Tuesday 23 December 2014

Asta Labista 2014

Few days remained and the New year will come. Everything will be new, new scope, new day, new new new. But will be there a new YOU or ME? Thats up to us.

May be we can live the same, may be we can change a little, may be we can change a lot. It all depends on the situations, circumstances around us and our choices at that time. Nothing is good nor bad, its a choice that's it. So don't worry if you are still the same, everyone is same. No one is going to change. All is well. 

Remember one thing everyday is a new day, whatever has happened, it has happened, it cant be changed. But now you have a clean slate in your hand, a complete new day. You can change it mould it the way you like. Don't let yesterdays disappointments destroy your today. Start a new day with new life, consider everyday as a new life given by the Lord. One more chance to prove yourself worthy of him, one more day to achieve what you want to achieve. I am attaching a gist video of 2014, you may like.

Happy New Year.


Friday 12 December 2014

Silver Lining

I am living in a nation of 50 United states; let’s see that even half of them can cheer me up for each year of my life on 25th year. After covering these many years of life, I just want to stop for a minute. I want to see how things are going, how life is going, where it is going? More and more questions come in my mind, lesser and lesser answers. But is it right to Q ourselves is itself a difficult Q to answer. If we are questioning, we are not confident or maybe we are cautious, depends.

This day, I wanna thank God for helping me in all the good and bad happenings of life. He has helped me to survive even the wildest situations. He has made me physically, mentally, emotionally strong. I have been blessed with friends, relatives, colleagues who have been ready to extend their hands. Thank you all. Without you this journey wasn’t possible.

Why 25th is important?

We dont get quarter of a century old every day, do we. Hell, yeah its important.

Sooo wats the big plaan for the Big day?

Mostly people will have big plans for the silver jubilee, but me I have not made any plans-as of now. I’ll make sure to go to Gods House other than that, I do not have any expectations of any surprises/celebrations in this foreign land, so I am going to surprise and celebrate myself. I am going to celebrate it with the one whom I can trust 100%- my instincts. Let’s see what’s in the store for me and my instincts. 

Thursday 11 December 2014

Culture Shock

It does not matter from where you are travelling to US; it’s always a culture shock for anyone who comes here. Most of the things are different here starting from the way you walk, eat or do anything. It’s a left hand drive here, while in India its right hand. Even while walking, you have to be on right side. Different licenses for each states-this one is too much. To switch on a tube light, you have to move the switch up, these are just examples many more are there, so get your gear up.




My hall




Houses:
Houses are made up of wood to keep it warm in winter season, you have to be careful, follow lots of etiquettes while living here. For example if you are living in upper floors make sure you are walking slowly, else the person living below will have issues. Same goes for water, water should not be spilled anywhere, else it may squeeze downstairs.

Shopping Store





Shopping markets/Sales:
It’s a completely different scenario in shopping malls. The funniest time is sale time; you have to be ready to run in order grab the sale deal. People will shop as if it’s the last day and in black Friday is the first and last day of sale.


Big Shock for Veggies

Culture Shock:
Now you must have understood that there is a lot to learn, you have to acclimatize according to US culture. The best way to integrate is to understand and accept the difference as soon as you can. Stop complaining and start accepting. Faster you accept, faster you feel comfortable.












Be in contact:
No matter where you are, how much time you have been, always have a regular touch base with your families, friends. This will make you feel connected, make you among them, you will still know what is going on. Your families will feel confident about you. Now-a-days technology is so advanced that you can be in touch/see each other daily, you wont feel any distance at least geographically.



History:
US is everything about history and its not US History. It’s our history. If you are looking for a loan or a credit card/shopping card, they will check your history and then provide you a card. If history is good, you will get less interest rate. Even while selling/buying a car/house/anything its history will be checked and depending on history its rate will be calculated. So if you are planning to take a loan make sure that you apply for a credit card in your bank and build a good history. There are many ways to build a good history, you gotta learn that. Before all of this, first apply for SSN (Social Security No.)- In the United States, a SSN is a nine-digit number issued to U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and temporary (working) residents. It’s a mandate if you are staying in US. This card will be required everywhere such as while calculating your salary, leasing a house, buying car or anything related to money which is everything.

When I was about to post this blog, I googled some more and understood, I am not alone. Read below articles.


