I have been envying this friend of mine since the past few days. She travels the bloody globe, seeing so many new places, meeting so many new people, cuisines, cultures its the stuff of my dreams. Now I feel the urge to become part of a TV channel show that takes you around the world and does all that they do.
It began one evening two weeks ago, when I went to a local hookah place to listen to this band called Anatolian Fusion. Funky name, but it was essentially Turkish. Such amazing music....I went up to them and asked for a CD. I have to get it yet, but hell......it made me realize how much fun these nations would be to go to.
I've been doing my bit to satisfy the wanderlust in me, been to 5 different cities in an equal number of weekends, and felt the urge to blog from each of them but I have just been too lazy!! I had my 5th official trip to NYC and I continue my love-hate with it. DC is charming and tolerable, but just so. Pittsburgh was a surprise..it helped that they had summer bands and events going on and the day was pretty fine, but what with its cruises, and clubs and other fun stuff to do it just made me want to extend my trip. No I didn't go to the temple, but I would have wanted to go there coz I hear the Udipi next to it awesome :D :D Philadelphia was such a whirlwind trip, left at 5am back at 2 am but we did a crazy amount of things in that 22 hr period. Old city, parks, Rocky-style running, futuristic (and reallly expensive restaurant) we went through the whole gamut. Not to mention the riverfront bazaar and the bike parade and the fact that everyone remained a sport on the hot day. Capped by Montreal last weekend....ohh I loved that city (Haven't I said it for all of them?) US meets- Europe, and the purpose I was there for made it all the more special. Hordes o people from all over the globe had descended to watch Formula 1 and the festive atmosphere it gave to the place was absolutely amazing. Hot cars, hot chicks - a word about them - it wasn't only those who came for the race, regular, average Canadian girls were so strikingly pretty and beautiful - absolutely no comparison to the US. Ok, a lot of words happened, but yes, a random google search listed Montreal as the 8th global city with the most beautiful girls and Heaven knows I agree !! Back to the cars..and the clubbing.....and the street stuff....words don't do it justice so I will put up an album link up here, but the shivers you get from an F1 car passing 2 feet in front of you are so different yet equal in intensity to those you get when you hear David Guetta in a club or see an Audi R8 out on the streets or see a bunch of regular race-heads smoking their tires in stand-still traffic.
I still have to become that smart traveler that travels everywhere in minimum $$s, but I hope that's coming up next coz this is burning a hole in my pocket ! This weekend trip to DC shall hopefully be the last of my summer wanderings coz I need to start earning my pay now, but damnnnn, I want to travel to Florida and California.For me, the journey AND destination counts :( :( and its not either or.
Ms. Mehta, you have my respect and my envy !!!!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Friday, April 4, 2008
Monday, March 31, 2008
Grad life !
Phew...its that time of the semester where the 2nd half has just begun but you can't wait for the semester to end. Its unbelievable how much I have learned in the 8 months I have been here and how much more I learn each day. A drawing of a part on SolidWorks has prompted this post.......I never even knew what the SolidWorks layout looked like, forget about knowing how to use it. Using the awesome tutorial, in 30 minutes flat I ended up making a relatively complex part, which would have taken ages on AutoCAD, am sure !After the drawing, the concern was to put it in a form so that it can be sent for manufacturing. Now that is the most irritating part of drawing sheets as any Indian UG engg would agree........the 6mm, 12 mm and 60mm by 150mm block and the "stylized" writing in it. Dreading that part, I did click on the tutorial...and *POP*, there is a template for that ! The grin that passed over my face was pretty surprising, even to me :D
Ending this nerdy post, (I have become such a nerd, it ain't even funny!) I absolutely love working my ass off and going home tired and hungry and fixing myself something/talking to people/plopping in bed...though it scares me at most times as to how effortlessly people in my classes go through the homework while I can't figure out for the life of me what the **** has to be done...anyone with similar sentiments around ?
