After 4 in Cincinnati

Surprised !!! Dnt be :)

Well as they say "Necessity is the mother of all inventions", Thanks to the snow outside and not so inviting US food.... I started cooking :)

N what did I cook... Maggi then Sweet Corn Soup :D

That took 7 mins .... 3 for the maggi and 4 for the soup.

Dnt forget to watch this space for more receipes :)

Thought of the day !!!

When they are kicking your rear... You are definetly upfront

The Great American Dream... First day at Cincinnati

As per the dominant philosophy of wealth creation, I guess, as a child almost everyone of my age wanted to be in "America" when they grew up. With no superpowers bestowed upon me I culdnt break the chain reaction either, so I find myself in "America" :)

The touch down to the U.S was really tiering.. so I culdnt really get a feel of it.. bt now its cool...
So much, that it goes upto 4 degree centi ;)... they also say that I might get to see snow this winter.

U.S not only pushed Osama to hiding.... it has changed my schedule too... I get up at 6.30 now :) n by 7 Iam in office :) the walk down the lane to the office is a wow... with a coffee in your hand and the winters showering all cooool things.... its a wonderful experience... Till 5 I cant see the outside world.. since the clients keep me busy :) ... Again the evening walk to burger store is also as amazing... the cool breeze brushing thru... which is nt that chilling because of the afternoon warmth... n the yum burgers... simply the sums up the day nicely....

...

If my life is for rent

I haven't really ever found a place that I call home
I never stick around quite long enough to make it
I apologize that once again I'm not in love
But it's not as if I mind
that your heart ain't exactly breaking

It's just a thought, only a thought

But if my life is for rent and I don't lean to buy
Well I deserve nothing more than I get
Cos nothing I have is truly mine

I've always thought
that I would love to live by the sea
To travel the world alone
and live my life more simply
I have no idea what's happened to that dream
Cos there's really nothing left here to stop me

It's just a thought, only a thought

But if my life is for rent and I don't learn to buy
Well I deserve nothing more than I get
Cos nothing I have is truly mine

While my heart is a shield and I won't let it down
While I am so afraid to fail so I won't even try
Well how can I say I'm alive

COURTSEY "DIDO"

The curse of being a STAG !!!

Some time I saw an AD which said "India badal raha hai...." never knew I would realise it very soon :(

The other day we went to a DISC to shake our hips on some numbers, just to drain out the bad memmories of the tiring week. We decided to visit SCREAM aka disc @ le Meridian. Unfortunately we were 3 n had only one bike. So we took the infamous 'Bharat ki sawari' Autorikshaw and rolled into Le Meridian. To make sure we looked like dudes, we stopped the vehical well before the entrance to make sure werent spotted cuming like this by a good looking FEMALE :) Slowly we neared the entrance of SCREAM n just when we were about to enter, a small board mentioned in Bold "FOR COUPLES ONLY", our hopes n plans came thrashing down.

To recover from the pain we quickly decided to visit some other DISC, since "Leather Lounge" was the closest, we hurried !! and the effort dint go in vain. We finally entered the place, although it was 2 dark and only the laser beams made things visible, I could observe that the Dance floor was full with guys and the 2 girls who were there, were wearing Salwar Kameez. Later I realised we had just visited a magnified version of "Veer Da Dhaba".

So we had few drinks n decided to shake it. Although the DJ wasnt playing best of the numbers we did pull off some steps :)

I just hope the next time I visit a DISC... we have a cracker of a time.

Between Mind and Heart....

Of late there has been a quest between my mind and heart.
Truly even I dont know what to do :( !

Although I do not beleive in "Mp3s(mera pehla pehla pehla pyaar)", for the past few days... the pulse rate has increased some time..... "Woh Kaun Thi" ?........ Well thats a surprise :)

With tedious working hours in which the strongest passion would die off... this one has prevailed for long.... thanks to my current work... my mind does convince my heart with something like "No No... Bad bad......idiot this is not what you should do...." but sometimes...... that "one Flash" screws it all....

Though m not an introvert... this one does scare me......

And just when god bestowed upon me that "one chance"..... I behaved like a sheer dumb.....

