Being single.. Not jingle all the way….

Probably the most desperate one I wanted to write, I wanted to keep it for a right phase in my life and the phase has finally arrived. So why am I writing it now, because a friend of mine asked what’s your status now. Well, that inspired me to write about ” Life without a girlfriend”. Now let’s get some things straight here, when I say a girlfriend, it’s someone whom you are in a relationship with. Usual friends who are girls won’t make a difference if they are in or out of your life.

So the first thing you get back once you are single is FREEDOM. Freedom to do what you like. I am not one of those who speak only from one side. If there are bad things to complain about there are also good things to feel happy about. Let’s talk about the unpleasant things first just because I always believe the ending is going to be happy, so should my writings.

A wise person once said “The secret of happiness is freedom. The secret of freedom is courage.”. I scratched every part of my body to fit this into a real world context until my girl came and deserted my life. For a guy in a relationship with a girl, courage and freedom are the forbidden words. So with a girl in your life what do you have, headache(you gets loads of this),kisses(probably the sweetest part of this relation), sex(some go to this extent and some don’t, seriously it doesn’t matter, nobody who has loved end up as a virgin, you are banged mentally/physically and in most cases it’s both the ways), mistakes(a guy knows it when he realizes what a mistake it was to love a girl, a girl knows about it because that is what she looks for in a guy to complain about).

You don’t have to spend hours on the phone with your ear, throat, neck, arms and head aching. You are spared of the pain of digging through a woman’s meaning of “I am fine” , “its ok” and so on. No more fights, no more explanations, no more silly complaints about her friends, no more tears( the most effective weapon of a girl and I shamelessly surrendered every time I was up against it).Time, You get loads of time to think about your own life, family, friends, career and so on. Suddenly you feel there are more than 24 hours in a day. And the list keeps going on.

On the other end you see the first downslide in your life when you start feeling lonely. You never knew what loneliness was because she was always with you, no matter how much you grumbled about her presence, she filled in an empty place which completed your life to an extent. You miss those warm fingers tangled into your fingers while walking those lonely streets, all you have is cold air blowing between the fingers. You miss her moist breath around your ear sharing those silly sometimes intimate jokes. You miss those soft arms wrapped around your arm as you walk and the light head leaning on to your shoulder. You miss that person whom you fight with daily and who keeps that child within you alive. You miss that person whom you can wake up anytime in the night or whom you can go out with just to see her. All you are left with is an old picture in your wallet or the wallpaper on your mobile. Although you always complained about the fights, those fights are the beautiful memories you have about her. Those random kisses, tight hugs, irritating tears, purposeless calls, disturbing messages, painfully long chats keep reminding you of the place that’s been empty for some time in your life. Earlier, I boasted about the freedom we have being single, its true. However, what’s the point of having the freedom to do anything you want, when you don’t feel like doing anything. All things said I have to say those days have to be the best days in your life, if not everyone’s at least mine.

So here I am 2 months into logically being single(practically its been more than an year). If I have to write about these 2 months, forget the girl friend ,it has to be about life without a girl. Absolutely away from the scent of a woman, waking up with guys, sleeping with guys(it doesn’t mean literally sleeping with them, thankfully I am still straight), walking with guys, eating with guys, drinking with guys, working with guys…its guys guys guys guys guys guys all around. Seriously, frustrated being a guy among guys. So who else do I have in my life apart from guys, roaches, plenty of them I don’t even know if they are male or female ones ,but I am pretty sure they are male roaches seeing the way my life has been behaving. The only woman of my life has to be the one who trims my hair (great clips), those few minutes with my head between her hands has to be the best few minutes of my time so far in US.

