Small world....

It was bound to happen, but I wasn't expecting it so soon...I ran into a Macalester student last weekend. My alma mater is known for its internationalism, so it was hardly a surprise.

One of the world's top techno/trance DJs showed up in Hyderabad last Saturday. It's his first trip to Asia, and he comes to Hyderabad! I think somebody must have lied to him about Hyderabad's importance. I'm not a huge fan, and I had to leave for the airport at 4:30 on Sunday morning to catch a flight to Bombay but I've seen him with Mac friends in the States and it's probably the only time he'll ever show up here, so I figured I had to go.

It ended up being great fun, quite trashy, but in the best way possible. However, the connections made during the night were what made it truly remarkable. About halfway through the concert, we spotted a group of white people. Like any pair of dodgy Indian guys, we approached them, and introduced ourselves. Within about five minutes, I figured out that one of the girls, Alex, had gone to Macalester and that we shared common friends, that she knew of me, but we'd never met, and she didn't know I was in Hyderabad. Small world....

Towards the end of the concert, both my cousin and I, being friendly drunks, we ended up talking to anybody and everybody we could find, and eventually befriended two Nigerian guys, whom we hung out with till 4 in the morning, after which headed home.

Of course, it's India, and the randomness never ends. At 4:15 AM, about two miles from my house, the car breaks down as I'm driving. Normally it wouldn't be a cause for stress, but I had 15 minutes before I had to leave for my flight, so things got a bit hairy. Fortunately, our driver, Shoukat, was kind enough to pick my cousin and I up on his way to get the rest of my family, and there was a happy ending to the evening.