California Trip - Day One (01/16/2009)

We all look forward to something exciting, something that you enjoy or something that you will cherish for your entire life. It is a time that you countdown, wait anxiously for it and once it is there, you never want it to pass. Such is my condition whenever I meet these friends. 

     (From Left: Ruhi (Little One), Shital, Me, Rohit, Hrishi, Asawari, Neel (Little One), Sumeet)

This year we planned to meet at Sumeet’s place. Sumeet has been at Irvine, CA from the time he is here. Don’t bother asking him for how long because he will answer, “From the time I am here”. Keep guessing on that for a while. Anyways, we were to meet at Irvine. Normally we don’t need any special occasion to meet. However, this time we were meeting for the farewell to Hrishi since he is going back to India to complete his MBA and we were also meeting to welcome the new member (Neel) to the group.   

Shital was already at Irvine after a lengthy cross country tour for her interviews. Hrishi was to fly from DC on Friday. Rohit and Ruhi were to meet me at Houston airport and the 3 of us were flying together to LAX. Rohit had been a single parent for over a week as Sheetal was out interviewing. For people who know Rohit, a responsibility of a baby is something that could scare them. Rohit and responsibilities don’t go hand in hand. But on that day, I saw a different Rohit. The way he was interacting with Ruhi and taking care of her was commendable. I am keeping the topic of “Rohit as single parent” for later. I think a lot of us will be interested in reading that. This blog and few others are solely focused on the trip.   

It was evident that the fun would begin as soon as we meet. However, the fun began as the plane was descending for landing into LAX. As the pilot informed the attendants to be prepared for landing, a lady across the aisle stood up and started preparing herself for landing. She stretched, yawned and opened the overhead bin to remove her bag. I admire her talent as she was dong all this while the plane was still in the air and at a steep angle. She was asked to sit and not get up until the seatbelt sign was off. The plane was soon on the ground and everyone was ready to exit the plane. Rohit was carrying Ruhi who was half asleep. He was having a tough time getting up from his seat and unable to do so, he started wondering why Ruhi had become so heavy. A sleeping person shouldn’t be any heavier than a person who is awake. Rohit realized this when he knew that he wasn’t able to get up since his seatbelt was still fastened. That is the Rohit I know and this confirmed that this trip would be memorable.   

Hrishi and Sumeet were waiting for us near the baggage claim area. If there was another bald head near them, then they would have looked perfect for the blue bald head Pentium commercial. The 4 of us were meeting after a year. We had met at Richmond, VA in 2007 and now we were meeting on the other side of the country. After a brief meet and greet, we started to drive back to Irvine. LA airport to Irvine is about a 45 min drive. This is enough for interesting facts. I had just come from 30 degrees Fahrenheit to 30 degrees Celsius. Just a t-shirt was enough for this weather and the cool breeze from outside was just perfect. The speed limit here was 65 but people were driving at crazy 80 and there was traffic even at 11 pm. I came from a small town and these things are unseen by me. With so many people on the road, we asked Sumeet to take the HOV lane. But HOV lane is dangerous after sunset for Sumeet. He didn’t want to take the HOV lane as he cannot see the wall on the left hand side. Why wouldn’t you see the wall? That was the craziest reason that I had ever heard for not taking the HOV lane.   

Maybe Sumeet was tired from work and hence didn’t have confidence to drive close to the concrete wall. He was just back from India and had been working long hours that day. He had dropped Shital for her interview and had gone to work directly from there. Hence, he was at work from 8 in the morning to 8 in the evening. And knowing Sumeet’s working habits, Hrishi was quick to point out that Sumeet’s manager would have presented him with an Otie* for his OT (Overtime). 

* Otie: A maharashtrian tradition to gift a married woman (Savasheen) with rice, coconut and a blouse piece (The context over here is a token of appreciation by Sumeet’s manager for his rare commitment to be at work for more than required)

LA roads were bright with lights from big corporate buildings along the road. Rohit pointed out the “Toyato” building on the right. No, there is no type over here. That is exactly how Rohit pronounced it. Of course, he corrected Sumeet who claimed that the building was Toyato’s (Toyota) headquarters.   

At about midnight, we were looking for a burger joint that was claimed to be the best ever. Ever, ever??... yes, ever (according to Sumeet). Although, the 4 of us (Rohit, Ruhi, Hrishi and I) were tired after the long travel, Sumeet insisted to come inside as he wanted us to choose. And we did choose from the menu which listed 3 things that included fries. Hamburgers normal or Hamburger Animal Style.. those were the other 2 options. I think Sumeet is obsessed with options (the other instance of option play will be explained later). So after a tough decision we ordered 6 regular and 4 animal styles. Usually, our trips revolve around food and this trip wasn’t gong to be any different in that respect. Rohit wanted to try Korean while Hrishi wanted Sushi. I was unsure about my choice but Sumeet guaranteed that he will get me any cuisine I choose. So I chose Ethiopian and guess what; Irvine didn’t have Ethiopian cuisine joint. So we were sitting at In&Out burger place which has 2 options to choose from and when I was asked to choose any cuisine under the sun, I chose the only one that was not there…   

I should tell you guys before hand that appetite is the another name for Rohit. He has proved that right from the early days when he could finish 2 sizzlers at Yokos and then some more. Tonight, he was enjoying his fourth burger when Shital had to stop him. The 10 burgers were wiped off in no time by the 4 of us lead by Rohit.   

Shital and Ruhi went to sleep since Shital had to wake up early next morning for another interview. Asawari, Rohit, Hrishi, Sumeet and I were catching up. Rohit was busy catching up on his daily farting quota. I think he had restricted himself on the flight and now the living room was probably more radioactive than a blast zone after a nuclear blast. Sumeet opened the windows to ventilate the house while I had to get up and move away from the ground zero (or detonation point). In all this commotion, Hrishi was being immune. He had changed into his boxers and was talking to Asawari who was close to getting unconscious from the smell. Unaware of all this, Neel was fast asleep in the bedroom. I saw him for the first time. He was a sweet angel sleeping without any worries. Apparently, he had more hair than his dad.   

After freshening up, I joined the rest. As we were talking about our journey, Sumeet came out from the bedroom wearing a yellow t-shirt than would have fitted Neel perfectly fine; a body hugging t-shirt that seemed to be laminated to Sumeet’s body. We couldn’t believe that Sumeet could sleep in this without suffocating himself. Well, after listening to our bickering, Sumeet changed into a thin white inner that was even tighter than the previous one. Now it was our turn to get suffocated as I nearly choked myself laughing. Only now we knew the secret of the Oties’ that Sumeet received from his manager. The blouse pieces were used to stitch skin tight t-shirts for him.   

It was 3 in the morning and we were ready to sleep. Hrishi, Rohit and I slept in the living room. Having Rohit in the room is like having an ever ticking time bomb that can explode anytime. We were practically sleeping in the vicinity of a bio-hazard. If President Bush had looked for biochemical weapons in Oklahoma, Rohit would have been the new Bin Laden. Soon exhaustion and sleep overcame our skepticism and fear. And we were asleep to be ready for a fun filled trip.

That was the end of day 1. The next day would start in 3 hours when we wake up to drop Shital. All that and more coming up in the next blog… till then, see you soon!!!!