So, what’s next? Nothing much…. waiting for my next visit to great clips for a haircut  ;)

The First Summer…

 Just before I started  this journey , I was edgy about how things would turn out here.A struggled past(not without a purpose) ,an uncertain future(not without hope), handful of money in the pocket, worrying debts and a new set of ambitions is what I carried along with me on to this land.a5 days into my life here and am already feeling rejuvenated. Its actually raining outside as I am typing this, with a glass of orange juice next to me, a cockroach moving on the screen. My thoughts are wandering around the waterfront deck where I have been last evening and the can of Budlight beer in the fridge.I am going to take care of both once I am done posting this. The initial butterflies have settled down , a childhood friend and room mates who are easy to get along wth,a very large indian community is making me feel like home.Although I am missing home very badly, the pace of life here will get me over it in a short time for sure.And the best part, I managed to find a job in a lab over here as an Research Assistant which means i dont have to worry about my fees and living for this semester(atleast).It wasnt as easy as it looks, especially when I chose this college over another one which offered me a scholarship, for one reason that I preferred a life which wouldnt be easy. I kind of started liking a tough life over an easy one for one strong reason, it always brings out the best in me.And above all I wouldn’t have known my hidden passion for writing if my past wasnt what it was.

So we celebrated it by going to the Granby Club that evening. 4 Budlight cans and 1 tequila shot and was already flying although that didnt get me on to the dance floor. I was at the bar counter watching every pretty women dance their way into the night.I should say of all the mexican women are spicy .Although its a little sad sad that Desi girls here are always indoors, I would have loved watching them there .

Anyways, am very much excited about whats in store for me ahead.I know it wont be easy but I am going to like it as I chose this life over an easy one.My mind for now wont have much to ponder upon as I havent found a girl yet whom i liked here. So I should be alright till then .Now, I am off to my budlight can and dealing with my cockroach,bedbug(don’t want to be scratching in the wrong place here) mates for now. Will keep posting.

Btw… I have taken some of my writings offline,do let me know if you need to read them will send you the password those.

The changing tides

I am back after a long break. I am sure some of you were cursing me, that I haven’t completed the last part of ‘Life is designed by the choices we make ‘ (you might have to curse me for some more time, as I don’t have any plans to complete it in the near future,for I have to be in a really good/bad mood to complete that. Right now I am in a disturbed state of mind ). Anyways, I am back that’s more important. The reason I went into hiding for a while was to figure out my next step in life.

Most of you knew I wanted to do an MBA(**aimed for the stars),but as time passed by, I realized that there was nothing specific I wanted to do other than getting out of this hell.In this process I also realized it’s always good to have a backup plan for anything you plan in life,like I did in this case.Trust me, life is easier if you have backup plans for everything,or almost everything( Wish I had a backup plan for my girl too.Well… I guess it would have been tougher in this case, being single is really a blessing. ).

Well, coming back to the point, my backup plan was doing a MS(a relatively easier option,however not easy by any means).I gave my GRE 3 years back, just for the sake of giving it, so that I could spend some time with her after the exam. I didn’t get the girl(fortunately or unfortunately),but I got the score to make use of. So it’s decided that MS(**landed on the Moon) is my next step, at least for now.It might be a risk as many might think. Funny thing is that even I know it’s a risk, but the point is, what did I achieve so far playing safe? Nothing, absolutely nothing. So it’s high time I started flirting with things in life rather than being a passive spectator.I can always come back to the MBA plan with a larger trunk(my ever-growing tummy) and a Balder head after a few years. Like I said,there is nothing specific I want in life, but I do have a hidden ambition behind this choice, will write about it if things shape out as expected . Anyways, I also need a break from keeping my eyes open for anyone waiting to stab  me at the back. The minute I blink, people are all over me dumping me deeper into the ground.I have to say that the plan isn’t finalized yet, my life has always been a surprise package, and it will be no different in this case too. So, don’t be surprised if I write a new post about a new plan in the next few weeks .

Waiting is really frustrating, especially when you know there is no point staying at a place where you never wanted/want to be. I should have left long back,may be I have over stayed my stay here. But I wanted to make sure I don’t land in a deeper pit.It’s pretty hard to focus, with friends of mine breaking out of this prison. The faces I trust are disappearing one by one. I gave myself some time to really find out what I want to do next. I didn’t want to make the same mistake again.I landed in this place with great difficulty(after being rejected by 5 companies). I should have understood, my life was telling me ‘ You are not ready yet’. I forced the issue,for reasons very obvious, to an extent that it landed me in such a disgusting place(Lesson learnt: Dont force your fate much).