Ending this nerdy post, (I have become such a nerd, it ain't even funny!) I absolutely love working my ass off and going home tired and hungry and fixing myself something/talking to people/plopping in bed...though it scares me at most times as to how effortlessly people in my classes go through the homework while I can't figure out for the life of me what the **** has to be done...anyone with similar sentiments around ?
Thursday, February 28, 2008
If this was a movie, would you have believed it ?
Lifted from ToI,Ahmedabad dated 28th Feb, 2008
Call it good fortune or just the will of God. But the life in a seven-month-old foetus, that fell through the toilet bowl of a running train when the mother went to ease herself, still lives on!
Call it a miracle, perhaps. This tiny bundle weighing just 1.4 kg, which slipped from the womb into the toilet tube and crash-landed on rocks between two steel tracks, is from the top drawer of survival tales.
Born a good two months premature, she is recuperating in the Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of Rajasthan Hospitals. Here, she lies without a scratch after the providential escape just before midnight on Tuesday.
"She is a fighter. In just 12 hours after the unthinkable accident, she was coming out of the accident quite well," said pediatrician Dr Raj Kumar.
"She is a gift from God. How else can all this be explained," the girl's mother, Bhuri Kalbi (33), said. Bhuri is a native of Swaroopganj, located between Sirohi and Abu Road, in Rajasthan and was travelling by the Jodhpur-Ahmedabad train.
Bhuri was headed for Ahmedabad with her relatives for a medical check-up. She felt very weak on the toilet seat and passed out. The next thing she remembers is people knocking on the toilet door.
When she managed to get up to open the latched door, she realised an emptiness in her stomach. "I realised my stomach was flat. My child was gone," said Bhuri whose husband works in a packaging unit in Ahmedabad.
Bhuri's brother-in-law Arjun said when she opened the door she was semiconscious. He realised with complete shock what had happened. "We immediately pulled the chain at Kalol, two stations away from where the child had slipped off and alerted the train guard," he said.
On a day when the Railway Budget was presented by Lalu Prasad, who promised ‘green toilets' in trains, the girl can thank railway personnel for snatching her from sure death. As she lay on the track — fortunately located close to the Amblisayan railway station — some members of the Gram Rakshak Dal alerted station master KK Rai that a new-born child was lying on the track.
While rushing to the spot on foot, Rai said he could hear the cries of the baby from a distance. On coming closer, he could not believe what he saw. "The baby was lying dangerously close to the left track with the umbilical cord hanging by the side," Rai said. The baby had turned blue due to the chill at midnight.
The railwaymen wrapped the baby in a cloth and called the local doctor. While the child was being examined, a call came, saying the parents were traced.
The mother could not believe her eyes when she was reunited with the baby two hours later at the Kalol Civil Hospital. And she just can't take her eyes off this baby ever since.
Call it good fortune or just the will of God. But the life in a seven-month-old foetus, that fell through the toilet bowl of a running train when the mother went to ease herself, still lives on!
Call it a miracle, perhaps. This tiny bundle weighing just 1.4 kg, which slipped from the womb into the toilet tube and crash-landed on rocks between two steel tracks, is from the top drawer of survival tales.
Born a good two months premature, she is recuperating in the Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of Rajasthan Hospitals. Here, she lies without a scratch after the providential escape just before midnight on Tuesday.
"She is a fighter. In just 12 hours after the unthinkable accident, she was coming out of the accident quite well," said pediatrician Dr Raj Kumar.
"She is a gift from God. How else can all this be explained," the girl's mother, Bhuri Kalbi (33), said. Bhuri is a native of Swaroopganj, located between Sirohi and Abu Road, in Rajasthan and was travelling by the Jodhpur-Ahmedabad train.
Bhuri was headed for Ahmedabad with her relatives for a medical check-up. She felt very weak on the toilet seat and passed out. The next thing she remembers is people knocking on the toilet door.
When she managed to get up to open the latched door, she realised an emptiness in her stomach. "I realised my stomach was flat. My child was gone," said Bhuri whose husband works in a packaging unit in Ahmedabad.
Bhuri's brother-in-law Arjun said when she opened the door she was semiconscious. He realised with complete shock what had happened. "We immediately pulled the chain at Kalol, two stations away from where the child had slipped off and alerted the train guard," he said.
