Scribble Pad: Sumeet Ki Ainak!!

A paid vacation for Sumeet was the right time for him to visit different places in the US. Asawari and Sumeet had already visited NewYork and DC in a week. They came to Richmond and stayed for couple of days with me. It was a great time showing them the city of Richmond. I have been in Richmond for the last 3 years and more. However, I am still unsure about the places that someone can visit in Richmond. Vaishali has been a victim of my unawareness about Richmond. The only place she could distinctly remember in Richmond is the Barnes and Nobles at Short Pump. She had already warned Asawari about her trip. To add a variety to this flavor, I boldly took Asawari and Sumeet to my workplace. I still do not understand how someone can love his/her workplace. But to my surprise, they loved it. Atleast, it was better than the Barnes and Nobles.

We drove to NJ on Thursday and stayed over at Vaishali's house. The plan was to visit Niagara and check out falling waters if possible. We started from Vaishali's house at 11 a.m. on Friday morning. It was a sunny day and we had a long drive ahead of us. Vaishali had already filled the car with eatables and drinks (non-alcoholic) for the trip. After picking up some more eatables from the Indian store, we were on our way. Sumeet was already on his cell phone calling his cousin in Canada. His cousin wanted to meet us at the falls. Plan was decided and Sumeet was back surfing the ipod for good songs.

Asawari, Vaishali and I were discussing about Sumeet's career opportunities in the US. This had been the hot topic for weeks and was still unresolved. New job, new company and new project were all discussed and all possibilities were analyzed. However, even though the discussions were heated, they still couldn't beat the heat outside. We had to drink a lot of water to avoid dehydration. This high intake of liquid resulted in the unavoidable circumstances when we had to search for an exit ASAP. But faith always plays tricks on you. We could not find a single exit for a long time. We were now expecting to see the "falling waters" in the car itself. After a long time and valiant effort of self-control, we finally managed to find a Mac Donald’s. Many will agree that the relief after such a long wait is beyond comparison.

I have known Sumeet for along time. However, this was the first time that I was on a long trip with him after he was married. Married couples have great topics to discuss and argue. Since, I knew Sumeet and Asawari very well, I was contributing to their arguments whole heartedly. Vaishali was playing safe and was trying to be diplomatic in her comments while I was adding fuel to the fire. Time was flying fast with these chit chats and arguments. We had reached Syracuse by about 3 p.m. and now our stomachs were growling. Long trips do not make me hungry. However, I do have to be considerate towards my passengers as well. We made a pit stop at a Subway.

The argument between Asawari and Sumeet has reached its pinnacle. Both of them were agitated enough and had stopped arguing. The lunch was silent. Not a lot of talking. This seemed like the silence before the storm. Vaishali paid for the food and we left in the uncomfortable silence. Before hitting the highway again, I wanted to fill in gas. I knew that I had plenty of gas left but didn't want to stop again. I filled about 4 gallons to fill my tank.

The next few hours, Vaishali and I were trying to get the couple talking. Sumeet and Asawari were definitely a married couple with couple problems. We had a stop at one of the service areas for coffee. It was getting dark and we were sure that we couldn't see the Niagara that day. Sumeet had to call his uncle for change of plans and finally it was decided that he will meet us the next day. We were ready to leave when Sumeet asked for his glasses. Asawari had them in her purse as Sumeet was wearing his sunglasses (customized for his eyesight) all this while. It was a white purse that she was carrying with her valuables and Sumeet's glasses. But she couldn't find it in the car. "Are you sure that it was in the car?", we asked. Asawari was never so sure about it. Where can a purse disappear?

Asawari couldn't hold back her tears. The purse had to be found. All she could remember was that she carried the purse to the Subway. Oops!! She forgot the purse at the Subway about 200 miles back. WE didn’t even know the town where we stopped. Vaishali was quick to remember that calling 411 could help trace the Subway and the phone number as well. But, we needed some way of identifying the city/ town/ village. Vaishali had already thrown the receipt from the subway. But, even in this world, miracles and coincidences occur. As I had stopped for gas (though minimal), I had the receipt from the gas station. Bingo!!! We had the zip code. Vaishali called 411 and got the number for the subway. To our luck, the subway did find the purse. They agreed to keep the purse until we pick it up on our way back (the next day). All this while, Sumeet was consoling Asawari and keeping her calm. He was lucky as Asawari had forgotten about their argument and now they were more concerned about their valuables. Sumeet wanted his glasses as badly as Asawari wanted her purse. He could be practically blind without them. Now that we knew that the purse was safe, Asawari was feeling better and she had forgiven Sumeet. It was dark enough to turn on the car’s head lights and Sumeet was still wearing his sunglasses. It was the funniest time and Sumeet was sad.

We reached Niagara at about 8:30 p.m. after an eventful drive. We crashed on the hotel bed and were lazy to get out. I am surprised by the fact that Sumeet was still wearing his glasses. After all, he didn't have any option but to keep them on. Sumeet still had to confirm the plan with his cousin. He called the cousin and decided on a plan for the next day.