In the end: 
When you have this option
Dont be like this

Sunday 7 December 2014

A new Beginning: Moving on

This is the 2nd part of a new beginning, please read the first part first before coming here to understand better.

When you are relocating to a new location for a long time (at least a year), you have to think about lot of things like you have to move many things, now what to move, which to leave that becomes a big Q. This blog will help you in understanding it. Remember the more stuff you have accumulated where you are staying, more time will be spend to deal with it. When you are moving to a new location, you have to actually move on, leave a lot behind.

Some helpful steps:
1.       Throw out useless materials, junk, things which are going to be useless in few days.
2.       No Electronics
3.       Less utensils
4.       Pack and pack it tightly.


In detail:

1. Throw out junk
While relocating, you have to keep in mind volume as well as weight, so try to keep things as less as possible, there is a thumb rule for it. If you have not used something in last year, then you do not really use it ever, better throw it. Throw all the things which have started wearing and tearing, you will not use them in US.
2. No Electronics
You have to make sure that you are bringing only the electronics which works in US 110V and with that converters to connect them. For example India uses circular plugs while US has rectangular ones that too without switch. A good point with US is the consumer electronics is cheaper, you can buy whatever you need from here.
3. Less Utensils
You can get all the utensils that you need at a comparative prices here, so pack only the essential ones and leave the rest.
4. Pack and pack it tightly
In case you are bringing any liquids with you, make sure you are packing everything airtight. Liquids may come out of the boxes because of the air pressure in planes, so make sure all is tight.

Stay tuned for Culture Shock

Monday 1 December 2014

A New Beginning

Office Pic
Place: Hopkins, Minnesota (USA)
Local Time: Central Time 4:56 P.M., Dec 1 2014
Bible: Genesis 12:1, 4-5
The Lord had said to Abram, "Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father's family, and go to the land that I will show you."

Dear friends,
It has been a long time, I have written something. I was just waiting for the right opportunity, right time, and perfect situation to write my exploration of a new continent-North America. Yes friends, that is true, although for some of you it might be a surprise but I have relocated to a new place known as United States of America (U.S.A.). A well-known fact about US-It is one of the most powerful nations in the world. It consists of a total of 50 states among which I am staying in a state known as “Land of 10,000 Lakes” otherwise Minnesota.

Think, think and think more.
Before relocating, I had series of discussions, thought exchange and lot more with myself and circle around me. Travelling to a new country is not a kids play, you have to think a lot, make your mind clear what your aspirations are, what do you want in life, is it really worth it? Whatever your reason of relocating, keep in mind that you have already started beginning of the end of your old life, now you are going to start a new beginning, a new life. You are going to start your life from 0 with a new clean slate. It’s going to be a fresh start, obviously you have to face lots of challenges, learn new customs, rules, guidelines and what not. It’s gonna be a whole new goddamn identity that you are going to set up, so if you are relocating, think, think and think more.

How?
The first question that may come to your mind is how I relocated to USA. I was working for a IT giant in Chennai for last 2 years in a US based project. I nominated myself for any onsite opportunity that may arrive; all the managers checked my scores and work then confirmed me as a suitable candidate for the job. Then there were hell lot of levels through which my VISA petition passed starting from local company branch to US Immigration. My visa petition was filed in 2014 Jan and it took a complete year for it to get processed. Finally with the Gods grace, parent’s blessings and my well-wisher friends I was selected in lottery. I was supposed to travel in Oct but due to lot of applications, it was slowly processed and I came here in mid Nov.


Keep reading… Next I’ll let you know, what is the meaning of relocation? Tips and tricks while moving to US etc.               

Saturday 15 November 2014

Beginning of the End

 Things are changing now; you are not the same person as you were few years back. Is this a sign of end of your old life, it is the beginning of the end. An end which will change you, which will change your life. You might be in love 2-3 years back but now you have moved, you might be married but now divorced. You might be unemployed, but now you have a prestigious job. You are no longer at your home sweet home but fighting the world for survival. You might be a fresher in an industry but now you are a senior. It seems like everything is changed, you are changed, and your lifestyle is changed. Can this be considered a beginning of the end? It will put a full stop to your old life and show you a new one. This might be a confusing period of life, you may want to quit a job and get another one, but is it so easy? You may want to leave someone, again! Is it so easy?

