Thailand Trip

En route to India, we decided to take a short trip to Bangkok, Thailand.

 FRI, JUN 8 2012

Singapore Airlines flight SQ11 landed in Changi airport @ 3 am. Baggages took a long time to arrive. We collected our baggage, took a taxi  and arrived at Hari's place @ 4:30am. The taxi cost from airport to race course road was S$25. After the initial meeting up and exchanging pleasantries, we all tried to catch up some sleep. Woke up @ 8 am. We all got ready by 11am and walked to Murugan Idli kadai for a brunch. Had Idli, Onion Oothappam, Sambar Vadai, Pongal, Sweet Pongal & Jigirthanda. Ajit had 4 idlis and 2 Ghee dosai.

At 12:30 pm, we left by taxi to Terminal 1 in the Airport to catch the Air Asia’s Bangkok flight. I and Ajit indulged ourselves in the free Foot massage chair for about 45 minutes. The flight took off at 2:40 pm and landed in Bangkok at 4 pm local time. The flying time was 2 ½ hours. We then took a taxi to Novotel which was located in Silom, Bangkok. Bangkok traffic was really crazy in the evening and we finally arrived at the hotel at 7 pm. After checking into the hotel, we took a walk to a nearby market called Tops Market. I had Green Curry with Chicken and Ajit had Padthai with Crab claws meat. The total came up to 280 BHT. Here is the breakup cost:

Rice – 17 BHT

G.Curry – 65 BHT

Padthai – 110 BT

Juice – 45 BHT

Water – 17 BHT

We then walked back to the hotel and retired for the day.

SAT, JUN 9 2012

Woke up at 6:30 am, got ready by 7:30 am and went down for the Buffet Breakfast at Novotel. Had Mini pancakes, Beans, Chicken Sausage, Bacon, Omelette, Boiled veggies (Carrots, Broccoli, Cauliflower), Broiled Tomatoes, Rice porridge and Fried rice.

The previous day, we had arranged for a whole day taxi for our trip to Floating market for 1400 BHT. Our Tourist taxi driver was waiting outside our hotel and at 8 am we left by the taxi for Ratchaburi which was 100Kms away from Bangkok. We arrived Ratchaburi @ 9:30 am. We started bargaining with the boat tour vendors and finally agreed on US $100 for 2 hour boat trip to the floating market and 1 hour elephant ride. En route, we bought souvenirs of Hat, Photo frame & Fridge Magnet (300 BHT).

Coconut Farm

The boat stopped for few minutes at the Coconut Sugar farm. There were lot of eatables and arts, crafts and clothing made out of coconut tree by-products. We just took a look and got back to our boat. We then headed towards floating market.

Floating Market

Floating market is the most popular and most photographed destination in Bangkok. Here we saw the lifestyle of Thai people along the canal. There were many small boats laden with colorful fruits and vegetables and paddled by Thai women wearing bamboo hats.  We had 4 tender coconut waters for 20 BHT each, Sita Phal (Custard Apple), Mangustaan and Lychees, all for 300 BHT. Several times, there were traffic jams caused by the numerous boats trying to maneuver in the canal.

The boat dropped us off at a Pier @ 11 am for a walk and lunch. We sat down at a small place for lunch. DS had Tom Yum soup, I had Pad Thai w/ chicken, and Ajit had Chicken Noodle soup. Everything together came to 300 BHT. The weather was hot and humid. Not a day to have hot soup.

Elephant Village

We came back to the boat and left @ 12:00 for the Elephant Village. After a short boat ride, we arrived at the Elephant village.  It was a 20 minute elephant ride. Each elephant has a master and follows a path through jungle, including water. There is also a monkey show, although we didn’t have time to visit this.

Rose Garden

Our final visit was to the Rose Garden. It was an hour taxi ride from the Floating Market en route Bangkok. DS decided to stay put in the Taxi. I and Ajit took a tour of the Garden. Ajit expected something spectacular and felt let down. I found it beautiful. It was a nice garden surrounded by lakes and lined with trees and plants and a huge lawn. There was a Massage spa close by and the view was spectacular from there. There was a beautiful traditional Thai Mansion by the lake with a water fountain in the middle of the lake. We took some pictures, relaxed for few minutes and went back to the taxi.

