One month & running....

Just completed a month here in US. As of now it has been treating me well.. lets hope it remains the same way. :) I had least expectations from this place and hence had to suffer no disappointments. I do not have any friends here and since its an unknown town in an unfamiliar country, I did not expect to make any. Though my colleagues here are very helpful & friendly, making me feel as much at home as possible. Feedback from all the people who had been to this town before was pretty consistent.. small town.. no friends.. no entertainment.. boring life.. Being a person who doesn't allow herself to get bored, I was sure I would find ways to keep myself ticking. And till now I have had no time to feel bored.. Touchwood!!

The first thing I did here, was rent an apartment.. :) yes.. I have an apartment.. a nice cozy 1bedroom flat.. its on the 1st floor( 2nd floor by US standards ).. has a balcony too.. The next thing I did after getting an apartment was shopping, shopping, shopping & some moooooooooore shopping. Got a TV.. (need to keep myself occupied.. m staying alone with no friends yaar.. ), DVD player, Laptop and a Digicam(to share pics with my friends). Got all of these things during the Thanksgiving Sale. Arre its such a big event here. The day after Thanksgiving is known as "Black Friday" and you have amazing discounts in all shops. Shops open late at night.. somewhere around 2am-4am and there are big queues of people trying to get their hands on good deals. People here start planning for this day well in advance. Papers on thanksgiving day carry a lot of ads about all the good deals available. I also went to Circuit City around 4 o clock in the morning. Got my laptop on a discount of $350 on the original market price.. and that too with lot of free accessories like printer/scanner, wireless router, security software,etc. Had one helluva experience.. :) After this I got myself subscribed to TimeWarner cable service. So I have cable, phone & internet and I'm all set.

Can't tell you what fun shopping is. I am not a shopoholic except when it comes to clothes, they are never enough.. ;) I am an impuslive shopper who values a thing by the amount I am ready to pay for it.. So it may happen that I won't take a good bargain just because I don't think its worth it & I may well end up getting an otherwise expensive thing just coz that's worth that much for me.. I know thats stupid and foolish.. but can't help it.. an incorrigible trait!! Here I am slowly and steadily getting used to WalMart, HarrisTeeter, Sears, Macy's and the likes.. Grocery & food items are too costly compared to India and I do make comparisons often.. guess will stop that after sometime.. You get varieties of things though.. have seen atleast 5 kinds of potatoes.. normal(the one we get in india), yellow colored, purple, fibrous & sweet.

On weekdays I generally don't get much time. Start for office around 8.30-9 and come back by 6-6.30. Rest for some time, watch TV, then I start working on my dinner. After dinner, I call up my parents. Log onto net, chat with friends, check my e-mails. Then I read something and go to sleep anytime between 12.30-1.30. This is my normal "routine" on weekdays. Weekends I sleep till 12 or later.. :D.. Sleeping is one of my favourite hobbies.. Afternoon go out with my colleagues for shopping, buy groceries for the week, wash my clothes, try to clean the apartment and do similar small things. Go out for lunch/dinner. Last weekend, we went out for lunch in a Mexican restaurant, then went to a book shop "Barns&Noble" and bought some books. At night, went for a movie "Apocalypto". An overall fun day!

Lastly, before signing-off, here are a few things which I am getting used to:

1. Doughnuts: I can finish half a dozen doughnuts in 2 days.. and then I go and get more. And you must have guessed.. I am gaining weight.. :( .. but what the heck!!

2. Chips: Anytime u come to my place, u'll find atleast 1 big bag of lays chips. Actually at times u can get 1 bag each of 2-3 different flavours. The tagline for Lays couldn't have been more apt, "No one can eat just one".

3. Cold weather: Its quite cold here and believe it or not, I haven't sneezed even once yet.. that's quite a remarkable feat.. :) my friends can vouch!!

4. WalMart: For basic shopping. It's open 24x7.

5. TV Ads: The Ads shown on TV here are so kiddish & stupid. Majority of ads are either for medicines or legal counsels. And its not at like the ads back in India, which are so witty and humorous. Here they explain things like u would to a 4 yr old.

6. Clean air/environment. And I mean CLEAN!!

7. Sound of horn: Or you can say the absence of it. I have been here a month and I haven't heard it yet. Bizzare, right?

8. Listening to statements like "Hi! How are you doing?", "Have a good day" and that too from strangers. Don't know why but everyone greets everyone here.

9. Christmas decoration: Houses here are really beautiful. Small and cute. And most of them are decorated for Christmas. The holiday season begins as early as Thanksgiving. :)

Have a great day!! and advance wishes of a Merry Christmas!!