I dont consider myself to be lucky enough for a "Serendipity"... Strings of hope are stilll attached....

So people pray for me :)

Singapore Bankok.... Truly Asia....

With a bunch of people going abroad every now and then in the S/W industry, I never thought that my second visit (first was nepal :)) to a phoren land would be gifted by DAD. I was always excited about this oppurtunity, it not only regathered our scattered family. But also gave us a quality time.

The flight we took was from Kolkata to Singapore via Bangkok (Thai Airways). Although I had flown with a few domestiic airlines, this experience was different. The Immigration clearances, then the security checks and the jumbo Boeing which we finally boarded. The first pitstop was at Bankok, I never ever imagined an airport as that. With huge corridors, awesome shops and the best brands, the airport was simply great.

After that the second flight to singapore was as silky smooth as the first and the flight attendents were gorgeous too :). After landing in Bankok my expectations about Singapore were obviously high and SGP did justice, it was way beyond my expectations. I always had in mind that the "Chingpoo" or the china men who stayed there were of a inferior race, but too my surprice they were far more organised, well behaved and of better complexion than ours :)

In Singapore we did just did three things... shopped shopped n shopped :) Mom was on a shopping spree and Dad n Me were the Money Lenders :) Apart from shopping we did Visit Santosa Island, which was a collection of wonderful rides, lovely architectures etcs, of which the underwater ride was my favourite. It had collections of thousands of fishes and other creatures, some of which you could even touch.
We also had a stroll in singapore lanes, parks and every new lane we visited, it looked as if it was better than the previous one. I almost saw all types of cars from the likes of Ferrari to BMW then Merc etc. Donno what these "Chingpoos" did, but they had contructed a beautiful city. I dint want to leave SGP 'cause I had started enjoying the life out there, but sadly we had to leave.

We came back to BKK, although pretty much a city like Kolkata (considering the size) but it too had wonderful roads, lengthy flighovers and big shopping malls. Here too 'all we did' was "Shop" and mom was very happy when she bought some Ruby studded jewels. So before she could turn us Bankcrupt, we decided to visit "Pataya beach" n "Coral Island", Very similar to Goa, these beachs were a 'treat' to look at. White sand, Blue Water and cruises on he harbour was awesome. It was here that I tried Para Ceiling, 15 mins in the sky with water beneath, it was an experience to remmember and I got clicked too :)



































Since it has been long since I visited these places, the inertia in which Iam is what compelled me to write. So all I can wish now for is "Next Time"

Bheemashankar - Malsej...... Up on cloud no 9

After working like a Donkey through out the week, so that we could fit into the song "Papa Kehte Hain Bada Naam Karega...", It was time for a rocking weekend. Mostly I cherish my sleep on early saturday mornings but this time had to sacrifice it.Thnks to Chacha :)

This time along with "Chacha", "Ladki" there was another "Chupa Rustam" who accompanied us. As always "Chacha" took the front seat of the car (you must be knowing Y ? if you are following my Blog :) The journey started with "Chacha" playing all HR (Himesh Reshamiya) songs, which were certainly not apt for the situation considering that we had just been thru to the torture of watching AKS a day before. Just when we wanted to comfort ourselves HR wuld shout at the top of his voice "Tanhainyaan....." then sumtimes wuld go on with the "jhalak Dikhlaja" rythm. To our relief the view outside became soothening.. the mountains, hills, valleys all covered with lovely grass presented a mesemerising view. It was like the Rain had given them bridal clothes to flaunt. Out were the cameras clicking every mountain, hill, valley that passed by & to Chacha's glee even Chuparustam unfolded his talents. For me and Ladki we were the sole admirer who had to nodd every time a click happened, to appreciate the pic :)

With the temperature dropping fast and rain pouring heavily we thought of taking a shelter. Although I was little amazed by the name of the hotel "Blue Morn Morn"... similar to a choco Biscuit name :) But it was simply awesome. We got an independant cottage, enough to fit in four of us and with a lovely view outside. Also this was the very place where we got our "Dil Chahta Hai Pic".

