yes,took snaps of Roopa, Ashwin and myself outside Walmart - hope the snaps come out well!On the way back to the hotel from Walmart, we stopped over at KFC and had an apple pie!Delicious,slurp!As we were leaving,we sighted that the India store was open and barged into it!I bought parathas and my favourite brand of pickle,mango thokku(sorry, I don't know the English equivalent to this word!).

Thursday:
This was an unforgettable evening!It was the eve of Roopa's return to India!All of us had a blast!Left office early(as Norma dropped Roopa and me home in her Chevy Impala car), refreshed and watched some fine NBA action - Miami vs Detroit.We are all waiting for the next San Antonio Spurs match!Huge following of the same in office too, with banners all over the place,especially on the 4th floor, where the marketing guys sit!And then,the evening began!Roopa and Norma came to our (Hari & I) room,fully decked up!And then Prajjwol and Hariharan came in.We fooled around a bit,took tons of snaps(my camera conked in between)and they all left to room no.1111.I watched the NBA game fully and then went to room no.1108 and had a great time there!Ashwin, Anand,Vaishnavi and I hit some amazing cords and went into "sing-mode".We sang for nearly 3 hours -old Hindi songs,mesmerising carnatic(Indian classical)music(Vaishnavi is an awesome singer,a trained one at that!).It was just great!Pavithra joined us later and she hit off on some English songs,Killing me Softly being the killer!Wow!She's a super singer!

We dispersed at around 11.30p.m. and I went into room no.1111 to say bye to Roopa as she was leaving back to India the next morning.And in that room, I found another mehefil (singing session)going on with another bunch of 10 people!Joined them and sang till 1 a.m.Just too good,an awesome experience,regaling in old Indian music....quite scintillating!What deep cords we struck!Pavithra came there and sang another classic piece for us,later in the night!

Took some more snaps with Roopa and the rest,went for a short walk with Roopa,wished her a safe journey back and returned to my room at 1.30 a.m. and hit the sack!Couldn't get up this morning!

Car trolley in a store!

Was pretty much at home today playing with my niece,watching TV,browsing the internet etc.In the afternoon,went to a store near home to buy some groceries and saw a car-trolley!Its a trolley where kids can sit in a car sort of a cubicle in the front of the trolley,while the mothers can push the trolley and buy the groceries from the store.No hassle of keeping track in which part of the mall the kid is running around etc!Again, what struck me was the manner in which this country thinks through the simplest of processes.I mean, just going to a store with your kid and concentrating on what to buy at good prices, rather than hurrying up and getting distracted with a kid running around all over the place!Oof!

Chatted with Leena from Mumbai too,for a couple of hours,uploaded some photos onto my Yahoo Photos today and had total Indian food at home.No junk food for a change!

Returning to San Antonio tonight.

the Galleria mall- May 29!

It was an afternoon in upmarket,downtown Houston.Some real flavours of the US.Visited and loafed right through theGalleria mall.Reminded me so much of CrossRoads in Mumbai,The Forum in Bangalore and the Spencers Mall in Chennai, of course, those three being miniature versions of theGalleria.HUuuuuuuuuuuuuuge mall,very,very upmarket,all the leading brands,terrific jazz,amazing quality,brilliant decoration,fantastic ambience and of course,equally terrific prices!

Infact,I entered a women's store with my sister,can't pronounce it(Neimus Radis or something).And it had a wing full of lingerie,another wing full of gowns and party wear,another full wing of robes,coats and chic stuff,flannels,umbrellas that the really,really rich wave in the heat(remember people like Mrs.Thatcher,waving an umbrella with her hat on?Same type!)...oof,it was mind blowing!I had fertile imaginations of my dream girl(am still wondering who it is!)in those outfits and it had its impact on me!The very imagination of her was a WOW feeling!And to top it off,there were very,very UPMARKET bikinis!Made me say a bigger, WOW!


Had one of the experiences in my life,with a visit to Band & Olufsen,the electronics supergiant!Amazing products!And it was an experience in selling techniques for me at that store.There was this bespectacled professional,who met my brother-in-law and me at the door,pretty much figured out that it was our first trip to that expensive store,spoke to us so well,talked about the technologies behind those sound systems.And then gave us an experience, which we will treasure!He took us to a small room which had a couch each on two corners of the room,two sofas directly facing a home theatre system,and a fantastic stand with candle in that room.Speakers were there at each end of the hometheatre video screen.