We finally arrived at our hotel @ 4 pm. It was hot and humid and on top of it, we were all jetlagged and promptly went for a nap. Had a nice 3 hr nap and woke up at 7 pm. Later, around 8 pm, we walked to the same Tops Market and had dinner at the same place as previous night. We had Green curry Rice, Shrimp Pad Thai and Crab Meat noodle soup. The dinner with drinks cost was 260 BHT. Here is the breakup cost:

Green Curry Rice – 85 BHT

Shrimp Pad Thai – 60 BHT

Crab Meat Noodle Soup – 85 BHT

Travelling with Kids

Kids become avid travelers when you start travelling with them when they are still young. Though it’s challenging, it’s doable. When I grew up, we were a family of 6. My dad was with (India) Govt and had the LTC (Leave Travel Concession) plan and took us all out on a 10 – 15 days trip once every 4 years until he retired from govt service. It was an All-India bus trip while i was 5 and Hyd-Banglore-Mysore-Ooty trip when i was 10. I vaguely remember those places that we visited until age 10, but somehow took a liking to travelling and learnt to adjust well. No fancy accommodation or fancy eat outs. Still, we all thoroughly enjoyed it. Dad used to plan A to Z for our trip, the time line, booking the train tickets, accomodation etc. My mom used to write travelogues during each of our trips. I still remember the one line where it said "Nangalil thangal, pinbu soodana pongal".

We did the same thing with our son while living in Europe. We went around Europe when he was between 4 and 7 years. I thought he is not going to remember anything, but surprisingly he does. He is a foodie who loves exotic cuisines (no kid’s meal for him) and associates each place with the food he had eaten there J Spain is Shrimp Paella, Germany is Schnitzel, Prague is street side food, Italy is Pasta di Nero (Octopus), Calamari, Vongole (Mussels), Seafood Pasta/Pizza, Alaska is king Crab etc. No matter how he remembers the places, as long as he has a hang for travelling, my task is accomplished. He is now 10 and already has his travel wish list which includes Brazil’s Amazon Rainforest, Kenyan Safari, and unlimited cruise to anywhere anytime.

At any point in life, we are not going to remember the material things (like clothes and jewelry) that we possessed in the past. But experiences and memories will be part and parcel of an individual which we will cherish until we die.  

CSEL Rescue

The Combat Survivor Evader Locator (CSEL) is the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Program for Joint Search and Rescue. The CSEL provides the worldwide identification, location, and communications required between military rescue teams and people in need of assistance. DS worked as the SPAWAR Site Rep at Sicily to take care of the Boeing's CSEL project. One dramatic rescue operation by CSEL in JULY 2007 got all media attention. Here is the story:

Downed pilots evade insurgents until rescued

By Matthew Cox - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Jul 6, 2007 17:36:32 EDT

The morning of July 2 started out with a routine reconnaissance flight over Baghdad. Before it was over, Kiowa helicopter pilots Chief Warrant Officers 2 Mark Burrows and Steven Cianfrini were shot out of the sky and forced to hide out while armed insurgents fired over their heads.

Their rescuers arrived in short order, but not before the downed aviators from 3rd Squadron, 17th Cavalry had to out-think the enemy, drawing on every survival lesson to stay alive. “The situation was normal; we pushed a little farther away to check some roads for IEDs ... and we started taking fire from the rear,” Cianfrini said in an interview of both pilots posted on the Pentagon’s Digital Video and Imagery Distribution System.  “I looked out the left door I saw and heard a heavy machine gun open up on us. I felt the aircraft take rounds.”

As the pilot, Burrows quickly tried to fly the OH-58 Kiowa Warrior away from the firing. “I was trying to zigzag across the field when something must have hit the main rotor because the aircraft started shaking violently,” he recalled. “The aircraft would no longer fly.” Burrows tried to do a controlled landing but realized the tail rotor had also been knocked out. Their Kiowa began to spin. “Luckily we were only about eight feet off the ground,” Burrows said. “I reduced all the power I could. I tried to ... put the aircraft down so it wouldn’t flip over forward, but we ended up bouncing over the canal and landing on our left side, nose forward.” Cianfrini climbed out; Burrows followed. “The aircraft was on fire,” Burrows said. “I looked around the aircraft across the field and saw ... we were still being shot at from some houses. You could hear the rounds impacting on the aircraft, so we decided we definitely had to go.”

