The Irvine – LA shuttle service started at 5 a.m. Shital’s flight was early in the morning. Based on phenomenal miscalculation of time estimate, Sumeet, Hrishi and Shital left before the break of dawn. Shital reached the airport and even passed through the security before the break of dawn (I guess). Now all that she could do was to chat and gossip with Hrishi over the phone. Guess what? There were gossiping about Sumeet in front of Sumeet without him knowing about it. Kisi ne sach kaha hai, "Talent to sabhi ke paas hai".
The big bags were left behind for Rohit. The schedule was tight for the day. We had to watch the Presidential speech, drop the rental car and drive to the airport. All this was to be done in less than 3 hours. So everyone was scrambling through with innumerable number of bags lying on the floor, trying to pack everything making sure we don’t miss anything or take anything too much. While Rohit and I were checking the bags, Sumeet was trying to burn the CD of all the pictures from the trip. Hrishi meanwhile was still lazing and watching the pre-show of Presidential swearing ceremony.
Ruhi and Neel were up and Asawari and Rohit were doing their best to get them ready. Neel was as usual relaxing and watching people around him multitask. Everyone still had their eyes on the television that was telecasting the oath ceremony of President of United States. Mr. Obama stood to take the oath and the whole world was glued to witness history in the making. While Mr.Obama raised his hand to take the oath, Sumeet turned around to take care of Neel. The whole world was facing the historical moment while Sumeet showed its back to it.
We were ready to leave and it was particularly hard to say goodbye to Neel. He had met all of us for the first time ever and he will meet us innumerable time in future. An adorable baby with those sweet big eyes!!! I will miss him.
Hrishi and I drove in the van while Rohit, Sumeet and Ruhi followed us to the rental car office. We were running close to the clock and had to cover a fair amount of time quickly. As Hrishi and I walked towards Sumeet’s car, we saw Rohit digging through the bags. He was totally confused and looked like he was searching for something. Oh yes, he was looking for Ruhi’s passport. He couldn't find it and wanted to call Shital but she was on flight and couldn’t be reached.
Panic struck the car. We had to drive to the airport. The only scenario was to convince the security that Ruhi was truly Rohit’s kid (which was not difficult). We were thinking of various options when Rohit’s phone rang; Shital was on the other line. She got an idea of the situation and promptly went to the continental inquiry center at Houston. They told that until the age of 15, any child assisted by his/ her parent or guardian does not need to produce any identification. This was a blessing. God bless anyone who made that rule!! So Ruhi is fine without the passport.
When we reached the airport, we had enough time to go through the security and to the terminal. But before that, we had to get the boarding passes. I got mine and was waiting for Rohit. As soon as Rohit pushed his credit card in the machine, a window popped up saying that the flight had already departed. What?? We were 90 minutes before departure. How can the flight take off before time? Noone had a clue!! After a minute of silence, Rohit realized the smart mistake that he had done. He had pushed Shital’s credit card that had charged her flight (that flew earlier that day). With Rohit comes stupidity and blunders that cannot be predicted by any.
The next mistake was from the airline company. Ruhi was not showing up on Rohit's itinerary. The flight help crew acted sensibly and added Ruhi to the flight. However, then she asked the stupidest question I had heard in my entire life. She asked Rohit whether it is ok if the two sat on different rows (since the flight was full). I tried to understand if she really meant it. She was talking about a 2 year old girl and her dad to be sitted separate on the 3 hour flight. Rohit was dumb struck. He had no words. This is another history made today. If Obama being President is big, Rohit being speechless is bigger. The helping crew understood the mistake and immediately changed the sitting and everything else.
Luckily, Rohit, Ruhi and I got the 3 adjacent seats. Hence, we could travel together. For the next 3 hours, we did the following.
- Played with Ruhi
- Had food
- Played with Ruhi
- Solved Sudoku
- Had food
- Played with Ruhi
During the flight, Ruhi played the tune of “Clementine” and I was humming it for her. She enjoyed it so much that she was humming the tune even a week later.
The 3 hours went by quickly. Finally, we landed at Houston and we had to take the air-train to go to a different terminal for next flight. Although, Rohit/ Ruhi and I were flying on different flights, our gates were very near. This helped us spend the next 45 minutes together. Finally, I boarded the flight and was off to Richmond. It was a weird feeling to be alone after these days. These guys are family to me and saying goodbyes to them is as tough as those when I leave Bombay airport.
I reached at 10:45 pm and called Hrishi who was still in Irvine. Apparently, Hrishi, Sumeet and Asawari had Shushi for lunch and had a nice afternoon nap. This is what Hrishi calls “Sushi with Rushi”. Hrishi was to leave in a while. He was taking the “Red Eye” flight from LA to DC. There is a rumor that this is the same notorious flight that Sumeet and Asawari took before Neel was born or should I say that this is the same notorious flight that Sumeet and Asawari took for Neel to be born.
I called Rohit and he had another story for me. After reaching the airport when Rohit tried to fit Ruhi’s car seat in his car, it didn’t fit. There was something wrong with the seat. Rohit soon realized that he had got someone else’s car seat. This was not Ruhi’s car seat. When he went back to the baggage claim, a lady was standing there pissed off at something. She had Ruhi’s car seat in her hand. As I said before, it never ends. Hrishi reached DC the next day after the long Red Eye flight. We will have to wait for nine more months to validate whether the rumor of the Red Eye applies to Hrishi as well. And that could be the time when all of us will meet again. However, the venue for the next meeting is already set. And next time, the backdrop won’t be the fake tower.
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