My first U.S. trip – 24 carat friendship

Talk of my friends in U.S, I knew before I landed here that there would be some, but I witnessed more than I anticipated, many already married just like me, thereby increasing the community size even further. In the short time that i was here I got a chance to meet Bindu-Siva Krishna, TKPR-Alekhya, Swamy-Prathibha, Pratapa-Bindu, Santosh, DP and most importantly my dear friend Deepu (for G. Pradeep and not Deepthi), most of them multiple times. I'm not joking when I say, of all the dinners I had, I hardly dined without the company of one or more of these friends. And in each get-together a sense of genuine interest is seen in their eyes for participation. I felt privileged, I felt special. Those B.Tech and intermediate education college days of 24-carat pure friendship worked miracles even after a decade, situational comedy all along and thanks to mother tongue Telugu that allowed for a great timing. Thanks to the choice of hotel quite close by to the office and home locations of most of these folks, commute was not a problem even if it meant they picked me and dropped me in their cars all throughout. Deepu was the first guy to get in touch with me, second day after I landed and till he left for his vacation he was always eager to take me around places. The one Saturday I was there, he drove me to all the major site seeing places, practically possible on a wintry day - Snoqualmie Falls, Space Needle, Casino, Alki artificial beach, Seattle downtown, good Indian lunch buffet and Chinese restaurant for dinner. And to top it all the wonderful time spent simply idling through the Redmond campus buildings in the night and an ever memorable game of snooker that inculcated my interest in the game, i must admit. Thanks dude, if you do drop by at this post.