"THE" Re-Union : Day Nine

26 December, 2002:
Auburn, AL: Just like we had bade Nikhil's home a farewell it was time to bid Kaustubh's home a final farewell as well. (Fact: They later changes places about 2-3 times as well, under the pretext and supporting statements that it barely takes 30 minutes to move out from one place and perch in the next ?? ) We had spent 2 wonderful nights in Auburn and more importantly got to meet some of Godya's room-mates, one out-sizing the other. Kaustubh, all of a sudden seemed to be like a cute stuffed teddy compared to them :)

Atlanta, GA: We either missed or took an incorrect exit or took some street South instead of North and the likes. But we definitely missed the place we had initially planned for. We finally managed to trace a Gujju Bhaaya's place and decided to satisfy our palates at the dine-in. What a wondeful treat it was from Kaustubh, on his fellowship grant, and we all ate till we were able to tickle the food just under/behind the tonsils !! With bloated bellies and droopy, sleepy eyes we made the final mad dash to Clemson, SC. We were going to lose an hour driving from CST to EST and had to hand-over the car to Enterprize lest we paid for an extra day. I was driving the Neon and all others were blissfully sleeping their "backs" off. The loud Kishore songs were hardly a deterrant to the ephedrine-like toxins secreted from the lunch menu.

Clemson, SC: Just passed the border into SC, all were awake and it was hardly any distance to go before we reached 115 Village Green. We had some time remaining and did some quick groceries at Winn Dixie and parallely did some VHS renting out at the adjacent video store. It was a great feeling to come back home as nothing heels you better than the first step inside "your own place".

After dropping the grocery, tapes and our bags and baggage home, we headed back to Seneca to bid farewell to our wondeful (at times irritable) companion. We had got the rental for a whopping 2800 miles and when we returned the car we had travelled 2792 miles !! The manager at the rental was simply amazed and commended us saying never had anyone got their calculations so correct for such a huge trip.

Little did he know nor does he still understand the underlying common thread between the last names Aphale, Divekar, Godbole and Ranade

"THE" Re-Union : Day Eight

25 December 2002 :
College Station, TX: Finally, it was time to good-bye and we left with our baggage in quite a somber mood. With great memories from our stay and tons of wishes for our safe journey we left the twin-apartment for the last time. With Kaustubh in the drivers seat and a very-insistent "I will remain awake for sure" Nikhil, we left for Auburn, AL. We were going to again spend the night at Godya's place and then proceed to Clemson the next day morning. It was Christmas and people were enjoying at home and had left the road empty for wanderers like us. I remember a clear stretch of highway in TX, LA where-in we covered more than 200 miles in less than 3 hours or so. We (Kaustubh and I) had decided to give Atul a break from driving as he had done the bulk of the load towards TX from SC. Now from TX to SC, it was pay-back time and we gladly obliged. I recollect at times taking exits on freeways in search of Gas and Food Joints and then frustratingly finding them closed for Christmas :(

Someplace Dubdub3, MS: We dined at weird places and obliged ourselves mostly to some burger or american break-fast, Ham-Eggs on Toast at lunch time in Huddle House. Towards the fag end of the day, which was around 5pm, we were feeling sort of tired with an unseemingly unending road ahead of us. There were nothing but trusses and arches and bridges over the swamps and frequency of yawns seemed more than heart-beats. Finally the AL border was in sight and that in it itself was a sign of relief. The last couple of hundred miles remained to be covered and after a stomachful we decided to go at one-go. Unfortunately nature intervened and dialled calls so feverishly that we all had to take notice and make a quick stop at a road-side rest area. Within a couple of minutes and with five extremely light bladders, Godya drove into his hometown.

Auburn, AL: We had travelled more than 700 miles since morning and legs ached from sitting in cramped spaces for hours on end. We cursed expletives at the Dodge-Neon (like we had throughout our trip) and blamed all our woes on her. This time there were no plans for TableTennis as driver/navigators/passengers were drained alike. The last 250 odd miles remained which were to be accentuated and punctuated by a wondeful lunch in Downtown Atlanta at a terrific Indian Restaurant.

