Vegas in my eyes.

It was a beautiful day. We had to leave San Francisco behind.. The flowers and the cafes, the lonely hilly roads, and the bright blue sea.. the fresh salad rolls... the gypsies... When will  I see you again? Over to Las Vegas.. Packing and unloading to fit the baggage standards. Finally on to the flight..more like a bus, a cramped one at that. A cramped flight in the U.S!! The images of the Grand Canyon loomed large in our mind's eye, the aerial view was just black barren mountain ranges, endless stretches of barren country.. stretches and stretches of land..

 We reached the famed city of Vegas. The big bad city..Am I really there?Lights lights and more lights. Chaotic.. not feeling a bit adventurous after the beautiful San Francisco. Friends back home quipped.. Vegas ? have fun.. We checked into the hotel.. enter the lobby and tuck tuck tuck...machines machines everywhere. We hauled our luggage..missing our desi bearer boys back home who are at our beck and call once we alight in a hotel.

The hotel resembled a castle from an Enid Blyton Book. Our room was at the back and we had to walk, and there were huge lobby like rooms jutting out from all sides with machines and more machines.  Maps were found everywhere to assist you. Reminded me of our examination halls long back. But that wd last just for three hrs..but here.. hours and hours of intense speculation.Years and years of being in the game have lent them a stoic outlook devoid of expressions. The numbers just rolled and  rolled bringing in millions,or losing it into the irretrievable depths of despair

. Let me just watch the scene... Two adorable  chlidren.. were languishing quietly while their mom lost herself in the machines. It was just a machine anyway!. A massive man with swollen legs sat in a wheel chair, with fries and a burger as huge as him for company. After a while, I found that an old obese  lady who was playing nearby, came and they plodded slowly away. Old couples in wheel chairs very very engaged, an agile mind they must sure have, forgetting their aches and pains, and loneliness...No not for them, the common things that torment our aged back home. Casinos are indeed good when you are old. I found sophisticated ladies, time and again, flicking out their gilt edged mirrors, adding a dash of lipstick and adjusting their hair, the wrinkles r getting the better of them, anyway, the huge rings on their fingers glittered and brightly painted toes peeped out from their high heeled shoes. I found four to five  people with one hand amputated, impeccably dressed,  which led me to think, that they might be the Likes of Don Corleone.   

  I tried gauging  the faces..but no traces of excitement.  Obesity sure is a problem here..well not in the least for them, as it can be guaged  by the large plates of fries and king size burgers and gallons of coke beside them, which bears a silent witness to their fortunes and misfortunes. 

Ah.. there he is...I found a Native Indian..the features whisked me back to the Red Indian movies which my brother and me used to watch with utmost fascination. The slit eyes, the long straight thin hair and the brown skin with square faces with high cheek bones.. He owned this place, and he had many more. Their country whisked away by slaughter and treachery.

We walked the famous Strip... Just lights and lights and lights, and shopping for the rich and the famous. nothing here for me.. We had to leave early morning by bus, so we headed for dinner. Meat meat and meat in all forms. A small table for salads and vegetarians Thank God. Pastries galore.. I miss San Francisco..The Grand Canyon is waiting...