After checking in, we headed straight to a nearby waterfall. The climb uphill to the source of the fall was a lil tedious, though Ladki & Chuparustam gave up, me and Chacha finally reached there. The icy cold water falling straight on the bare skin gave a current which followed in every vein in the body. Totally soaked in water, we were good for nuthing now, so we decided to visit nearby places and then go back to the hotel and change. But to our misfortune, on our way back, our car got stuck because of stupid politicians 'cause of whom roads are now being build of clay and small stones instead of charcoal. With an hours fight and to Chacha's credit finally we managed to get the car back to the track.

Then after a hot water bath and a cup of coffee we headed for the famous "BhimaShankar Temple". By the time we reached there it was already dark, we had to take the steps to reach the temple. On our way back the steps were simply too many to climb and to Ladkis pride Chacha became the "Lathi ka sahara for ladki" :) We were all set for the hotel when we realised that the fog was too dense for the car to move. But the Tiger inside me and Chacha gave a "Dahar" and we said we wuld walk in front of the car so that the driver could see the way. It was the walk of our lives. For around 2 kms we walked through the jungle whr we could barely see anything. Then came some horrying truths from Chacha who had been to the same jungle a month back at 6'o clock in the morning, it was too much to handle and the tigers "mewed" and got back into the car. It was to our driver's credit that we finally manged to drive those 8 kms in around 45 mins and reached the hotel.

After reaching the hotel we had a nice dinner and a much needed sleep. When I opened my eyes, the clouds were roaring by & the leaves made a trembling sound. We all took our blankets and Sat outside to enjoy the rare weather. Suddenly I noticed "Milind Gunaji" the movie star, so as true movie buffs we requested him for a snap, which he simply obliged.

We finished with our breakfast soon and after a lil clicking here and there for memories, we headed towards Malshej. The Lenyadri drive was spellbounding, we admired each Hill, Valley, mountain that passed by. When finally Malshej was visible from a distance, it appeared as if mountains had engulfed a tiny ocean. But to our dismay at Malshej nuthing was visible due to the dense fog. When finally the fog did move out temporarily, Me and Chacha found oursleves "Peeing" just beside National Highway and all eyes were mysteriously staring at us :) Bad luck I Guess :) Also here I was enlightened with the truth that even in places other than Rajasthan people struggle for Water, 'Cause there were half naked people dancing with joy on the middle of the road enjoying just a string of water and shouting "Waterfall" "Waterfall"

So as Gandhiji had taught "Bura mat dekho", we did leave that place early and headed straight back to Pune...

Snaps courtesy chacha :)

Aap Ka Suroor... The Real Love Story

HR aka Himesh Reshamiya debuted this friday.... and if you are following the promos, the movie was hyped for Fabulous music, Reshamiya unfolding the mystery behind the cap etcs....

Although before the release, the promos always attracted us to watch the movie, not because it had a good plot, but for the rediculous acting and for the gutts with which HR tried to pull off his stupidity. But in the end he won, 'Cause on friday night I found myself in the theater watching "Aap Ka Suroor", when movies like "Apne", "Die Hard 4.0", "Awaarapan" also released.

As expected the movie did start with a bang, wit all the hocus-focus on Himesh trying to some how conseal his height(4 8' I guess :) ) and stil emphasizing on his music. Thanks to the happening people around, the so called murder mystery was turned into a Comedy bonanza. Although the movie had an aweful plot, the hooting of the crowd was at its best :) Some scenes were simply hilarious, HR wuld suddenly become angry but wuld not move an inch from the place he was standing, through out the movie his face looked like he was suffering from severe constipation but his count of caps worn in the movie were simply growing, When he meets Malika Sherawat his "Sacha pyaar" waala dialog was simply awesome after delivering which he takes an about turn and just walks of :) when he is deeply in love and singing he pushes his hand inside his Tees to feel the pain of his Mehbooba :)

When all was nt enough he pointed towards his nose and says "God Knows" :) :) :) and then came my much awaited song "Tanhaiyan....." wit which all ends were broken and we screamed at the top of our voices. In the climax...... suddenly there were autorikshaws rolling out from nowhere, one even bounced on a car, donno y HR never opted for a horse instead, then he makes a saluting gesture which was worth remmembering :)


To my disappointment Himesh never showed his face without the cap, the ones which he did just showed strings falling on his face.... In the end as most of the hindi movies... the movie did end on a happy note but HR never met the girl he loved... instead he shaked his butts an a crap remix of "Mehbooba Mehbooba.."

