I was invited to present research papers in the 3rd International conference on Environmental Science and Technology in 2007 , held in Wyndham Greenspoint hotel which has been now taken up by the Hilton group in Houston. As usual my bags were packed before I was issued a US visa . Mom and I took the sixteen hour nonstop flight to George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Houston, Texas. we reached in the middle of the night , there is free telephone service to hotel desk, I called the help desk and the hotel shuttle collected us early morning 5am. I registered at conference and since my paper presentations were in the morning session . we had already freshened up and changed our clothes , my mother proudly sat in the conference hall with me. my mother proudly sat in the conference hall.My paper presentations went smoothly this was my second major conference in USA . I had presented one paper in Monterey ,organized by Battalle research foundation of ohio . unlike buildings in other parts of the world Texas is sprawing let me describe the hotel lobby it is huge and spacious , there is a glass roof with lots of plants inside. In the evening there was wedding reception ,the bride had arrived ,she was dressed in a splendid white gown and a photo session was in progress.

We put our luggage in the cloak room since my room was not vacant now we were free to roam about in and around the luxury hotel.

We wanted to eat something and hotel was very expensive, went out of the hotel front door it was blazing hot, there was a huge empty lot ,then some buildings in a distance.

A old man in Bermuda shorts and faded teshirt with flipflopps started to cross the road towards the empty lot. My mother said,’lets follow him’ . We both hurried behind him sure enough ,he was headed towards the building , when we reached it .There was a glass door , he walked in with two women behind him, wonder of wonders that was the Greenspoint Mall. Strangely enough the lady in hotel couldnot direct us ,the reason was that many people in Texas speak spanish ,they are poor in english .

Anyway we roamed around in the shopping mall , Cici’s Pizzario is the place we went for lunch. We bought a lunch coupon of six dollars which meant we could eat from the buffet. I tasted some many types of pizzas ,dessert was chocolate pizza. This was an unforgettable lunch . There was a one dollar shop .we bought some gifts there. The food courts was filled with people enjoying life

On our return , I was allotted a room as the conference delegate.My room was on the 14 floor I got a splendid view of the area ,the rising sun , the night view. The sky was pierced by the jet trails. The hotel did not charge me as they gave me the room late. American hospitality at its best.

Houston gets its name from the American hero Sam Houston who was a great general ,governor and President of the republic of Texas before it joined the union.We visited the NASA space center , huge space shuttles are on display nearby is the university of Clearwater .

Houston is one of the worlds largest cities ,it does not appear overcrowded like NY or LA .We traveled by train around Houston ,visited the planetarium and the science museum. Later visited the Galleria shopping mall in which is huge and fascinating. I cannot forget the Rainforest Cafe restaurant ,designed to depict some features of a rainforest, including plant growth, mist, waterfalls, and animatronic figures of rainforest animals, including elephants, frogs, gorillas, jaguars, and tigers. To enhance this theme, the restaurants are populated by animatronic figures of animals.The restaurants are partitioned into several rooms by means of rain curtains that fall into basins running along the tops of partition walls and booths and aquatic tanks. The Rainforest Cafe serves food ranging from seafood, beef, and chicken to pastas and pizzas. There is also the tradition of yelling "volcano!" when somebody orders a "volcano" sundaeThe staff of Rainforest Cafe are named in accordance with the safari theme. Waiters are called Safari Guides, hosts and hostesses are Tour Guides, sales clerks are Pathfinders, bartenders are Navigators, bussers are Safari Assistants, and kitchen staff are Trailblazers. Rainforest Cafe restaurants have a gift shop, where rainforest themed merchandise is sold.Rainforest Cafe has an animatronic tree named "Tracy the Talking Tree." The tree entertains guests every 5 minutes educating them about the rainforest