"THE" Re-Union : Day Seven

24 Decmber 2002:
College Station, TX: The last day of our planned trip in the "Lone Star State". We had initially decided to visit the NASA space center. Just then a sort of an alarm rang "Houston, we have a problem". We had all gotten up pretty late as we were all busy chatting the previous day after returning from SanAntonio. It was nearly 12 or past 12, when we came to know that the last trip (viewing tour) starts at 3pm. TAMU room-mates mentioned that it was a drive which generally took more than two and a half hours or so. By the time we ready to roll it was past 1pm and the overall picture looked bleak.

On-Road-To-NASA, TX: We started driving and more news hit us when we came to know that NASA was actually even further down south of Houston, more closer closer to Galveston. But with some Shumachresque driving from Atul (and exquiste Navigation by "who else but me" ;) )and zigzagging like crazy through Downtown Houston we barely reached the NASA gate. Unfortunately the last shuttle and ride was already full and we had missed our chance. But "lady luck" smiled her brightest then, and we received the news that to accomodate the other turned up visitors during Holiday season, they would conjure another ride. We being among the first were very sure to make it and received preferred seating.

NASA, TX: The previous day was quite warm, barring the thunderstorm that lashed late evening. This day was the exact opposite as winds wailed and the cold breeze was almost cutting through skin. Luckily all of us had some kind of jumpers put on which helped us survive ?? the wintry ride. The open air carriage did not help much and it was really some great relief when we were inside the main building. On the walls were pictures of the many missions NASA had undertaken, space walks, moon trips and the like. (There is in fact a Flag for every mission that is carried out as well) There were some rock samples kept in vaccumized glass bottles kept for display behind closed Glass Walls.

Control Room, NASA, TX: This was the place where it all happens (happened), the heart and soul of any mission, manned or un-manned. This was the place where the words first were heard from the moon "The eagle has landed" (though this may have different meanings with changing contexts). There was a huge screen where all the parameters were displayed and the tracking for the shuttle performed. This was the haven which ensured that "Apollo 13" came back safely to earth !! The only difference the tour-guide mentioned was that previously it was a smoking facility which has now been converted to a non-smoking one. From a viewing point of view, the Control Room was open for public viewing prior to 9/11, now it was only visible from behind closed glass doors.

NASA, TX: The day had started to wane and so had the available warmth from the surroundings. On our way back to the NASA gallery it was even worse than when we had reached there. We spent the next hour or so viewing the different models on display from full-size command modules to a cock-pit of a jumbo. Then, it was time to turn back to College Station. We had to leave for Auburn, quite early the next day and it was truly sad that the wonderful trip was coming to a close.

Houston, TX: We had dinner at some restaurant but the Ok types food did not help much in overcoming the impending gloom. I dont know whether it was only me or others felt the same but never-the-less, none of expressed the obvious.

College Station, TX: It was not too late when we came back to pack our belongings and gear-up ourselves to a long, arduos and at-times treacherous journey. We were always hammering Nikhil that he HAD to come with us to Clemson and spent the remaining of his vacation with all of us. After much deliberation and slight use of physical and mental force, we managed to convince of making the trip back. We had a great clicking session which went way into the night and also reminiscing our last 5 wonderful days.

"THE" Re-Union : Day Six

23 December 2002:
Austin, TX: We were all pretty early as we had a lot to travel to SanAntonio in the morning and return to College Station that very night. This was a sort-of-treacherous route w/o any interstates and only lonely, neglected State Highways. We had taken the directions for San Antonio and as told by my cousin, River View was supposed to be the best location in city. With correct and precise direction taken through MapQuest ( ?? :D ) we left for the Spurs' hometown.