Just when I thought everything was going on well and the stage is set for my peaceful exit in the next 4-5 months, a new player entered the field.This player thinks he can rule & tame the team and put on a sober face (a face worth pooping on) to make us work better.First, we are not animals to be tamed. Second, no one can rule a team at the most they can lead the team(at least that is the definition of a leader as far as I know) and lastly it doesn’t matter whether he puts a grim face or a happy face,he looks the same either ways.And people around are licking his feet to join the band wagon of canny monkeys(Including the elephant I talked about, in my ‘Life x 44 rupees’ post, this elephant is always around making life hell for everyone out here) trying to rule a bunch of helpless humans. The game is getting hotter along with the weather, and I am pretty much up for it.I may still be a rookie in this game but I have stayed here long enough to deal with it.BRING IT ON!!!!!

The Wretched Triangle…

Below is my narration of an incident in my friend’s life.

Life’s always been a roller coaster ride for me. Beers, smoke, linking -park,friends,speeding on bikes and cars(that includes speeding tickets as well).It was the same for 24 years and will be the same for the next 36 years too(wondering what’s with the left out 36 years?, it’s simple, which saint is going to live for more than 60 with all these good habits). Well there is one important thing missing in that list,women(well with that its never a roller coaster ride its always going to be a bumpy ride). I am not that kind of a guy who is usually behind every pretty women, they do exist in my life but they havent been anything important than my usual friends. I am absolutely straight(trust me) and I do watch them for a moment, its just that I dont have enough  space in my life which is usually filled with smoke(automobile and tobacco), beer cans and friends. This roller coaster ride hit a nasty bump on the day I got my much awaited job.

My company arranged a dinner with the consultancy,through which I got the job, that evening.It was for three of us Me , Jack and Christie.I was unusually nervous, this being a kind of formal dinner. But I was excited for one reason,Christie. It was unlike me running behind a woman,but she was amazingly beautiful and I couldn’t stop myself from falling for her.

Jack was already there by the time I reached the restaurant. He too works at the Consultancy. I met him last evening, he was pretty close to Christie. I thought there was something between them.I didn’t like him for that obvious reason and the second his rotten face.

Who else is coming for the dinner? I asked Jack even though I knew who else was invited..

Its you,me and Christie..He said looking uninterested..

Just then Christie entered, waving her hand towards us.Then I understood the real meaning of the phrase “Being Swept off my feet”. She was stunningly beautiful in a sparkling white skirt, neatly made up loose hair which curled at the ends, glittering ear hangings and even more glittering smile.

Sorry guys for keeping you waiting, had to drop my room-mate..she sat right in front of me.It was a four seater table she had to either sit opposite to Jack or me. But for some unknown reason she chose me. Naa…its just a co-incidence I thought.

My body was reacting strangely to this proximity with her.

Man!!! what is she doing to me, I said to myself looking at her.

Vinay!!! she exclaimed…

Congratulations, you are too good.The client is all praise for you.

Thanks Christie…I blushed..

So let’s get started…she said reaching out for the menu

I ordered my usual Budweiser large beer, Jack order red wine and Christie ordered One Bud-light beer.The drinks were served and Christie lifted her glass and she sweetly said “Toast for Krishna’s success” and then we started..

“So Vinay how often do you drink”,She asked with a smile on her sparkling white face

“I throw 2 empty cans of beer every night out of my apartment after I am drunk” I said and laughed

She laughed heartily.And then raised her right hand, for a moment I didn’t understand what was that for.

“Hi-fi, I am a serial drinker too” She said still laughing

And then we clapped our hands together.

“Do you smoke?” She asked sipping her beer

“That reminds me its been an hour since I last smoked. You have a smoke?” I said laughing again.

This time she laughed even more loudly and she rose her hand again and I didn’t need an invite. Hi-fi again..

The hi-fi’s went on for a while with most of the things in our lives turning out to be strangely similar.All the while we forgot there was another guy with us.She didnt show much interest towards Jack, something must be really wrong between them I thought.

We kept talking and the waiters kept refilling our glasses.We reached a point of time where we were seriously drunk.Now I felt that I was coming out, I not only realized that I was liking her but also realized that she was liking me too.

My imagination wandered to an extent that I was already thinking about how  my parents would react If I brought in a White girl as their daughter-in-law?? It shouldn’t be a problem I can convince them I thought.

Me Christie and dad, all can have drinks every night and may be my younger brother can also join in too.One happy Family.Also I will have a company to  smoke and I can take her on my speeding bike for long drives. I planned the rest of my life with Christie in it.