The two ran to a nearby canal and tried to cross it. “The water was up to our shoulders. We were stuck in mud,” Burrows said. “Our attackers appeared on both sides of the canal and started firing in at both of us.”
The aviators’ first instinct was to shoot back, but they soon realized the band of insurgents couldn’t see them down in the thick reeds that lined the canal. “I had one of the attackers in my sights, but there were eight to 10 of them, so I couldn’t fire back for fear of giving away our location,” Burrows said. “All we could do was sit there and wait for them to go or find us and luckily they didn’t see us.” After several minutes, Cianfrini and Burrows watched the enemy shift their fire down the canal and eventually leave the scene.
The two stayed hidden for about 15 minutes, Burrows said, until they heard U.S. helicopters flying overhead.

AH-64 Apache helicopter pilots Chief Warrant Officer 3Allan Davison and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Micah Johnson of the 1st Cavalry Division’s 1st Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment were also flying a routine mission that morning when they heard over their radio that a Kiowa was receiving enemy fire. Davison told Army Times they immediately started flying to the scene. When they arrived, they joined two other Kiowas in the search for wreckage. The search party soon found the Cianfrini and Burrow’s downed Kiowa.
“We circled the crash site, as one of the 58s landed,” said Davison. “They checked for bodies but told us the pilots weren’t there. ... It was kind of surreal — it was good and bad to see the aircraft lying on its side. We didn’t know if the pilots were evading or captured.” A few more minutes ticked by as the aircraft crews expanded their search of the area. Davison said he heard over the radio that the pilots were down near the crash site. “They were to the west of the crash site about 100 meters away,” Davison said. Meanwhile, Burrows and Cianfrini knew they had to signal the aircraft overhead. “We were pretty deep into the canal, so I know they wouldn’t see us,” Burrows said. Cianfrini stayed in the canal with the survival radio they had used to radio for help. Burrows climbed out of the embankment and waved for help. Davison landed the Apache about 20 meters from their position, he said. “They ran up ... soaked and covered with dirt,” Davison said. Then Davison’s co-pilot, Johnson, got out of the aircraft and helped Cianfrini get into the front seat, Davidson said. “He strapped Burrows on the left side of the aircraft ... and then got on the right side of helicopter. Once he saw both were secure, Davison took off for Baghdad International Airport. The flight took about 10 minutes, said Davison, who admitted that his decision to fly 140 mph may have made it uncomfortable for the two aviators strapped to the outside of the Apache.

“I just really wanted to get them out of there,” he said. The dramatic rescue isn’t the only time an Apache crew has flown with passengers strapped to the outside of the aircraft. Just past midnight on July 1, Chief Warrant Officer 4 Kevin Purtee and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Allen Crist of the 36th Combat Aviation Brigade used their Apache to evacuate a badly wounded 3rd Infantry Division soldier from the middle of a heavy firefight near Ramadi. The ground troops had already moved wounded Spec. Jeffrey Jamaleldine of 1st Brigade to a more secure area when Purtee and Crist arrived. Crist and two soldiers helped put a conscious Jamaleldine into the front seat of the Apache. “He got shot in the face,” Purtee said. “It was bad.”
Crist strapped himself to the side of the helicopter, and they quickly flew the three minutes back to the refueling site, where he was taken to a field hospital. Purtee and Crist later visited Jamaleldine, who was in stable condition in the hospital, Purtee said. “That was the most significant mission the two of us had been on,” said Purtee, whose unit is about the leave Iraq. Davison agreed it was great feeling to be involved in a rescue mission. “It was the best feeling I have had since I’ve been here,” he said. Davison’s unit wasn’t so lucky when one of its Apaches was shot down early this year. “My company had two Apache pilots shot down back on the second of February, and they didn’t make it so it’s a very real thing for us,” Davison said.
Killed were Chief Warrant Officer 4 Keith Yoakum and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jason Defrenn.
Both Cianfrini and Burrows, who suffered only some bruises and scrapes when their helicopter went down, agreed that the lessons aviators have taken from those losses helped them to survive their ordeal.
“I think that is definitely one of the reasons we were able to walk away from this,” Burrows said. “There were numerous points that I didn’t think we would make it through it, but ... we were able to apply that and make the right decisions to get out of it.”

