Warning : Long post. Has nothing to do with news or politics. 

The absense of updates over the last few days is not to be interpreted as a sign of normalcy in Indian politics. 

Sitting at home for a long weekend is a criminal offence in the U.S., so we decided to drive to San Diego and back. A couple of friends drove down from Seattle to the San Jose airport, we picked them up and continued further down south.

For those interested, it is a beautiful drive from the Bay Area to Seattle and back. The green meadows of Oregon, Mt. Shasta and Grants Pass are some sights you must absolutely not cover at night, in case you embark upon this drive.

How could I forget to add this :

The first time I wanted to drive along the Pacific was when I saw Shawshank Redemption. The drive on CA-1 or US-101 is every bit as thrilling as this shot from Shawshank (@4:47) :

Thanks to Gigi.

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Now I’ll state this upfront. Having me on a roadtrip, where everyone is expected to contribute to the driving, is a liability. Not in the sense that I will not drive, but that I usually do all the driving myself, as the Alaska travelogue proves. It helps that I do not get fatigued or drowsy while driving.

The first day was all driving, starting at 3 p.m. from Stanford till 2.30 a.m., when we finally checked into a hotel at San Diego. Stops happened whenever we spotted a beach.

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The second day was mainly spent at Seaworld, on some lame rides (seriously) and okayish shows. A word of advice : Do not miss the sea-lions’ show. Everything else is trash compared to it.

Now there are around 15 beaches around San Diego, and we smartly selected the only one with loads of plankton. 

As a side-note, we discovered over the last few weeks that “ball catching” (usually with a tennis ball) is an amazing activity on beaches where you can easly dive around.

So the session started with ball catching, followed by the same but in water. We had carried along a bat, a trash bin agreed to double up as a stump, a few lines of demarcation were drawn and cricket began, quite possibly the first time ever on that beach. As it was a crowded beach, we could sense the WTFness the tourists were feeling.

We were sure people would be damn curious about this strange new game. Finally, one person mustered the courage to approach us. He trashed something in the bin, and walked away.

It was while playing cricket after so many years that I finally identifed with Mr. Lalit Modi. It dawned upon me that cricket is not about batting and bowling. It is just about batting actually.

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This was followed by the Shamu Rocks show at Seaworld and a comparatively early bedtime.

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The third day, we made it to the U.S. – Mexico border, and took exit 1A of I-5, thereby attaining closure, in the driving sense.

The funniest sign just before the border : “Guns are illegal in Mexico”. And the two or three “Last exit of U.S.A.” signs.

For some reason, we felt a strange tension as we walked around the border, with Tijuana in Mexico at the other side. Maybe it was the Mexican mafia thing, the two Mexicans who were facing the border wall with their hands up while being interrogated by an officer (any other time, I would be reminded of a scene in Andaz Apna Apna, but not this time), the fear I felt while shooting this on camera, a vindication of the fear when a passerby told me about a $500 ticket in case cops caught me taking snaps or the half a dozen immigrants being deported back in a line.

Apart from these, it was the most peaceful place, right after any Hindu temple.

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The most exciting moment, strangely, was on the drive back. Most of the 500-mile drive was at night, and just for fun, I wanted a snap of the trip-meter when it read 1000.0 miles. I could always halt the car and do that, but to make it interesting (since it was a lonely and perfectly straight stretch with no exits, so no danger of cops), I slightly went past the speed limit touching 90.

Geeks would realise that I had 100/(90*1.6*1000/3600) = 2.5 seconds to take a snap. I managed two.

P.S. : Considering the unlawful activities involved, I am not sure if it would be smart to post snaps here.

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As I returned the rental car and was being dropped home by Bill, who works for the agency, the conversation drifted to India, culture, curry (duh ?) and Pakistan. Then came this inexplicable moment :

Bill : So can I ask you a slightly personal question ?

Me : Yeah sure.

Bill : Do you miss Indian women ?

The answer I gave was the best answer given …. ever. It should make every Indian woman proud. Every Indian man too actually.

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So this drive, combined with the one to Seattle and back, means I have almost completed the north-south traverse of the west coast of America. The east-west drive remains, which should be somewhere in the near future, Insha’Allah.

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