Chasing the Monsoons

My third trip to the US (post moving back to India), and I am simply saddened by the lack of an environment within which one can feel welcome.

I mean sure, the thank-yous, I really appreciate that, etc. do amount to something, but to me they seem superficial. Maybe it's a cultural thing, and maybe I need to see their point of view. But even still.

I have never felt so lonely in my entire life. Here I am sitting in a hotel room with absolutely nothing to do, and with no one to hang out. This whole country is so big... everything is so far apart, with lots of space.

Work is taking me to the US again, third year running. Albeit this time the trip is to last only 10 odd days starting on the 10th of July.

I'll be visiting the mid-North US which I have never done. Intend to do some quick shopping, sight seeing and then finally head back home to my lovely wife. Oh did I forget to mention that I'll be working most of the time? I guess not.

I can already smell Starbucks, taste Taco Bell (Taco Hell for some) and hear the FM radio.

Well
I know what I've been told
You gotta work to feed the soul
But I can't do this all on my own

We decided to go out this weekend, and carefully (maybe not) planned a trip to Sinhagad with Rahul. We managed to take off from ground zero at around 3:30 in the afternoon.

Someone should have told us well meaning folks that it was a suicide attempt to mount that hill on a Sunday afternoon. We made it to the bottom with no problems at all, but there we hit our first (and only) technical snag. There was a lot of traffic on the hill, running into 3 hours of delay to get to the top. The cops were asking folks to turn back and not add to the mayhem.

In California. For 3 weeks.

Back to the same old grind. Memories flourish. Want to run away. But I won't.

Meeting old friends. Feels as good as having a perfect cappuccino.

Want to break free. Drove a car in the US for the first time. Took zero pictures so far. Hoping to change that. Bought a new Macintosh.

Work is good. Travel even better.

Me. Friend. Drove to Mumbai. Shopped like crazy. Met a pretty woman. Drank like fish. Drove back. Saw Pretty Woman on Star Movies. Slept.

Adorable isn't she? How I wish she were mine :)

The weekend was fun, with a trip to Mumbai (drove myself up and down in my Alto) and some good times with cousins. The drive itself was okay, considering I had some really good loud music to keep me company on the drive down.

Met up with a couple of old friends, and by old I mean all the way from kindergarten. Just had an ice cream with them and then came on home.

Dad's health is much much better, at last physically. The doctor said yesterday that the infection was out 90%, and would take another week to go out completely. After that the perforation in the ear will take another week or so to heal, but there seems to be no problem at all.

Made some plans for the weekend. I'll use this list to keep a track of what I actually accomplish:

- Drive a bit out of town for photography.
- Read Seed as well as Scientific American [obviously not all of it].
- Clean up the kitchen
- Pay the electricity bill
- Figure out finances for the next couple of months
- Track down CFA study material.

These come from a reliable source and are sure handy in times of fun:

• Shaved eyebrows: Hehehehe this is truly wicked. A person was found passed out from alcohol in a dorm corridor. Someone came up with the brilliant idea of shaving his eyebrows. The guy wakes up in the morning and comes out of his bathroom screaming expletives and accusing just one person he knew could have done it. Hilarious. Recovery time: Expect the person to be pissed for atleast 2 weeks.
• Mooning: This is kind of gross but what the hell. Some guys, pissed drunk decide to take off their pants and moon their butts to the outside world through the glass walls of the common room! Recovery time: If you do see it, God help you recover! No statistical data available on this one.
• Prank calls: Know what your friend is watching in his/her dorm room? A scary movie perhaps? Call up with the favorite lines from the movie and spook them all! Recovery time: As long as it takes to catch hold of the culprit and beat the shit out of him/her with a shoe/sandal.
• Door gone bad: Some sliding steel framed doors have screws on the outside. Take the screws off, and turn the door around and put it back on. Recovery time: As long as it takes to figure out who screwed my door over!

More to come as I update my blog in the next day or so.