Sign of Growing old - Panting

I spent the last weekend on a island playing football on the beach and swimming in the calm backwaters, when reality hit hard and fast; I am getting old, I can't run like I used to neither can I play football for hours on end like I used to! No its panting like a dog after just 10 minutes.

Of the six guys who went on the trip, 4 were in the 18-20 range and they easily showed how much of a difference 6 years makes not only on the running but also on the stomach. Inspite of my minds hard effort to get my stomach under control, my stomach - atleast for now - seems bent on growing out of my body!

Other than my lack of stamina the trip was a wonderful welcome break from the monotonous workaholic routine. Even got to stay at this amzing house that an old man had built from scratch with his own hands over the past 32 years. More on that tomorrow ... work calls. For now enjoy the new pictures from Bras(z)il!

Hunger the great uniter

One of the toughest things about the traveling job is eating alone. You can endure the hours in the hotel via working ... working but when you have to eat your dinner and you don't have a another person to go out with it s**** big time! A couple of days is fine but doing it day in an day out sucks your energy. Some days I just prefer to skip dinner - My mother would say that is a good idea seeing that I don't seem to lack in the mass department! Which made me glad when I had a couple of dinner buddies the other days. They were off the street and maybe needed a shower and a pair of new cloths. Other than that they were in a similar situation as me ... they had company but no money, I had money but no company and voilà it was a perfect fit. It was heavenly to see the smile on our three satisfied faces. The best part : I don't speak Portuguese and they had no idea what English was, though we all wore clothing with holes (I having paid for it as fashion, while they wearing it out of necessity) . But we understood food very well. Some people may say that love is the only thing that does not need a language. I beg to differ, I think food has no language too!

That being said I would have preferred the world to have been a little more kinder to them. With epidemic drug and gang related violence in Brazil, the best solution is to get these young kids off the streets and in a more productive environment. This shouldn't be just the prerogative of the government or the well heeled but also us common flock who can afford more than two square meals a day.

Mother's Day with a twist

So whats the most commercialized day in Brazil ? No not Christmas ... and they haven't there are no turkeys running around ... apparently the Brazilians think more of their mother than anybody or anything else. The most astounding part is that certain prisoners are let out of the jail for a day to go see their mothers. And the craziest part is that 98% return to their cells!

This is one part that I really don't understand about the Brazilians right next to their two hour lunches!

The way to travel

I finally got to travel by Business class last weekend, thanks to my wonderful colleague Nicolus Castro. Even though the client wouldn't pay for Business, he upgraded me on his personal points; what a way to travel. If anybody says that there is no social divide in the world needs only to hop into a long distance flight and it would hit him like a ice storm on a hot day. To start it off you get better silverware than the commoners (Coach/economy), you get three times as much leg room and to top it all off the American carriers finally treat you like Human Beings (Common in Asian airlines).

But the food still sucks on the US carriers ... they need to get some training on such things from Singapore airlines. If you all ever do get to travel business you should try it on Singapore Airlines. Even if I have only traveled coach on it, I could see how the upper classes get treated.

The farewell gift

Brazil had a parting gift for me, just so I could experience all that it had to offer ... My car got broken into. It wasn't at gun point but it still cost me (rather my company) some serious money.

I am glad that they only decided to steal the GPS and the spare tire, costing me 2000 Reals and not the car itself! To compound all this, the rental agency apologised to me as they told me that the insurance does not cover, inspite of me taking the full coverage. I don't know why I bought the insurance as it doesn't seem to cover anything in Brazil!

Other than this small pin prick, driving was fun in Sao Paulo. All you have to do is watch for the two wheelers that wiz by and the not stop at red lights in the night.

The car is the one in the picture!

The hippies are alive

The last weekend was spent in a small village called Sao Thome das Letras in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. I was there to do some trekking, visit some surrounding waterfalls and take in a little bit of rural Brazil. But I had the shock of my life to find that all the hippies of the world had decided to retire to this piece of land.

The rumor around Brazil is that this place has accounted for more UFO sightings than for the rest of the world. After you have been there for an hour you would understand why. Some parts of the mountainside had a strong marijuana smell that you would see stars in daylight. The village that I stayed at was an eclectic mix of Hindu symbols, spiritism and mediums. I was hoping to buy some Brazil artifacts but was instead shown a lot of Indian ones (atleast with Hindu symbols and gods) and when was given a discount at the gift store when they found out that I was India (I don't get the hippies!).

That being said, the place was wonderful, the terrain not for the faint of heart, the food mouth-watering and the people as always great! Special thanks to Monica and her Family for the trip!!! Below are some pictures ... will probably add to it!

