“No Daylight Savings in Madras,” said the guy at the desk at the Hotel Madras. “You are one hour early!” Kim and I just looked at each other. We killed ourselves to get here, dodging auto rickshaws, motorcycles, stray animals, beggars and guys selling flowers (we bought some to get the away, and the flowers are very nice). We were to attend a public viewing of the Madras Astronomy Club and we were keen to look at the heavens. Now we had an hour to kill and that meant…gin and tonics Kim had somehow gotten quite interested in telescopes, the stars, and astronomy in general while taking a gen ed class back home in Omaha, Nebraska. Now as we went to Madras for my Electrical Engineering COPA symposium, she made sure she knew about the Astronomy Club. But then, I thought for someone so interested in the stars, surely you would know about day light savings. But I did not say that. So we settled at the bar and ordered our drinks and after a warm blessedly clear day and munched on bar snacks, then we started to get hungry as the sun began to set on the Madras skyline and the light began to change and soften, and soon we were talking from a couple from Ireland who did the same thing we did and were here for the Astronomy Club as well. We traded stories about what we did in Madras the last few days and turns out they were headed out to New Delhi in the morning and we somewhat agreed to meet for breakfast. Seems an Irish fellow had a small coffee place in the city (of all things) and we could meet them there. Well, after a second drink we wrote down the address, they were insistant we go the next day, and they toddled off.
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