But what about Jack?? I pitied him he must be heart-broken seeing the way I and Christie were getting along and then a brilliant idea struck me like  a lightning. I decided to talk about it to Jack.And luckily Christie got a call and she went out to talk.I moved closer to Jack.

Hey Jack whats up man? You don’t look normal today.I asked

“Nothing I am fine” he said looking away.

“Look, I know it is hard for you to go through all this, but we can work out a deal” I said smiling

Jack put up a questioning face

In our conversation earlier Christie spoke a lot about her room-mate Jennifer.I decided to develop something between Jennifer and Jack.That way I don’t have to bother about him anymore.

“Christie likes me and I like her too. I will speak to Christie and we can get something to happen between you and Jennifer, Christie’s room-mate what do you say?”, I said and winked at him

I either expected Jack to be very happy or very upset when he heard that. But he burst out laughing. For a moment I thought he was happy. But it was  something else.This time I looked at him Questioningly…

“What makes you think she likes you?”, He asked still laughing..

He was trying to cover-up his disappointment…

“I know it”, I smiled still sipping on my beer..

He sipped into his wine and started laughing again…

I started to say something..

“Jennifer and Christie are in a relation”, he said bluntly..

I looked at him blankly.

“You heard me right, they are in a relation”, he said keeping a straight face..

I forced myself out of that shock..

“You are joking right?” I said, now I was trying to hide my disappointment.

“Who is drunk, you or me?” He asked sipping his wine again.

“And why should I believe you?” I asked frustratingly looking at Christie who was still busy in her call.

“It’s up to you on whether you want to believe me or not..But I will give you a reason why you should” He said and took out his mobile and started punching  the buttons on it. He poked his mobile at my face.

It was a message. A message from Christie.I couldnt believe what I was reading.That message wasnt for Jack, it was for Jennifer , Christie sent it to Jack by mistake.Christie and Jennifer were in love, I wished it was a lie. I could feel stars over my head.

That explained why she brought up Jennifer’s subject in our conversation more often than needed.I emptied my glass in one go and banged it hard on the table, trying to gulp in the beer and my grief at the same time. I asked the waiter for a refill.

I sat with my head down trying to digest the whole mess. I could see from the corner of my eye, Jack rose his right hand to mimic the hi-fi’s I and Christie had earlier. I could see his cruel smile when he did that. It was really embarrassing.I ignored him.

I looked at Christie who was still outside, everything was so perfect about her but why isn’t she normal? All my plans and dreams fell apart like a pack of  cards.I even explored ideas of bringing her into my life somehow, it would be like a 1+1 festival offer, I would get Jennifer too.That meant a bigger room,larger bed and more beer and cigarettes.  3 of us drinking,smoking and 3 of us in whatever we do. Now how can I fit in the 3rd person on the bike rides I planned? practically I could, but may be I would have to sit between them and one of them would ride the bike.I also tried to imagine my parents reaction if I brought in, not one but 2 white daughter-in-laws. It was a weird equation, I dropped it right away.

She came back and sat down.

Lets order something to eat she said looking at the menu.Just then an old friend of mine passed by my table. I wasnt in a mood to be surprised or be happy on meeting a friend unexpectedly.I kept the conversation short and he left.

“Is he your friend?” She asked

I was lost in my thoughts ,I didn’t hear her or may be I ignored her on purpose.

“Vinay, is he your friend?” She asked again..

I came back to reality

“No!!” I said sharply,she was startled by that

“He is JUST a friend” I said and looked away..

Life x 44 Rupees

For the last 60 odd hours I hardly had 12 hours of sleep and I don’t even remember when I last ate something edible. I am sitting in the Frankfurt airport waiting for my flight back to India, typing on the laptop that troubled me for the past 16 hours. Even now I opened it only to charge my iPod. On 12th september I started this journey hoping I would write one blog a week during my stay here. And I actually was ready with 4 blogs, one for each week. But just the night before my departure I deleted all 4 of them. Now,I am writing this half asleep so anyone who is offended by what I write I apologize.

