Spring break… ergo Florida!!!
The smiles are out!!!

Flying start to the Fort Lauderdale vacation. Billy Bones serenading the girls. Nikita is not amused!!!

(For people not familiar, those are the opening lines of a famous poem by Rabindranath Tagore describing the imaginary aspirations of a palm tree)

Sum total count of people in Hollywood Beach this morning without tattoo = 2. And Sharmila is already threatening to bring it down to 1. 🙂

You know you are in Florida when….
…. You try to switch your eyeglasses with sunglasses to give the eyes some relief from the brightness and you realize that you had been already wearing your sunglasses all this time 🙂

You know you are in Florida when …
… You look around and you reckon the average age of a state resident is – deceased 🙂

You know you are in Florida when …
… the car pulls out if its driveway, straightens out, puts the left turn blinker on and goes straight for a few miles. Seinfeld called it the “the-eventual-left-turn-sign” 🙂

‘Nuff said 🙁

You know you are in Florida when …
… you greet the elderly couple at the next table at 4 pm saying “You
guys got delayed for lunch too? Having good fun in the beach?” and they reply “Oh! We just got started with dinner” 🙂

What good is a vacation if not to see somebody you have not seen for over 12 years? Found out that Vijay Ramachandran lives within an hour of where we are vacationing. I did not have a car but he was gracious enough to drive down with his family. Had almost four hours of great time with his family.

Talking to Vijay after such a long time, I was reminded of one of the core reasons why i2 had succeeded – it had one heck of a bunch of really smart guys. Vijay was Exhibit A!!!

It was great to meet his family who I had never seen before. Sitting with his daughter and son on the boardwalk of Hollywood Beach eating pizza reminded me of an identical situation when my kids were that age and Sharmila and myself had pizza at the same place nine years back!!!!!

Here on the boardwalk of Hollywood Beach at 6:30 in the morning, things are positively looking UP for male senior citizens.
Socks are coming UP to the knees.
Shorts are coming UP to within two inches of the chins.
Shirts are being pulled UP to let the early morning breeze waft thru the thick layers of body hair…

You know you are in Florida when …
… the ladies’ hairstyle go from Angel Hair Pasta to Blooming Sunflower under three minutes!! 🙂

For those who insist on seeing the money literally go up in smoke….

It was barely 6:30 in the morning. Started my boardwalk stroll with a cup of hot coffee in my hand. The boardwalk was yet to be filled with those teeming pedestrians. Regardless, there were quite a few old couples walking around lazily. And a few runners putting in their run before the sun rose. It was cool and almost eerily calm compared to the hustle and bustle of daytime activities.

I was hoping to catch the sunrise.

Aimlessly strolling along, I was watching the various sights of the morning. The strong winds making all the palm trees bend away from the sea. The really old couple taking small steps at a time. Some early risers sitting on the benches and staring at the limitless ocean. Some coffee shops starting to set up their wares.

Once in a while I would glance into the eastern horizon to make sure the moment did not pass by. And then I would keep walking … taking in all that was happening around me.

And then almost intuitively, I knew the moment had come. Actually, it was less of intuition. More of suddenly things changing around me. Suddenly, you could see everybody dropping their conversations and starting to fish for their iPhones. Everybody’s gaze was in the same easterly direction. Some shuffled from one side of the boardwalk to the other – as if getting a few feet closer to something that is nearly a hundred million miles away was going to make it any better. Instinctively, I looked the same way.

And I could see a bright orange corner of the sun peeping from behind the bluish black waters. Other than the constant clicking of iPhones and light whispering of “it looks beautiful”, nobody was making any noise.

Everybody gazed with their eyes glued to that red fiery ball as it pulled itself out of the watery horizon very quickly. The moment had come. The whole world around me stood still. It was like all beings around me was living in a collective NOW.

Presently, the whole circle came out. The sun was indeed out in its full glory. Somebody must have snapped an inaudible snap somewhere. For, as if on a cue, everybody dispersed at that moment and started merrily on their own way. A voice in me suddenly remembered “you did not take a picture”. Not to be left behind, I hurriedly took out my iPhone too and took a few hasty shots.

And then I started aimlessly walking again. People had commenced on their own ways. Some lingered around, occasionally taking in a few more looks at the sun. Some were reviewing their sunrise pictures on their phones…

As I walked towards nowhere in particular, I was consumed my the enormity of the moment. Sunrise. Here is a moment that happens everyday. Reassuring that regardless of how dark and stormy last night was, a new today is here. Signaling a new start to every hope and aspiration of every human being. Signifying certain constancies you can count in life. And like best moments, it comes free. Only if you care to wake up and be willing to witness the birth of a new New.

That lovely orange ball peeking out of the water early in the morning? Well, it quickly became a raging yellow ball of fire mercilessly beating down upon a hapless runner on the beach 🙁 5K run at 1 PM. I am ready to collapse!!!

Uh! Oh! I am going to be in trouble with her over the caption. I better run and get her another caipiranha before she checks her Facebook updates 🙂

To prove the point, even the local ice cream in South Florida is sold under the brand name “Dadu” (meaning grandfather in my language) 🙂

She is there underneath somewhere…

Drove up from Fort Lauderdale to Orlando. The girls got their wish – iPads and wifi in hotel room. Sharmila and I got what we wanted – wine and music sitting outside in Florida breeze… errr… Bahama Breeze 🙂
Btw, I am so terrible at selfies that I took seven shots till I got it right!!!

I still think Sharmila did not need to hold the plastic bag 🙂

While vacationing in Orlando, found out (thanks to FB) that good old Hari was in town for a conference. A few months back, I had met him after over twenty years. Had promised not to let another twenty years go by before we meet again. No challenge there!!

Sharmila captured some moments during our discussions at a bar – you can see that they were as intense as the good old days!!! 🙂

Niki and I were discussing geometry as we waited at the airport. We were talking about octagons when she excitedly said “You know dad, how I remember that octagon has eight sides”? I asked her “How”?

“Remember octo-mom? She had eight babies. That’s how”, she said!

And in my mind I went “I wish I had such props to remember my math when I was growing up” 🙂

This time it was after security check in Orlando airport. Nikita and I went thru TSA PreCheck and breezed thru in fifteen seconds. As we were waiting for Sharmila and Natasha to clear thru the normal security lines, I jokingly suggested to Nikita “Let’s take the train and go to the terminal. They have their boarding passes with them. They can always come there by themselves”.

She got extremely concerned by my attitude. “Dad, you have no heart”!

And in three seconds added, “Just like your hair”

🙂

Will see you again next spring… like we have the last twenty years…