Anand and I sat on the sofa facing the video screen and this salesman,played a clip from the movie,Kill Bill.Look at the way in which he made a sales pitch!To show us the stereo effects,as the scene enveloped on the screen,and the audio in the closed room reached a crescendo,the salesmen DIMMED the lights!Yes,for added effect!Oh!That was something else, I felt as if I were transported into some other place!Amazing piece of electronic genius and even better way of selling it!And as the scene in that clip ended,the bright lights came on again.Wow!I was almost wondering why on earth I was stuck with my bro-in-law:a hot chic in that romantic setting would've been a blast!But,it sure was an experience!Supposed to be one of the best audio systems in the world!

We exited that electronics store and a couple of carts went past us,full of cakes and cheese,with a hot blonde to follow!As Anand remarked to my stare at the hot blonde,"the icing on the cake,the blonde"..!!I just smiled!

We then went to Starbucks,and I got an aerial view of an ice rink!Yes,an ICE RINK!It was stupendous!People ripping at the rate of knots with ski shoes on,turning,skating,dancing with partners,playing the fool...quite amazing!We had our coffee and slowly trudged towards the ice rink on the grownd floor for a closer view.It was even better!Have taken a lot of snaps of that ice rink!Quite something else.The manner in which this country packages,markets and does anything is what has struck me most.I mean, an ice rink in the middle of a shopping mall!Such a simple concept and so real!And a great business idea,if I may add!

Got to learn some of these things from these Americans.They know to create avenues to enjoy life and make it accessible to the general public,even in upmarket malls.Terrific!

Came back home,checked email,chatted on the net with a few more India friends and crashed!Of course,I chatted with that new,lovely Chennai friend of mine too!

Katy Mills Mall - May 28!

I never knew that a human being could spend 6 hours in a shopping mall and still not be done for the day! That's exactly what happened today. We went to Katy Mills Mall here in Houston today.Reached at 12 noon and got back home only at dinner time! It was something else.

Beginning with the sprawling parking lot to the technology and range of products inside,it was something seen to be believed. I must have walked at least 5 kms inside that shopping mall today in the course of those 6- 7 hours.Not a very athletic rate of walking, but that's the key.Every stall/store/shop had me spellbound!

Hell, there was a big store for pets! Another one for yatching, cycling, canoeing, mountaineering, boating...basically,the rough terrain stuff! Shoes, jewelry, junk food, clothes, denim wear, summer wear (yes, revealing, colourful bikinis were there all over the place!), gadgets, phones, food stores, icecreams, coke vending machines, puppets, electronic stores,home utility stores,medicals,furnitures stores,painting and artifacts stores (a famous one called, Kirklands), stationery items, hats, caps, suits, lingerie, sexy negligees, balloons, pillows, CDs, DVDs, car interiors stores, caricature artistes... you name it,and that mall had it!

The highlight of the day HAD to be that massage I got for USD 12.00. Oh!What an experience!Was damn tired after walking all over the mall,taking snaps etc.And massage was just the right recipe to sign off the day.The guy was a trained massage-er, some Chinese variety,and he relaxed every inch of my masculine body,I swear.He even massaged a couple of hot blondes,lucky girls!Wish there were a babe to have massaged me,rather than this hunk!All the same,it was very,very refreshing and incredibly relaxing! There was another mechanised massage sofa too in that mall!I mean, the manner in which technology has permeated every facet of livelihood in this country, is seen to be believed!

Anyway,did some sample shopping here and there, had the best vanilla icecream of my life so far, ate a spicy garlic pretzel (not too much of a garlic freak, but this was yummy!), and finally left the mall at 6.45 p.m. Of course, was with Priya, Anand and Anjali throughout.

We ate at IndianWok on the way home and I was chatting with a couple of my Indian friends till 1 a.m - one from hometown Bangalore and one from Mumbai!Slept at 1.45 a.m.! Just crashed!

