Life at CMU – June 1 to 21

Time is just flying.. its been almost 45 days since I landed in Pittsburgh..

Last Sunday Me and Viki started out on a temple visit that never happened..determined not to keep wandering about this time as we had the India-England match around noon time. we drew the map as per the instructions on the net and started out at 8 30.. but alas, this time too we wandered around for almost 2 hours, asking the wrong people for the right directions.. and as luck would have it, the shortest route was blocked for some construction activities.

We took a route along the Northern Pyke road and according to the map we had to turn a left at spproximately .4 miles. We walked on and on along the steep slope. The lane wore a deserted look, with the sides adorned by thick bushes on one side and country houses along the other side. We thought we had almost reached .4 miles and we were contemplating which left to take, as there were 2 or 3 branches almost adjacent to each other. I wandered along the mat of grass towards one of them and lo! just then a ferocious german shepperd leapt from the gates and came charging towards us. I leapt above the thick bushes towards the highway where as Viki gave up and was just waiting for the eventuality to unfold A tall fair handsome sports freak who ate vegetarian food all his life and another tall smart guitarist would not have been such a bad meal for the german shepperd. I frantically jumped straight into the highway , and as luck would have it, no vehicles passed by just then.. else minnale style la map poturka vendiyadhu dhaan..

But the dog seemed to be a well trained watch dog. As soon as it neared the highway, it stopped ; so perhaps it had been instructed just to keep the tresspassers away from the property it was guarding..

We walked along for some more time but were clueless about the route as the canopy of trees and thick bushes made it even harder. Of course, we were wondering how much more canine friends would enable us make up for the loss of a morning jog along the way , we decided to get back and make a proper trip the next time instead. Perhaps, Lord Venky just did not want us at his shrine that day !

It was really sad to see India lose the way it did , but things happen in sport. I desperately wanted Windies to win the trophy but it was pretty nice to see Pakistan lift the cup, especially after what they are going through right now. A rational view would make you agree with me that the Pakistani cricketers are being unfairly sidelined for pretty much no fault of theirs eg: the IPL fiasco in which the Pakistanis were barred from participating even though it was held in S.A and not in India ; the dumb explanation given by Lalit Modi was that they were not in the original squads selected on March 1 when the Pak govt. denied clearance for them to visit India! In that case Mr Modi, the govt. also refused security clearance for the tournament in India, did you listen to the government then ? This victory would perhaps open the doors for a more secure career for them.

Last Wednesday, I was woken up from my evening nap by some hard hitting hail stones that were splattering on my window panes. It hardly rained for some 1 hour and there was chaos n flood alerts every where. Some classes too were suspended the next day ! Back home , we played cricket even during cyclones Even during those trying times when we experienced heavy floods, we went about with life as if nothing happened. India rocks guys , so think twice before making statements praising the glory of other adopted countries

I have developed this new found passion and addiction for squash, thanks to lack of Cricket here. The game is so addictive and I am just loving it, flexing my muscles and showing off my reflexes on the court. I also got a calling card that charges just around 90 paise per minute for a call to India ! Makes it a lot easier to call up the near and dear ones these days..

I tried cooking Brinjal and it came out pretty well ( Viki will stand testimony). So I am managing with cooking pretty ok.. but it can never get up to what my mom and sister prepare back home.. I am heavily missing their food

So I have started cooking, managing provision bills and other expenses, and in short running the house..Mom, are you listening ? I am ready for the next few things in life

The coming week looks to be very crucial and momentous as I have my mid term results and hopefully a few other good things coming up as well