Friends

This thing called friends.    Diamonds of the heart.

The key is to make it last long.  You've known them longer than your spouse.

Grandma

Aptos

A designer apartment with a dramatic view.  Anil and Lee paint their lives and walls with brighter colors.  Nikhil's intelligence cuts through the conversations.

Los Altos

If there is elegance in opulence it is here.  How did we survive in the rabbit hutches and think that we've managed to keep out the deer, the raccoons, the foxes and the rest of the wild out of our lives?  Nature can be managed.  The walnuts can be given away to the squirrels.

A new world

We were in Ashok and Peggy's world.

An ideal of what life without the kids could be.

Watching the sun set between Peggy on the net and Ashok cooking the fish.

NPR in the air.

Anna Maria

After a great run through I-75 on our Corvette, the XM Radio narrating "Morroco" by Dietrich herself, we had arrived in another world. What a world! The thought took us miles away from the moonlit road. The time was WWII; the space: Florida, with Indians listening to a story of Americans fiddling in the Middle East. Surely something must give!

Hell in Miami

We couldn't find the girls on the beach doing volleyball.  We saw lots of men with lots of muscles but there was no Baywatch.    We walked and we walked.  For a change we did not talk.  Were were they?

We were not ready for something like this after New York and that Yumraj. Our God was indeed the GPS. We watched her and we paid full attention to her. What she said, we did. If we made a mistake, we suffered the consequences. But this Hell was something totally different. Even the GPS could not guide us there. Mango!!

Key Largo

Just 10 minutes driving on the corvette and a cop pulls me over.  "Is this your car?  That's your Drivers License?  It's all in Japanese.  Is this your car?  Let me see your contract.  Do you know the speed limit?  I'll let you off this time."  So that quite stopped all the risk taking as far as speed went.

What else?  A nice fishy restaurant?

Just that Marie and Monica insisted on the ride in our brand new two seater Corvette.  But as you can see, there was no space for all four!

 They just wouldn't let us go.  We told them we had children and were looking forward to becoming grandparents asap.  

So they let us take pictures.  Nothing else.  We have more of such pictures and will be glad to show them to whoever is interested.

The shuttle to the Corvette

In Miami she drove us on her Hertz shuttle to the car depot.  She carried our bags.  No problem.  She drags me along with the bag.  Tough one, here.  As she drives it is a constant drivel on her life.  No time for reflection.  In three minutes she has told us about how she punched a neighbor who came in to complain about her dog.  She called the cops.  She almost dislocated her right shoulder.  She's actually from New Jersey, but left her violent husband who was no good.  She just walked out of the whole cold mess and came to sunny Miami.  She has no regrets.    If it weren't for the contents, you'd think she's the happiest person you've met.

Monticello and Wine

Nothing could have brought us to Sideways better.

Richmond

Fantastic hospitality!

Ga, just waiting open arms, seems to be doing less after having delegated all except her company.

Tai is superb.

Sonal is shy.

Rohan is talking well.

Ken is out of the maze from the airport to home.

Ashok, the fellow boring Capricorn, a pillar of wisdom and certitude.

As Vijay plays the cool Mafia with, "It feels good to be bad!"  And makes all the dead angels and pilgrims/villagers feel so awful.

And the final world-view-shattering blow when Adi kills me because I was a useless Angel who wanted to kill Mafia Tai.

Wishy washy Vicky has become an excellent moderator.  Thanks Sonal.

And hey, Paranormal Activities is why we went to Salem and why we Con Suegros are here.

Daniel Boone Trails

The Natural Bridge and the Lover's Leap.

The Devil's Gulch.

Woodford Distillery

The only one with 3 copper stills.

Cincinnati

Adi has a nice tidy apartment with lots of DVDs and a good TV.

Adi and Gautam are the great pair that assure the investigation is complete and satisfactory.  Adi is firm and focused:  "Don't bug me, Baba.  I know what I am doing.  And if I don't, I'll talk with Aii."

The Wright museum was fantastic.

So was the Mustang!

