Baltimore Like Atlanta?

I don't go to Maryland that often. Yet, it feels home for me. I live in Atlanta. My sister, Kamini, who is from Dumfries, VA says Baltimore is a little bit too much like Atlanta. I don't know, I'm still looking for that harbor at Chattahoochee. LOL. Anyway, I feel comfortable there when I visit. Of course, the last time I visited Baltimore was at Paru's sister's, Julie's wedding some fifteen years back. That wedding was more relief to me than anything. For some reason, I felt scared and I wasn't even in it. But, Paru's wedding was very relaxing even though my parents told me to prim and proper like I was going to prom.

There is always a weird surprise element that occurs when you visit the Gurusamys' for anything. Let me see, the movie theater at Ocean City forcing us to see Rocky III instead of ET; then some time later at Ocean City, gas attendants giving us Super-sized cups of Coke for no reason; the weird neighbors at Timonium (Bree has to come home and eat cheese, what? and hanging clothes off the window to dry?) ; and the weird stories about personally knowing someone jumping off the Chesapeake.

This time they didn't know but before the wedding, a hotel attendant at the front desk said that Morris Day of the Time was outside. I told him that "are you kidding." I look outside and it was some old dude with a shaved head and clean shaven face. Man, I was upset, told what I saw and for him to look outside. So he gets outside the door with me and I point to the man. He said "naw, that ain't him, he is in there inside the Holiday Inn van." So, I look inside the van and sure enough, it was Morris Day with his neatly trimmed, slick back afro hair with that bushy mustache. I waived hi to him while he was surrouned by a bodyguard and a couple of fans asking for autographs. Somehow, that relaxed me and got ready for the wedding.

The wedding was plain and simple. I loved that TV screen outside the temple parking lot. Inside, it was pretty cool and formal. Lenghty but not too long. What was good about, you could go outside and not miss the wedding. Food was being served the whole time of Idli's, chappathi's, coorima, and others. I like that mango drink that the kid attendants were giving me. Then another weird thing happened. I was outside when the wedding was about to end. A puff of black smoke appeared cloud like on the wooded tree side of the temple. Behind the forest, is a neighborhood with some streets paved. Someone said, it was a car accident or something else but you could hear sirens of police, fire trucks, and a ambulance. The puff of smoke was like an omen something you see in Hindu paintings or that song, Light My Fire.

The later event was the reception. This Dr. Dude kept telling me that I can do when I was sitting at this table next to my sister Rathi's friend, Ananathi. Food was great but too uptight with old people. But the show moved well. To the Groom: "You won't see an Indian pitch for the Yankees but you may with the Orioles." Funny highlight before that was my two nephews were running around the hotel and dancing. Nephew, Loghan passed out on the chair and carrying him was funny. Velan dancing and still having energy when it was passed midnight. I come back and start dancing. Julie apologizes for playing YMCA. I said they should have played "Living After Midnight" by Judas Priest. It was a party at the reception building and at the hotel.

Another weird element, you had Redskins fans at a Baltimore suburb hotel, cheering hardcore for a pre-season game against the Patriots. I went swimming on cold at the hotel pool. Finally, on Sunday we went to this restaurant, the whole family and my sister's family. I had the seafood platter. Then I took off from the Thurgood Marshall Airport hugging my nephews, an my sister saying those words about Atlanta and Baltimore.

Thanks Dad for the hotel rooms, Yogesh for your hard work. Mom with Velan/Loghan. Rathi great job of braving the knee. Vadivan for being very supportive. Remy hope you had the great Murugan experience. I love Greenbelt, MD so much. I wrote to the mayor telling her so and she said if I come back to email her so she can tell me the places to go and when those tours starts. She also said that she was born in Atlanta.