So its an out out must watch public made comedy film..... Do watch it out WIT FRENZ :)

Project X.... A Diamond is a coal that did well under pressure

Caution: "Names & Situations in the following write up are fictitious and bear no resemblance to the real name or happening of any person, object that is living or dead" :)

This is about a project for which I have been working for quite some time now !! Although there is much to talk about in the project like fundoo technology used in this project, which encompases every imagineable element in the .net world, I have done enough goof ups to make them worth mentioning.

The morning sun always played hide and seek with me & is the prime accused of my not reaching office early :). It so happened that I worked for 1 & 1/2 year in Mysore, which is a hill station, the chilling wheather always forced me to get up only when the sun sparkled, giving warmth and vitamin d :) , Carrying on the same habbit now has become a pain, and adding to my bad luck the place where i sleep, never has the blessings of the sun. Result: LATE FOR OFFICE :(

As always, every morning I barely manage to reach office just when our first meeting kicks off. The moment I enter, thoughts of my lead firing me left and right !!! brings morning shivers. But thank god, his peaceful approach does slows down my breathing :)

After the Kick Off meeting, its a dive into the ocean of untamed code snippets, which almost always require head banging logistic support. Sometime even 24 hr is less for a simple issue and sometimes even 10 mins is enough for a complex one.

if I were to boast of this project, I wuld say :
1) Chalenging environment :) :) :) First because I have to get up early :) Second: sometimes the coding becomes ultra challenging :), such that even in dreams, instead Maria Sharapova, "Menu-1-0" comes :) As one of the guys mentioned 'Rocket science' is an apt word.
2) Collaborative Team: Whose cohesive force always help, Like staying late in office :) and having coffee on the other floor {For other Reasons ;)}
3) Highly technical manager, whom you can never fool :) He asks for every line you coded, so no chance for making a simple logic look complex :)
4) With its technological tentacles entering every possible place, the project made me learnt "patience" and thus "Every Issue has a solution".
5) Cool Manager :) His suave moves in a party did gave me a shock and after finding out that he was married, I was dumbfounded.
6) English Teacher: A voice recog system in the application never accepted my voice, so it made me pick up phoren accent. Like saying "ophen" instead of "open" etcs
7) Friendly Neighbours: Who have never got a chance to listen to music since the day we asked for their headphones with mic for coding purposes :)
8) Modest 'Sin Finders' rather the testers who always take a courteous approach to inform the developer of the a silly mistake and not yank him for the same.

I donno if all the above make a better project.... Now that Iam seeing "Maria Sharapova" back in my dreams and with appreciation for work in office... It does say we are doing better :)

I guess someday someone else writing the following phrace wuld say it all.
"A Diamond is a coal that did well under pressure"

"Kaboom"..... Back to the Dance Floor

After a week of head banging over various COMPLEX LOOPS within the code and weekly drops, It was time for HIP BANGING. i.e. Back to the dance floor.

Although I had been to official parties where unfortunately not many members in my team where of the same age group, which never excited me to take the dance floor, even if it was a "Hookah Bar".. one of the most happening place in town.

All i culd do was watch the flawless moves of some of the awesome dancers and sigh !! remembering my wonderful days, when we we freaked out at places like "Winning streak", "Dublin", "Some place else" and "Tantra" (thats where anjana anjani song from movie yuva was shot).

But this party was there with full of surprise !! Of the 2yrs(approx) spent in the IT industry this was the first time. I went All Out without being HIGH. It was here where I learnt that even people like your serious manager has different facets of life. They too enjoy as much as you wuld and dancing was one of the universal expressions to say it all.

So inspite of pending ISSUES IN MY TASK LIST which rackled my brain I tried my best to shake it !!! even when i had forgotten a lot of steps and the DJ wasnt playing my best songs.