On a day when the Railway Budget was presented by Lalu Prasad, who promised ‘green toilets' in trains, the girl can thank railway personnel for snatching her from sure death. As she lay on the track — fortunately located close to the Amblisayan railway station — some members of the Gram Rakshak Dal alerted station master KK Rai that a new-born child was lying on the track.
While rushing to the spot on foot, Rai said he could hear the cries of the baby from a distance. On coming closer, he could not believe what he saw. "The baby was lying dangerously close to the left track with the umbilical cord hanging by the side," Rai said. The baby had turned blue due to the chill at midnight.
The railwaymen wrapped the baby in a cloth and called the local doctor. While the child was being examined, a call came, saying the parents were traced.
The mother could not believe her eyes when she was reunited with the baby two hours later at the Kalol Civil Hospital. And she just can't take her eyes off this baby ever since.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Drunken Talk
Who invented alcohol?
This is a repeat of the Deli. " Delhi?" "Yep, Deli". Delhi? " "Noooo....Deli !""oooo, Deli :)"
"Oye guju, bahut bhalo che" ( trying to market bread and pickle )
"Mereko thodi thodi chadhi hai." " Climb ?!" heeheehee " Mereko thodi thodi climb hai"
"I will tell you ghoom ghoom ghoom, then you ghoom" "I generally don't ghoom, but I will now." "Ok, faster ghoom, ghoom, faster ghoom" "haahaaaaa"
"Getting wasted is fun as long as you don't puke" Ok, if you puke once, its alright, but not too much"
"You want chapattis?""haaan, yes !! "
"I can wear pajama if you want" "do that". "damn, how much you want me to wear ?"
"Play Robert Miles". "What is Rob Miles?" "He is known for measuring long miles, hence the name" " Haaahaaaahaaaaa" "Ae, cute she is"
"U know in India, we make mental patients wear gown, you look like them."
"this is aplam." ( Tamil for papad: appam. And here they were trying to classify a chappati!) "Haaa haaa, she called it aplam" " Ae, this is chapatti." "No, its chapatti aplam " ( LOL )
"I stayed in Macy's 4th floor to listen to Bhangra. And ended up buying that dress."
"My hairband drank my drink"
"I had a long island ice tea. How long was it? "
3 girls dancing to the Macarena. Nothing can beat this.
On a 31st floor Manhattan Apartment on December 31st.
This is a repeat of the Deli. " Delhi?" "Yep, Deli". Delhi? " "Noooo....Deli !""oooo, Deli :)"
"Oye guju, bahut bhalo che" ( trying to market bread and pickle )
"Mereko thodi thodi chadhi hai." " Climb ?!" heeheehee " Mereko thodi thodi climb hai"
"I will tell you ghoom ghoom ghoom, then you ghoom" "I generally don't ghoom, but I will now." "Ok, faster ghoom, ghoom, faster ghoom" "haahaaaaa"
"Getting wasted is fun as long as you don't puke" Ok, if you puke once, its alright, but not too much"
"You want chapattis?""haaan, yes !! "
"I can wear pajama if you want" "do that". "damn, how much you want me to wear ?"
"Play Robert Miles". "What is Rob Miles?" "He is known for measuring long miles, hence the name" " Haaahaaaahaaaaa" "Ae, cute she is"
"U know in India, we make mental patients wear gown, you look like them."
"this is aplam." ( Tamil for papad: appam. And here they were trying to classify a chappati!) "Haaa haaa, she called it aplam" " Ae, this is chapatti." "No, its chapatti aplam " ( LOL )
"I stayed in Macy's 4th floor to listen to Bhangra. And ended up buying that dress."
"My hairband drank my drink"
"I had a long island ice tea. How long was it? "
3 girls dancing to the Macarena. Nothing can beat this.
On a 31st floor Manhattan Apartment on December 31st.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Dada...........
