The next day after a very pedestrian ceremony, we called up Enterprise to check if Andrea (we might have to convert the cameo to a credited role) could rent out an SUV to drive us to our car and return back to Amherst to return it. Since she was under 25, Enterprise told us that they could not do it. However, if I could be the primary driver, she could be added on as a secondary. We agreed to that on the phone and drove down to Enterprise. The agent checked our licenses, called her insurance agent and got insurance info, did the same for me and asked both to fax our insurance details to him (this is the first time I have seen any rental agency do this). Then, he started filling out the paperwork, gave me the keys and told me "You can drive, she cannot"!!! Then why is she the secondary driver!!! We did not have time to waste on him and recruited another person (in came Byron the Texan-cowboy-researcher to the rescue) to get his car so that we would have two cars to fit all of us.
But by then, Amherst was becoming a jail. The undergrad commencement was about to begin and all roads out were closed. We pleaded with cops, drove through strip malls to get behind them and raced against time to reach the repair shop just before it closed. A few hours of driving later, we reached home and Friday the 13th finally ended.
PS: To seek commercial rights to this thriller, contact me by commenting on this series of blogs.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Friday, the 13th - Part 2 - "The journey to Amherst"
.............Yes, the evening before Tejaswini's graduation my car broke down. Teju switched off the car and I asked all to get out (which was easy considering the traffic). After realizing that it was just steam and not smoke emanating from the hood, we put the car in neutral and took it to the side of the street. A cop came in soon and asked about us. We told her that we had insurance and would call them.
I called up my insurer and it took them over 30 minutes to find someone who could tow us. She told me that since no repair shop was currently open, they would tow us the next morning and that she would find us a taxi to get us out of there now. Leaving the car there was not an option for me and I requested her to tow the car to whichever hotel we were taxied to. Finally another 15 mins later, she found a tow company who could tow us to a repair shop who would repair it the next day. She then put me on hold to find a taxi company. Half an hour later she asked me to call the cops and ask them to help find a taxi.
Not knowing anything else I could do, I called 911. 15 mins later, a cop car arrived. The cop got out of the car and told us to get back to the car. After this ordeal, we did not like being treated as criminals. The previous cops had been nice but this cop was rude. He told us that no cab would pick us up on the highway, we could not walk off, he could not guide us off the expressway since the next few exits were closed and that we had to get out in the tow truck. The tow truck arrived and could seat a max of two. I turned back to the cop and asked him how we could get off now and he yelled at me "Dont panic, we will figure out a way to get you out of there”. I think he mistook the panicker! Thankfully, Teju had found a taxi service that would pick us up by then. We thanked the cop (who had not let us get our stuff out of the car either for safety reasons and waited for the cab with the tow truck.
The cab driver called us a few mins later and we told him exactly where we were and that there was a tow truck with flashing lights behind us........and he missed us! He turned around at the next exit and reached us a few minutes later and we found out that after telling the cab company at least 4 times that there were 5 of us, they had sent a sedan. Thankfully, the cab driver, seeing out plight was kind enough to allow us all to squeeze in. We took the cab straight to Amherst. Thankfully, our friends in Amherst (Andrea and Kratae in special cameos) had delivered the robe and hood to our hotel which was a 5 min walk from the spot of the ceremony. Andrea had even started to drive down to pick us up before we got the cab. We were glad that we did not have to rush around to pick up stuff and fell into bed past 1AM on Friday, the 13th. Little did we know that the day had just begun………watch out for the thrilling finale to this 3 part blog coming to the internet this weekend.
I called up my insurer and it took them over 30 minutes to find someone who could tow us. She told me that since no repair shop was currently open, they would tow us the next morning and that she would find us a taxi to get us out of there now. Leaving the car there was not an option for me and I requested her to tow the car to whichever hotel we were taxied to. Finally another 15 mins later, she found a tow company who could tow us to a repair shop who would repair it the next day. She then put me on hold to find a taxi company. Half an hour later she asked me to call the cops and ask them to help find a taxi.
Not knowing anything else I could do, I called 911. 15 mins later, a cop car arrived. The cop got out of the car and told us to get back to the car. After this ordeal, we did not like being treated as criminals. The previous cops had been nice but this cop was rude. He told us that no cab would pick us up on the highway, we could not walk off, he could not guide us off the expressway since the next few exits were closed and that we had to get out in the tow truck. The tow truck arrived and could seat a max of two. I turned back to the cop and asked him how we could get off now and he yelled at me "Dont panic, we will figure out a way to get you out of there”. I think he mistook the panicker! Thankfully, Teju had found a taxi service that would pick us up by then. We thanked the cop (who had not let us get our stuff out of the car either for safety reasons and waited for the cab with the tow truck.