Drive home - May 27

The drive from Houston Hobby airport to my sister's home was something else. There was one big road that we entered called the Beltway 8. It was a looooooooooooooooooooong,very,very,very long road that we went on for nearly half an hour non-stop.Every vehicle on that road was ripping at, at least 120 mph.Huge road,with about 6 lanes,almost reminded me of an exaggerated version of Mount Road in Chennai,or Marine Drive in Bombay!The trip from the airport to the house was longer than the duration of my flight from San Antonio to Houston!Chatted away with Anand,and we stopped at a Starbucks Coffee joint on the way,before finally reaching home at ust past 7p.m.

Immediately,ran into the arms of my lovely little 4 year old niece, Anjali and played the fool with her!All of us then went out for dinner to one of my sister's friends' place, Umesh & Priya.It was pretty nearby and I dived into the food like a starved pig!Paav bhaji with masala,tomato rice and curd rice with Lays chips and Coke!Yummy!The paav bhaji was something else.Met some of my sister's other Indian friends,all couples(I was the only singleton there,other than the little kids!) - Suresh:Kavitha,Hari:Raji:Umesh:Priya,and my sister & brother-in-law,Priya:Anand, of course!Took a snap of all of them,and finally was so tired that we just left that place early.

Came home,got online and chatted with that new,lovely Indian friend of mine for more than 2 hours!Just didn't know how time flew by.Slept at 1 a.m. eventually!Felt great to chat with her!Finally,dozed off!

Team lunch and off to Houston - May 27

Well,was really busy and couldn't write on this page for the last 2 days. Its been incredibly happening.Its the long Memorial Day weekend here in the US.

Friday began with everyone in office entering office in a holiday mood.Went with Ashwin,after packing in my luggage into the trunk of his new Nissan car.In office,as I was checking my emails,a tall,red-haired,blue-eyed American came to my desk and introduced himself as Joe.He is the global VP for our technology research practice!Wow,he could pass off as a pop icon,that's how he looked.After the initial pleasantries,he invited me for the team lunch. All of us went out to an Italian restaurant and had an amazing vegetarian pasta!Yummy,even if a touch without the Indian spices that I am otherwise used to.We sat outside,in the garden,under a tall greenwood tree,it was amazing!Reggie,Ashwin and I were at the edge of the table, while SV,Mireya,Mukul,Stacy and Joe sat along the other seats around the table.

It was an engaging conversation with Reggie and Ashwin about the US automobile industry.Both of us(Ash n I)got enough and more tips on how to use the automobile industry to our advantage, to find hot babes for ourselves.There was a suggestion that we buy inexpensive cars,so that we figure out whether the babe we are out with loves us for our cars or loves us because of us!With an expensive car,answering that becomes a stiff proposition!After lunch,we dropped off Joe at the office.He was an engaging conversationalist.Real good fun!Was talking about the technology practice too,and apparently, our boss had some kind words about Ash & me!Whoops!Felt good hearing that from the global VP!

From the office,Ashwin and I went straight to the San Antonio airport where he dropped me off to catch my flight to Houston.It was a nice drive as we played some really terrific,old Hindi classics and got lost!Reached the airport,handed over a cover to Alpita there(Ashwin's old friend)and then walked into my aircraft.Took a snap at Starbucks Coffee too,and walked around the airport terminal!The flight was a bit boring, was deep in thought about a million things in life!

Waited outside Houston's William Hobby airport terminal for Anand for nearly half an hour.Was observing the US systems at the airport terminal.Quite amazing.Not a SINGLE car honked,no traffic jams though there were scores of cars and people running helter-skelter.Just amazing.Perfect discipline,no noise,no shrieking of people,pay phones working perfectly...amazing!Anand came,and I hopped into his Toyota Camry and we began a long drive home!

Frost & Sullivan CEO visit to San Antonio

Its been an incredibly busy day. Got up late, gobbled up some bread for breakfast and rushed to office at 9 a.m. Lot of work and had to finish two write - ups today. Just no mood to work at all. Had tons of emails to catch up with from India, and then sent tons of sms to my new Chennai, lawyer friend. What a fantastic friend she is! Itching to get back to India and meet her in person. Got mails from Tash, Lizz, Ami, Namrata and lots of other people today. Felt great! Just added to my 'no-mood' to work!

