Day 5-11

Time is flying by...and it has already been 11 days in the US for me. 3 more to go :( And what a trip it has been. I know it will be a while before I meet M again, but then there are so many sweet memories to take back from the visit. 10 months of separation are over, the remaining 8 will quickly pass.

So what have I been up to in the past week? A lot. Which includes staying away from the Internet for days at a stretch- which is quite uncommon (and difficult) for me.

Some quick highlights from the past week:

Wednesday

1) Lazed around at home spending some quality time with M
2) Prepared some shrimp and Rajma for a friend we had invited over for dinner

Thursday

1) Trip to the beautiful town of New Haven, which also happens to be the home of one of the most prestigious universities of the world- Yale

Friday

1) Roamed around Boston downtown, visiting the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Prudential center etc etc
2) Went clubbing to celebrate the victory of a friend who got elected as the President of MIT' s student body

Saturday

1) The D day- My first wedding anniversary!
2) Had lunch with the family of my manager from my previous job- brought back all the sweet memories of SC and its wonderful people
3) Dinner with M at the Cheese Cake Factory to celebrate one year of togetherness and marital bliss

Sunday

1) Headed to New York City early in the morning
2) Travelled..Travelled...Travelled the whole day, exploring this wonderful city full of energy and diversity with so many different colours and flavours
3) Key highlights: 3 hour cruise across Manhattan island, times square, statue of liberty, empire state building, little Italy, central park south, 5th avenue, Harlem, Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, NY skyline from Brooklyn...
4) Stop over for the night at my Dad's friends residence in Hicksville ( a suburb which takes an hour by train to reach)

Monday

1) More of New York (but the weather was really bad as it was raining most of the time!)
2) Key highlights: Lunch at china town, NYSE, holding the balls of the wall street bull!, UN headquarters, Rockefeller centre...
3) The bus back to Boston in the evening

Tuesday

1) Visit of a dear friend who came all the way from the west coast- sweet, isn't it?
2) A very heavy (and delicious!) home cooked lunch (prepared by M) with him - Burrrrp!
3) Dinner at Mela with my friend and his other friends
4) Ready to sleep after I complete this blog ;-)

This is about it for now. More later...

Day 3 & 4

I know. I skipped a day in between. Friends have been hurling abuses- reminding me of my neta like ways of not sticking to a promise (of blogging every single day during my vacation). So without making lame excuses, I move on.

The last two days have been amazing. And if I have to pick one fabulous experience which stands out amongst the many, it definitely would be my visit to the Harvard University and the Harvard Business School.

The highlights from Monday and Tuesday:

Monday

1) A tour of the MIT campus, its so huge and spread out. You walk..walk...and walk.....till your legs hurt..and then realize that you haven't even covered 1/4th! But the sights, sounds and aura of the place just take you over.

2) A visit to the Boston Harbour (which happens to be one of the most romantic places I have ever been to!!) in the evening and dinner at one of the most renowned restaurants in Boston- Legal Sea Foods.

Tuesday

1) I walked up to the Harvard square, and took a left on JFK street to be enthralled by the beauty of the Harvard undergrad campus. On the other side of the Charles River, right across the Anderson bridge lies the sprawling campus of the mecca (arguably :P ) of business education- Harvard Business School. Everything, right from its beautiful campus, to its friendly (this was a surprise as I was expecting a lot of snobbery) students simply put me in awe. Bottomline- I LoVeD it!

2) During the day, I got acquainted with a German guy who was travelling alone in Boston. Seemed pretty lonely. So much to the dismay of M, I invited him for a dinner with us :) We had a lovely American dinner at Cambridge Brewing Company along with a few glasses of locally brewn beer. My German friend seemed pretty happy, I was thrilled, and M didn't seem to mind much - end to a puurfect day!

Travelling tomorrow to New Haven. More later....

Day 2

Yesterday was really hectic. I think I am having a great time here. Time is flying.....Its 9 in the morning and I am sitting in the Stratton student centre (while M is away attending class!) making the most of the comfortable sofas and the free wifi connection!