First Flight

It’s been sometime since I last wrote. I have been keeping a bit busy lately. Been busy having new experiences.. experiences which I would love to share. Not sure where I should begin from.. :) But let’s just start from the start.. It all started when I was about to head home for Diwali holidays, I was informed that I would be needed to pack my bags and report onsite my mid of November. Onsite being US. (Fyi.. Our project caters to a leading American financial institution).

This being my first trip out of my country.. try imagine the excitement mixed with apprehension, euphoria with a tinge of fear, etc etc etc.. I was experiencing. Last couple of days in Bangalore was just flew by.. spent on shopping, eating, treats to friends, chatting with them (with night-outs on the last weekend) , more eating and then more shopping.. And then all too soon the D-day arrived. This was not just my first international flight; it was also my first flight ever. It would be quite impossible for me to express the mixed feelings I was having. Away from family & friends. Off to an unknown land. So let me just skip the part.

Flight was wonderful. B’lore -> Frankfurt -> Chicago -> Greensboro (my destination). Family of 2 of my colleagues were also travelling with me. Had a window seat in the Frankfurt->Chicago flight. :) :) The view, simply put, was breathtaking. Especially during take-off. Frankfurt is surrounded by some very beautiful hills and the scenic colourful display was wonderful. We crossed the Atlantic Ocean at an altitude of 38,000 feet. :D. (Being a first time traveler, I was noticing everything.. from the altitude, the trajectory, the outside temperature and pressure,.. At one time the outside temp was -59 degree centigrades.. ). The clouds made beautiful formations with sun rays crossing through it. The plane went right into three cloud covers while preparing to land in Chicago. You feel like you are in a dream. It looks just like the dream sequence they show in movies. Saw a couple of movies in-flight. The food served in the flight was quite good, contrary to my expectations. Infact, the b’lore-f’furt flight had Indian food, complete with Paneer & Raita. I was advised to drink lot of juice and hence followed it diligently. (Fyi... the coffee was BAD.. especially after the wonderful coffee you get in Krishna Cafe' or the various ‘Sagar’ restaurants).

Frankfurt was crowded and it was raining in Chicago making it freezing cold. Thus passed the journey, complete with lot of security checks and long queues but on the whole uneventful. All seemed to change as soon as we landed at our destination. Just when we were picking up our hand luggage and preparing to un-board, the flight attendants asked us to go back & take our seats. After around 45 minutes on the plane, we were asked to go into a conference room on the airport. It seems some bomb threat was received and we were about to be questioned… oops I meant welcomed by.. guess what.. FBI.. quite a warm welcome right? ;-). So after waiting for another hour in the conference room, feds arrived and we were told that people sitting in a particular area need to wait and others can go. And believe it or not I was one of the few who had to wait.. Just my luck!! :(.. hey on hindsight, this could be the effect of a movie of the same name which I saw in-flight.. :D. After that each one of us was taken aside, asked to write down our name,address,etc, questioned about wheather we saw anyone do anything suspicious, told we would be called again if needed, told sorry for delay & thank you for co-operation and then we were free to go. Phew!!

My colleagues, who had come to receive me, had to wait for around 2.30 hours. And finally I did manage to reach the US of A. Its been 2 weeks now, have some more experinces to add but guess that would have to wait. :) Cya.

End of an era

Last week pulled down the curtains on an era. With Sampras already have retired in 2002(official announcement in 2003), the retirement of Andre Agassi last week left a void in the tennis circuit which would be pretty hard to fill up. This would be the case at least for me. It was Pete & Andre who attracted me to Tennis. They, along with Monica Seles & Steffi Graf, were the ones who made watching tennis so much more interesting. The rivalry which the above 2 groups of players shared resulted in many a visual treats.

Pete and Andre are two of the greatest tennis champions of all time and their play has served as a timeless entertainment for tennis fans worldwide. There will always be a debate between their fans as to who is the better of the two. Their style of play is as different as chalk from cheese. Sampras is a great server of the ball (just love his aces.. :)..) & Agassi, a great returner. Sampras is a better player on grass courts and Agassi would be dominant on clay courts. Sampras’s style is as plain & unpretentious as Agassi’s is flamboyant. Even with so many differences between them both dominated the tennis circuit during the same era. The rivalry which they shared helped bring out the best in them. Both acknowledge that they have used each other as a yardstick for upping their respective games. They also share a great deal of mutual respect for each other. Hence it was just appropriate that the last grand slam match that Pete played (& won, US open 2002) was against his biggest rival, Agassi. A fitting end to a glorious carrier. It’s sad that Agassi could not end his career with a win. Never the less he will always be a proud member of the grand slam Hall of Fame.