He was born into the most affluent family in the village. He had all till he was 10. Then his family went into debt.He lost his father at 14.Suddenly, he was the head of a family of 4.And had no money. He decided to move away from the village into the city. During those days, he got entwined into the freedom struggle. School suffered. At the threat of being thrown out of school, he managed to get 58% in Std. 10. After getting 6% in his prelim exams.He got accepted into a technical college. He needed a document for it. He didn't have it. It was the weekend, and the court was closed. He would have to go to the District Magistrate for it. The DM lived far. Very far. He didn't have money, so he walked to the DM's place. 6 hours away. And back.He got a scholarship. Did his diploma in textile engineering.All the while, he worked to get his family out of debt. He put his youngest sister through medical school. His younger brother was made into a Chemical engineer.He shifted to Bombay. Started working in a textile mill.Worked his way up. Travelled to UK, Germany, Mauritius, France, US on work.Started a family.Had two sons. Didn't have money but sent one to the US on loans, knowing he wanted to go. Became " well-settled" in life. He retired as the President of the mills. Wasn't content with retirement. Went to work as honorary secretary/president/chair with a social organisation. Used to work 9 to 5 or more. For free.
He saved my life.I had fever.......107F. My mother was trying unsuccessfully to bring it down. He came home, saw me and dumped my 3 yr old burning body into a tub of ice-cold water.He taught me swimming.The trip I took with him to Panchgani was my first trip without my parents.He taught me cycling there.He taught me cricket when we were back home.He was hell-proud of me.He took me to the beach one day with him at 4am.He used to take me to the beach for breakfast parties he and his friends used to have. He was the first one to tell me how to hold a car's steering wheel when he was driving me down somewhere.He stopped eating paan when I asked him not to.Always eager to learn new things, he learned email, MS-Office and developed a love for sizzlers.
Before I left for the US, he said if health permits, we'll come visit you. And told me that it was a crime to spend money earned in India in the US.He was my role-model.He always had words of advise for me.
I spoke to him on Sunday. After 15 days. Felt good to hear him happy and cheerful. Now, I will never be able to speak to him.He breathed his last on Tuesday,October 30th. And I couldn't be there with him in his last moments because I was here, so far away.
He lived life the way it should have been lead.He rose from nothing. To something.Meant everything to so many people.And he never hurt anyone along the way.Graceful in actions and words, he was amazing in all senses of the word.
He was my grandfather.
He saved my life.I had fever.......107F. My mother was trying unsuccessfully to bring it down. He came home, saw me and dumped my 3 yr old burning body into a tub of ice-cold water.He taught me swimming.The trip I took with him to Panchgani was my first trip without my parents.He taught me cycling there.He taught me cricket when we were back home.He was hell-proud of me.He took me to the beach one day with him at 4am.He used to take me to the beach for breakfast parties he and his friends used to have. He was the first one to tell me how to hold a car's steering wheel when he was driving me down somewhere.He stopped eating paan when I asked him not to.Always eager to learn new things, he learned email, MS-Office and developed a love for sizzlers.
Before I left for the US, he said if health permits, we'll come visit you. And told me that it was a crime to spend money earned in India in the US.He was my role-model.He always had words of advise for me.
I spoke to him on Sunday. After 15 days. Felt good to hear him happy and cheerful. Now, I will never be able to speak to him.He breathed his last on Tuesday,October 30th. And I couldn't be there with him in his last moments because I was here, so far away.
He lived life the way it should have been lead.He rose from nothing. To something.Meant everything to so many people.And he never hurt anyone along the way.Graceful in actions and words, he was amazing in all senses of the word.
He was my grandfather.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Slogging thy rear end away....
Waking up, making breakfast, run to catch the bus, miss it, walk down to campus, attend lectures, try hard to stay awake through them, talk to friends, make new ones, watch cellphone minutes, discover new places to study, win stuff, collect free stuff, have lunch at a new place, go back for more classes, go to office for office-hours, help UGs solve doubts, joke, work, study, get back, clean house, make dinner, wait for clock to strike 9, attack the phone, study more, go down, have people come up, talk, laugh, reminisce, dream, change, sleep. Repeat.
Its the way to live..........:D
Its the way to live..........:D
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