San Antonio, TX: The skyline was visible from quite afar and then we started drifting away from the city. But we ensured to follow the directions as seen on the print-outs and reached River View Drive or Way !! We had crossed the main city and now found ourselves looking at a drain and wondering whether that was infact the desired destination. After quizzing a few along the way, we realized that we had hopelessly lost our way and that River View was in Downtown SanAntonio. But, just then we saw driving direction to the Zoo which was about a mile from the place we were.

SanAntonio Zoo, TX: This was the day when 5 adults decided to shed all inhibitions and act like 3 year olds. We had paid a decent sum of amount to the zoo keepers and made it a point to make every cent count. The zoo was itself pretty huge which animals ranging from 1 tiger to 1 elephant to 1 bear, multiple types of monkeys (there were 5 who were let loose to entertain others ;) ). The best part was that there was a lot of room for all animals and nor were they caged in a cramped place like we had in Peshwe Park previously. There was "some" natural surrounding that was created for each animal and also safety of viewers was also ensured by making huge pits between the Animal area and Viewing Area.
There was this one particular type of tiger/leopard/panther whom Godya wanted to capture as he looked dead-straight at the camera. Unfortunately for all us he never did and we spent about 50 clicks on eyes, ears, tails, abdomen of that feline.

Has anyone of you watched the movie "Birds" by Hitchcock ? Never before had I thought about birds as scary and able to outfight humans, manly ego I guess. But that was again a work of fiction we would suppose. However as we entered a bird-cage, mostly with species of parrots, parakeets all the fear could be actually experienced. We were in their area and it was really frightening when they decided to fly from one tree to the other in the enclosed area. We would have been able to capture a couple of parrots sitting on Ameya's shoulders had Mr. Photos not clicked too many features of a tiger and exhausted the batteries.
The nicest scene was of one parakeet removing the Cap of the bird-keeper as kept interacting with other people.

We had a light snack quite early on and then left after having a comprehensive visit of the park left for the actual River View.

RiverView, SanAntonio, TX: This has got to be the most romantic spot in this arid state and definitely the most crowded. (In the meantime we had obtained fresh set of batteries) Then we had a round of photos taken along the banks of the manmade channels and then moved around the area. Each one of us surely dreamt of visiting this place with their to-be someones at some point later in life :) We had moved a lot during the day and the outputted energy had hopelessly outnumbered the inputted one. There was a provision to have dinner as people undertook a boat ride in the water bed but we passed on as it was too expensive and the line was quite lengthy as well.Atul then treated us (just one the many he belted out at multiple places) at a very special Mexican Restaurant for supper. The food was definitely wonderful but the ambience just added the correct spice to the wonderful moment.
The picture taken by our table attendant also came out very well against the backdrop of the punts, boats.

The last destination for the day was "Tower of Americas" which consists of a revolving restaurant and a viewing-gallery on 3 huge pillars. It was not at all difficult locating the towers however finding the approach took very long as we kept on circling the roads around it. Finally we found a parking lot from where we could walk to the base of the tower.Just then there was a violent thunderstorm that lashed the city like crazy. It lasted for something like 15-20 mins which felt like eternity. There were trash cans kept along the pavements being uprooted and strewn across the roads. We took shelter near a convention center for some time and then the others (barring me) left for the tower. I was terribly scared to move but followed them as the storm subsided.

Tower of Americas, SanAntonio, TX: We moved in to the soothing comment that we would not be able to visit the viewing gallery due to the lightning and thunderstorm. The good news was that the elevators were going to take us to the hotel and that we were not going to be charged for it !! We must've climbed about 75 odd meters in a matter of some seconds and that too in a glass escalator. With the speed of the elevator and the sudden stop gives a giddy feeling. Thankfully none of required any plastic bags but there was a feeling that the floor was moving. We went a little further to view the city from a bar area (which does not revolve) but did not venture out on the revolving floor. Heartbreak was in store for Ameya and Godu when they saw a stunning young lady in a cocktail dress move in to dine with a much older gentleman.
And lastly we had a snap taken in which my friends compelled (like they always do) me give a crazy pose !!