Finally, got down to some serious work by noon and wrapped up my two write-ups and sent it to Seema and Fred by 5 p.m. Lunch was a bit of a bore, had rotis and coconut podi with Hari. It was an interesting combination of dishes, just gulped it down as I had no time to breathe and wanted to wrap up my work while I was in the mood to work!

Just as I was peaking and finishing my deadline, got an email from the admin guys saying that there is a meeting in the training room. Went up there with the other Indian folks around me and saw my company's CEO for the first time. He was a shortish man, blonde hair,bearded, firmly built and of course speaking endlessly!He took off on growth, global companies, markets etc for a while. Typical American CEO language! Had seen it on TV for years,but saw it in front of me for the first time. No great shakes, I thought.He presented a few awards to some oustanding people in the company and many of them were hot women!Well, it was cloudy outside, so sure could've done with some heat around the place!!And these bosses are so lucky here, they get to kiss these award winners in skimpy dresses!

Got back to my seat after that session,and just put my head down and finished my work. Once that was done, sent a long email to my new,special Indian friend in Chennai! Also,spoke to Priya and confirmed that she would pick me up at Houston airport tomorrow.Ashwin will drop me off here to San Antonio airport.Long weekend coming up!

Created a record of sorts today by sending in 62 text messages from the internet to a mobile phone!

Roopa's birthday - Indian lunch!

It's my colleague's Roopa's birthday today! The day began for me even before midnight with Ashwin & I being the first ones to enter Roopa's apartment for the birthday bash. Slowly, the others in the Indian gang put up in different apartments in our Suite, started trickling in and soon,there were nearly ten of us at the same time,all set to wish Roopa on her birthday!And as cliched as this may sound, as the clock struck 12, we gave Roopa a cake and she was surprised as hell, cut it in the background of a noisy, boisterous bunch of guys!All of us wished her and dived into that cake, yummy, slurp!What an amazing cake that was!Lip smacking, in the true essence of the term!And once this was done, Pavithra entered the room. It was her wedding anniversary!All of us wished her and she cut another lovely cake, this time,a doughnut cake!It was a feast allright, at midnight!

I trudged back to my room as I was too sleepy and was into dreamworld in a matter of seconds. Came to office with Ashwin in his new Nissan and had these series of interesting emails, from my very interesting,exciting new friend from Chennai. We were busy exchanging email after email, despite the time difference between India & the US!And at the end of it,were still not done with it.Hmm,been a while since somebody brought so much of excitement into my life, let's see!

After that, it was back to work.And then, lunch time with Roopa,Ashwin,Anand and Norma!We first went to check out an Italian restaurant, Olive Garden,but it was choc-a-bloc!We then turned to good old Indian cuisine,and went to Sarovar here.Had a feast of a meal!Tamarind chutney,idly,cauliflower pakodas,coconut chutney,rotis,daal,paneer,and kheer just fulfilled the appetite in ample measure. To top it off,was the best ever mango lassi I have ever had. My goodness,gracious, me!What an awesome drink that was, gulped it down like I have never done before!Too good, had me gasping at the end of that gulp!

Returned to office and all of us were struggling to stay awake after such a hearty lunch!Our plan is to leave office early today,go to the hotel room, have an early dinner and catch up on lost sleep!Anyway,most of us are taking off to different parts of the US this weekend,as its a 3 day Memorial Day weekend.So,we need to ensure that our sleep is not back-dated,during the weekend,lest it creeps in and spoils the fun!

Holiday mood sets in!

We have a long weekend coming up in the US, this weekend.Memorial Day weekend,as they call it - May 28 to 30th. Am off to Houston and then to New Orleans.Leaving this Friday, but am already into a holiday mood!That too,am taking a half day on Friday,which makes it even more exciting!

It was pretty much a usual day at the office.Spoke to Fred(boss!)and he told me that I write very well.Was quite surprised to hear that as I have not even met him and he has only seen some of my reports so far.Well,I am not complaining one bit!He is a terrific boss,not just because he gave me a compliment,but,even otherwise!He has even told me the see the sights around the US during my trip here!Now, how many bosses would speak THAT language?Should be meeting him sometime in June when he comes down to meet the team here - all the desis in his team,that is!Should be fun, even though he is an old hat!