It was not just the game but also the attitude which they possess, which made them so special. Not just great tennis players, they are also great sportsperson. New players have risen to fill up the void. Federer is already on a fast track, closely followed by Roddick, Hewitt, Nadal & the likes. But simply put Pete & Andre are just irreplaceable.

Indian Coffee House

Stumbled across a portion of history while taking a walk down MG Road. It was around 10 in the morning and I, along with a few friends, was looking out for a place to have a coffee & grab a few bites on our way to see the 11 o clock show at REX theatre.

Since I don’t relish eating breads & stuffs falling into this category, I avoid the multinational coffee chains like CCD (a.k.a Café Coffee Day), barista, etc. Another reason being the absence of sugar in the coffee served there. You need to help yourself when it comes to sugar. :( . So while looking out for a place to take our breakfast, we came across the Indian Coffee House. It’s situated at maybe the most prominent location on MG Road, but is as likely to get missed. We had taken that road for n number of times & we had missed it. But the n+1th time turned out to be different.

The moment we entered the restaurant, the first thing which I felt was a feeling of stepping out of the present and into the past. It felt like a place which had just sprung out of the books by R.K.Narayan.

A black & white photo of Gandhi adorns one of the walls. There are also quite a few framed advertisements/ pictures.. old..faded.. (could not take a good look at them though). The waiters are dressed in off-white uniforms (must have been white once) with the classic Indian turban on their head. The chairs & tables are pretty old fashioned. No flashy frames, no modern-arts, no ethnic/modern furnitures… nothing that would urge a dekko. The interior of the place takes a backseat. So that you give your full attention to the coffee and your companion(s).

It’s the ideal place for khatti (oriya slang for “a little chit-chat” ;) ). Just the place to spend a lazy Sunday with your friends. And I mean “friends”.
Want to experience the past? Just visit Indian Coffee House.

PS: People finicky about cleanliness stay away! That’s not one of its USP. (USP: Apart from the ambience, it’s the Coffee, with “sugar”, and Dosa-chutney, kind of “home-made”)

PPS: Another uniqueness: No Sambhar ;)

Main Lafzon Mein Kuch Bhi Izhar Nahi Karta.....

Here are a few lines I read recently..

Main Lafzon Mein Kuch Bhi Izhar Nahi Karta
Iska Matlab Ye Nahi Ki Main unse Pyar Nahi Karta
Chahta Ho on Main use Aaj Bhi Par
uski Soch Mein Apna Waqt Bekar Nahi Karta
Tamasha Naa Ban Jaaye Kahi Mohabbat Meri
Isi Liye Apne Dard Ko Mamoodaar Nahi Karta
Jo Kuch Mila Hai Usi Mein Khush Hoon Main
Uske Liye Khuda Se Taqraar Nahi Karta
Par Kuch Tau Baat Hai uski Fitrat Mein
Warna Main use Chahne Ki Khata Baar Baar Nahi Karta

Got it as a forward. Don’t know why but it seems to have tugged in my heart. It’s not as if it is the greatest piece of poetry I have read. Still it has kind of stayed with since the time I first read it, which was about a week back. I am not the sort of person who reads poetry, ghazals, & the likes. I love reading though. I read things and if I like them, well & good. Else just ignore maadi ;-).

Coming back to the original topic.. I did some brain storming on why these lines keep popping up in my head. Had a long discussion with my roomies & friends on this.. everyone had there take on it. Since I’ve never been in love (not the Romeo - Juliet kind anyways..), couldn’t blame it on that Ruled out in the first go itself.. :-).. Sighhhh..… :-(. Here are a few of the reasons which we could think of:

1. Great lines! – Yeah it is. At least I believe so. Since that’s not entirely the case it was ruled out.

2. Most romantic one- Nope. Not even that. PB Shelley’s poems would do more justice here.

3. Essence of the poem – True. The feelings conveyed in the lines are really quite touching. Maybe coz there’s that dash of sorrow into it. And as they say nothing touches people more than tragedy.

4. Even after making the earlier disclaimer, per my friend Ashwani, that’s coz I am in love… ;-) But since I know I am not and thank god I am not, this also gets ruled out.

5. The one which hit the closest was the observation made by my friend Rachna. She told it reminds of my major crush.. Mr.B… sigh.. can’t even write his name without letting out a sigh.. FYI, he is my ex-colleague & that’s all. There begins & ends my story. So I am not sure whether it reminded me of him from the beginning but yes after her observation it does remind me of him. :-)
It’s true. You like a poem more when you are able to associate yourself with it in some way. Even if it is only through a foolish crush. You look back at those moments and have a good laugh. Brings a smile into your face. You don’t regret it but as they say an “If…" is always there.. ;-) And it’s our tendency to remember only the good times.