Its a wonderful feeling watching students, professors and staff - each lost in their own world- walking around, having a quick bite to eat, a hot coffee to drink, grabbing a warm donut to relish.

A quick recap of the last 36 hours:

Saturday

1) It was a rainy day and the weather was extremely chilly! Nearly 3 degrees C. Went out to the Harvard square and enjoyed a LONG lunch at Fire and Ice

2) It was dark (and still raining) by the time we came out and jet lag was gradually setting in. Reached home at around 6:30 PM and just crashed. Woke up on Sunday at 6 AM :D

Sunday

1) Went on my jog. This time across the Harvard bridge, running against the strong chilly winds which made the run tougher but more exciting!

2) Left home at around 8 to meet a senior from my college. Spent the entire day at his house, eating, drinking, chatting and playing with his cute son!!

3) It was 9 by the time we reached home and there was not an inch of place in the stomach to have dinner. Watched Roadies (on the Internet) and slept.

Another day awaits today...lots to do...too less time. Lets see how it goes. Till tomorrow..Ciaos!

My 2 Week Vacation- Day 1

After a long time- in fact nearly an year- I have got a chance to go on a long vacation. As some of you already know, I am visiting my wife in Boston. And since blogging had taken a back seat for sometime now, I thought this is an apt time to start writing again. So......I have decided to blog every single day while I am here. Without wasting more words in setting the context, H E R E...I... G O.

Day 1

I set off for Boston (from Mumbai) on 10th morning at 5:10 AM (India Time). Though I knew it would be a long journey, I never thought it would be so tiring. A quick recap of the journey:

Mumbai- Doha ( 3 Hours)

Doha Transit (2 hours and 30 mins)

Doha-New York (13 Hours)

New York- Boston (4 hours and 30 mins by Bus)

So it took me nearly 27 hours to reach the final destination.But I enjoyed every bit of it. The key highlights of Day 1 follow :)

1) The commotion and crowd in New York. I just love bheed bhaaad....in fact in terms of energy, I found New York very very similar to Mumbai. I found the vicinity, en route my train journey from the airport to the bus station, ejjactly like it is around Indian rail tracks. Graffiti, slums, construction etc etc

2) On reaching the bus station, I found out that all buses going to Boston were full because of the long weekend rush. So I was placed on something called a standby line. Luckily, just like it happens in Multiplexes in India, since I was alone and needed just one seat- I managed to get into the bus. many couples and people in groups were left behind..he he he

3) The bus journey was really uncomfortable. I was already tired by travelling nearly 24 hours and add to it the very little leg room in the bus. The 4 and a half hours in the bus seemed to be longer than the entire journey so far. However, I got some respite from the fact that the bus passed through very beautiful surroundings and there was a movie playing.

4) Reached M's hostel around 11 PM and there was some excellent food awaiting! Pork Ribs...Rice....Baked Beans..and some white and red wine. Dozed off after a sumptuous dinner.

5) Thanks to the jet lag, got up at 6 AM. And I really thank the jet lag for it. Coz I experienced one of the most beautiful mornings of my life. Since I was up early, I decided to go on a jog. The weather was cold, and for a minute I decided to go back to the room and get a cap. But then I thought, "what the hell" and started running- and within a few minutes I was totally immersed in the surrounding and was enjoying the chill in the wind. Cambridge is just so beautiful. So calm, so peaceful, so scenic. The run down the charles river was just so refreshing. The cool breeze rising from the gently flowing water, the sight of ducks floating in harmony, and the thrill of watching the ongoing rowing race between MIT, Yale and Harvard sucked away all the pain and tiredness of my long trip.

6) After the run, I deserved a heavy breakfast! So eggs, bacon, toast and juice it was :D :D

I have promised my self 3 things:

a) I will run every single day in the morning while I am here
b) Will eat and cook a lot
c) Will blog everyday

Till tomorrow..ciaos!

Poker Faced

Its only now, that I understand, the logic behind this commonly used term.


