Howdy Texas !

The first month of the year began in a great style as I enjoyed 9 great days of business cum pleasure jyada trip to the land of cowboys and pick-up trucks. I had planned on this trip months in advance and was really excited to set foot in the largest state and the 2nd most populous state in USA.

The trip began on a kind of unhappy note as the congested Dallas-Forthworth airport delayed the flight by an hour. The misery was further compounded by the lack of a desirable co-passenger. However the early morning grumpiness was quickly washed away by some very authentic pani-puri in Irving. In comparison to LA, Dallas seemed like a really small city - 3 laned highways, loadsa pick-up trucks, lotsa open space, and total absence of greenery. After spending an hour on internet, I resigned to the fate that there is no tourist attractions in Dallas. As I drove along the freeways in the city, the only thing that caught my attention were Steakhouses and Gentleman's club. As I would discover later, Meat & Flesh, pun intended, epitomise a big chunk of Texas.

Irving, a small sleepy suburb of Dallas is a Desi stronghold and home to 2 of the best desi restaurants I have been to in US. Next time you are in Dallas, try Mayuri & Taj-Chaat House. I was perplexed by the fact that Dallas is a very big financial capital and most US businesses are headquartered in this area. Big names like Verizon, SBC-At&T, IBM, TI, I2 and many more have huge offices in this region.

However, the best part of the trip turned out to be the 5 days of training. With nothing to do outdoors, we did what most Texans do, ate and drank a lot. I got an opportunity to check out various texas famous restaurants like Pappadeaux, Bone Daddy (not a family place for sure :)), Fogo De Chao etc. The high point of the trip, or so I thought, probably was the night when I ended up driving, first my sloshed colleague, and then a group of car wrecked friends on Dodge Ram 3500. I have never driven anything as enormous as this truck, especially with no insurance and stuck in an entirely alien city at 3:00 am in the night ! However the next night which began with the costliest dinner I have ever had (83$) followed by some more interesting stuff easily easily topped the previous night.

Just when I was developing 'withdrawl symptons' from the multilaned traffic jammed freeways of LA, Houston came to my rescue. Some good mexican and Indian food later, I was treated to a very sumptuous lunch at my Aunt's place as I stuffed on some delicious Pav Bhajjis and Idly Sambhar. The nailbiting Steelers Vs Colts game provided the ultimate finale to the trip. However the airlines decided to have the final say on my fun, as they lost my baggage and made sure I stayed at LAX well past midnight, only to go to office next day with a pair of sore eyes. Damn these Airlines !!!

ps: Funny Indo-Pak cricket cartoon