Something to Remember
There are lots of confusions, frustrations, depressions in your life, but I say-it is time to put an end to all misery and start something new. It doesn’t matters that it’s small or large, but change is important. Don’t fear about what will happens if you fail, just think what will happen if you pass. New Year is on the way, so take the resolution right now, that you will start a journey.


A life with full of hopes and divine light is waiting for you, go ahead and achieve it. There is only person standing between your happiness and that’s in the mirror. Anything and everything is possible in this lifetime, so what are you going to do with it? You have already grown up; it’s time to DO something and not just talk about it.  The future isn’t a place.

Thursday 16 October 2014

Love is Everything

Pic from Shikara
Alappuzha – still more romantically known as Alleppey – is the hub of Kerala's backwaters, home to a vast network of waterways and more than 1000 houseboats. Wandering around the small but chaotic city centre, with its modest grid of canals, you'd be hard-pressed to agree with the 'Venice of the East' tag.
We started the day trying to find the best houseboat or a Shikara. Let me tell you the difference between them, if you really want to enjoy the cool breeze, water and everything that the natural backwaters has to offer, you should go for a Shikara. Its an open boat. In case you want to enjoy the romantic time with your pair, you know what I mean, go for a houseboat. 
Over 100kms of Tree Plantation in Kerala
You can rent a houseboat for a day or for day and night as well, depending on the time you like to spend. As we didn’t had much time and our plan was to enjoy nature, we booked a Shikara for 2 hour journey. He took us inside the backwaters, at one point of time, it looks like its an ocean, but its not. There were Lotus plants all over the water without any flowers as it was not a flowery time. I remember that we too had Lotus plants at our place, but they never gave any flowers, God knows why. I thought of taking some seeds with me, but the seed would have died when parents will reach home.


House Boat
It was a nice boatride, one of the best or we can say only event in Allepey. The ride consists of peace, just don’t think anything, sit light, relax and enjoy the nature. They even have beds inside the boats, if you want to take a nice nap and music systems in case you wanna dance.

As per my thinking, you have not done anything in Kerala, if you have not drink Coconut water. So we stopped our boat for a drink, it was really cool. They may cut coconut right in front of you from trees and give a fresh one to you. In this small Kerala trip, all I ever think is about Love. Keralas a lovely place where people generally go for a honeymoon or with friends. But I was there with my folks, it was my love for them that made us to visit Gods Own Country. In the end, whats matter is Love and Love is everything.


Next we headed for lunch where we had the special red colored medicinal water of Kerala and then finally came back to Chennai.

Sunday 12 October 2014

Thekkady-Periyar National Park

Warriror Pose
On the 2nd day of my family trip, we started from Munnar early morning to cover few side scenes and finally reached Thekkady-Periyar wildlife sanctuary. It is known as one of the world's most fascinating natural wildlife reserves. The main adventure inside sanctuary is to take a boat ride in the Periyar lake. It is conducted by the forest department and Kerala Tourism. It takes us inside the jungle and we may witness animals roaming around in the wild without any boundations. Deer, wild elephants, Incredible birds are common but what it difficult is to get a good view of Tiger, Lion and other wildies. They are generally hidden in the jungles and if you are going in rainy season, there are even less chances that they may come to the lake to drink water. We were lucky enough to spot one Lion and few wild elephants. People went crazy when they saw them, I was feeling weird. I understand that its lucky to spot the Lion but whats the point of going crazy over it, we can always see them in Zoo, but later I think that’s the point of going in the Jungle instead of Zoo. All of them started capturing them in their high fi cameras, but you cannot capture nature, you have to feel it.

Shahrukh Pose
There are other attractions in Thekkady like Elephant ride in jungle, spice garden visit, but they were too costly and not of much worth, so we can say that the only thing important is Periyar Wildlife sanctuary, its kind of a full day picnic with a group. Adventourous activities also include boat ride i.e. night camping, staying in jungle for 2-3 days but it has to be planned in advance with the officials. It is only possible if you have lot of time to spend in Thekkady. The very same day we started our journey to Allepey, so that we can spend more time exploring it rather than travelling again in morning. 

Wednesday 1 October 2014

Kerala: Gods Own Country

Mom Dad
Kerala is also known as Gods own country and I had an opportunity to show this beautiful green place to my parents. Mom, Dad always wanted to visit Chennai and have a look at the place where I am staying and if anything good nearby. I thought its best to go for Kerala instead showing few time pass locations in TN Kerala has a lot of things to offer in addition to greenery. I applied for leaves in my company and fortunately everything was settled up, again there is always one reason for things to turn your side or otherwise. Next day, parents booked one way flight ticket and I booked train tickets from here, else it would have been very costly.

