The Pittsburg Episode
Place & Year: Pittsburg, Pennysylvania,USA / 2007
It was Wednesday I landed in this country of the United States.Its just that weekend
,my friends with whom I was taking help from for the first week ,had planned a trip
to Pittsburg.Pittsburg for the NRIs atleast is primarily known for the "Lord Venkateshwara"
temple over there. So I joined hands with my friends to make the first trip in the
US to a temple and that seemed to be a good sign for my stay too.The Pittsburg Temple
is in the state of Pennysylvania and they even call the state "The Penn State".From
Detroit(where I was staying),its around 5 hours of Car ride to the temple.And in
the journey I should be moving from Michigan state across Ohio to Penn state.First
weekend,Three states of America.I was lucky. Friends whom I travelled with were
all from Satyam:Anil Kandula(5 years in Satyam and 3 years in USA,He drove Endevour),Rakesh
with him wife(both of Whom I barely knew),Sravan Kumar(3 Years in Satyam and 2 months
in the US).Let me not talk about the company I had but the trip and the country.
I was staying in "Extended StayAmerica" hotel for the first week and these guys
came to pick me up from there on the sunday morning at 6 o clock.It wasnt very cold
but to the standards of the place I had been in(chennai),it was terribly cold.When
my journey started,I could see the "Bridge to Canada" just before I crossed outside
the Detroit border.Its just 4 miles to Canada from my place.Alas!I dint have a Canadian
Visa. As I crossed Michigan border towards Ohio,it was pretty grass meadows all
over and for the first time ,I could see animals grazing:Goats,Cows(Although ,Fatter
than Indian ones) and horses.I was wondering why even squirrels look thrice the
size of their Indian family.
America is Spacious!And there is a huge scarcity of population.So the land looks
empty.The Roads are awesome and so is the high speed drive(Max. Speed 70mi/hr...Note
it...not Kilometers).While on the drive I could see cop cars standing behind a few
vehicles caught red handed and it looked like a hitech - clean - well built Tanjore
highway .In between there were rest houses and we could take snacks in Mcdees(McDonalds)
and all that.One advise ,pls ask only for coffee when you get a chance to come over
here and not Tea,Because they just give hot water and we should be searching for
the te bags kept somewhere around dip it,add sugar and drink it to find it is the
worst drink you've ever had.
In between there were drizzles and clear skies and the SUV plunged.We reached Pittsburg.The
people near the temple are rich.They have really royal lands and each house and
family was very similiar to the house that Eric Bana goes into in Munich(to meet
the family of his underground ammunition provider).
Then Came the famous SV Temple,as they call.Darshan was great and so was the food.The
only thing that I couldnt bear peter indians over there.The temple was very similar
in hospitality as Tirupathy..they kept us pushing away from God and when we are
trying to reach God...this happens..isnt it? Then the return journey wherein the
drive was really cool and we dropped the rental vehicle in the AVIs center in the
Detroit Metro Wayne airport,came back by another car. Thus ended my Pittsburg Episode.The
greatest thing was the temple in this episode.Lovely.