Had a 9 a.m call with a client and it lasted under half an hour.Set up a few more meetings for the week and next week. Let's see how it goes.

Poor Norma, she is so saddled with work.Chatted up with her and got her to smile!Oof, she hasn't slept properly for a few days now, thanks to deadlines!

Am off early today,want to go for a jog and trim some flab.Am eating too much of junk food here-cookies,chips,pizzas,wafers,chocolates,strawberry,yogurt,etc!

Rasam - soup juice!

I've never heard that before.It happened during lunch time today,when Roopa,Hari,Norma and I were sitting and chatting in the lunch room about Indian food.In the course of conversation,we spoke about the typical south Indian dish,Rasam.And Norma called it,SOUP JUICE!I just burst out laughing!Haven't ever heard of that version of rasam's identity before!But it made perfect sense. For an American, not used to the Indian tongue,rasam would indeed be soup juice!An unforgettable moment!

The day began with Ashwin dropping us off at office on his way to return his rented car.Pretty much saddled with work all day.Had brought rotis along for lunch, but no side dish. So Hari and I went down to the canteen and had cheese castilla!Fattening,again!But I'm jogging since yesterday!

Received long emails from Emilie,Kamala,Nirish and Subha and replied to all of them!Nothing like a friend's email to cheer me up.Oh yes!Sent in my next article for zine5,this time its about my spotless shoe!

Chatted with Fred and got an approval to take a half day on Friday;off to Houston and New Orleans, you see!Can't wait for Friday lunch time to arrive!

Weekend at San Antonio

It was a very interesting weekend, most of which was spent with Ashwin. On Friday evening, had a quiz in office and it was very interesting.Managed 3 answers, after which all of us left office.Ashwin had rented a car, a nice Ford Focus!We made plans of eating out and seeing the city of San Antonio on this lovely Friday night!

Reached the hotel,refreshed, got into some dashing clothes and off we went for dinner first. Reached Taco Cabanas,a Mexican restaurant near our hotel. Just didn't undertand one word on the menu card, and Ashwin did all the explaining to the waiter about our need for veg food.No meat,no frying in non-veg pans etc!It was an effort.Finally had a strange item that was a combination of rice,roti,rajma and papads - sorry, can't pronounce the name of the dish even now!Generally fooling around the place on the dinner table, with full manners - fork, spoon,towel on the lap etc - oof, just wish I could eat with my hands, full Indian style!So much easier!

We then took off to the city side of San Antonio.Was struck by the huge malls,arcades,car dealer joints,roads,lights,hoardings etc.As Ashwin said,"Everything in the US is big".Naughty fellow!On the way back, we stopped at iHOP, a coffee joint.Am not usually too much of a coffee drinker,prefer good old tea,but this iHOP coffee was quite something else.And the pancake with the banana sauce to go with it made my mouth water.Lip smacking dish!Reached the hotel after that and was in deep conversation with the crowd, before hitting the sack at around 3 a.m.

Saturday,ah, the laziest morning of the week!Got up at 11.30 a.m(mom would've freaked had I done that at home, but well, charms of being alone!).Went to the bank near our hotel and encashed the cheque for the month.Was half-expecting a nice, attractive blonde at the teller counter,only to run into a hunk with a crew-cut!Groan!Collected the cash,stopped at the nearby foodmart,bought milk and Pringles wafers and back to the room and watched a nice Michelle Pfeifer movie, Dangerous Minds. It was about a bunch of students who did everything but study in school and how she transforms them into good human beings. Good that I was indoors,as it was just too hot outside,almost a 100 degrees Fahrenheit!

Spent the evening in the electronics world at Circuit City and Best Buy.What products!What a range of electronic goodies!Incredible product features,amazing utility value,tremendous value for money.Checked out a couple of laptops and digital cameras.Will indulge in them before I leave for India in August!Mind blowing stuff!

The best part of the day was Saturday night, where we sat back and laughed our gut out watching Dil Chahta hai for the umpteenth time, still not getting tired of it!I added further flavours while watching the movie, by chatting with Namrata,Arundhati and Pranit for close to 2 hours,right there in the hotel room!Felt on top of the world!Nothing like a good old Indian friend to make the day!Slept at 4 a.m!