This was definitely The Best Day I had during our 8 day trip

"THE" Re-Union : Day Five

22 December 2002:
College Station, TX: The main intention of our trip, of that attending the graduation had been a grand success. Now we decided to explore the areas in-and-around ?? College Station. Arriving at a consensus of from where to start and how to end our trip was difficult with multiple choices and several impediments along the way.

We finally decided to leave for Austin late that afternoon and to visit Lake Basstrop on the way. Kaustubh was the one who had least driven the car till then and he decided to drive. With a royal battle staging who would reach the destination first, our "Major" was nearing 90-100 on the speedometer at frequent interval !! Inspite of several warnings, we gave up knowing that only a Ticket would slow the car down. Fortunately the cops too were enjoying their December vacation and resting somewhere else.

Lake Basstrop, TX: A beautiful natural lake surrounded my miniature hills on most sides and a quite well maintained one. There was actually an entrance ticket to the lake and adjoining areas but with No Keeper and the vending machine out of order it was free enjoyment for all of us. Again some snaps captured in the most weird of poses, especially one "wass-up, how-u-doin" pose is still fresh in my memory. We were there for about a couple of hours and enjoyed at the lakeside a lot.

Austin, TX: Next we were on our way to Austin, the capital of the state of Texas. We were going to stay at Kotasthane's place for the night before leaving for SanAntonio the next day. Austin, is supposedly The Best town in Texas, with plenty of greenery around, which is as close as you come to a hill-station in this arid-land.
The Hill:We first decided to visit the Hill (cannot recall the name) which overlooks the town and from where there is a beautiful view of the neighboring countryside. The only similarity this hill has with our own Parwati is that it is located within the heart of the city and has an equal number of steps to reach the top. Thats all where the similarities end, from Cleanliness, to the ample foliage that surrounds this place was "Once Upon a Time" true of Parwati. Again we had some snaps taken but the flashes just got wasted in thin and extremely dark air.
Capitol : All of the states and the country have a similar kind of state building and I guess called "Capitol" throughout. There was a beautifully decorated Christmas tree in the way to the entrance of the building. We were just a little late for the last tour of the building and hence could not see the place from inside. Again a few snaps and then we left to have dinner. This was again a treat by the Graduating class for the last time at a decent Indian restaurant.

University of Texas, Austin: We then made a short trip around the University and took a nice picture of "The Owl" also called as the University of Texas Tower.The top of the building is lighted such that when seen from a diagonal the top resembles the head of an owl and hence the name.

We then called it a day after deciding on the course to take the next day to San Antonio which was our next destination.

"THE" Re-Union : Day Four

21 December 2002:
College Station, TX: This was the day we had reserved in our schedule to visit the Texas Agricultural and Mechanical University (TAMU) Campus.

We first visited the Industrial Engineering Department from which Niks had just completed his graduation. It was neatly constructed quite new a building on the campus compared to one that I went to at Clemson. The classrooms and the labs (that we peeped and saw through closed doors) were of a much larger size and seemed spacious. This building was probably shared by some other department as well but cannot now recollect which one it was. We had a picture taken of the 6 of us on the stairs of the building.

We then walked through many more departments, some special in Ranade's mind maybe because of some sweet memories maybe ;)

The stand-out room of that day was an International Hall or Flag Room or something of sorts. There were flags of almost all countries (recognized by the US) proudly were seen hanging from the ceiling. In one corner of this room was a piano waiting to be played and Ranade obliged the same. He played about 3-4 different songs on the beauty while we watched and listened in awe as the sound-of-music reverberated in the Hall. There was another family visiting the place and they too were listening to the tunes being played.