Kathakkali
Finally the day arrived and mom dad came to Chennai, we booked a cab from airport to my room. We had a special dinner not just because they brought different types of pickles, sweets and namkeen but because they were here, the very first time. Soon we headed for railway station to catch our train for Aluva (Kerala). It’s the nearest station to Munnar (a Hill station). We had our cab booked in advance to pick us up from Aluva, so that we don’t have to waste any time after reaching there in looking for cab.




Different expressions in Kathakkali
Journey from Aluva to Munnar is full of greenery. We stopped at few places on the way to had lunch and side scenery. For a traveler like me, it was not much but still worth watching. There were two waterfalls on the way, they provided quite a view, one side waterfall from mountain and valley on the other end-perfect place to hangout.

Later in the evening we stopped for a cultural dance known as Katthakkali, it was quite good. There were clouds entering from the roof side and Kathakkali was being performed on the stage, at one point of time you may feel like, you are on seventh cloud. That’s the beauty of nature and hill station. In addition to it, there was Martial arts the old fighting thing, it was awesome, and they were showing fight as if they were actually fighting-awesome. Both the shows were bit costly but a must watch, also note that the shows are performed at 5 P.M. So be there at the right time.





Martial Arts
We were quite exhausted and planned to go for sleep. As it was drizzling and I was with my parents, I also slipped in bed else I would have gone out to enjoy the cold breeze that the nature has to offer. That we can enjoy now, now is the time to enjoy. This time is never gonna come back, do whatever you have to do today, else you will never be able to do it. Remember tomorrow never comes.

Enjoyyyyyy your life to the fullest.

Thursday 11 September 2014

Letting off the Steam

@ Botos
So I was on a break with a friend cum colleague in office and were discussing a hang out for weekend. I thought that no one from my room would be willing to join but to my surprise everyone jumped in. We planned to visit Kanyakumari at first, from that point itself there was a single kanya joining us (from office) and we didn’t had proper way back from there so we had to drop both kanya and kanyakumari. It became a complete boys trip now, all of started searching for the next best place in south and soon we came up with Yelagiri-a small hill station in TN. 

Uncensored Pic
Biyani booked a cab and we were ready to hit the roads, addition to 5 of us from Chennai we called a friend photographer friend-CV from Bangalore too. Here I would like to make a note of thanks to all my photographer friends for providing there awesome photography on the trips that we execute. We started banging our qualis on full volume with breaks from time to time for Atm and the very famous Kumbakonam Coffee. Then there were drinks when we were waiting for CV at some mid station (forgot the name).
Temple Pic
Finally we reached Yelagiri, had a full tight dinner and started exploring beautiful natural scenery. Our first point was the Botos Natural Park, it was not much but enough for some crazy shit. I have tried not to post any uncensored pics, this one is fine to remind everthing. Next we visited Murugan Temple, it had quite a sight. Its true that there is a peace where there is God, this temple was a true example of it, it was cool, quite and calm, best place to meditate and think.



Swami Malai trek
Once prayer was over, we started our hike to the highest peak-Swami Malai. Note it takes 2-3 hours in ascending, which we were not able to do as we started late, the temple at peak was already closed. We thought of just taking a tour and coming back, but as the Sun was coming down it was getting darker and its  not advisable in woods to roam around especially at a new place. So we trekked up to a point, enjoyed our way up, clicked some pics and started coming down.



Censorship Applied
On the way back, we entered a garden with musical fountain. It could have been quite a show but due to weather conditions/separate tickets ffor garden and fountain, we dropped the plan of fountain. Again clicked and started our way home with a single stop for dinner.









Thats Me
If we are working in a dead end job in a small cubicle, such trips helps us to let off our steam, to rejuvenate us, to give us a new angle to our life, work and thinking. There is a saying, “don’t tell me how many degrees you have, tell me how much have you travelled.” Reading books can give you bookish knowledge applying it in the field makes you practical as well as compassionate.

Tuesday 26 August 2014

Can you meet me in 5

Let's take a little trip down memory lane and visit ILVA.