Sunday began with another laidback morning. Nothing too spectacular till the evening, actually.Watched The Untouchables in the afternoon.Will just say that I was speechless at the end of it!Must see movie,for anybody even remotely interested in classy movies.Sunday evening was big bang!Ashwin turned up with his brand new Nissan Centra car, with a crocodile frontage.And we hit the road for a long drive on IH 10,a lovely freeway,just outside San Antonio!Beautiful car,lovely moon up above and was left wondering what I am doing with guys around me in a brand new car on a warm summer's night on a Sunday night!Groan!We ordered food from Papa John's and it definitely has to rank as the best pizza I have ever had.This is the second time in two weeks that I've tried that place and its quite something else.Wish they open an outlet in India, I will surely be one of their regular customers!

After the pizza,it was back to the room and a long walk around our Budget Suites hotel just past 11 p.m. with Roopa.Nice,engaging conversation!Walked her back to her room,chatted for another hour and then went off to my room to sleep.Further conversation with my room mate,Hari before we hit the sack at 3 a.m.!

Interesting weekend,I must say, a nice mixture of rest,sleep,doing nothing,and then overbalancing that with outings,drives,pizzas and internet chats!

Kudi in the lift - what a morning!

I just got into office, and couldn't resist writing about the person I just saw. I was standing near the main gate of the office here and waiting for the security system to open (its so procedure driven here in the US!). As I did that, a tall, striking American girl came and stood behind me. She was blonde, wearing a cream skirt (hmm,yes,a mini!) and a greenish shirt with her sleeves folded up. Incredibly striking!

The gate opened and I remembered one of the first lessons I was taught on getting here - always open the gate or the car door for a girl, if she is going the same way you are! Remembered that lesson just in time! As I got to the gate, I opened the main door and stood there for her to arrive behind me with her short, firm walks & black sandals making a tick-tock sound (music to the ears!). She reached the gate and smiled at me - ah, I fell flat! What a striking smile! And that added to her beauty!

As we walked towards the elevator together, a couple of eyes in the corridor darted towards us. I was grinning. Loved the attention for a change with that babe right next to me! Agreed, as usual, she was taller than me. But hey, I have a great track record of getting along very well with girls taller than me!T hat too, the pretty ones!

Well, we stood in front of the elevator as she pressed the UP button and we waited for that engineering machine to come down from the top floor to take us upstairs. It was a good wait as the elevator took its own time. I wasn't complaining one bit! Took the opportunity to smile at her and to watch her closely. I realised what an absolute beauty I had run into first thing in the morning! Ah, delectable lips, awesome features, sharp nose, incredible attire, long legs, a blazing smile and a cute little handbag tucked up under her arms (how I'd love to have been that handbag! Groan!

The elevator finally arrived and we got in. We were the only people inside. I couldn't believe my luck! I immediately started smiling within myself, remembering the power cuts back home in India and all sorts of naughty thoughts crossing my mind! How I wanted a power cut right then, but sadly, they just don't happen in America!

As the elevator moved up, she shifted about in the space inside, lifted her hair back with her left hand (oh,that was so stylish!), inserted her shirt into her skirt (oblivious to my presence!), touched up her cheeks and stood firmly with her hands in her pocket and that handbag under her arms. Oh,she was so pretty, nay, cute and an immense breathtaking beauty! Right in front of me!

As we got off the elevator, I was dancing when I saw her walk into the other cubicles in my office on a different wing. Now, that is a start as I can find out more about her! Lonely Indian in a strange country - sure could do with some company and see the "sights" around the US, right?

What a way to begin the day! Incredible beauty, who I didn't even talk to! Had me vibrating! Hmm,its a Friday too...!

A long, long day - May 18

OK,the reason I am putting dates after each title on the blog is because I am running short by a day.As in,I am writing yesterday's happenings,today!Will resurrect that as soon as I write two blogs in one day and be back on date!

Today was a very long day at office.Just work,work and more work!Groan!Missed my 604 morning bus and had to take another one (92) and walk about 15 minutes to office from the other bus stand.Didn't have time to eat breakfast(too lazy and overslept!),so had a banana in office

Began work in right earnest and before I realised it,was done for the day.Its still 7.40p.m. here,but it seems as if its 5p.m.That's how very bright it is in San Antonio today!