A brand new Old Navy jacket, Aeropostale t-shirt,Old Navy jeans,Puma hat, Adidas shoes on me and a iPod Nano Touch in my pocket all summing up to around 250$ worth and most importantly happiness worth 0$ inside me.I barely remember what I ate for the last 48 hours. My eyes and stomach are burning due to lack of  sleep and food. My hands aching carrying luggage which is not even mine. Family and Friends are happy that I came here and that was some kind of achievement, for me it was a complete waste of time and energy . As I am writing this I realize WiFi isn’t free in this airport so this would be a rough draft of what I would post after 12 hours from now. You might be wondering why I am taking this pain now. I just want to do it now because my frustration is shooting emotions out of me and I didn’t want to waste this and I didnt want to waste any more time on this trip directly or indirectly on which I already wasted 30 precious days of my life.I still dont know what I got for myself in this trip apart from the shopping I did but I guess this trip gave me a learning of a life time for sure.I learnt to be selfish, I know that isnt good.But when you are in a group of wily foxes you only have 2 options, either be as clever as the rest or find a better place for yourself, being neither is going to starve you to death. I didnt have the latter option, atleast for now, so I had to be
selfish atleast I tried and dont know how far it was successful.

I was frustrated to an extent that I carelessly dropped my passport while I was getting off the cab at the Austin airport and didnt even notice it. Luckily the cab driver was a friend whom I met few days back(Sunny Bhai from Pakistan). He gave me a lecture like my grandpa used to, before giving me back the passport. I didnt mind, he helped me, and I was grateful for that. Wish I met people like him in the last 30 days more often.

My workload here was almost thrice of what I had back in India.I never had problems dealing with that, because working hard wasnt my problem, liking what I did was the biggest problem. I never liked this work and I am pretty sure I will never like it through out my life.I could force myself to like it for a month,dont think could have pushed myself for more. I never wanted to be in Austin in the first place, my heart was stopping me. But I was curious about what was stopping me from going there. I wanted to make sure that wasnt because I was afraid to be here and work with the client sitting  right under my throat. That was one of the reason I came here hesitantly, to test myself.My friends even now complain that I never told anyone about this trip. I never told because I never wanted this trip in the first place.I didn’t find it that exciting to call everyone and boast about it.

I was never happy here, but fooled myself that I was.I thought being in the crowd would change my life.It did change, but from bad to worse. I was stuck in the middle of a cold war between people here. I ignored it until it started infecting me.I dont know how anyone would feel when the night doesn’t soothe the wounds of the day and you struggle yourself to sleep only to be waken up by cold words which shatter the left over bits of peace the night brought into you. The day becomes even more tougher, I have to put up with people’s jibes on my work which looked like they were meant to belittle me. It doesnt stop there,also had to keep up my spirits with discouraging words shooting from all sides. I had no reason to be discouraged neither did I have anything encouraging to keep myself going. But with all this happening I realized that this is the real world and I have been living in my dream world till now. I am glad I came here which brought me face to face with reality that there is no value for relations in this corporate world.

1 week went by, 2 weeks and 3 weeks, I then realized my ambitions werent driving my life anymore, its the money that was driving it here.For every decision I made , money was a major stake holder in that. That was the last thing I ever wanted to happen. And then my manager gave me a shock asking me to extend my stay here may be for another 2 months.May be she liked my work or may be she couldn’t get a better working and less paid donkey than me.I instantly said a firm NO.It was the first time I ever said a confident NO,guess life was making me tougher. With each day I was here, it felt like I was moving away from where I wanted to be.I hardly found time for myself, I would run in the morning waking up at 7 and then reached home at around 10 in the night after having my dinner at srikanth’s apartment.I collapsed on the bed the moment I reached my room, and my usual  sound sleep deserted me and I started having disturbed sleep.I had no other option but to switch to Smirnoff Breezers to put me to sleep every night, I kind of started liking them.I tried to fit in time every now and then to call some of my friends atleast once. I know many are cursing me right now that I didn’t call them frequently or I didn’t call them at all,sorry guys hope you understand now.There is a TV back in the hotel but I never watched it. I heard people talking about those spicy movies they show from Thursday nights to weekend. Normally I would have been very excited. But I wasnt, I realized I didn’t have enough time for that. Even if I had the time to watch them, I didn’t have the energy to do anything about it after watching it. So there was no point watching it. After week 3, not a day went by where this silly thought didn’t cross my mind “Shouldnt I have taken that offer of staying back?”. I knew it was always a tough job making a choice.But it was tougher staying with that choice after you choose one. I wish I wasnt this stubborn, my life would have been much easier or may be this is how I wanted my life to be.

