US Visit

Recollection of places I have been...

· Atlanta GA (This was done very often even if one in the group needs to get groceries). Visited the Aquarium, Coca cola factory, Indian groceries, Hindu Temples (Balaji and Swaminarayana) "n" number of times
· Greensboro NC. One of my colleagues’ friend stayed here. This also had many weekend visits with "Cherry picking" as the highlight!
· Grandfather Mountain NC
· Smoky Mountain, Gatlinburg TN. The visit during falls here was amazing!
· Drive to west coast trip from Greenville, SC. This covered many states inbetween with "stop-visits" at Houston, Galveston TX, San Diego CA, Los Angeles CA, Las Vegas NV and Grand Canyon AZ More at http://trudgingthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/07/loooooooong-drive-yes-it-was-indeed.html
· Erie PA.This had amazing beaches!
· Niagara Falls, both from US and Canada sides
· Charleston SC
· Cincinnati OH
· Myrtle Beach SC
· Disney World at Florida
· Near by places from Greenville SC like Ashville, Ceaser's head, Table Rock, Chimney Rock and Cherokee hills

I met 'S'

It has been almost a year and then 3 weekends of “planning to meet”. Finally, it happened this weekend! Along with M, I went to meet S. The word “Shradha” led to confusion and we landed up in a wrong apartment. S came out and was having fun to see us carrying a big gift* and roaming down the street to find her apartment.

After quick call and clarification we went to her apartment. Guess, who was on the TV - it was none other than daily visitor named “Rakhi Sawant”. Iam not a big fan of reality shows and usually watch these to get a few laughs. On the contrary, my friends were dissecting each and every dialogue of Rakhi and her episodes. S and I agreed that M is almost making her way to get fame like Rakhi!!

S was the same except for her change in hairstyle!, that actually gave her a fresh look! After 3 rounds of Chai and one round of beer, the mood was highly elated! Crappy discussion made us to laugh out whole-heartedly. “Set up of a mini bar” in our kitchen and “Toyun” switch to tune FM in mp3 player were a few of them! There were lots of “LOL” and “ROFL”

Of course, the dinner menu - Pasta, Roti and Baingan Bharta topped all this! S’s Pasta was tasty and she did it with an expert touch! The taste is still lingering in my mouth! Chit-chat was on till 3:00AM with a quick touch of all common friends, treks, PGs, PG mates and PG aunties!

Though we hit the bed, none of us could catch sound sleep and morning was waiting with another round of Chai! This get together would stay green for quite some time! Thanks to M and S!!

M felt that I looked happy – guess that’s true for all of us. And it happens when friends get together!! It’s just that we need to do more of this to break the mundane work!
* Big gift is not for S though she did get other gifts!

Wild Dogs' Attack!

Darchen is a place in Tibet that you visit enroute to Mt.Kailash from Nepal side. When we landed there on a cold evening - the Tibetan temples, its structures and village setllement prompted me and my friend to explore the place by walk . This happened as soon as we reached the camp site.

We looked at the villagers subjecting themselves to idle-chats with their partners. Took snaps of inquisitive kids who fixed their eyes on us! I was merrily talking to my friend and next instant I was pulled down to the ground by a wild dog. Thanks to the layers of cold clothings I had! There were 3 dogs heavily enagaged in attacking us. Next thing I knew was the drooling tongue hanging out on a background of canine teeth right next to my face. I could feel the dog’s hot breath. For one second, it was like the world coming to to an end!

Suddenly, out of nowhere the villagers came with strong sticks and chased away those dogs! My friend was still standing unlike me and for a second, I was happy that no harm was done to her. The thought was shattered when she quickly informed that she did get a bite on her ankle. I could see the canine mark that went through tough layer of her “trek” shoes onto her skin. We just finished four days of the trip and were yet to start the main trek. Our guide strongly recommended her to go back for rabies shots.

The intentions , preparations and expectations of the trip made us to ignore guide’s suggestion and proceed with the trek. Need to take a moment here to appreciate the courage that my friend donned to make the trip successful!!She did take the shots after a week when we returned to Nepal and continued the doses even after reaching India.

KUDOS TO HER STRONG WILL!! S, U ROCK!

Still Iam wondering what caused the dogs to attack us and why the whole scene is fresh in my memory even after two years!