When I go home on vacations,sometimes I call my friends out of the blue moon. I don’t care where they will be, what they will be doing, in what situation they will be. If I want to meet them, I just call them and ask them to show up in next 5 mins, if they like, obviously few people are able to drop by while others not. Whatever happens, one thing is for sure, at least I call them and due to that some people are able to meet.

Now-a-days everyone is busy, actually no one is. They won’t contact because they will think that he is busy and vice versa, hence both will not contact each other. Sometimes ego comes into play, one will think that Y, I should call and again vice versa. In short people have false excuses for not contacting each other.






I think everyone should try “Can you meet me in 5 min” Game once. Besides a small get to gather, it also helps us in identifying our true friends; it will show that they are also willing to/not willing to meet as you are. When I visited my hometown last time, I tried the same game with many of my friends and fortunately at least 10 were able to join me at our school-ILVA. I understand that others had their reasons for not showing up. They can try next time and thanks to people who dropped by.

We witnessed lot of changes when we entered school but still there is a connection which cannot change. There are memories of childhood, of fun, of fear of teachers, of yearning for marks, practicals, you can never forget those. You can never forget your first crush from school, first medal, first recognition or the first play. When take a little trip down memory lane, we start getting pictures, clear pictures of all the fun we had.

In the last, I would just like to thank all the friends who find out time to meet me at the school. Keep remembering and be in touch.


Thanks.

Saturday 23 August 2014

Shangri-La: Smiling Monk

Breakfast Time
I would like to dedicate this post to the smiling face Monk-Mr. Chetri. On our trip to Bhutan we had the opportunity to meet a Monk who invited us to stay at his place. All of us were impressed with the cool, calm and composed smiling face of the monk when was saw him sitting on stage, we never thought that we can get in touch with him and actually stay at his place. When Maaji asked him about cheapest place to stay in Thimphu, he invited us at his place, we agreed at the same instant. Very few people get this much luck to actually meet a Monk and there we were staying at his place.

Chetri Sir
We completed our Thimpu tour and reached at his place where we were welcomed by a beautiful girl and niece-Chandrika. We confirmed that its Sir’s place, she acknowledged and she also confirmed our identity by asking Sirs number, great skills. There was another lovely creature who welcomed us by barking-Pikacchu. I have never seen such a courteous doggy, before entering the place she was barking on us, but when she understood that we are friends, she became excited to meet everyone. She introduced herself by meeting everyone individually, she jumped on everyone one after another, spent some time and moved to other person. Last, but not the least we met Rockstar of the house and the son-Goku. He is a guitarist and an excellent cook; he cooked a delicious sabzi named Tashi.

Bhutan's Parliament view @ Night
There was a oneness in Chetri Sir’s place, he was such a good host that we felt like home in a foreign country. All the family members were intimate. I remember an instance where Bhampi, Maaji and Pahadi were cooking in kitchen while me, Sir, Goku and Chandrika were eating in the hall. Sir was telling us that we should eat less in night and suddenly Maaji put one more chapati in his plate, all started laughing. Bhutan is actually known as the Royal Bhutan and fortunately we were lucky to become Royal guests as we were staying right in front of the Parliament. All of us had good conversation with the best host, he explained us a lot of things, answered our bulk of queries. He even read our hands and provided info about us that was really incredibly true. Once dinner was over, Anna and others washed dishes and then all of us headed to sleep, although no one wanted to end the conversation, but it was getting late. 

The Gang
Morning, all of us got ready fast, had a photo session with Sir and then we were back on our track towards India.We had such a great time that can’t be explained in words, the only thing we regret was none of us had any pic with Lovely Pikachu.

Time is far too precious to be wasted unhappy, Be Happy.

Sunday 17 August 2014

Trip to The Last Shangri-la : Thimpu Visit

Kings Memorial Chhorten
The Second Last day of our Bhutan trip was to explore the Bhutans Capital aka Thimphu. We started from Paro and in about 2-3 hours reached there, had a little breakfast and soon reached the first location: King's Memorial Chhorten. This place was getting renovated so not much of a scene.