Endurance Running

Endurance run requires 90% mental strength. In my case the mental confidence to register for a Marathon was acquired only after i saw my co-worker cross the 26.2 finish line. We all get motivated when we see our own peer group achieve a target. My co-worker was a normal guy, 5' 6" tall, may be 200 lbs...not an elite athlete or so, but rather a person who was trying to keep his weight down. He trained for 6 months right in front of my eyes and finished his maiden marathon. He literally brain washed me that 26.2 is acheivable by sheer training. No particular fitness level is needed. Any age group or any weight group can finish the distance at their own comfortable pace. During his training, in order to keep him motivated, he would ask a few of us to give him company by running with him for 2 or 3 miles. During those runs, he would give me tid bits on how to breathe...how to pace myself, hydration, running styles, how to buy a good running shoes, what type of running outfits to wear etc. It was like having my own personal trainer. Slowly i started to enjoy running. After that point, i didn't need company. When i was able to run 5 miles at a strech, I registered for a FULL marathon giving myself 6 months time to train. I also registered for a Half Marathon in such a way that it would serve as my Marathon training run. As suggested by my co-worker, i used Runners World's FREE Smartcoach program to devise a Marathon training plan. I literally stuck to the plan mile by mile and minute by minute. I was badly hurt (IT Band Syndrome) when i finished my Half Marathon on 16 NOV 2008. The pain lasted for about 3 days and i was back to normal. I then resumed training for my Marathon. Till then, my DH thought i was crazy. After i completed my Half marathon, he got motivated and decided to run the full with me. He started training too. It was 4 of us (me, DH, 2 co-workers) training for our Marathon now.  Luckily, I was able to finish my Full Marathon on MAR 22, 2009 without getting hurt. If not for my co-worker, i would've never even dreamed of running a Marathon. I still think he has given me the greatest gift of health and fitness.

4th FULL Marathon

I am turning 40 this year. What better way to celebrate than pursue my running goal. I decided to run my 4th FULL marathon in Jan 2012. Our good friend, Sowmya, wanted us to run the PF Chang Rock N Roll series with her. We agreed and registered early in 2011 - Sowmya for half and me and DS for full marathon.

For preparation, printed out the 28 week marathon training plan from Runners World (RW) website. I also registered for 5 half marathons - July (SFO), Aug (AFC SD), Oct (Raptor Ridge SD), Nov (Silver Strand SD) and Dec (Rock N Roll Las Vegas) and finished them while sticking to the 28 week training plan.

JAN 13, 2012 - FRIDAY
We departed for Phoenix around 8 am. We reached Phoenix at 4 pm local time. We met Sowm, Skanda and Shrinath at the Base school around 5 pm. We had planned to pick up the racing bag/bib on friday at the expo. The expo was held at Phoenix Convention Center on Jan 13 and 14. Parking was expensive - costed $20. When we reached the expo, it was already 6:50 pm and we had around 10 minutes before the expo closed for that day. We quickly picked up our racing stuff, DS picked up a box of GU and we were on our way out. Sowm suggested a Indian fast food place, Bay Leaf, close to her house for dinner. We ordered 1 Malai kofta, 1 chicken curry with 2 naans and some white rice for us adults. Ajit ordered chicken biryani and Skanda ordered a Tandoori chicken rice bowl. The malai kofta and naan were delicious. After dinner, we dropped off DS and the kids at home and me and Sowm went to Albertsons to pick up some flowers and groceries for the next day's Pravachan. I gave company to Sowm while she was making a garland. After everything was done, we went to bed around 11 pm.

JAN 14, 2012 - SATURDAY
Busy day today. Skanda and Ajit wanted to make the most out of their time together i guess. So, they were awake by 3 am and playing in their room. I got up at 7 am. Sowm and Hari had arranged for Vishnu Sahasranamam chantting followed by a speech by ISKON Harivillas Prabu from 11 am to 2 pm. Hari was arriving from NJ @ 10:30 am. Sowm was already done with making ven pongal and sambar. We gave breakfast for DS and the kids and they all left to pick up Hari from the Airport. Sowm had cooked up a feast of Ven Pongal, Sakkarai Pongal, Sambar, Raitha and Semiya kesari. By 11 am, 4 ladies showed up and started the Vishnu Sahasranamam chantting. Sowm's friend Kitty was helping us in the kitchen. Around 11:30, DS and Hari arrived. So did few other guests too. The chantting and pravachan went on until 2 pm. Sowm had catered Samosas, Veg pulav, Shahi Paneer and Vegetable kofta curry from ISKON. All of us had lunch and slowly people started leaving. Kitty left for her son's game and came back later in the evening. Ajit was wheezing, so made him to go sleep at 5 pm. DS was having a interesting conversation with Kitty who happens to be a financial consultant in Vanguard.We still had food left over from lunch and had that for dinner. Ajit got up around 7 pm and had couple of slices of bread dipped in soymilk along with chamomile tea for dinner. Me and Sowm made a quick trip to Target to grab some bread and milk for the next day. I set up my things needed for the next day's run on the floor - my Garmin GPS, IPod, IT Band, Performance Gel, 4 GUs, 1 Lara (Energy) Bar, Race Clothes, Bib, Safetly pins, Shoes etc. I detached my Chronotrack and put it on my shoes. We all retired to bed early around 9 pm. I had to wake up every 2 hours to give Ajit his asthma medication.