Brazil

The book is on the table

Apparently that is the first English sentence that Brazilians learn! And I keep hearing it over and over again from everybody down here. The next thing off course is me trying to kill Portuguese and them doing the same to English. The funny thing though is that after a couple of weeks of trying you kinda of get the picture. The important thing in translating is that literal translation does not work 'cause it doesn't help in explaining weather howdy or how do you do is appropriate.

That being said my use of a mixture of broken English and Portuguese is probably going to have some short term effect on my speak. When I return I am going to be kissing every girl I meet, thumping the chest of every guy and talk to them as if they are alien to English!

At home across the world

Just thought I would drop in a note from the beaches of Brazil (Or as the locals call it Brasil). I had the good fortune to go to a chruch this past weekend and I was blown away. I was taken aback by the similarities of the atmosphere with my Church in India and the US. The loving (Which the Brazilians definitely do not lack) atmosphere was amazing. I guess the love of Christ feels the same in all languages!!

I also had a new experience ... I am no longer just the Indian. I am now the Indiano from America. Or the Indiano-gringo! It feels funny to be representing two different cultures a task that I am pretty well versed. After all I have only spent 4 years being the resident Indian expert to a ton of Americans! The adulation did not only stop with the nickname but resulted in people jostling for pictures with me ... quite a few pretty ones among them too!

Odyssey - Book 3 - Chapter i - London

I finally visited London to tell the British empire that the sun has set on it ... ok maybe that was stretch. I think I can now write a guide book on how to see London (the important parts) in a Day with time to spare.

The trip started as one in India, the cab driver fleecing me for all I was worth, the ride from the airport to the hotel was the most expensive I have ever taken - 80pounds. to top it all out he lied and got another 20 from me. So the total was 100 pounds ~ 200$ ~ Rs 9000! Even though the company took the tab, it left a bad taste in my mouth ... not only have the taken the kohinoor from Us now they also had my 100 pounds!

But the trip wasn't all bad, I did get to see a lot of places I wanted to see, though the highlight was the Kohinoor! Maybe someday I'll get it back to where it belongs.

Without further adu here are the pictures!

London

South-east Asian hospitality

If you are an air traveller then you need to fly through Singapore or Hong Kong. The service is par excellance; the environment wonderful and its always good to look at a smiling face treating you like you are travelling business class! I was floored by the way even the immigration officials put on a smiling face answering stupid tourist questions.

Not only is Singapore's airport the best I have been to, Singapore airlines beats everything else when it comes to service.

Just as a side note European airlines are the most snobbish of the lot.

From my limited interaction with Singaporeans I gathered that their smiling face was not a mask but sense of beaming pride about their country that they want the whole world to notice.

Things to do: Take the free city tour if you have more than 5 hours of layover. Also try the Kongee at the noodle shop.

In the Pic : My bud Ganesh who waited 4 hours to see me for 5 minutes; Inside Singapore Airport

Odyssey - Book 2 - Chapter vii - NYC

So it was time for another trip again!!! And I finally got to see NYC, courtesy of Ramya and Rajeev. They not only put up with me for two days but also took time to show me around!!! It is definitely a city without parallel ... where else can you see 20 miles of high rise buildings and park right in the middle. We probably walked the whole 10 miles without knowing we walked so much. There is nobody better to show you around than a 9/11 survivor, Rajeev who got out of the North Tower 1 hour after the plane struck it. Also wanted to let them both know that they were wonderful hosts!!

No trip is complete without meeting more old friends, and this one had quite a few of them with Swapna, Khyati and Amit!! So here go the Pictures!!

NYC

Aug 21, 2006 - 127 Photos

Odyssey - Book 2 - Chapter vi - Arangatham

Continuing my new policy of jetting around the country, I decided to go to the west coast this time to good old San Jose. Of to see Sruti's Arangatham and my Sister and BIL. There is nothing more freakier than seeing your sister pregnant!! So here are the pictures of my short trip there.
For those who don't know what an arangatham is ... it is the first solo performance of an artist and is event that indicates that the person has mastered the art form well enough to perform it alone on stange. This pertains to Indian classical dancing and music. The person usually dances continuously for 3 hours!!!

Arangatham

Aug 9, 2006 - 51 Photos

Odyssey - Book 2 - Chapter v - Meagan

So I was back to flying, this time for Meagan's wedding in Tally. As usually it was good to be back with friends. I bet it would have been better if some slob hadn't stolen her car. Also am amazed the number of wonderful new people I am having the opportunity of meeting. Made a few young, idealistic and energetic new friends ... almost makes me wonder what I am doing in this big city!