6. Can you think of anything else?

Whatever the reason, I have really enjoyed the above poetry (or ghazal or whatever it is called.. as u can see my knowledge on these things is negative). Hopefully u’ll like it too. Have fun!!

Lord of the Rings: Been there and back again

Finally I have been able to read the cult classic LOTR (acronym for Lord of the rings). Having already seen the movie (all the 3 installments: the fellowship of the ring, the two towers and the return of the king) a couple of times and getting hooked by it, I had been craving to read it too. And let me tell you it met all of my expectations.

LOTR is a work of fiction created by JRR Tolkien. It traces the life of a hobbit, Frodo, as he comes into possession of the One ring (the Ring of Power, which was forged by Sauron, the Dark Lord) and his struggle to destroy it. He is aided by 8 companions in his journey: - Aragorn-a man, Gandalf-the grey, Boromir-a man, Legolas-an elf, Gimli-a dwarf and 3 hobbits-Sam, Merry and Pippin. There are many more interesting and important characters in the book like Gollum, Faramir, Arwen, Eowyn, Elrond, Galadriel, etc. You gotta read the book or watch the movie to learn more.

Whenever I am reading a book, I tend to visualize each of the characters present in the book. I read about the character’s physical and psychological description and place someone (mostly an actor) in his/her place and imagine them going forward. This is one thing I really like ( / dislike :)) while reading a book.. u need to rely so much on your imagination.... But for LOTR I didn’t have to go through this activity.. having already seen the movie (and loving it), images of all the characters were already before my eyes. I just had to place them in all the scenes. After seeing the movie I had become a great fan of Viggo Mortensen a.k.a Aragorn (have watched quite a few of his movies since then.. got a tiny-winy crush on him.. what a handsome guy.. :) with a multi-faceted personality) and after reading the book I have another favorite: Faramir (brother of Boromir, enacted on screen by David Wenham). I had also loved the character of Sam Gamgee (played by Sean Astin) in the movie and after reading the book, this love was just re-affirmed. If not for him Frodo would have been lost for ever.. can’t help but admire his courage, optimism and loyalty, above everything else. Just goes to show that “Things are never quite as scary when you've got a friend.”

The language of the book is just Wonderful. The English is awesome. There are many small & big poems in between and though it may seem boring, they kind of just fit-in perfectly. Here’s one of my fav quote, in reference to Aragorn:

"All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not wither,

Deep roots are not reached by frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,

A light from the shadows shall spring;

Renewed shall be blade that was broken,

The crownless again shall be king. "

Here’s another classic:
“Many that live deserve death. And some die that deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then be not too eager to deal out death in the name of justice, fearing for your own safety. Even the wise cannot see all ends.”
There are some real good and thought-invoking phrases in the book. Lines which would make you ponder & debate on the issue. Its in a beautiful poetic language.. got that old world charm about it.

The book exceeded some of my expectations.. After watching the movie, I was quite sad for Eowyn (lady of Rohan) since she seemed to have lost out to Arwen while vying for Aragorn’s love. (Since I preferred Miranda Otto to Liz Tyler.. I cudn’t fathom this ;-) ).. But the book healed this sadness a.k.a wound (For more information read the chapters around “House of healing”).

There are quite a few interesting incidents which have not been included in the movie version…. Especially some involving Faramir… have heard its present in the extended version DVD of the movie.. I am currently looking out for it.. :) Either as a movie or a book, LOTR is definitely worth collecting.

Chivalry - Slow Death?

An incident on the bus today made me think of my take on the issue.
It was 1pm on a Wednesday. And I was tuned into RadioMirchi (93.3FM which kicked off its operations in Bangalore a few days back, giving competition to RadioCity & a choice to bangalorians) & reading a book( have just started it.. "Stepping Out" by Mrinal Pande.. it talks about life of rural Indian women) while commuting to office through the office bus. After picking up fellow colleagues from a lot of places, the bus reached BTM layout at around 1-1.10. There stood a hoard of people waiting to get into the bus and all the seats got filled up in no time. Around 15 or so persons had to stand & commute. In those 15 people, there were a couple of gals. Watching them standing on the bus, I couldn’t help yearning for the good old times when guys used to take it as their holy duty to be courteous to women, and offering them their seats on a bus was the least they could do.