Museum
Folk Heritage Museum-Must Visit
Next we visited the library, but it was lunch time there, so instead of waiting, we continued our tour to the Museum. Now let me tell you, I have been to a few museums but this was extraordinaire, one of its kind, again salute to Bhutan for this Museum. It was established in 2001 and provides visitors and tourists with fascinating insights into the Bhutanese material culture and way of life. The Folk Heritage Museum is set inside a three storied, 19th century traditional house.
The museum gives us a glimpse of the traditional Bhutanese lifestyle, in addition to artifacts from rural households; it also displays an impressive collection of typical household objects, tools and equipment. The museum also organizes regular demonstrations of rural traditions, skills, habits and customs as well as hosting educational programs for children.
The activities of the museum follow a seasonal rhythm, just like the activities of a true rural household, offering you something new to see every time you visit the place. The museum does a remarkable job of recapturing the rural setting and ambiance of a traditional household by setting up paddy, wheat and millet fields, a traditional water-mill with mill stones more than 150 years old, traditional style kitchen gardens with vegetables that were typically grown during the past 100 years. So sad that photography is not allowed, but then we have google.

@ Library
National Library and Archives of Bhutan
Frankly speaking, im not much of a reader guy, I like to watch movies/seasons instead, so Library didn’t had much charm for me. I must add an appreciation to the point that this Library had 2 sections, one for Foreign Languages like English and other for their own Bhutanese language. Bhutanese language Library is a 5 floor building and the most amazing thing about it is that all the floor schematic is exactly same, in computer terms it’s like copy and paste one above another.

Buddha Point
Buddha Point
A place with a big Buddha’s statue, another cool place to check out.

Handicraft's Place
Handicrafts Place

Last but not the least we have handicrafts place from where you can take souvenir’s for your loved ones There are numerous shops lined up one after another, you can purchase a variety of things from there, you can bargain and select the lowest cost shop also.  Try to purchase something unique of Bhutan like we purchased hanging clothes (its incorrect name, I don’t know what they call it, but they hang these cylindrical colorful clothes in their temples.). See picture.

Thursday 14 August 2014

Trip to Bhutan: Tiger’s Nest Hike

@ Tigers Nest
The 3rd day of our trip to Bhutan was hiking on a mountain to reach Tiger’s Nest Monastery. Taktsang Monastery hangs on a cliff and stands above a beautiful forest of blue pine. The hike to reach the Monastery is tiring but when you reach there it’s like heaven and you feel like you are @ cloud 9. The monastery seems to appear and disappear in and out of the trees and the mists while trekking up. It is said that even cat is at peace on top.



Takhtsang Monastery playing hide and seek between Clouds
There were prayer flags all over the route to Monastery. These are blessings on the land, a way to sanctify a place in nature, and the higher we hike, the more prayer flags appear, until it seems, the entire sky is strung with long kites of red, green, yellow, blue, and white flags, the pattern repeated again and again, by the hundreds and thousands—a million fluttering prayer flags across the rocky path, and then across the open chasms of the Himalayas.



Cute
Entire Journey was full of ups and downs, first you go up and up and up and then down, then a bridge and then again up. Bridge is between two mountains and after crossing the bridge we have the Monastery.
The return journey is much faster, but equally dramatic. When we were coming down, there was a little bit of rainfall so we were slipping all the time. We had to maintain our pace and balance at the same time. We met lots of people on the way, there was a foreigner singing “Ye dosti hum nahi todenge” song. Then there was one who had her Bday and also the one with whom I took picture-the beautiful one.

Anna
After Monastery, there was another Monastery-a 7th century one, normally it’s a lot to say about monasteries, but unfortunately there was nothing much about this one. But outside Monastery our Photographer had a conference call, which was something interesting. When we were coming out, we had a conversation with a family and our chatter box started his speech, the dialogue turned so interesting that it lasted for more than 30 mins and kept on going and going. Since half of our crew was waiting outside, so I interrupted the meeting, even then a guy was so moved that he escorted photographer to the car so that they can still talk on the way out. It’s really great thing about our photographer.

Maaji
The FIGHT

There is a known fact that every organization/team/group/company goes through 3 phase.
1.       Grouping
2.       Fight
3.       Regrouping


Our crew also passed through these phases, 1st in train, we grouped together, and then in restaurant we had a really cool fight, thanks to Bhampi and Anna and kick to Pahadi. Then in last we regrouped. I think this much info is enough here. Will visit Thimphu in next Blog.

