The Dallas Trip

The last time I met my bhaiya, bhabhi and the kiddo was on 1st Jan last year. I was on my way from Cochin to Atlanta, and I had to gatecrash at their apartment because of flight problems, which thankfully happened in Hyderabad. "Welcome to Atlanta" mocked my bhaiya, who really isnt as famous for his witty remarks as I am. He does make up for lack of quantity with some more quality, though. :-)

Then, after my 6 week onsite assignment, when I returned in Feb, they were on their way to Dallas on the same day. I was wondering whether we could wave each other tata as the planes pass by, like trains in nearby tracks. Heheh. Well, as you might have guessed, that didnt happen. And so, while I remained at offshore for the next few months, these folks remained in Dallas. I got my chance to come back to US in December, to Chicago and then in Feb this year, to Minneapolis. And since I was supposed to go back soon, with these folks still here, I thought it would be a good idea to go meet them. Visiting family and friends is what I like to do a lot, although I am all at sea about what to do when I get there. This reminds me, when was the last time I travelled by sea? Anyway, back to the point.

I decided the right time would be on a weekend, with the impending India trip, so that I could hold on to as many leaves as I could. Hey, if there were more leaves around, I would be Tarzan. Back to the point again.

Now, the question was to figure out the right weekend. That was an easy choice as my niece, Malutti's b'day fell over a weekend this year. Of course, my bhaiya and bhabhi had predicted this as I kept delaying my weekend plans before this date. My bhabhi's brother, Rahul was also coming from San Diego for this. So, it was to be the nice family get-together.

I left early on Friday, direct from office, got onto the metro train, which left me at the footsteps of giant escalators, 3 of them. This led me to the MSP (Minneapolis & St. Paul's) airport. It was raining cats and dogs outside, although pets arent allowed in most of the places here. Eventually, the flight was delayed by 3 hours. In compensation, they offered us a $25 discount coupon, to be used on the next flight booking.

I reached Dallas airport safely (havent been on one which was otherwise). I had my iPod and a book for companionship. Its easy to spend the few waiting hours with them around.

My bhaiya had come to pick me up. "Welcome to Dallas" he said. I smiled. He remembered our last meeting then. We made a few rounds at the airport, just buying enough time to park again, since Rahul was getting down from his flight. We picked him up. He had brought his bag with him, the one that bhabhi had asked us to bring so that we could take back packed home-made food. His bag was smaller than what I had brought. So, you can guess who got to take back more of the food. Heheh.

When we reached home, the little kiddo was awake, and was jumping with joy. We got in just by midnight and in time to wish her 'Happy birthday'. The next 2 days were spent all with her, with the kiddo enjoying her time with her mamaji and chachaji.

On the b-day morning, we went to the store to pick up the birthday cake that was ordered by bhabhi. I didnt even bother to put on any additional (read protective) clothes or even comb my hair. Dallas was pleasantly hot enough, when compared to the harsh weather in Minneapolis.

Then, it was time to get ready and get to the Indian restaurant where we had asked some of bhaiya's colleagues to come with their family. It was fun. Bhaiya had devised this game on the lines of KBC, and it was called 'Kaun Banega Achha Pati'. :-) I was to be the host, acting out like AB, which was strangely, for the first time in front of my family members here.

So, after a heavy lunch and more cake for dessert, we were all tired on our way back home. When we reached the apartment, the kiddo wanted to go out to play in the park! "Park, tata" was the cue. She kept uttering it until her mom took her to the park for tata. Heheh. Rahul and I wanted to go, but just couldnt keep up with the dynamo's energy level, and went flat on the beds.

Next day, we did go with her to the park. That was fun as well. Playing along with her, on the swing and then, on the slide. Climb, slide down, run back fast - she kept doing this over and over again, until we had to execute a break in her seemingly infinite loop.

The best thing was the way she used to laugh at just the little gestures we used to make. Even a poor imitation of a lion's roar would generate uncontrollable laughter from her. And sometimes, for no reason at all, she used to come and give a hug. Such unconditional love was something I had rarely seen. So, here was another person (in the very small list) who meant more to me than myself. :-)

On early Monday morning, with some grief of departure and the bag full of food, my bhaiya took me to the airport. I came to the airport 50 minutes earlier than the departure of my flight. But because of waiting at the line to get a kiosk to check-in for my flight, I got delayed. Also, Delta airways said that they could not check me in using their kiosk although they had mentioned Northwest as their partners. Lost more time there. At the end, when I got a NW kiosk to check in, the airline staff told me that I was 3 minutes late (with 27 minutes remaining for the flight to take off). They put me on standby for the next flight, and the one after that, and another one after that. I kept waiting for 4 flights and thereby spent 10 hours in the DFW airport. Even after calling customer support to reschedule my flight to sometime later in the evening or for next day, I was told I have to pay around 389 dollars for this. I checked with my roomie and he got me a confirmed seat for the first flight on the next day with the minimal charge of 50 dollars for the reschedule. The airline staff at the gates and at the check in counter were not that helpful either.

Meanwhile, I had called up my manager and told him that I would be delayed in Dallas by a day. I just hope he doesnt think that I had this preplanned. I called up my 3 of my friends in Dallas, asking if they were able to meet me then. I couldnt meet them earlier since all the 2 days was spent with the kiddo. But, none of them could meet me that day. Now, they shouldnt be able to complain anymore. I gave them a chance, right? :-)

I asked my bhaiya to pick me up. On the way back to the apartment, I was wondering - on my way to Dallas, the NW flight was delayed by 3 hours due to maintenance and they gave me a 25 dollar voucher off for next time. And on this flight, when I was delayed by 3 minutes, NW took me off the confirmed list, asked me to wait for 10 hours and then ask me to pay 389 dollars to get on board the evening flight. Also, both my checked in bags were sent to MSP on the previous day. I had to spend a whole day in Dallas without my stuff and had to rush at the MSP airport to make sure that they dont dump my baggage. Well, the silver lining in this dark cloud was that I got more time that day to spend with the kiddo.

On the next day morning, the flight was at the same time as on the previous day. This time, we didnt take any chances and went there 2 hours early. It was easy this time and by 10 AM, I was in office. I had already got a call from my manager on the way there. Ah, another beautiful day of work to look forward to, I thought, with the travel bag still on my back.

So, should I call this the Dallas trip or the Dallas fall? :-) Well, this happend in the month of April, so it was the Spring season and not Fall. Secondly, although I had this minor hiccup (trip) at the airport, I really didnt fall. Silly, but simple.

Let me finish off with this old Chinese proverb:
"If you get up one more time than you fall, you will make it through."