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Early in 2004, almost the entire family decided to go to Orlando for the AKKA meeting. Most of us had made plans months in advance. We had booked 2 large resorts in Orlando to be able to house the entire family. Almost everyone had agreed to attend the conference, including - Pratibha, Vasu, Bhagya, Prasadu, Jayanthi, Sowmya, Susheela, Bhava, Indira, Sripad, Sudhir, Ashwini, Tejas, Vijaya, Narayan, Shobha, Mahesh, Ausha, Vishesh, and Saroja.
Then came Frances. She is not part of our family, but behaved like an angry lady, willing to destroy anything in her path. She started coming towards Orlando on Wednesday, September 1. Her arrival seemed to scare many of the family members.
On Thursday morning, Susheela's family cancelled their trip. On Thursday afternoon, Vasu's family and Prasadu's family changed their flight from late Thursday to mid-Friday. On late Thursday evening, the Resort told Indira's family that they will be evacuating all visitors. This news led to the cancellation of Indira's trip to the conference. Then came the news that the Orlando airport was closing at Noon on Friday, which led to the cancellation of Vasu's, Prasadu's, Pratibha's, Vijaya's, Shobha's, and Saroja's trip to the conference.
What a wasted weekend. No conference. Everyone had taken time off from work. 4 long days, at home, with nothing to do.
Suddenly, Indira gets a call from Vasu. Since his flight to Orlando would have gone thru Atlanta, he was planning on coming to Atlanta to visit Indira and Susheela. Vasu then called Padma and asked her to drive down to Macon. Suddenly, it looked like we would have a mini-reunion in Macon.
On Friday afternoon, Vasu & Bhagya arrived first. Due to the "Florida evacuation" traffic, we were 2 hours late in picking them up from the airport. By the time Vasu & Bhagya arrived in Indira's house, Padma & Gopi had arrived in Susheela's house.
An attempt was made to try to fool Padma, by saying that Vasu caught a plane to Tampa, and hence would not be spending the weekend in Macon. This almost brought tears to Padma's eyes, as they had driven down to Macon to see Vasu. She angrily stated that Vasu could have made just "1 phone call" to tell her the change in plans, and she would have turned around and gone back to Jackson. As soon as she was informed that Vasu had not left for Tampa, she quickly defused.
Unfortunately, Prasadu's family and Pratibha could not join the gang. But, to our surprise, Purna decided to fly down to Atlanta on Saturday afternoon. He rented a car and drove down to Macon to join the reunion.
Friday afternoon and evening, Vasu, Bhagya, Padma, Gopi, Susheela, Bhava, Indira, Sripad, Sudhir, Ashwini, and Tejas had a fun time eating and telling jokes at Indira's house. Saturday morning, the "gang" went to Susheela's house for more merriment. Once Purna arrived Saturday afternoon, Vasu & Bhagya decided to enact their play for the family. I must say, if Vasu wore his costume in public, he would be taken to Guantanemo Bay immediately, calling him Osama's brother, Jamal.
Sunday morning, Padma and Gopi had to go back to Mississippi, as they had to attend their own "farewell party" in Jackson. A few hours later, Purna headed back to Atlanta to meet up with a friend. On Sunday evening, we all watched 2 Hindi movies - Gupt and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. During the movies, the men gazed adoringly at Aishwirya Rai, while poking fun at Kajol the "unibrow", and the women salivated over Salman Khan.
On Monday, Vasu & Bhagya headed back to Colorado Springs. But, before they boarded their plane, we went shopping at the DeKalb International Farmer's Market. This farmer's market is unbelievable! You can find almost any vegetable or fruit from anywhere around the world - all under 1 roof. For those people who live in New Jersey or New York, your local markets would be rated a C- compared to the A+ rating of the DeKalb International Farmer's Market.
Despite the rain, wind and flooding, the AKKA conference went off without a hitch - or at least we have been led to believe as such. We may have missed the 2004 AKKA conference, but we had a fantastic time in Macon.
Some pictures taken during the weekend are posted below...