We also visited the Cafeteria where Nikhil worked and at one point of time had his hands full of dishes ready to be washed. He also showed us the room where they had once served at a buffet attended by "Dubya" just before he had become president in late 2000. I think I still having a feeling of deja-vu looking at the place and knowing what it is to work at such a place.

The 6 of us then moved around the campus in the car a lot before descending upon some place to eat. Quite surprisingly but absolutely cannot remember where we had food. We also captured the "Leaning Tower of College Station" in our camera while driving across the Univ. Lastly I remember climbing on a very tall building just after clicking some photos of all of us in idiotic poses below it. There was a huge walkway connecting two buildings which gave us a near giddy feeling and scratched our vertigo (Ameya's for sure)

We returned back and then dropped Tejas at the College Station greyhound station who returned back to Houston at his obscure relatives' place and has been out of touch since.

That evening again there was a "maifil" set again and the same set of people entertained us throughout the late evening.

"THE" Re-Union : Day Three

20 December 2002:
College Station, TX: We all got up pretty late as we were extremely fatigued following the really long but thoroughly enjoyable drive of about 1100 miles !! Both of the houses had started to get ready for the graduation ceremony while we watched with our near sleepy eyes. It was nearly 1pm by which all of us were ready with a minor breakfast or the like. The graduation was in some huge coliseum kind of a place and reasonably far-off from Nikhil's place. We were about 6 of us stuffed in the Dodge-Neon, a really small segment car. During the next 2 days of our driving it was probably luck that did not get us caught.

The graduation ceremony was packed, the lower tier with all the graduating students, first Doctoral, then Masters, then the Bachelors. The upper tier was filled with family, friends and other near-dear ones of the lower tier. The guest-of-honor was some lady and as usual there was some message from her for the passing out students, which bored everyone to death (like usual). Then one-by-one the students starting collecting their Certificates (look like Batons from a relay race) to loud cheers from their side of friends. We waited and then shouted like crazy, and clicked multiple snaps when Ranade saan was collecting his diploma. (The pathetic zoom and low lighting did not help) . The saddest part of the ceremony is that the cancidates cannot leave the hall till ALL other students have had their turn. We then left the arena for a short time and went for a walk and view of the campus around the coliseum. The gymnasium and the swimming pool and some other sporting complex was awesome. But with December vacations in progress and most of the campus crowd home for Christmas there was hardly any activity around. We returned about 10-15 minutes before the ceremony was about to end and then again went out to see all the students fling their graduation caps high in the air. The next hour or so was spent in first finding Nikhil and his co-graduators and then clicking numerous photos on the lawns outside.

We all then went back to their residence and then had some amazing tea prepared in a pressure-cooker !! The quality and quantity was both of the highest order. For the evening dinner we were treated at a wonderful sandwich place close by. By this time there were another 3-4 new additions to the place with another of our friend driving from Austin, brother-in-law of another roommate from Monroe, LA.

There was to be an even better treat when we reached home in the form of a "maifil" by 3-4 singers, prominent among them being Kotasthane, affectionately called as "Popat" by his buddies from COEP. The stage was set with Voice Boxes, Tuners for all the singers to set the room alight with their beautiful rendering of music. Kotasthane was belting out mostly classical numbers or bhajans/bhavgeete with classical base. Panya/Ranade sang a couple of melodious tunes from old Hindi/Marathi movies or from albums of Sudhir Phadke. There was a one-of-its-kind duet from Udayan and Mami which well appreciated by all those who cannot distinguish a Sa from a Dha ;)

There was another girl who sang a couple of ghazals of Asha Bhosale from Ijaazat while another colleague of Ranade's sang Karnatic music which too was soulful though the words did not pierce through. There was also a song by our own Godya, but it was probably only appreciated truly by our Supply-304 gang.

21st December had arrived and also was quite past us when we called it a day.