Also got to spend some time with Koshy anna ... you the man!

So here are the pictures. I am using google this time around. I know I need to consolidate all my pictures, the new job has eaten into my website building time. Anyhoo, maybe I'll get around to finishing it soon enough!

Iron head Mike!

So after helping me load all that stuff up with a lot of "wisdom" which only comes with age ... Mike decides to test the knot he put on the car!!!

Packing!!

Packing is such a pain in the behind!! Almost makes me feel that I need a wife lol!! The reason for my packing -> NEW JOB

Odyssey - Book 2 - Chapter iv - the South African

Why the South African?? My friend Kyle (who got married over the weekend to my friend Shannon) is from SA .. duh! Anyhoo, a long trip after a long time, added another 2000 miles to my car and met a lot of old friends and generally had a blast.

The trip was primarily to attend my friend's wedding at Tallahassee turned into a sort of whirlwind visiting trip.

It's almost like everybody one day decided that they got to get married this year and add on the peer pressure for happy single people like me! This is the fifth wedding in ninth months for me and there are four more that I am going to this year. You would think that my friends would be gracious enough to find me somebody at all these weddings, but no such luck ... haha ... I think I need to stop making my mom jump with all these statements!

The first leg of the journey to Tallahassee was a stop at Atlanta to meet Katie and her family. They were gracious enough to play host to me ... and you guys know how finicky I am. It is always a pleasure to have a good well informed political banter with them, everytime I meet them.

Day two of my trip saw me in Tally at Koshy annan's place and having dinner at two different places, I cannot be responsible if they decided to have a Indian birthday party when I am there. Dinner with old friends is always good, and trust me I spoke more than I ate for once!

Day three and it was time to take a trip down memory lane around FSU, meet more friends for breakfast and lunch and make a trip to Perry. Starbucks has arrived in Tally and looks like it's got the town hooked on to its brand of opium.

Trips to Perry are always wonderful and this time was no different either. What with Whit getting her Chudi and Mrs. Owens getting a crash course on Indian weddings and customs from me. Ofcourse it was heavily dosed with my prejudice. Also on the agenda was what Indian dress I should wear to Meagan's wedding. It was also time for me to claim my Christmas cake and cookies from Whit ... six months after the event and as expected I wasn't complaining about it. Give me a sec let me grab another piece of that cake, oh did I mention it is delicious??

No trip to Tally would be complete without me visiting Stetsons and showing the kids how it was down. This time it was Whitney's initiation into line dancing at Stetsons, and my perennial dance partner Amy didn't let me down. I might have put on thirty pounds from the last time I did it but my legs didn't give up. It was no time before they knew who owned the dance floor!(down boy!) The line dancing with a small dose of karaoke is definitely my drug. I stayed till the end and helped them close the place at 2:30.

Saturday was the big day and it was wonderful wedding, maybe a tad hot, a mixture of American and south African customs under huge trees. Followed by a huge feast and more dancing. I also learnt the lesson on why not to wear a woolen shirt in 90+F weather. Next time I pack for such a trip, I am going to make sure I don't forget my suit!

Sunday was more laid back and lots of food. It was aunty's birthday and visit to Olive Garden. The trip to snookerd with Koshy and Adriaan was the last thing I did before trying to forget how much more fun Tally is than O'Fallon!

The trip back was 845 miles in 12 hours straight with just two pit stops. Also learned to eat Briyani while driving ... a very important survival skill!

The Pictures are here under two different folders. http://public.fotki.com/falcus007/

Odyssey - Book 2 - Chapter iii - The Doughnut

I can change my car's tire now! All because of flat tire on the way to Dayton for Ravi's graduation. Which brings us to the word Doughnut... no not the edible one ... the one that is tire but not a tire. And because of this tire (which is not a tire) the maximum speed I could go was 55 MPH and the normally 5.5 hour drive (At my speeds!!) took more than 10 hours.

Other than the sleep driving and having even ancient cars overtake you, driving at such a low speed on the interstate was not bad. I only had to break twice on the way back and that helped almost double my mileage to 37 mpg (Normal being 21/22 mpg).

This year my car has eaten up a lot of money!! And now it threatens to take some more.

Anyhoo this was a straight up trip other than the small incident of a flat tire ... and maybe also for the fact that the flat tire was caused by a wood long on the middle off the road. I got of easy with having only one wheel broken while a beamer (BMW) had two of its front wheels blown up by it. So much for American roads! And what is this with restaurants in the middle of nowhere not accepting credit cards. This is America how can you not accept cards ... there needs to be a law against it (among other things) and I think Bush is the right person to do it!