I still remmeber an incident when I was shaking most at my club when I was in 12th grade. There was a party, followed by something called RAIN DANCE, and i just LET GO. just when I was at the top of my spirits I noticed my DAD stopping by, NEXT THING: his mouth oppened and froze. Donno what i was doing and how bad it was, but must have been bad, since
at home i got a matrix kind of beating which was a lil painful :)

But now with no DAD around and enough to spend.... Hope to dance till I drop one day.

Tantalizing Highlands of Mahabaleshwar...

Heaven on Earth ??? .....

Naah.... with such a short lived life and more to come, I believe I would be an audience to such a creation one day. For Mahabaleswar.. it was very close !

Summers had started with a bang in pune and the mercury was rising like never before. So to beat the heat We ('Ladki, Bade Bhaiyya and Me') 'planned' to visit the higlands around pune. The planning was almost perfect, it was such that we started planning to go by Bus but finally ended up in a private Car. We planned to move out at 5 am but could only manage by 8 am (Thanx to me :) )

Bhaiyya grabbed the front seat just beside the driver, that way he could stop the driver whenever I wanted to "Su Su"..... :)...kidding... A photographer by choice, "bhaiyya" wanted to take snapshots of things we often miss & in the end he really proved his worth with the cam.
For Us: We enjoyed the long ride & glimpses of "India Shinning".

After 3 hours of drive we reached "Wai" {Known for its 'filmi village' fame, since most movies shot village scenes down here}. From there it was an uphill drive towards Mahabaleshwar. The scenic beauty by the side of the roads were simply "Awesome". Although I dont really remmember the no of points (close to 20 I think !!) we did visit after entering Mahabaleshwar, each one of them was worth a thousand praise. Of all these places I remmember a few, "lodwick point": where bhaiyya made us walk 4 kms for few snaps,

"Vennu Lake": where we rowed the boat more than the person we hired and finally paid him 40 bugs, "Needle Point": where we had a ride on horse back n got snaps in "Filmy Ishtyle", "Sunset point" where Bhaiyya went crazy to take pics of the setting sun but to his misfortune the sun sank earlier than expected.

And then there was "PARA GLIDING": an Experience of a lifetime: 15 mins of Jaw dropping experience and an adrenaline rush which we never felt before. The Colorful parachutes with which we flew, looking at the "Tiny" elements (people) on the ground, this experience was "One Hell Of An Experience". Thanx to bhaiyya's discharged battery, we never got clicked when we wanted the most !!!

Of all the wonderful experience we had, a good amount of credit also goes to the place where we stayed. "Hotel Arya !! Room No "111", The balcony of which presented a mesmerising view of Mahabaleshwar.

When all the above was not enough, Bhaiyya and me tried 'Go Carting'. Where there was no car but "cranky bikes". It was here that it was proven that bhaiyya had grown old. Since I beat him by 2 laps, while he was still struggling to manouver the bike !!

Like all good things, this experience was also shortlived.... But was too good to forget !!!

Being On Bench...

A Job is a "dream accomplished" for an engineering grad. Its like water oozing out after a 4 year long dig. Though I dont remember doing much of hard work i actually did, but a Job was the best thing to happen to me. After that, everything was a roller coaster ride. In Training, came a reincarnation of Sergent Major Katil Singh. Though he dint have a knife or a gun, the moustaches were the same. His talks and actions were no less than that of a Army General. Sometimes he made us wonder whether we were in the s/w industry or flying a Sukhoi. Any ways those Long Nights ended atlast and we were inducted into project. The initial days were tough and grilling, but the support of our seniors made us sail thru.

Then came the best part of our lives. Fun/Frolic/Acclaims/Pat on our backs became the order of the day. All was well except the money inflow. The Mgt tried there best, but a wall without foundation soon colapsed, even those ultra motivating words from bhagwatgita dint help. So all these "Hackeneyed" remarks..etcs.... soon became too much too bear.. So it was time too move.

After all the lengthy process of application/interview/selection/joining. I finally found myself on "Bench". Though its not exactly a bench... its just the leasure period where you dont have any work. Your access card is yet to be activated so "No Attendance" which means push off whenever you feel. You have access to all internet resources so check mails whenever you like. You have a desk fone...so call whomever you like.... and best of all at the end of the day a beautiful girl comes in and asks "Hope you dint get bored, Iam trying my best to accomodate". Now who the hell wants to work !!!! Thought I know that this princely treatment aint gonna last long... iam making the most out of it.