Sunday 3 August 2014

Happy Friendship Day

School Time
On this auspicious occasion of Friendship day, I am writing a note to remember all the friends that have made my life serendipitous. We can quote more than a dozen messages today, but I would like to quote incidents that I remember, incidents that have left a footprint on our lives. I am writing about every friend that has touched me somewhere in my life, you may find yourself, just try to look yourself with my eyes.






School Friends Party

I remember days from school time, when we used to have fun with our neighbors, silly fights over cricket boll. When we used to wait for the bus to ILVA school and whenever we got ready on time, bus was late and if we are late in waking up, sleeping for those 5 more minutes, bus usually came in time. Then in school, counting no. of wickets that used to fall in 30 minutes prayer in Sunlight. It was fun even in standing in the school lobby for every short break, playing football with bottle in the ground. Playing cricket and pen fight in classes, eating lunch before recess. Leg fight below benches. I still remember teachers scolding us all the time, getting promoted with us, salute to all those teachers. 

Dear Friend
There were all sorts of friends, there were some who were well verse in English and some who were after girls, there were some who were always in sports, there were some who experimented on themselves, others experimented with Zinc, pen and HCL in chemistry labs. Since childhood we have a group of 3 Musketeers. School time was a real thing especially on first days of July.

Workshop




With Gods grace, I had friends in every locality I have gone, some are still in touch, some are still in heart. There were friends from my street, from malwa apartment, from coaching s/tut ions, school, college, company, random strangers becoming friends and more.








BME Lab (College)
Remembering about dozens of coaching s I have been to. I remember the friends that I made there, right from Mona mam, Simran classes, ASAP, Leicesters Lizzy, Blue Chip, Chaitanya to summer classes. There are hell lot of circles of friends and each one has their inputs in shaping me who I am. I can start writing their names, but then it would be a very big list.







Stranger Friends @ Mussorie
Then I moved to a different street, different institute, different locality. I thought I was grownup by then. I had new friends, new circles, new activities. At this time, I used to play footboll on streets, I became self confident, whole world was changing from streets to computers, from wires to internet, from phone cables to wifi, from friends to crush, from school to college.











IBM Friends
Now I had college friends, Samanvaya, I.B.M.. Friends who used to bunk classes with me, who used to have lunch with me in college breaks, who used to break their heads in mechanical labs, who used to copy assignments, files. Then came a different type of group in my life, they were arty, educated types people, they had different thinking and made me a different man. Respect for them. There had been times, when I had to become neta of the group whether it was Leicesters lizzy way back in school or in IBM college times, thanks for my friends who gave me that confidence. 

Office CT Friends
Things have been rocky also, but I have learnt a lot and still learning. There was a time, when I had to teach, it was home tut-ions or Green Fields. I must say, I have learnt even from my students cum friends from that time period.

College Bus Friends
When I joined TCS, it was another time when my world was turned upside down, leadership call was again made in Techno-turf. 3 months in Coimbatore was a scene changing time, now I was nowhere near home. I was getting paid, I had to take all my decisions myself, I had to manage my accounts, but with friends you can do anything in life. We were a group of 60 friends. There were divisions in this group, some were in CIP04 batch while others in CIP05, some stayed in Sabri while others in Geetha, some were in the same flat, others in different, some were in same room, others in other. I remember all 60 besides the divisions. I remember all the weekends that we used to go to Kerala and had fun like anything on the way.

When I was a teacher (Teachers Day celebration)


Today I am in a PG, with a whole new set of friends, new roommates, pg mates etc. I have learned whats sharing, looking after each other. Then there are office friends, the confusing ones, unpredictable ones. They help me to understand how to survive, how to lead, how to keep movin no matter what happens. Addition to them, I have online friends with whom I keep in regular touch via whatsapp, FB, I learn diff. languages from them, I make fun of them, but whatever happens, I am in contact with them.





Cousin Friends
Last but not the least, actually the first friends also known as cousins. I would wrap it in few setences, as cousins are one complete story to write. Cousins are the first friends with whom we can share all our secrets, because anyways they will know. I remember cousin cum friends with whom I used to go Phulwari, and throwing stones on roof by singing song “mere yar ki shadi hai phodo bam phatake”, with whom I have faught, played cards at Agar, with whom I have done the craziest things such as jumping naked in river (I was very young), with whom I have played cards all night in summer, with whom I have been on Chilly terrace all night, with whom I have shared ghost stories, my blogs etc.

Samanvaya Friends






Salute to all of u, thank you for being a friend.