Coming to the good part of the trip,everything here is so attractive including the girls. Thanks to the hot weather I got to see minis and micro-minis which made it even more hotter.On the other side I was forced to see an elephant which was forced into skin fit jeans.Or may be the jeans was forced onto the elephant, If I can put it that way. I was glad this elephant didn’t find minis and micro minis.I didnt find much to do on weekends, in fact I wanted to do a lot going to those strip bars but I didnt have the right company to take me out. I was all alone even though I was in the crowd. Meredith my Big Boss,occasionally took me out for dinners which were like a few breathers I had in this trip. She took me to good mexican restaurants and also dinner alongside a beautiful sunset at Lake Travis. May be that was only day in this whole trip I would call memorable. A beautiful sunset, a beautiful boss and even more beautiful Pedrina, you must have seen her snap in my Facebook profile.I know most of you think she is a little older but she was better than what she looks in the photo. Unfortunately she was married so I had to stop with just a photo, not that I was daring enough to go any further than that.

I am really happy that I am on my way back.But I would surely miss the mouth-watering minis and micro-minis, my beautiful Pedrina,messed up hotel Room, my daily walk to work,the target store where I got my breezers,the sweet receptionist at the hotel who always used to give me a sweet smile every morning ,srikanth’s apartment,free coke cans in the office pantry which I had more often than water, the Nutella bread spread which served my midnight hunger and the delicious food Hari,srikanth and Nagarjuna cooked,on which I survived these 30 difficult days. I would surely miss my work too, as I wouldn’t be working this hard, back in India.If anyone asks me would you go back if given a chance, I can only say “Not in a million years”

My journey into the land of dreams…

It was a very tiring day, well 2 days…still confused about how many days its been. It didn’t matter it was tiring anyways.It was equally tiring from 1 week too, preparing for the journey.My flight was on 11th September and it being the 10th anniversary of the dreadful day back in 2001 was worried if someone wanted to celebrate it. I was reaching on 12th to US so I felt better but was worried again if that maniac was as lazy as me and planned to celebrate it a day later.

Apart from the worries I had,I also had some pre-listed things in my mind that I had to do in this month right from the time I boarded the flight. For me international flights only meant , lots of food and drinks and the obvious of all  good air-hostess.There were air hostess for sure if I could call them, but they looked like as though they were double my age ,so the air-hostess thing on my list had to be put on hold, at least for this flight.The journey was good apart from the turbulence in between, now dont ask me what turbulence is, I am as weak and un-interested in physics as anyone else. To explain it in simple words its, like a pit holes on the road(but a more dangerous one), each time it occurred everyone looked anxiously out of the window including me..and I was praying to god that there are a few things left that I have to do in Austin, you can crash me if you want on my return journey(who would want to come back to a company like the one which I am working for)

Of all the things that I wanted to do in this trip was to have red-wine first.I never had it in my life but people said it’s really good. So wanted to try it,I took the first sip and almost made me puke, the german beside me gave a disgusting look.That was the first and last time I ever had red-wine .But the red wine was useful to an extent, it put me to sleep instantly.I woke up around???…….I dont know I lost track of time anyways, saw the same air hostess again, always with a smile and as fresh as ever.Wondered how they stayed fresh for so long.10 hours we were ready to land in Frankfurt, then all of a sudden I saw this beautiful air-hostess, how did I miss her for 10 hours I cursed myself.Not that I would have done anything ,if I saw her before, but my eyes missing something as beautiful as her is definitely not me. It must be the red-wine. Better late than never, wanted to give her a try. So planned to speak to her, just in case something turns up which of-course never happened in my life(Will keep trying as long as I can). I had to board a connecting flight , so anyways had to ask someone about it, why not ask this beautiful lady instead. We were getting down and was almost reaching her,my eyes were only on her. Just as I reached her and opened my mouth, some idiot asked her the same question which I wanted to. Are all men the same?? And that idiot was just before me, I stared at them for a minute before an old lady poked me from behind to make me move forward, I hesitantly moved forward…