JAN 15, 2012 - SUNDAY
Sowm woke me up @ 4:45 am. We all took shower, had a breakfast of whole wheat toast w/jelly and banana and were ready by 5:45 am. We all packed into Hari's car with Shri still sleeping. Ajit and Skan were awake and watching us inquisitively at all our running gadgets. It was little over 6 am when we left the house. The freeway/local roads were all backed up as we exited for Tempe Downtown, the half marathon starting point. We had to drop off Sowm a mile way at about 6:45 am. The race was supposed to start at 7:30, so she had enough time to walk to the start. As we merged onto I-10 to head to Phoenix, we saw that the traffic on the opposite side of freeway was backed up for miles and miles. There was a huge crowd for half marathon. We then headed to Phoenix Cityscape, the full marathon start point. It took about 15 minutes of drive to get there. Surprisingly, there was no traffic issues here. Hari dropped us off in front of the Phoenix Convention center. It was just a 100 meters walk to the start from here. As we reached the start, we learnt that the race starting was delayed by 30 minutes. So we walked back to the convention center and took a bathroom break. We returned back to the start at around 7:50 am, located the 5:00 hour pace makers in Corral 6 and lined right behind them. There were a total of 3863 participants and 9 corrals in full marathon. Not as big compared to San Diego Rock N Roll full marathon. The race promptly started at 8:00 am.
I ran with the 5 hour pace makers. The lead pacer was a 54 year old lady, Marie Bartoletti, who was running her 221st marathon. The other pacer was a 65 year old man. I didn't get to talk to him much, so i don't know much about him. But i did admire both of their endurance. What better motivation to run than a 54 and 65 yr olds pacing us. Marie assured us that she will help her runners cross the finish line at 4:59. She was such an experienced runner. She was able to carry a conversation for almost 5 hours while holding the flag with her goal finish time.



Marie said that we will dedicate each mile to some one that we would like to be thankful to. As i was running right next to her, she turned to me and asked me who i would like to dedicate the first mile to. Well, the first person who came to my mind was my co-worker Arzola. I told Marie that he was the first person that i know of who had run and completed a marathon. So, he kind of motivated me to run. Every time, we reach a mile marker, she would ask some one in the group to dedicate the next mile. She also shared some interesting stories and running experiences. Her 19 yr old son had completed his 1st marathon in 4:30 with just running about 10 miles during his training run. She told her experience in Ironman where she was injured and bleeding heavily half way through her 112 mile of biking, with 26 miles of running still remaining to be completed. She then said how she had run a sub 4 marathon without hydrating during the entire run. She is also the co-ordinator for the "Kids of Steel"  program which is geared towards fitness and nutrition for kids. Other runners also shared some motivational stories.

The support system was wonderful. There were umpteen number of cheer leaders, lot of families with little children, and at one place, even had a group of belly dancers performing a dance. I had lost sight of DS by mile 2 itself. Around mile 3, i took a portapotty break and ran fast to catch up with my pacers. Around mile 7, i took couple of minutes to apply Biofreeze Performance Gel on both my legs and again ran fast to catch up with the pacers. Around mile 10, i spotted DS some 400 meters ahead. Slowly we were catching up on him. I just ran little faster and crossed the half marathon point with DS and then fell back to join the pacers. Around mile 14, we passed DS. He wanted to run at his own pace, so i went along with the pacers. All along, i stuck to me routine of having a GU 45 minutes the first time and 1 hour later thereafter. I drank  water at the water station after every GU and i took gatorade every time when i didn't have a GU. The pace was quite comfortable and i was really enjoying my run so far.

