NewYork Trip-I

New York Trip-I
What a wonderful trip this has been. I remember an advertisement that carries a tag line,"where sanity makes a comeback". when i thought of our trip, this came to my mind," Insanity makes a comeback".It was hilarious, heartwarming, and fun filling (which bordered over insanity) trip.

Right from my start from Columbia, Missouri to Jefferson city and then to St.Louis, and then to Pittsburgh and then to New jersey and to New York, man its been a roller coaster ride.
I started off from Columbia,Missouri and went to Jefferson city to catch the "Kansas Mule". its a befitting name, delayed by an hour, I boarded at 8.00PM on Friday, for my 7.00 PM schedule. I reached St.Louis Union Station at around 11PM , the place which always amuses me with a rich history ,to welcome Guna and Jai.

After couple of calls and a cat and mouse game, we were able to unite.That set off our journey in the CHEVY Uplander with GPS to Pittsburgh.Gunasekar, my buddy from Chicago was  excited of having got hold of such a full size car. Along with GPS, he seemed to have knack for the art of making Car rental deals.

CHEVY UPLANDER

We set off, to Pittsburgh from St.Louis Union station. We stopped for a late night dinner and gas at a pit stop.

With soothing illayaraja s music from 80-90s and pleasant and clear night , the travel was perfect. The serene night travel evoked the Philosopher in Jai. Jai hails from karnataka,works with Guna and truly his knowledge about Hinduism and spirituality is impressive. While I drove, we discussed Existionalism, Ayn Rand`s objectivism and what not, while Guna cozily slumbered in the passenger seat, which i would say the best thing to do , with Illayaraja`s melody.

We welcomed Saturday with a coffee at McDonald's outside Indianapolis and captured the beautiful sunrise in our virtual and real memory along the Indiana skies. We drove all the way to pittsburgh. Again the morning was full of heated arguments between me ( ofcourse) and Jai debating on the "Role of Common man in Ancient Art Architecture, Literature".

With his near perfect lane discipline and zeal for driving , guna has certainly matured into an awesome driver who always puts safety first. Guna , has not changed a bit after 8 long years. he is the same guy, who is always there for you, with a laid back life and pleasant attitude and has an honest appreciation for others.

The city of Bridges welcomed us. The yellow bridge with its brilliant architecture beckoned us.

Pittsburgh Panoramic View

Our meeting point was Pittsburgh Perumal Temple. Yes. The same place mentioned in the Tamil Blockbuster Ayutha yezhthu. I have hunch that it is because of those lines uttered by siddharth to trisha  the Pittsburgh perumal temple became more famous. May be i am wrong. But in a state of Movie buffers/eccentrics such things are not impossible.

Let me introduce you to the quintessential metrosexual now. He came all the way from New Jersey to pittsburgh and to walk us through to NYC and Jersey City, NJ. He is Haribabu Gajendran. The man with a mission to make our trip as much sweet as possible. oops, I forget his surname. He demands that to be mentioned. He is Haribabu Gajendran Moparti.

Gudiyattam Guys: (From Left to Right) Aswin, Guna, Hari