"THE" Re-Union : Day Two

19 December 2002:
Auburn, AL: TaTe duo must probably returned way past mid-night and the only thing that woke me up at night was an insect which so conveniently after disturbing my sleep went off its own way. All of us were up earlier than usual and usual can be anywhere between 10-12am.
We had to take some print-outs of directions in Houston as we were going to pick-up another school friend, Tejas (on the way ???) who was visiting his distant family.This was a time when the traffic in Bama was least, (lazy buggers getting up late from the night booze and hangovers) and I decided to take up the drivers duty. We had barely started when it started to drizzle and we then started scampering for the wipers.

Rule of Thumb: Whenever you take control of any new vehicle, make a note of its controls. This might have serious consequences.

What might have been with iota of loss of concentration was nothing short of life-threatening. The car was immediately on the pavement and the tires literally skidded and only a violent jerk saved from what would have been a disaster. All the energy seemed to have snapped from my legs and I could feel the shaking right upto my neurotic nerve :D
The next 2 hours compared to the first 2 minutes were almost heavenly as nature did not interfere any further. I was distressed somehow that now I would have to move into the backseat and Kaustubh would have his day in the sun.
Now with a different pupil to teach, driving tutorials began afresh. "Overtake only when there is no car in the left rear-view mirror, change lanes when the car at the rear is seen completely in the main-rear-view mirror" were hummed continuously :)
(Wish we could apply the same driving skills on our roads ;) )

SomePlace Dubdub1, MS: Rat infested colons soon started plaguing us and it was time for lunch. We ate at a pretty nondescript KFC in Mississippi (it takes one second to pronounce this word : statistics had to come sooner than later) and then it was time to give the driving onus to Atul.
Dangerous Moments 1: Within a few minutes and miles of driving we encountered what has been the worst thunderstorm and rain combo that I have witnessed and being a part of till date. With visibility down to a few meters and trucks/trailers/lorries whizzing past we decided to take an exit, seemed an easy solution but easier said than done. We just could not locate the exits and one went through without us even aware of that one. Somehow, just somehow Atul managed to follow the yellow/white lane marking which helped us proceed onto the exit ramp and later onto a Gas Station. We waited for a while till the rain gods smiled and then moved back onto the interstate.

SomePlace Dubdub2, LA:
Dangerous Moments 2: I had just dozed off when I felt the car take a wild swish to the left and then barely saw a ladder on the road before we moved past it. Through the rear-windshield we saw multitudes of vehicles in a near hit-and-miss affair while the Red-Necks from whose truck the ladder had fallen were just taking an exit to retrieve their package. From what I heard, the ladder was tied (quite loosely) on the truck's rear and it just came out from its bindings and attached itself to the road pretty well.

BatonRouge, LA : Just before entering BR, I took over for the last of my allotted driving time suited to a rookie driver. With traffic similar to Atlanta and lanes merging/demerging, it was a test of nerves as I previously driven on near-empty stretches. However I passed the test with flying colors (pat on my own back) and then again it was old school and old roads. We were having just a gala time and reminiscing the past and dreaming about the nearest of futures. With the brilliant arch-bridges over the swamps behind us it was no longer a beautiful sight. Even more, the sun had decided to set early as it does in December and poked me straight in the eye from the bottom-left-hand-corner.Twilight they say is the worst time to drive !!Three hours and a nearing empty fuel tank later, I call it a day and drag my cramped legs onto the back seat for some well deserved rest. With night approaching fast and plenty of distance to cover, Atul took up the wheel for a one last lunge into TX.

Suburban Houston, TX: The roads are a near mess, the road signs have no clear meaning, and road side is as pathetic as downtown AddisAbaba. Welcome to Cowboy Country, Buckle Up, Giddy Up Horsie !! We are looking up one road South and traveling N miles North, then we take numerous lefts, rights, some U's and finally land up close to pick up Tejas. Don't care to know who his relatives were who do not invite us in for a break or a cup-of-water even -XIt is way past 10 and we are now hovering and closing on College Station, our final destination. Roads finally have some signs, correct distances and some light to shed on the above.