The highlight of the day was a nice,long internal chat with Ashwin,Pavithra,Vijay and Sachin on our plans for the weekend.We are looking to rent a car and were looking for value-added services.Well, I suggested "lap service", viz.,the car has limited space and so,the babes can sit on the guys' laps!I think that is a fair deal,especially since we will be footing the gas bill,lunch bill,etc!C'mon girls,give us a chance.This is America!Like the say,when in Rome,be a Roman!In the same vein,we Indians in America for these 3 months,want to be Americans!Anyway,have to get back to India eventually right?So,why not live life to the fullest.Lap service!I just hope it doesn't end up as lip service,eventually!

I've been harbouring studying further today.Maybe do a good master's programme in a top university.Just finished 4 years work experience a couple of weeks ago and I think I can take a crack at these universities,GMAT,TOEFL etc.Let's see how it goes,at least the seed of thoughts are planted!

Am off for the day now.And before I sign off,am back on track today.I have written today's happenings,today itself.Hopefully,won't write the date on the title field from tomorrow.

Not feeling upto it,will mostly take the bus back home today,not in a mood to walk.Good night!

Walked to Budget Suites - May 17

Met Ashwin today after a week.What a blast of a team mate I have!Sure am lucky!Had lunch with him in the canteen.We are not supposed to take our own food to the canteen,but bent the rules and did just that by taking my good old lunch box to the canteen,as Ashwin ordered some noodles for lunch.Soon,we were into a very animated conversation!

Got into an adventurous mood in the evening as I was leaving office at 8p.m.(I just don't know why,we Indians work so hard and so long,when all the Americans leave at 6 pm sharp!).As I exited office and walked towards my usual bus stand to catch the city bus(its a great piece of jazz here in San Antonio),I just hit upon the idea to walk home.Have been walking home from office,back home in India,so just thought I would try that out here in the US as well.And it works just fine.

Walked down the spick and span street,on the even cleaner footpath with finely trimmed grass,lost in my own thoughts.Hit the bend on the road about half a mile from office and bumped into my room mate!He was jogging all over the place,and had taken the day off as he had overslept!Lucky guy!Anyway,here he was,with his walkman on and a chewing gum to boot,with his jogging attire stinking!Chatted up with him for a few minutes and walked all the way to my hotel room.Made it in 25 minutes flat!

And then had choco-biscuits, chocolates and vegetable pulao for dinner and crashed!

Just office today and Indian music - May 16

Back to San Antonio today, back to office,back to my desk,back to my computer and telephone - with loads of Monday morning blues!!!Nothing very interesting today.Just a normal day at work.

What I forgot to mention in my blog yesterday,was the security check last night on my return trip from Houston to San Antonio.Pathetic security check!That security officer checked everything in me and with me, except my undies!And that is NOT an exaggeration.The nerve of that nerd, just because I am not a white!Grrr!Anyway,that insulting experience was forgotten the minute I set my eyes on the interesting airhostess in the aircraft!Ah,what a lovely damsel!I made sure I carried good memories of Houston with lots of snaps at different places,with a final one at the Houston airport,inside the terminal.And then, this airhostess to top it off!Wow!

Further, when I reached San Antonio airport at 11.30pm on Sunday night,I was treated to true American culture,with scores of guys n gals at the terminal hugging and kissing each other(nattily clad,if I may add!),greeting each other,welcoming each other to San Antonio!Amazing,and I dare say,just short of their getting naughty,once away from the public eye!Even my cab driver from the airport to the hotel was an interesting lady!

Back to today,Monday,work was ok,had a client call, then lunch with my room mate,Hari,at his desk.I had baked potato for lunch,can you beat it?Fattening agent for sure!I' m going to be careful about this junk food(and hopefully should keep my word this time on this!)

Left office early,went to TARGET store with my room mate and bought groceries for the week,signing it off with a tasty choco-doughnut(fattening agent,again,groan,when will I learn?!).Beautiful store,all shelves etc are red in colour,but the store is a touch more expensive than Wal-Mart. Only both of us were carrying grocery in that city bus back to our hotel room, the rest of America drives away from malls in its snazzy cars!

