Here we come, Talahassee

We have a tradition, once a year, a bunch of us meet to do a lot of nothings and laugh our cares away....

And this year, a gang of six mobbed a cozy place called home in Tallahassee, FL for the Labor day weekend. This home belongs to 2 very special friends, the poet and his inspiration ; ) So met the 8. The world was forgotten and time just bared some of the fun moments for the days to come.

I once read in a Paul Reiser’s book that u’ll know it’s the right person for you when u hold hands and your fingers are entwined in a perfect weave, which feels comfy - not too tight or loose. You’d know it feels just right.

It’s a metaphor that I’m implying that it was like holding hands comfortably for the rest of the days. The chronicles of our nothings began from our--

++ pit stop at Waffle House where the waitress didn’t bring Pavan’s “Just Coffee”, until the rest of us finished eating our hearty b’fast.

++ Our drive to Talahassee, when Pavan was driving and we were hoping he’d take a break from talking to Vamsi and listen to Veer’s directions.

++ Our warm welcome at the Vijay’s home with hot steamy food waiting for us after a drive of 2 hours. Pallavi gave us a quick tour of the beautiful home, it’s an open space planned home in contemporary style, which would make Vern Yip pat his shoulder in pride.

++ While, the people with tired old bones ate and relaxed, Tillu and I went to her office, she had to submit her timesheet. Since it was after 5pm on Friday, we thought it would be ok for her to give me a tour of her office too. She works at DEP. Not knowing one of her super’s was around, she went on mention how she hated “wash parties”. We doubted later if he heard it : ) Before u wonder what wash parties are, let me explain – this happens when a few scientists, gather in union to wash all the delicate glass equipment, which are used to analyze algae’s and other pollutants from the precious lakes and water resources of FL. I just loved that term – wash parties, aieh!

++ We barbequed chicken & corn that night and went on talking into wee hours of the am. Since Rama was new kid on the block, it was her time to pay the dues and swear into fraternity and sorority club. We “teased” (to mildly put it ) and asked embarrassing questions, but she did good. First impressions were revealed, some came out with flying colors and some on shaky grounds. Aaanh ! First impressions have many chances, right ! In my opinion, I think Pavan was completely misread…

++ We moved on to waking up late, lunching mexican food and heading to Wakulla Springs to do some bird watching.

++ I loved it. In the balmy heat, we fanned with brochures and took the boat. We spotted Alligators, Manatee’s, Spanish moss on the trees, fishes of zillion kinds in that clear deep water, the sea weeds swaying in the water, birds and ducks, (names that I cant even pronounce), but that I took pics of, the boat moving ahead in the shadow of the old trees with long limbs for branches hanging loose in the sweet breeze. We said “aye aye Captain” and stepped out of the boat.

++ We headed to FSU, which brought back memories of my days at university.

++ After shopping for gifts for the new home buyers and newly weds, we headed to ….yup…Panama City. Though we reached late and made Vamsi run...and after lounging lazily at beach restaurant we played beach volley ball. After a slow start of missed serve’s and ball volleyed out of the court, we gave the amreekan’s and Brazilians a good run, took a long walk on the beach, then few of us got drunk like sailors, blared music from the car and sang loud, and headed home.

++ Then Channing Tatum happened to us in “Step Up”. He is …well check it out yourself. To put it in the best way without hurting anyone's feeling's..he's got some moves to show and darn cute and ...never mind. Just see the movie.

++ The reference of "Dost"....

++Finally, I got to record on camera only the last bit, of our conversations, Vamsi asked the newbie about her first crush and then everyone followed. Jeez, that did it, everyone was on a roll...to tell thier share of stories. It was memorable, everyone telling secrets in the dark, under the moon, with a dim soft light, and the fan blowing to keep the few mosquitos at bay, the sound of laughters followed with silent heart breaks which were all put out and made fun of…ha ha ha. Poor thing, the guys didn’t have much to say :) Vj would reveal all the secrets and Vamsi would try to cover up with masala's and Pavan would break the bubble for them.

Did I tell that Pallavi is an awesome chef ! She did a fine job of displaying her recently acquired talents ; ) Amongst all this, the highlights were the impromptu poetry of Vj, the quick witted jokes of Vamsi, the fave prey for guys and girls – Pavan and Veer the nicest guy in the room. The shared common hyderabadi language was like honey to the ears. Pallavi and I were branded as badmash's, Shalini as "reserved only at first", and ofcourse Rama the "nice, friendly gal".

It’s hard to forget the faces of these four friends stepping back into the airport after one last cigarette together. We girls chimed at the same time, how long and cloudy their faces looked like.

It's always hard to say "good-bye", so in our own ways we hugged and for few a tear escaped our eyes.

While in a small corner of the world, 8 friends lost track of time and were taking one day at a time, the FSU was cheering to have Seminoles win , which they did for the first time in six years, Steve Irwin passed away while doing what he loved best and Bush came out of the closet! nah not that closet but to “acknowledge the existence of secret CIA prisons and said 14 key terrorist suspects have now been sent to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba” (quote bbc.com)

These are just few of the many things that were unraveling for those 5 days. If the mob is reading dont feel shy to add what was the best part for you.