Immigration was not a big problem I thought, just then one huge security officer came to me and took me saying it was a special security check and a random one. Sure I said. If it’s random why is it only me and a special Check?? then it must be really special, I thought.He took me to a few other security officers, there was a lady just triple my size.I felt like a rat before her, prayed that she wasnt going to check me.They ripped open my bag, then one of the guard put on his gloves,I was still wondering what was he about to do.He put his hand on almost every part of my body, almost every private part of me which I didn’t get to touch myself in the last 24 hours. And to my embarrassment this was all happening in open and not in a room.Just then I thought it was done after a painful 5 minutes they took my Sidney Sheldon novel I brought. There was a semi nude lady on the cover of the book(that was the only book I could get hold of before I started),that shouldnt be a problem almost everyone here looked the same I thought. They brought it back and said you are good to go Sir. I didnt wait for a second I just started packing my things and disappeared from there.

It was a huge terminal exclusively meant for Lufthansa,It was a 6 hours wait in Frankfurt.Before my travel, the company travel desk gave me some valuable suggestions.One,unattended luggages are not your problem(Checked, I had my own luggage to take care of).Two, lost children are not your problem, forget your manners at least for  a day or two(Checked, I didn’t have manners in the first place). I wondered if there was a third suggestion that “Lost women are not your problem”.I waited for them to say something like that because lost or not lost , sweet or hot, painful or extremely painful , they are a problem(at least for me, no offence meant please its a problem with me). I sat there at the waiting room. It looked deserted only with a few people who were happily using the seats like a bed.Even I settled myself on to a group a chairs and dozed off.

Boarded my second flight which was from Frankfurt to Washington. Same sad story with the air hostess, I convinced myself that I will find someone better in Austin(the only way I convinced myself every time it happens ).I lost track of time long back, now I lost track of what I was eating,just kept eating.One thing with the international flights, they will keep feeding you(of course they have to for the price they charge).Reached washington in 8 hours, here the immigration was far easier than I thought.The security guys were greeting all the passengers. They greeted me too which eventually turned out to be a joke that I never understood. It was his accent. Welcome to America I said to myself.

My head was already spinning and I needed some rest very badly. Next flight was a local flight from Washington to Austin. It was a 4 hours flight, but it seemed like eternity.I didnt even bother to look at the air-hostess this time.Reached Austin around 9PM local time, didnt waste time came out of the airport within minutes.I took a taxi to hotel, the driver was an african , he kept on bugging me with questions. I didnt mind his questions until he asked me that dreadful question, “WHAT DO YOU DO?”. I wanted to jump out of the car. I just didnt answer, and luckily we reached the hotel-Extended Stay America, before he could ask any other question.Checked in, just then I met my colleague who came here 2 weeks back (his name is Hari too). We went to my room, I learnt from him that there was a beautiful north Indian staying in the next room. I didn’t think much about that ,wanted some sleep very badly. Freshened up and Went to Hari’s room and spoke about the work here for a few minutes.

I came back to my floor. I didnt know how or why, but I forgot my room number, the hotels here have an access card with the phone extension number on it but not the room number(it was a strange logic, may be to prevent misuse when the cards are lost). I went back to hari and he too didnt remember my room number ,there was no one in the reception either to help me. I was already half asleep, just made a wild guess and tried opening room 307(this was the only number that came to my mind), it wasnt working.Was confused if I should try it again or look for another room.Then the other room number that came to my mind was 303, didnt have an option had to try it. Which actually turned out to be my room.

Then I figured out, while talking about that north Indian girl, Hari said, her room number was 307.I was really worried then, not because that I couldn’t remember my room number,but was worried that I could remember that girls room number before mine(and I havent seen the girl yet).Started wondering if I am really one of those desperate guys. It must be the Jet-lag I convinced myself(please convince yourselves too,I am just tired nothing else). I couldn’t imagine what would have happened if she was in the room and called 911 when I was trying to open that door.May be I would have ended up in the prison with handcuffs on the very first day. My imagination stretched a little far, if that door did open with my card and I could have been……..nothing,  just prefer not to talk about it here..

I went into my room and collapsed on the bed.