So people being on Bench isnt really that Bad........

"Nasha Sharab me hota to nachti botal..."

"Dog is Mans best freind", whoever said this may not have had the previledge of tasteing "Haywards". Although many people refrain from even uttering the word "Alcohol", its an amazind experience to be "High'. The whole world around you suddenly feels like heaven. The shabby picture of the angels of your dreams come allive & you are transformed to a state which i call as "Halaluya".

I remember the unforgetteble memories of "Roost". For whoesover knows it, knows well that tasteing Haywards in the open sky with dew drops falling all around, not only gets you "High" but also drains out the monotonous & strenuous lifestyle we abide by. It acts as a Energy boost for the "Hoi Polloi" ....which we are. 'Cause we have many thing to worry about.

"Daru" not only helps you evolve but also strengthns relationship bonds. Although I have been lucky not to be in a company of soakers, it was always a memorable time to spend wit a wine bottle. One such time I remember spending with "Neta'. His name was given 'cause of the offbeat positions he took just before his snaps were clicked. His laughter could shackle the world around & his message ring tone "Message Aaya Message Aaya Message Aaya" was loved by all. We also shared some common problems...like "Hair Loss"... "Broken Relationships"....quit smoking resolutions etcs.... His company was always preffered by me for the lovely outings in "Roost"/"Chamundi". For now he is burdened by the "IIIT Legacy", to which he is doing full justice, He has to keep up to the "Fundu Logic Fundoo Logic" :)

"Wine gives a man nothing... it only puts in motion what had been locked up in frost"...

Three Stags.. One Married.. And "My Baby"

This is a story of how four people screwed one sexy little "Baby".... Just kidding !!
Its about people who followed the RDB rebellion and broke away from "11am tea 1pm lunch 4pm tea" schedule and GOT NOTICED. Most of you must have already visited the cubicle which makes a hell lotta !! noise on the ground floor. The Sound Decibels made by this humdrum is only 2nd to __ (Ofcourse u know who ??).

But if you are yet to witness this crazy little cubicle where people are some times "Daggers Drawn" & at times "Throwing Flying Kisses" to each other, you missed as to what these people mention as "Phun At Work" Concept.

People here are very disciplined and obedient. Some come at 9am sharp. Others NEVER come at 9am (Thats also discipline). People say they are very efficient, but actually its the effective result of OVERESTIMATION :), But the nucleus of all the notoriusness is "Baby"... Though her days used to start/end by frustration 'cause of people not understanding her. She manages to fiddle with anything/everything she gets her hands on. Even when she looks quiet... its the silence before the storm... thats how i once noticed that if she stands quietly for sometime... she was actually about to FART.... Her love and effection is so consuming... that people get chocked... She once held me close to her bossom...N I COULDNT BREATH :).... besides her, there's a new entrant who's not mischeivious... but his "GREAT OXFORD CHALLENGE" just cant go un-noticed. He is the one who taught me "VACATED IS PERMANENT" and "HAVING LEFT IS TEMPORARY"

Apart from the people above... few even get a chance to get noticed.... so some just laugh there way out of the jokes cracked... some watch/share nice mails... Although one is married and having a great time.... he is often taken to task by BABY.. she is envious of any other female being talked about. I once remember I went out for lunch with this "Married guy".. He never took luch with me though...he preffered to have the same with his wife... so when I was done having mine... I called him up to pick me up... He received the call.... but made a very sad noise "AIYYOOOO".... which made me undersatnd how precious lunch times become when you are married ;)

to be continued...

Infected by the Blog Virus...

Well even I don't remember when this blogging virus hit me, but it had hit strong & hard, since it transformed the urge inside me into words which you are reading now.

The virus has to be given some credit though. 'Cause it made a lazy, no-good, orkut browser & a sleeping sloth to think about 'Himself'...

With this you have come to the end of my first blog, you will c more if I slumber less... which i really wish i do this year...