Last morning:  Suddenly at 4:30 am the lights go on and I realize Vijay is also wide awake.  His voice booms across the room and against the thin walls of Quality Inn Twin room.  "See Sanjay, I was just thinking, we will actually have to go to Adi's place and get the laundry.  Because I can't take a shower before that: No clean underwear.  So we can only return the Mustang after that.  And you will have to call them at 8 sharp to see if they will pick it up.  Otherwise we will have to go all the way and drop it.  And we will have to test your suitcase and see if it fits in the trunk.  Otherwise we may have a problem in Miami"  Suddenly, as we were stuffing my suitcase in the trunk, I realized Vijay not only thinks miles ahead but that we had downgraded the topic of tension but not the the habit.

SD's Manhattan

So we look for the telltale trail.  We can enjoy if they can.

Yam Raj at the gates of Hell

The point is the drive last night from the ferry to Long Island.  It was pitch dark all the way down.  With the rains and the 10 lane zooming traffic, there was no conversation.  The GPS was God.  And I missed you guys. (Did you hear me say  goodbye, about 8PM EST?)  But we made it alive.  It was a tour de force!  A combination even the best of tennis doubles will not be able to match.

The problem was the officer on the toll road.  It was raining and no moon.  He said, "Gogledibod Ez..."  Sir, I think I got into the wrong lane.  "Could you pass the passxxxx"  Officer, I don't understand...  "This is the last time I am saying this, Give me the Easy Pass."  Officer, I don't have it.  "Just get me that..."  What?  "You just saved yourself a $250 fine."  Thank you, officer.

The moral of the story is.  We will never never drive into New York again.  The next time we face Hell, it will be in Miami.  And she will look very different.

The Ferry to Hampton Bays

A little too late for the view.  But there's always some new experience.

Jersey

Subu and Gaumaty are exemplar New Yorkers.  Hard working professionals who use the home as a meeting point.  Family and friends are taken as seriously as any project.

So I am now overlooking the Manhattan skyline and it is a clear day.  The rain over the night has made the grounds shine.  I slept with Baba and he didn't snore but he woke me up by hugging me.  (I think he misses Ai.) But then again maybe not, because we wouldn't have been able to finish the Chevas that Subu opened only a few hours ago.  (These two drink like fish!)  The pictures prove that I am only pretending to be drunk in Gunu's chair.

Clark

Worcester seems run down but the campus is still nice.  Ken is busy but he spends time with us and introduces us to his friends.  And we go to Dr Wright's office and have a great talk.  The sushi place was OK.  But the Patel Bros was fantastic.

Walden Pond

Steve joins us to see where Thoreau lived for two years to prove that the simple life yields the best of truths.

Boston Commons

This is where some of the greatest minds met to rouse up the mob and beat the British less than 300 years ago.  This is the birthplace of a free modern America.

Salem

The two fathers in law arrive at Boston. Suraj and Vicky are there to pick them up. Rainy and cold.  A mission is born :  We go to Salem to see what powers the women have.

Boston

Vicky makes a killer omelet.  The apartment he has kept for us lets us start our discussions from 4am.  A neighbor knocks to complain about the thin floors and walls.

At left are the two good cooks comparing recipes.  It is obvious that Ashok does not approve the salsa cheese that Vicky uses in his killer omlets.

The Themes

• The way to the heart is the stomach.  So make a home that cooks.
• You can't agree to disagree.
• Women would burn before they change.  Men will despair trying.
• Preaching parents are poor examples.
• Fun is simple and to be had together.
• Reflection and worries need to have their time limits.
• Americans complain because they've seen the best.  Indians, because they can't.
• Walk and talk together.

The Cast

THE PARENTS
Sanjay
Vijay
Subu
Gaumaty
Shalan
Dr Wright
Anil
Lee
Ga

THE SONS
Ken
Adi
Vicky
Steve
Keith
Lewis
Akhil
Nikhil

A GRANDSON AND GRANDDAUGHTER
Rohan
Erica

A NEW IN-LAW
Sonal

UNCLES and AUNTS
Ashok
Peggy
Cecilia, who suggested the name of this blog

The Eternal Argument

When do you agree to disagree