Destination US

Life kept moving on. Life became easier too. I was working on the same project in which Akash was working from Seattle in the US. I no longer had to reach office by 9 am to talk with my US team. With Aki, I always knew I could call him any time in his night, since he would be up drinking until late night. Once I came to office on a Monday morning and asked him on what to work on. He replied, “Chill man, you have nothing to do for next 2 days.”
I was curious “Why what happened? Did I make any mistake in the code?”
He was nonchalant “no, I finished all the coding over the weekend”.
I was surprised “but I thought the deadline was this Friday”.
He explained, “It was raining all weekend. I did not have any good movies to watch as well. It was boring, so I finished all the coding.”

Then came the shocker “but don’t tell anyone yet about it. Just send an email late evening that you finished everything by today”.
I was puzzled “why do you want to give me all the credit?”

Aki explained, “Our company have nailed a new deal with this client. We are going to need few more programmers here in US. I am going to recommend your name to our manager. So need something brilliant from you to support the recommendation. What better than a dedicated programmer who finish tasks 4 days ahead of schedule?”

I was grateful to him, but before I could express my thankfulness to the fullest, he cut me short, “don’t thank me too much. My roommates are too decent. One of the guys had the misfortune of getting married, so we will need a roomie too. I prefer someone like you to keep the balance; else these decent roomies drive me crazy.”

I protested, “I am not at all an indecent guy. I do not smoke and I do not drink. Neither am I foul mouthed like you are!”
Aki told philosophically “Yet you never attempted to correct me, even for once. Which means secretly you like these activities, and you are as indecent as I am. So deal is sealed.”

Thus, my travel to the US was sealed. On the fateful day, I saw myself standing at the airport with about one hundred people to bid goodbye. Well, bidding goodbye not to me, but to my colleague Malini, who was also travelling in the same route with me to join the same project. Malini was local to Chennai, she was cheerful, smart & popular, and thus most of her neighborhood came to bid her goodbye. She was very proactive as well. Even before the flight could leave the runway and go airborne, she finished her customary weeping and started introductions.

“I am Malini, I am fluent in Tamil, so you don’t have to worry about anything at all” she assured. I was not sure what was there to get worried about in the first place. She apparently read my thoughts.
“Do you know the route?” she asked.
“Off course I do. We go to Malaysia, and then to Los Angeles and finally Seattle” I replied.
Malini went on “and we have a 12.5 hour layover in Malaysia, where the official language is Tamil. Definitely you will need my help there” she declared. “Speaking local language has benefits; I can get better rooms in hotel, or a little better service at the least”

I had to interrupt “why do we need a hotel for the layover. We can just see the city and then catch the next flight”.
She seemed upset “don’t you understand, the hotel is free for anyone with 11+ hour layover. You don’t have to pay anything. The sightseeing will cost money, and you don’t have local currency”.
I tried to logic “we have foreign exchange counters at every airport”.
Malini shot her final weapon “the hotel has all you eat buffet included as well. By my calculations, the dinner buffet lasts 2 hours after we reach hotel, and breakfast buffet starts 3 hours before our flight to Los Angeles”

That was when I realized her smartness. She knew how to convince people. One unlimited buffet was enough to convince a foodie like me, and here were two! Rest of the flight went as expected. Malini kept on weeping & sobbing intermittently for the friends and family she will not be seeing any soon. On the other hand I kept on watching as many Hindi movies as possible as I knew I will not be seeing Hindi movies any soon. Finally, we reached Malaysia. I let Malini take charge. She informed me that our luggage have been through checked to Los Angeles. She has taken the hotel as well as buffet passes also from the airlines counter. She also boasted that she managed to get a limousine instead of regular shuttle bus. I started admiring her “management” skills until we reached the hotel. We learnt we had been given hotel pass for one room instead of two. Malini continued her Tamil conversation with the hotel manager, and few calls to the airlines desk at the airport. She looked very upset, and though details were not divulged to me, I could guess it. Guy and a girl travelling together to Malaysia, and the girl taking command of the situation and not letting the guy speak – everyone thought she was the wife and I was the husband! That is why they did not allot two rooms!

The solution was simple, we had to go back to the airport counter and get the additional hotel pass. “Very simple” I suggested. “You can go to the airport and get the pass while I get started on the dinner buffet”

She got furious “How can you say a thing like that?”

I tried to be logical “I eat a lot, and I eat very slowly. So I am sure I will still be eating by the time you return with the pass and finish your dinner”.

She was not convinced “how can you ask a girl to travel alone to the airport such late in the night?”

I kept trying “you are not any ordinary girl. Remember you know the local language too. Definitely, you can get all the extra benefits and services. Not sure how can I help, I don’t even speak Tamil”

She was not going to give up “what if they don’t believe there are 2 passengers. If they see us both they will believe. If I go alone there is a risk they won’t agree, imagine the situation with only 1 room!”

I tried to explain her that sharing a room with her will not be as bad as missing an unlimited dinner buffet. Unfortunately she didn’t see it that way. Finally, we agreed that we both will go the airport, but before that Malini spoke with the hotel manager to ensure dinner buffet do not get closed till I finish eating!

Rest of the trip went without any further shockers. There were only two incidents worth mentioning. After we got our luggage at Seattle, Malini requested me to push her luggage cart to the taxi and offered to push mine. Upon enquiring I learnt that she has packed two suitcases of 32 Kilograms each, containing cooking utensils and groceries to support her until next year, thus it became too heavy for her to push. The second incident was, Akash somehow was not asleep nor drunk and managed to come to airport to pick me up! Malini did remind me that helping me along the journey was something she did not mind at all. I too thanked her for all her support and help, especially in Malaysia. With that, we parted our ways to our respective apartments.