Last thursday, friends were home and one of them happened to be a good poker player. Upon his insistence, all of us decided to try our hand at Texas hold'em poker. After about 20 mins of real time poker lessons, we were all set to begin. Infact I was extremely excited because apart from a few technical differences, I found the game to be extremely similar to our very own teen-patti.


Since we didn't have poker chips, we decided to bet on paper and then settle the dues (which eventually never got settled!) . But our friend (the Poker champ) seemed to be offended by the fact that we were not using chips- in Poker world, you either use chips or just don't play! Somehow, we managed to convince him and so began our round (or shall I say multiple rounds) of Poker.


And apart from learning how to play poker, I was exposed to some Poker terminology. Flop, turn, river, fold, burn, call, raise, check...


End result: I lost rupees 140, we ended up playing till nearly 2 AM on a Thursday night, and I realized that from next time onwards, I better learn to keep a poker face if I intend to win some moolah in poker!!

Whats goin' on...?

...well the last couple of months have been eventful, crazy, happy, sad and "LAZZY". My wife tells me that I used to be much more enthusiastic and proactive in college! And I know that she is right. But more on this, some other time.

Now since I haven't blogged in 2 months, I thought it would be a good idea to scribble down some of the happenings in my life during this period. So without wasting more words- here I go!

• Morning aarti at Sidhi Vinayak and visit to Haji Ali, with Sushant, at the wee hours of the morning after a night of wild revelery ;)
• Blast at Avlesh's wedding with Maadoo, Raaja, Arun and Sanjiv...it was so refreshing to meet Sanjiv Ranjan (IITian!) after a long time- as expected, his hospitality floored me
• Impressive (huh?) gyaan imparted by Arun, Maadoo and me to JEE aspirants at Sanjiv's coaching institution in Patna!!
• Wonderful hospitality of Kevin on christmas eve, and...........
• ....most importantly Varun and my "Gravity" (undifferent attitude!!), when we met Carol Gracias
• My wife's visit- blissssss..............
• My little sisters engagement- happiness and satisfaction
• New years eve with Kevin, Varun, Greg, Rabeeya and my sweetheart! A night to remember
• M's trip back to the US- heart crunching :(
• My little bro's good performance in MBA entrance exams- a sweet reward for all his hardwork
• Baba's Hibernation....
• Balan and Raaja's visit to Mumbai- Had a great time guys!!
• Bhavanjay's awesome new look and mindblowing dance moves in Blue Frog
• Balan's 15x optical zoom SLR put to full use at Blue Frog!! I loove those hooott pics ;)
• Fabulous (road + ferry) trip to Alibaug with Madoo, Raaja, Bhavanjay and Balan
• The perinially refreshing heart to heart with Balan in Hiranandani
• Wait for Nadal's win tomorrow against Federer in the Australian open- Tiger and Kevin are sure gonnna crrrry!!!

So this is a snapshot of what has been going on in my life lately. Till we meet again- shubhraatri, shabba khair!

Small.....

Sometimes in life circumstances make you contemplate- "Am I really worth any good?". You feel shallow and small in front of those who have the courage to lay down their lives for others without any expectation of an incentive (money, publicity, so on and so forth.........).

Since the past few days, I have also been undergoing the same thought process.

Mumbai was held hostage by terrorists. Many innocent people lost their life. Politicians played the blame game. Media exhibited courage and sensibility. Commandos fought valiantly to bring the situation under control. Two of them lost their lives along with 14 policeman. Their children lost their father. Their mothers lost their sons. Their wives lost their husbands. While I followed news like I had never done before..........

As events unfolded...hotels burnt...death toll rose... I felt shocked and angry. But not too sad.

Why? I don't know.

But every time I heard of a policeman or a commando laying down his life- I had goose pimples. My heart sunk. My eyes were moist. And I felt small. I might me making more money than them. I might be leading my life in much more comfort than them. But still their life has been more worthwhile than mine. I aspire for the kind of courage these martyrs had. And salute the valour with which they sacrificed their lives for the safety of a nation which in all likelihood will forget them in a matter of months.

Shaheedon ke mazaaron par har baras lagenge mele...vatan pe mitno walon ka yahi baaki nishaan hoga.....