College Station, TX: Again there are a series of lefts/rights but we are unable to locate the residence. We finally alight at a MacD's and ask Nikhil to come over to pick us up. Ranade saan and a room-mate make their way in. Its good to finally meet him after 2 and a half years after our miss at Tekdy when he was doing his Co-Op with GE and I was on my way to Niagara.As 19th comes to a close and graduation day nearly begins we enter the twin apartments shared by Nishkeel (another of his names) and his 7 friends. There is another room-mate whose first cousin (her husband would arrive the next day) is visiting as well but there is enough space for all.

Ending Quote of the Day : Agar Dil Mein Jagah Ho, To Ghar Mein To Mil Hi Jaayegi

"THE" Re-Union : Day One

Approx 5 years and 3 months to this date:
Auburn/Clemson/Purdue : We school friends decide to make a Road Trip half the way across the country to Texas to attend our friend's Masters graduation ceremony. He is the first amongst our school gang to graduate and we would not miss this event for anything. Ameya and I have no plans (and money to go with it) to visit India, Kaustubh has just arrived in Fall, Atul too had just visited 5 months back. Our room-mates, all of ours would be visiting Mother India in December and we were going to have a free hand.The graduation date was 20th December and we decided to embark on our journey on 18th December and return by 26th December back to Clemson. 8 days and more miles than one can imagine.

18 December 2002:
Clemson, SC: The day finally arrives when we would be leaving for TAMU (Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA) and we all pretty geared up and very excited for the road trip. It would be the first driving experience for me on the InterStates. (I had earlier driven my aunt's car in Natick much to the displeasure of my uncle). A day before we have been able to convince the rental company to permit us 350 miles per day for an 8 day trip. We had roughly calculated the distances within the state that we would be traveling. Atul and Kaustubh have got some nice gifts for all of us and we take idiotic pictures and amazing poses are clicked as we show them off :)
Atul and Ameya went off to get the rental car while Kaustubh and I cleaned up our home and got rid of the trash by 4. By 5pm we are all seated and ready to roll. Some more pictures are clicked and then we drive off towards Anderson. Atul as expected is in the driver's seat while I was the navigator for the initial stretch. We mess up on the lights and forget to switch them on, mistaking the lights seen on the dashboard as a sign of them being correctly set. We receive a lot of wild stares from drivers and their navigators. We then play around and voila, they are on and the road ahead seems to be much better lighted.

Atlanta, GA : Just passed 7-30 we are in the midst of the traffic in Atlanta and on the ring road it is all chaos. Cars vrooming left, right, changing lanes, cutting lanes (screw the cops) and it is a near edge-of-the-seat thriller. This is the first time I was in a car in such peak traffic and at speeds worthy on expressways here. After about 20 odd mins we are passed the heavy traffic and now enjoying a nice, smooth ride in Georgia countryside (though it was absolutely not visible). Now it is the turn of YoursTruly to take the wheels (steering wheel included) in my stride. Another 15 mins and we are now in Alabama, and for a change the clock turns back to 7:10 as we enter the Central Time Zone. I am having once heck of a time as the traffic has now subsided and we are doing about 60 miles an hour. Not too bad it is till those huge 18-wheeler beasts decide to spoil the ongoing party. I was nearly derailing onto the dirt track everytime I saw them coming close and Atul kept pushing the steering to remain on the main line. Tens of them might have passed after which I got a feel of the situation and then it was just a video-game after that.

Auburn, AL: We reached Godu's place and were extremely shocked to see his roommates (some in pics), all of them on the higher scales of the weight/size/shape factor. We had Bread-Eggs for dinner quite late and then we tried to doze off as we were looking at a 15 hour drive the next day. Ameya and Mr. AnythingPossible decided that this was the best time to play table tennis at a church/chapel nearby !!