Hello there everybody. Yes, yes, I know, it’s been a really long time since I did this but on a lazy Sunday afternoon such as this with the snow covering everything in sight, I finally decided [yes, I know - I do a lot of decision making 
] that it was high time I caught up with my blog and brought people up to date with everything that I have been upto ever since I did the vanishing act in Dec, 2002.
My trip to India after a whole year in the US was very nice and refreshing. My experiences on the trip home are worthy of some mention, I believe, so let us dwell for a while on that.
I was scheduled to leave on Dec 27 by Air India. Since AI flies out of Chicago, I arrived in Chicago by American Airlines all excited about sitting in the Boeing 747-400 with a bunch of other Indians, all flying back to India after presumably a long time. It was when all of us, poor unsuspecting passengers, were at the gate waiting to board the flight that the bolt came from the blue. They were going to cancel the flight because they suddenly found an oil leak on the plane – 20 minutes before the freaking departure! I couldn’t believe it – I mean, what the heck, are the AI pilots so incompetent that they come in to check the aircraft twenty minutes before the flight is supposed to take the runway ?!
Everybody was equally outraged but we were told that we would be put on some other airlines and thankfully for me, I got a Lufthansa flight straight to Chennai [with AI, there was a long layover in Delhi] – only the flight was the next day which meant that I got to stay over at the Hilton. I have to admit that I didn’t quite mind the extra day so much. I got to meet up with Priya and Rohit [Vidya's sister and brother-in-law] and their adorable son, Karan 
I finally did get to Chennai although it was via Frankfurt [what a cool airport !] and only 12 hours behind schedule ! Of course, on the way back it was quite smooth but I think I am going to fly Lufthansa from now on as far as possible
Landing in Chennai after a year was a different experience altogether. For the first 3 days, I had a tough time with the traffic, the noise, pollution and everything in India that you tend to forget about The jet lag hit me a bit too so it was only after a few days that I settled down and was back in my elements. A bunch of my classmates from IIT Madras were down for their winter vacation too [all from various universities in the US] so it was really good to meet up with them again.
I took lots of snaps
My brother, Rahul
Raj and I went to Saarang !
With Nandana, Raj and Mohan
It was good to see Udaya again
With my father and mother
After my stay in Madras [Chennai], I set off for Hyderabad which is the city I grew up in. It was interesting to see the rapid rate with which Hyderabad seems to be growing into India’s most happening metro. Go CB Naidu ! Unfortunately for me, I quite forgot to take pictures of the city so I guess we shall have to wait until I go again this Dec
I got back to St. Louis on Jan 24 and I have to admit that it did feel good to be back. This is where my life is [for now, at least] The jet lag hit me for a few days as usual but even before I had time to settle down into routine, Ron and I decided that it would be really good to send off a paper to the LCTES 2003 conference, to be held in San Diego. The next 10 days were spent in a lot of good work on the paper and in the process, I ended up learning some TeX too – very nice indeed. After finally turning it in last Saturday, I have had some time for myself, to catch up with Vidya, Nonda and Booze and of course, get down to writing my blog and uploading pictures.
This weekend has been nice too. Priya, Rohit and Karan were in town and we had a good time just hanging out and playing with Karan who seems to be growing at a really rapid rate
It is time to end my ramblings since I think I have done enough of catching up. Ravi Rao should be happy with the outcome From now on, I hope to be more regular.