The week gone by…

Being a Hyderabadi for 24 years I need a hard kick at the back for not being to the heart of Hyderabad . Its better late than never, I finally made it to the Old city last friday.

I,Adi,Sid & Swaroop set off on a waistline increasing mission. My dad generously lent me his car and that too without a question and I liked it. We went into the Shadab restaurant. We brooded over the menu for sometime, I did more of it being a veggie(disgustingly veggie some friends of mine described it as). Adi, Sid and Swaroop started off with a haleem, the top agenda of the day . I watched them hungrily vanish everything. Then a kebab and then a biryani. Woah..I thought this would never end, but they finally finished. I finished my part with something I could find for myself with great difficulty.

All this while, none of us noticed the proportions Adi’s trunk was growing in. He wasnt done with it, he wanted another haleem, I searched for an outlet where he is letting out all that he is munching or to be precise galloping(other than the usual one) which I never found.Had a small walk in the crowded market place, then a faluda which was delicious. Looked for some pretty girls, we decided to stop at just looking as we didn’t want some of our vital parts being chopped off by the girl’s dad/brother, especially four us being un-married .

All this time I was lost in thoughts (which Adi complained a lot about), this place reminded me of her who took me to shopping at different places. Although she wasn’t with me , the watch she gifted me just made me feel as if she was holding my hand all the time(which she always did when she was with me). To take my mind off her, I tried to think about the guitar class girl, with whom I finally made some sort of communication which looked like it was going well(at least for me), it might have been meaningless for her but it made me feel good though(fools never learn from their mistakes, neither do I).

Our mission wasn’t done yet, we found our way to the very famous ‘Famous Ice creams’. Ordered two big ice creams it disappeared in minutes, credit to Adi again. He still found a way to push everything edible into that small but humongous trunk (is there another word to describe something like that? I guess a black hole would be appropriate). He was walking like a pregnant lady after that,  Swaroop was busy setting his newly bought straightened (ironed)hair style which cost 3500  INR (I have an iron machine at home, could have easily done that for half the price). And Sid was his usual observant of things around us and discussing something useful and serious topics ( I pretended I was listening but my thoughts were oscillating like a pendulum between people connected to my watch and my guitar).

We went to this movie ‘The Expendables’ after that, which was quite boring. It didn’t deserve to be mentioned here, the reason for mentioning it, Adi bought a Pepsi here (as his trunk’s size it was a huge one). We all took the same sized Pepsi, but we having it and he having it was something different for obvious reasons. I stared at that balloon for a moment which was still growing and showed no signs of scaling down, wondered what would happen if I pinned it. While I was still figuring out the meaning of the movie title “The expendable”, I found the meaning of the phrase ‘THE Expandable” and that’s Adi’s trunk, believe me it is THE EXPANDABLE.

Forgot to mention about the eat street we visited between the movie and ice-cream. Nothing so special about that place, until we saw a beautiful girl in a white one-piece skirt(I am not sure what’s that thing she wore is called, it didn’t matter whatever she was wearing she was the gorgeous).  And the painful part, she was with some idiot (any guy in his place would look the same unless it was me). It took some time for us to digest two miseries of our life. One, for not having such a girl in our life and the second, some guy was having that girl instead.

There ended the day, in the meanwhile I did some idiotic thing that week. I saw a beautifully made art at a location at work (not that I have never seen a much better art than that), no-one was around I quickly took a piece of paper and wrote “Nice Art! ” and pinned it to that location. I knew a girl was sitting in that location, so you can figure out what motivated me to do such a thing. Now don’t presume that I am a desperate bachelor, I like doing such things for the sake of doing it, actually everything that can keep her off my mind. Now don’t ask me if I would have done this if a guy was sitting there, some things are better left unsaid: D.

I came the next day, only to find that paper dumped into the trash can and that too crumbled (I could figure out the person’s expression by looking at the way the paper was crumbled, I usually do such a thing to my pay slip, it would have been better if that was flushed into the toilet, I would have shamelessly assumed that the person might have preserved that piece of crap I wrote) I looked at it sadly for a moment. Something else was pinned to the pin I used the previous day. At least someone got something out of this brainless act (the PIN). The positive part of it, the pin was still there, there were lots of papers around and I could always pin something else the next day, only a moron would do such a thing, which I am.