Back to the room with my room mate and I lugging on the groceries,we listened to Vaishnavi sing some amazing carnatic music songs that had me in raptures for a couple of hours!Terrific singer.She got married just a year back and her hubby plays the violin,I heard.Hmm....!

Hit the sack,immersed in Manna De songs!My team mate from India will arrive tonight,will meet him tomorrow.

First Sunday in the US - May 15

I am going to spend a little time everyday and capture the day's proceedings of my trip from today, till the end of my trip!

Today was a pretty homely day.Got up late,and emailed mom and dad back home in India, and few other friends.Felt great to be reconnecting.All these years,it was I who used to get these emails from my friends in the US, never knew that a day would come that I would write to people back home! I had a very refreshing bath in the bathtub(yes,I spoilt myself by lying down in the water,like in the movies - though all alone!).It was a nice, long bath that lasted an hour. And once I was finished with that,I discovered that I was locked inside the bathroom, as the lock had jammed from the outside!Banged the door till help came,much to the delight of my 4 year old naughty niece who was jumping to see me again after an hour!

Went out with my brother-in-law to the nearby grocery store and indulged myself in a Starbucks Coffee. The brands and the flavours on display was very similar to the menu card I usually see at Barista on good old M.G.Road back home in Bangalore!Of course,with a very different crowd!Bought my old American, fattening favourite, Pringles chips and my bro-in-law picked up some stuff for the house as well and we got home.

After that,it was a day full of people!Umesh,Priya,Anitha,TR,Sridhar came home for lunch. And I was at my best behaviour, with my new attire from Walmart - a striped tshirt and my new shorts!Had lemon rice,khichdi,alu chips, and curd rice for lunch with flavours of Pringles wafers to boot!Anjali,my niece refused to eat and need even more convincing that any client may have needed in making her see the point!Oof,these kids!The evening was with Renu,Hema,PK Anand,Anjali,Anand and Priya at Indian Wok,an Indo-Chinese restaurant,before heading off to George Bush airport in Houston to catch my 10.30pm flight to San Antonio.

First Saturday Night in the US!

There it was,finally!I was witness to all that I had heard about Saturday nights in the US, and watched on those old soaps on TV back home in India.Ofcourse,sans the sex!It was an interesting Saturday in Houston.Went to Walmart in morning and just got blown away with the retail explosion that I saw there.By the time I exited the main gate of this mega store,I was convinced that I can get anything in the four corners of that building for my day to day living, EXCEPT a girlfriend.Incredible place!The range of products and the processes that are followed there, was an education by itself. I guess I learnt more about the retail world in those 3 hours at Walmart, than I ever did in my marketing classes,back in b-schoool!

Also visited mini-malls as it were - 99c store,and East West store(an Indian store!),and Sam's,which was the good old factory outlet kind of a store that I have seen back home in India!And then the afternoon drive from downtown Houston,to my sister's place in the elite Woodlands area of Texas!Wow!The drive itself was wonderful!And my brother-in-law just added that special flavour by letting me drive his BMW!It was an experience of a lifetime, behind the wheels of a BMW....oh wow!Very unreal world,but exhilarating,all the same,and SURELY,one of the moments of this trip!

We then went to a Mexican joint, Chuy's last night for dinner.The first ever night out for me on a Saturday evening in the US!And true to American weekend tradition,there were numerous couples all over the place,nattily clad(summer time,right?),having a blast,eating,drinking,kissing,laughing,playing the fool,getting naughty,letting their hair down,and leaving the main door of the restaurant hand in hand - I was pretty sure that they were all headed to a lovely,cosy bed after that!Well, I had some interestign Mexican veg food,french fries,salsa with papad(deadly!)and engaged in animated conversation with my sister,her kid and my brother-in-law!Talkign about family,and all sorts of other things, including Miami beach and the babes there!

Reached home,after that and played with my niece for almost 2 hours,running around the house,hugging her and absolutely loving every minute of the time with her.Then,hit the room upstairs with the DVD 65mm screen(SONY), with the movie Oceans 12.Well, I retired for the day in a cosy couch(all alone!), just past midnight!!A very interesting FIRST Saturday in the United States...