The cab driver called us a few mins later and we told him exactly where we were and that there was a tow truck with flashing lights behind us........and he missed us! He turned around at the next exit and reached us a few minutes later and we found out that after telling the cab company at least 4 times that there were 5 of us, they had sent a sedan. Thankfully, the cab driver, seeing out plight was kind enough to allow us all to squeeze in. We took the cab straight to Amherst. Thankfully, our friends in Amherst (Andrea and Kratae in special cameos) had delivered the robe and hood to our hotel which was a 5 min walk from the spot of the ceremony. Andrea had even started to drive down to pick us up before we got the cab. We were glad that we did not have to rush around to pick up stuff and fell into bed past 1AM on Friday, the 13th. Little did we know that the day had just begun………watch out for the thrilling finale to this 3 part blog coming to the internet this weekend.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
The graduation ceremony was on Friday, the 13th
Yes, Friday the 13th. This story is not about that day alone though but everything that led to it. My wife, Tejaswini, was to get her degree from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst on Friday, the 13th day of May in 2011 AD. Her mother had traveled a million miles to be here for the day and her sister, Madhuvanti, and Madhuvanti's fiancee (Niranjan) were traveling from Purdue to attend the ceremony.
The plan was for Teju and her mom to get to Maryland (from New York) on the 11th (wed) for my birthday. Madhuvanti and Niranjan were to get there later that day. We would then drive to Massachusetts for the graduation after I got off work on Thursday. Friday, after the graduation we would drive to NY and on Saturday Madhuvanti would leave to the Netherlands for an internship and Niranjan would return to Purdue.
The 11th of May arrived and my wife and mother-in-law traveled 7 hours to get to MD. We celebrated my birthday with a friend and his wife and then we left to pick up the Hoosiers from the airport. As we were leaving for the airport at 11pm, we were locked in the apartment building as the door knob was broken. We opened the door by sliding a credit card through it and called up the emergency contact number for the apartment and told them to fix the door or else we would not be able to get in. We propped the door open and left. A couple of hours later, when we got back, the door was still broke. The credit card trick could not work from the outside. We called up the apartment complex again and 20 mins later, the maintenance guy called and asked if we were still stuck.. duh! Then he went on to ask if we had pinged our neighbors.. knowing well that it was past midnight. When we told him that we could not wake up people, his comment was - "Well, you woke me up"! Dude, you are being paid for this! He arrived 20 mins later, tried to open up the door, failed and rang all the buzzers shouting "Maintenance, open the door" to all who responded. The surprising part was he was shocked when no one buzzed him in. We finally got into bed at about 2 that night and I woke up early next day and reached work at 6:30 am.
At about 3:30 pm, we began the long (7-8 hr) drive to Amherst. As we entered NY, Teju took the car from me. The night then got livelier as we hit traffic on I-84 in Connecticut. 15 mins later as Teju put her foot on the accelerator, there was a puff of smoke from the hood...........to be continued in part 2 of this thrilling 3 part blog
The plan was for Teju and her mom to get to Maryland (from New York) on the 11th (wed) for my birthday. Madhuvanti and Niranjan were to get there later that day. We would then drive to Massachusetts for the graduation after I got off work on Thursday. Friday, after the graduation we would drive to NY and on Saturday Madhuvanti would leave to the Netherlands for an internship and Niranjan would return to Purdue.
The 11th of May arrived and my wife and mother-in-law traveled 7 hours to get to MD. We celebrated my birthday with a friend and his wife and then we left to pick up the Hoosiers from the airport. As we were leaving for the airport at 11pm, we were locked in the apartment building as the door knob was broken. We opened the door by sliding a credit card through it and called up the emergency contact number for the apartment and told them to fix the door or else we would not be able to get in. We propped the door open and left. A couple of hours later, when we got back, the door was still broke. The credit card trick could not work from the outside. We called up the apartment complex again and 20 mins later, the maintenance guy called and asked if we were still stuck.. duh! Then he went on to ask if we had pinged our neighbors.. knowing well that it was past midnight. When we told him that we could not wake up people, his comment was - "Well, you woke me up"! Dude, you are being paid for this! He arrived 20 mins later, tried to open up the door, failed and rang all the buzzers shouting "Maintenance, open the door" to all who responded. The surprising part was he was shocked when no one buzzed him in. We finally got into bed at about 2 that night and I woke up early next day and reached work at 6:30 am.
At about 3:30 pm, we began the long (7-8 hr) drive to Amherst. As we entered NY, Teju took the car from me. The night then got livelier as we hit traffic on I-84 in Connecticut. 15 mins later as Teju put her foot on the accelerator, there was a puff of smoke from the hood...........to be continued in part 2 of this thrilling 3 part blog
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