I know it’s the era of the so called emancipated women. We are screaming our lungs out to show that we can compete with guys anywhere and everywhere. We can’t just lecture about the need for equal opportunities and then expect guys to offer us seats on an over crowded bus. Shouldn’t we also stand & commute and realize what guys go through? If women are asking for equality that is what they shall get. Agreed that all the above counter-arguments put forward by guys are correct. But then there are some things which are above being just right or wrong. Don’t you think so too? Being polite and a bit chivalrous wouldn’t do anyone any harm. And I am not saying that men should be the only one doing this. It’s for everyone. Even for women. Offering your seat to a woman, an elderly person, a sick person, helping someone who looks as if he/she is in need even if they are not asking for the same. These are some things that can be followed by anyone & should be followed by everyone. Wouldn’t it just make things so much more beautiful? And don’t do this expecting gratitude. Even if the other person acted like a complete moron and didn’t appreciate your gesture, rest assured someone else will. As they say a good deed never goes unnoticed.

While I was musing over chivalry, my friend Neeraj (who was sitting beside me) got up & vacated his seat for a lady :) . And oh boy!! Wasn’t that impressive? I don’t know whether it mattered or not but I made sure he knew how much I appreciated it.

Time and again

After searching heaven and hell, I have finally zoomed on a topic about which I can scribble something and maybe people would be interested in reading through it too. It’s an experience I have had time & again. And every time it happens, I tell myself I am not going to go through it again; enough is ENOUGH, at least not by my own free will. I do have a right to do what I want to do. Don’t I? After all we live in the second largest democracy in the world. Don’t we?

I am talking about exam time. Rings a bell doesn’t it? A big, loud, resounding bell.. I am sure most of you will identify with the nerve wrenching, gut slashing feeling one experiences while taking an exam… any exam. After all an exam is an exam. PERIOD.

During my engineering days, I (like so many other techies-to-be) used to suffer from the last-minute/exam-eve-preparation syndrome. I always used to start preparing for the exam the day before or rather the night before. Used to stay awake till wee hours (thank god the exams were generally held in the afternoon), tried to cram up a whole semester in just a few hours, write the paper and then pray, pray & pray.

And after each & every exam I used to make a resolution to myself. No more last minute studying.. I’ll start being attentive in the class, stop passing chits & gossiping while a lecture is going on. I’ll do my assignments diligently, get my doubts cleared at the start so that they don’t pile up like Mt. Etna and then erupt one day. The bottom-line was to be prepared. But alas this resolution remained a resolution and remains so till this date.

Memories of my engineering days came rushing back to me when I had to appear for a domain certification this Saturday. It was nothing like I had it was a mandatory certification or so. I just applied for it on an impulse. Got a mail from our PM asking for nominations and I just raised my hands in response. Little did I know that domain certification is very different from engineering exams? Engineering used to be fun. Being back benchers in the class, attending funny lectures & even funnier lecturers, bunking classes, putting proxy attendance for friends, copying assignments( guess the original assignment was done by some guy way back in '80s or something), doing combined group study where the output followed the 80-20 principle. Even after studying for 80% of the day, we couldn’t even effectively cover 20% of the syllabus. Engineering was the sum total of all these mutually exclusive but still totally dependent activities. This all used to make even the last day preparation rewarding. Concentration was higher and hence the result was better. Those were tension free days. Not like now when I need to worry abt a lot of things including rent, electricity/water bill, traffic, appraisal, onsite opportunities and to top it all WORK!!

Those were some days.. Sigh. On second thoughts.. no.. no second thoughts.. would not trade those days for the world. If I had to relive those days, I know I’ll do the same things in the exact similar way. Heard a saying..? It goes something like this – “Be what you are & do what you feel. If GOD had wanted you otherwise, HE would have created you otherwise.”
I’ll sign-off on that note. Have fun!! ;-)

Add-to-the-decibels

This is my first ever blog. A lot of hue & cry is being made regarding blogs now-a-days. So I thought lets add to the decibels. :)

Had tried my hands in maintaining a journal when I was a kid but could never make regular entries into it. Soon it took a backseat and then one fine day the idea just kinda vanished into thin air. Lets see how long I can maintain its new-age avataar.

Haven't got any clue as to what all I'll be writing in the blogs though. My life is just as ordinary as that of any ordinary software professional. Working in one of those BIG software companies. Forced to strive 24/7 to prove that the attitude reflected by "Rome was not/(could not be) built in a day" is soooooo wrong. Wish my boss was the architect/planner, she would have easily made sure that it was indeed built in a day with time spared for review & rework. ;-)