My research paper was on exposure to Tobacco smoke .summary is as follows -

Burning tobacco is the main source of indoor pollution in the developed world. Tobacco smoke contains about 4,000 chemicals including carcinogens, irritants and toxic gases. The health impact of breathing environmental tobacco smoke is well documented. Tobacco smoke contains over 4000 chemicals in the form of particles and gases. Many potentially toxic gases are present in higher concentrations in sidestream smoke than in mainstream smoke and nearly 85% of the smoke in a room results from sidestream smoke. The particulate phase includes tar (itself composed of many chemicals), nicotine, benzene and benzo(a)pyrene. The gas phase includes carbon monoxide, ammonia, dimethylnitrosamine, formaldehyde, hydrogen cyanide and acrolein. Some of these have marked irritant properties and some 60 are known or suspected carcinogens (cancer causing substances). The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the USA has classified environmental tobacco smoke as a class A (known human) carcinogen along with asbestos, arsenic, benzene and radon gas.Breathing other people's smoke is called passive, involuntary or secondhand smoking. The non-smoker breathes "sidestream" smoke from the burning tip of the cigarette and "mainstream" smoke that has been inhaled and then exhaled by the smoker. Secondhand smoke (SHS) is a major source of indoor air pollution Tobacco use is a major preventable cause of premature death and of several general diseases. In addition to cigarette, pipe, cigar and bidi smoking, betel quid chewing (pan), guhtka use and other traditional forms of tobacco have several effects in the mouth. Tobacco is a risk factor for oral cancer, oral cancer recurrence Professor Konrad Jamrozik of Imperial College London estimated that domestic exposure to secondhand smoke causes at least 3,600 deaths annually from lung cancer, heart disease and stroke combined, while exposure at work leads to approximately 700 deaths from these causes. Almost half of all children in the UK are exposed to tobacco smoke at home. Passive smoking increases the risk of lower respiratory tract infections such as bronchitis, pneumonia and bronchiolitis in children. Scientists from Canada reported finding evidence of cigarette smoke in fetal hair, the first biochemical proof that the offspring of non-smoking mothers can be affected by passive cigarette smoke. Smoking during pregnancy can harm the baby The American Cancer Society and other organizations initiated studies comparing deaths among smokers and nonsmokers over a period of several years. All such studies found increased mortality among smokers, both from cancer and other causes The American Cancer Society estimates that cigarettes are responsible for about 431,000 deaths in the United States each year.

The “Flying Red Horse of Dallas city near Houston , a landmark is surrounded by taller structures yet it is still possible to catch a wonderful view of its red glow while strolling in downtown, admiring the views from new buildings like the Omni Hotel and Museum Tower or by car where Interstates 30 and 35 merge and split apart. It symbolizes Dallas as the Empire State building does for New York and the Eiffel Tower does for Paris. The original Pegasus, the logo of the Magnolia Oil Company, was produced to welcome oilmen attending the American Petroleum Institute’s first annual meeting in November 1934. the Flying Red Horse Pegasus still flies above the Magnolia Building. I got a chance to see it on later trips to Texas.

The Volkswagen Beetle car is very popular in USA , like the children who play a game of counting these cars , when traveling traveling from Houston to Dallas and Austin in a car or in the greyhound bus in california I would lookout for these brightly cars. Beetles or Kaifer in german . Mom clicked a photograph of me standing beside one. The Indian chief feather head and leather topboots with sparkling silver spurs in the Mall ,reminded me of the wild west and cowboys.

My Daddy loved to read wild west novels and watch cowboy movies.

We were waiting to change our flight at Phoenix , a girl was sleeping on bench , near the bench a golden Labrador obviously her dog was also sleeping. Mummy noticed the dog she is a doglover. I had read in books about dog guides for the blind and my assumption was correct , she was blind and the handsome dog was her companion. Interesting she was alone, when every passenger boarded the plane, she came in our plane and took a seat. The dog sat in the corrider between the seats ,the dog never moved , calmly ,unafraid and responsible for the two hour flight. No visits to the loo , no demands for water and food like human passengers. Most well behaved passenger ,no barking and no biting.The plane landed , the dog and his charge were the last to get down.

Here was a lesson I learnt to be responsible and brave like the Labrador with his charge .