Brother Deebo (Daniel Valentine – ERAU) and myself embarked on a road trip on Friday, July 21st, 2006.  That weekend was one that exemplified Brotherhood and reminded me of the reason why I was in Sigma Beta Rho. We had the privilege of meeting Brothers from six states and ten chapters. The acts of Brotherhood that was displayed brought joy to my heart and utmost pride in my letters.

Our journey began in Gainesville, FL when we first met up with the University of Florida Brothers. From the onset of our weekend, we experienced true Brotherhood and this was demonstrated continuously. Deebo and I were in a hurry to get on the road, but at the last minute my girlfriend at the time requested my services in helping her move into her new apartment. Though I was eager to leave town because it was starting to get late, I could not in good conscious leave Gainesville without giving her a helping hand. I was in a quandary because I had truckloads of furniture to move and no time to do it. Fortunately, the UF Brothers gained wind of my predicament and offered to help me out. The three UF Bros that stepped up was all I needed. With the help of Brothers Tremble (Shon Kondoor – UF), Dormant (Sujith Vargehese – UF), and Willow (Shawn Mathew – UF) we were able to start our road trip that afternoon.

The first leg took us through North Florida and into Georgia. We were fortunate to be able to meet up with Brothers in Suwannee, GA where the Nu and GTech chapters were meeting for a social. It was a great time and we also got to meet up with Brother Haywire (Ari Stillman – Kappa) from Rochester. It was good catching up with all the Georgia boys who we had not seen in a long time.

We had anticipated an early departure the next morning. But the previous night’s festivities made that scenario an impossibility. We ended up leaving Georgia in the early afternoon and started heading towards Virginia. Our destination was Richmond, VA to meet up with the Lambda boys. Our plan was to meet them for dinner and then head to D.C. to meet up with UMCP/UMBC Bros. As we were approaching Richmond, our journey hit another snag when a tire of my car blew out on I-85. Brother Deebo and I thought our trip was about to come to an ugly conclusion. But thanks to the close proximity of Lambda chapter, salvation was but a phone call away. Our rescue came in the form of Brother Prophet (Vibin Roy – Lambda). Within ten minutes, Brother Prophet was on the scene with car jack in hand. He helped us put a spare on and we were back on the road. We finally made it to the restaurant and we were able to meet up some of the Lambda guys. We realized that we were in quite a predicament. We had a car to be fixed and still had to get to D.C. But it was already evening and no car shops were open. Once again, Lambda came through. Brother Senator (Ali Khan – Lambda) gave me his keys to his SUV and Brothers Wonder (Alex Orlando – Lambda) and Response (Nikhil Palluvoi – Lambda) offered to get my tire fixed in the morning by the time I came back from Maryland. The road trip was still alive!

It was getting late on Saturday night, but we were back on the road to D.C. We ultimately met up with the UMCP/UMBC Brothers at a house party being thrown by Brother Basic (Mayur Patel – UMCP). It was a long night, but we ended up crashing at the UMBC house. They have a cool house in Baltimore and I was fortunate to recover some of UF’s “flashed” belongings. In the morning we met up with some other UMCP/UMBC Brothers and some older heads that had come down from New York.

It was a hard decision, but in the end, Brother Deebo and I decided it was time to start heading back to the Sunshine state. We drove back to Virginia to return Senator’s ride and to pick up my now repaired car.  Then we hit the road for Florida. It was a long drive home, but we had an opportunity to ponder on all the good times we had, all the great Brothers we met, and the reason why we were part of the Sigma Beta Rho family. Life is full of uncertainty, but we can always be assured of the tight bonds of Brotherhood we all share. I thank Sigma Beta Rho for all the relationships it has given me and all the lessons it has taught me. Brotherhood Beyond All Barriers.

Author: Akash Kuruvilla | Brother Pinata