In America

 Today's plan centers around Iftar at Rameez's home in Fremont. After lunch, we set out to Ikea, did some shopping of small items for my parents who are to return to India in a couple of days.    After Ikea, we did a nostalgia drive around our earlier Fremont home and school, and we reached his house at 7:13 PM , 2 minutes before ETA.     Fruits and glasses of juice were already on the teepoyee. We sat around in a sofa and waited for the sunset.  Aadu had the responsibility of alloting Ifthar snacks in the plates. In a very methodological fashion he placed "Petti pathal" and "Kozhiyada" in the plates. When it was time, "banku vili" was played in the portable speakers, and the fast was broken with dates, orange halfs and juice. The fast breaking had happened almost involuntarily as Rameez handed out the dates to everyone. As I was about to eat the prepared snacks, I found myself at a loss as I tried to find some coherence between Bajrangi and Empura...

  Vijesh came with his black beard, in a black checked hoody and jeans. As soon as I saw him, I knew what to do with the packet of holi powder I was carrying. I walked over to him and he quietly said .. "I don't like powder.." Manu and Gafoor were walking to him with the same plan. Surprisingly, even Manu did not dare put powder on Vijesh.  A quiet power.  Nimmy did not dare either. Gafoor would not. I would not. Stalemate. Perhaps the most dramatic moments on the ground. Kids did not dare either. Stephen Nedumpally aura. Even my parents were not spared holi colors.  Vijesh distracted the miscreants by offering to take their photos, and escaped unspecked.   My dad who had been in Nasik HAL commented that he has never seen such an extensive and lively holi celebration in such a huge ground setting even there.

 We got into taut conversation as soon as Deepak and me bade goodbye to Riyaz and Deepak's IISC friend in San Ramon. Deepak was looking into my eyes and talking about his family history and his razor sharp analytical brain was placing lots of pieces of information into the car. Our ideologies are different, and we both know that very well, and yet I loved how Deepak poured his heart and brain out. I did not know whether to look back at him or to focus on the road as he kept talking to me with unwavering eye contact.    The conversation was cut short as we reached my home. The vegetarian lunch was a novelty to me.   I used to talk about how 5.1 speakers giving sound from the back is a low hanging fruit that cinema enthusiasts like us should tap into. Demoed that.     On the drive back, the discussion was about religion, individuality, and Ayn Rand.  The conversations continued to be taut. Deepak is a great speaker and I enjoyed listening to hi...

 8:00 AM - The hyundai santa fe rolled off the lot.  Gas price would be a little high in the corral hollow gas station. One hastle less, a few dollars less, the van turned in.  While I fill gas, Divya walked into the store to get water. I followed and bought our sandwiches. Equipped with gas, food and water.  The music had started with the recent single "Run it up! by Hanumankind. To make the listen a little more palatable, I switched to Lata Mangeshkar classics. My father advised that such sleepy songs are unwise for driving. Switched to A R Rahman's Kadhalikku Neramillai.  A litte into the drive, I felt hungry, and we decided to have sandwiches and finish up the breakfast. The burger that I got was not great tasting. I thought I had taken the wrong call to buy these from the gas station, but others liked their sandwiches.  Divya unwrapped the first sandwich for me. I ate half of it, and was driving slowly. Midway she offered the other better tasting sandw...