After resting for a while, we drove to the falls. It was a beautiful sight. There was a show of fireworks. The light was bringing the fall to life. The water sparkled with rainbow colors as the mist rose above the ground level to magnify the entire place. The fall in the night is a spectacle... Oops!! That reminds me of Sumeet who was “enjoying” all this with his sunglasses. To prove that he was not blind enough, Sumeet drove us back to the hotel. The drive was safe or that’s what I thought until I knew that Sumeet didn’t see the cop who he passed few blocks back.

We were dead tired and were ready to sleep when Sumeet realized that he had to meet his cousin at the falls at 9 a.m. “I am not gonna wake up that early!!” was the unanimous declaration from Asawari, Vaishali and I. It was too late to call his cousin and change the plan. The only idea would be to wake up at 6 and let Sumeet’s uncle know about the revised plan to meet at noon. Everything seemed fine with that plan other than the fact that Sumeet now had to wake up at 6 to call his cousin.

“TRRRRrrrrrrrr!!”, the alarm rung at 6 to wake up Sumeet. Although Vaishali, Asawari and I were awake, nobody made a move. Poor chap woke up and changed the plan. He even took shower and was ready by 6:45. I could hear him moving around the room trying to wake somebody up. Asawari was first to give up and woke up cursing him. We checked out our hotel room by 9:15 and headed straight for the falls.

It was a gloomy day and in a moment it started raining. After finding a good spot to park, we headed for our first ride “Maid of the Mist”. This is a ride where the boat takes us very close to the falls. You are literally drenched by the water from the falls. To avoid getting wet, we get a poncho. In this case, the ponchos were helping us from the rain more than the falls. As we closed to the falls, I could feel the gust of air and the spray of water on my face. I have been here before; however, this was more exciting than my previous encounter with the gigantic falls. The rain was acting as a fuel to the power of the falls. The boat was now so close to the falls that I had a hard time to breathing in the midst of the combination of strong wind and the spray of water that was turning into a water jet crashing in my face. I could hardly see anything around me other than somebody with his sunglasses on J. I wondered if the boat was ever gonna turn or are we gonna perish in the falls. It turned!! It turned… and we were back on the deck.

Sumeet’s cousin has been in Canada for more than a decade. He joined us to the “Cave of the Winds”. The cave gets you right under the falls. As we closed to the final destination, we could feel the water pressure. The wind and water was making it difficult to stand. Vaishali and I gathered courage and stepped to the deck where we were under the falls. The water was now directly falling on us. The pressure compelled us to hold the railings and turn our back to the falls. There was no way we could have faced the falls without hurting ourselves. I checked and figured out that Sumeet, Asawari and Sumeet's cousin were standing way behind the so called “Hurricane Deck”. Finally, Sumeet and Asawari were bold enough to join us. Once they were inside the fall, they forgot all their fears and enjoyed every moment. We were drenched!! I was feeling cold and wanted to change. Vaishali and Asawari went to the food court to change while Sumeet and I were comfortable changing in the parking lot. After drying ourselves, we were sitting at an Indian restaurant for lunch. By 4:30, we were ready to leave. Sumeet’s cousin was gonna walk to the Canadian side and then catch a train back home. It’s great that you can walk from Canada to the US.

Normally, the drive back after a great trip is boring and sad. However, in this case, we were excited as we had to get Asawari’s purse from the Subway. Sumeet was more excited than Asawari since he was going to get back his vision. He was like a kid jumping in the back sit as we were close to the Subway. We reached the Subway by 7 p.m. and claimed the purse. It was great to find everything in place… sorry; it was great to find that everything except Sumeet’s glasses was in place. I cannot describe Sumeet’s face after that. Though we were sorry for Sumeet, it was a funny ending to an exciting treasure hunt. Asawari, Vaishali and I couldn’t hold our laughter.

The rest of the trip was pseudo silent. We (including me) were busy enjoying the beautiful weather. The clouds had a silver lining and the mountains glowed at a distance. It was a treat to the eyes. I was engrossed in the scenic drive when Vaishali yelled “WOW!!!!!!” that could have turned me deaf. I startled and so did the car. I might have skipped a heart beat with that yell. I was more surprised and annoyed when I knew that Vaishali was excited to see the buffaloes at a distance. Out of all the amazing things around, all that Vaishali was excited was a herd of buffaloes that was grazing in the open field. And then there was silence for the rest of the trip.

The trip to Niagara Falls was exciting due to various factors. Even though Awawari’s purse and fall were memorable events, they could be easily blind sighted by the fiasco of Sumeet’s glasses (literally).

To this date, we are unclear of the whereabouts of Sumeet’s glasses. Thus, I request to all you readers that if you ever find a pair of glasses in upstate New York, please conduct the following tests.