At about mile 18.5, a sharp pain shot through my IT (Illio Tibial) band on right leg. It was getting worse minute by minute and i started limping, slowly falling behind our pacers. Within a half mile, i spotted a medical aid station and ran there to grab a couple of pain killers. I swallowed the pain killers with water and saw that the 5:00 hr pacers were about a 100 meters ahead of me. This gap was not so easy to catch up as we were already in mile 19 with not enough energy. I finally caught up with the pacers by 19.5 miles. Iam generally a very healthy person, never get headaches, migranes, sinus, backaches, stomach aches etc. I am against medications, so never take any kind of drugs. Believe it or not, just like the TV commercial ad for Zandu Balm, my ITB pain completely vanished within 10 minutes of taking the pain killers. By mile 20 i was feeling perfectly normal and ran with the pacers until 21st mile. It was 4 hours since we started and only 5.2 miles more to go. I felt very confident that i could complete the run under 5 hours. I informed Marie that i was going to go ahead with a slightly higher pace and started running alone. This last 1 hour, i put on my head phones listening to wonderful tamil music and concentrated on my run and pace. The course started climbing up slightly at mile 22. I pushed myself and made sure to keep up the same pace. I was consistently looking at my Garmin to make sure i was still within 5 hours of finish time as i crossed mile marker 22, 23, 24 and 25. Though i was feeling comfortable to finish within 5 hours, i was also paranoid that anything could happen during the last few miles that could ruin my goal. ASU stadium came into my view as i was running my 25th mile. We crossed a beautiful bridge over the Tempe Town Lake. The finish line/banner were still  not in sight. The last mile is the toughest in a marathon/half marathon becuase you know you are almost there, but still can't see the finish line. Atlast i saw the finish line and started sprinting the last 100 meters and finished at 4:57:01. The local time was 1 pm. It was sheer meditation and hypnotism of uttering "you can do it..you can do it" that helped me to run the last 5 miles and complete the marathon under 5 hours.

I was able to accomplish all the 3 goals i had set for this marathon:

1. Finish a full marathon at age 40

2. Run the entire marathon without walking at all

3. Finish under 5 hours

I took my medal, grabbed couple of bottles of water and headed to the medical aid station for icing my knees. I put ice bags on both of my knees and the medical staff secured the ice bags with saran wrap. I slowly started walking towards the refreshments when i spotted Marie. I gave her a big hug and thanked her profusely for the wonderful motivational speech that really helped me run so effortlessly for the first 4 hours. I exited the secured area and spotted Sowm in the family reunion area. We waited for another 30 minutes and Shankar joined us at the family reunion. Sowm had already called and informed Hari to stop by and pick us up. We walked up to the Rural Rd intersection and talking non-stop about our running experience as we were waiting for Hari and the kids. Hari arrived at 2:15 pm. Sowm had called a Foot reflexology center the previous day and made appointments for a foot massage for all 3 of us at 3 pm. We arrived at the massage place at 2:40. Shrinath stayed with us while Hari took Skan and Ajit home with him. All 3 of us had a 1 hour foot massage and i felt awesome. We were done at 3:45. Sowm's friend Kitty was in a closeby location doing her shopping and Sowm suggested getting a ride home with her. As we had some time until Kitty showed up, we went into the Indian Restaurant "Bawarchi" right next to our massage place. It was 4 pm and the restaurant owener said they would open only at 5 pm. Shankar, as usual, started using his charm and ultimately convinced the owner to let us in. We ordered 1 mutton Dum Biryani, 1 Veg Dum Biryani, 1 chicken curry and 1 Mango Lassi for Shri. The quantity was huge and tasted awesome. I was not that hungry after having umpteen GUs and Gatorade. Also, me and Sowm were planning to go to ISKCON for dinner, so decided to just taste the food. Shankar, on the other hand, was hungry and finished the non-veg foods. We couldn't finish the Veg Biryani, so packed it to go. Kitty showed up at 5:15 pm and we all reached home at 5:45 pm.

I had a nice hot shower. Hari had already left for ISKCON temple. Me and Sowm were planning to go by 6:30 when Hari called and said that he was actually planning to return back home soon. So, me and Sowm didn't go to the Temple. Kitty stayed back and we all were chatting until 7:30 pm when Kitty left for dinner with her family. We had the left over Veg Biryani, Veg Pulav, Paratha, Shahi Panner, Malai Kofta, Raitha, Sweet Pongal and ISKCON prasad for dinner. Shankar retired to bed at 8:30 pm. Sowm was tired too and went to bed early at 9 pm along with Hari, Skan and Shri. My extreme sensitivity to caffeine made me an insomniac for that night and i was reading a book until 10 pm along with Ajit. I was so euphoric and ecstatic that even after i went to bed at 10 pm, i was tossing and turning around, re-living the entire 5 hours of run over and over again. The euphoria is going to last for the entire week :-)