Religion, Community, Caste, Age no bar.... Really?

After a rather looooong break from the blogging world, I suddenly remembered a promise I had made to a certain friend... that I would blog about a topic that we feel strongly about... so I'm back!

Here's a scene from a typical Indian family. A boy/girl breaks it to his/her family that he/she has found true love. And as expected he/she is bombarded with questions... which is natural since a person's life/future is at stake. For the example, let's assume the protagonist is a guy...
(Code : B - Boy, G - Girl, P - Either parent, X/Y - Random variables, R - Boy's religion, C - Boy's community, D - Girl's religion, M - Some girl picked out by B's parents)

B: I wanted to tell you something. I like G and want to marry her.
P: Who is she?
B: I met her at X/know her through Y (etc etc)
P: Is she also a R?
B (now starts looking a little bit worried... here's the tough part): No. She's actually D
P (now his face starts clouding over): Then the answer is no. You have to forget her and marry M.

Scene 2... starts somewhat similar... here B is finally relieved that the girl belongs to his religion and community but unfortunately his woes don't stop here....
P: Oh she is also R? Fantastic! Is she also from our C?
B(overjoyed): Yes!
P:Great. Does she belong to our caste (or better still sub sub sub section of our caste)
B:Uh oh.... no...
P: Sorry son.... we can't accept this. What will everyone say? (Aaah... unfortunately the whole world takes precedence over the boy's happiness)

Scene 3... B gets lucky... girl is from his caste and community and practices the same religion...
P: Son, you have our blessings. When can we meet her parents to finalize the date?


Whoa! Wait a sec..... Aren't we forgetting some bigger issues here?

Even though we are in the 21st century and India claims to be open minded and modern when it comes to relationships and marriages, somehow the age old mentality still prevails. I would normally assume that when you are choosing a life partner what really matters is the person... his/her values, personality, compatibility and so on. But somehow these factors never seem to be considered by parents. For them the deciding factors are religion, community, caste and then age and everything else is secondary.

I tried to see this from a parent's perspective... Tried to give myself reasonable explanations for this and failed to convince myself. What if the person is perfect for me and is a wonderful human being? I see no justification in turning him down because of issues like religion, community and so on.

Religion is perhaps the only bit I can understand the concerns about, primarily if one party needs to change his/her religion in order to marry and be accepted by the other family. You cannot possibly change your beliefs after 20 odd years and adjustment would certainly be difficult. But if both families are okay with their religious differences and do not impose anything on the other, is it that difficult?

Coming to community... Okay... so there are cultural differences. Some rites and rituals are different, their upbringing may be different. Does that make them bad human beings? And is it not something one can learn and adjust with? Also, in the age of nuclear families, it's not that the involved parties would actually live with the in-laws and deal with such differences on a daily basis. And even if the need does arise, I don't suppose learning the new family's culture is a Herculean task. Some amount of adjustment is required anyways, even within the same community. I have heard people saying that marriage isn't about two people but about two families. But seriously... in the modern age how many times do the families actually meet and spend so much time that the differences would become that apparent?

Even if the community does match, does it necessarily imply that both parties have had the exact same upbringing? They may speak the same language but may have led completely different lifestyles, thereby leading to huge cultural differences anyways. For all you know, the girl may have been roaming around in a bikini (not that I have anything against that but typically many people from the older generation are still scandalized by the thought of it) and the guy's parents think that the girl is oh so conservative and can easily gel with their family because they happen to be from the same community.

As far as caste system in India is concerned, well that's a huge controversial topic in itself. Anyways, when it comes to relationships and/or marriages, this plays a huge role. Many many years ago caste determined the work you do or rather it started off as being the indicator for the work you do and then the system degenerated into it being the deciding factor. So may be in those days, it would indicate the financial situation of the family which may be a valid concern for the other family. But in the 21st century, this distinction between castes as far as financial condition is concerned, has become a blur and perhaps no longer holds true. There are several families from so called lower castes who are doing really well and are completely stable financially while there may be members of the upper classes of society who may be living hand-to-mouth.

Hurdle # 4 --- Age. Thankfully the ideal age difference between the boy and the girl is no longer considered to be 8+. Phew! Long back my mother once told me about how I should find a boy 3/4 years older than me and I bluntly replied that he would be more like a brother for me rather than a boyfriend or husband. I'll admit she wasn't too happy with my answer. In the earlier days such an age difference was desired since girls were married off really early so someone had to be mature and responsible.... and of course this was none other than the breadwinner for the family. The situation is no longer the same now, though I will admit that at some level the whole concept of the guy being the primary breadwinner of the family and therefore the more mature and responsible one, still exists. Indian society still has difficulty accepting a couple where the girl is older than a guy, even if it is by a few months.

In present times parents also have another slightly different reason for wanting the age difference and I won't say it is illogical. Given the fact that nowadays both the husband and the wife work, sometimes it may lead to some form of rivalry, primarily if they happen to be in the same field. Therefore parents feel that if the guy is significantly older, then he would always be ahead of his wife as far as career is concerned and there would be no rivalry. However, doesn't this issue boil down to something that basically requires understanding and love between the husband and the wife? Why would one feel jealous if the person one loves is doing well? Isn't it like a victory for both? Why the ego problem or the rivalry?

All said and done, I will admit that there is some explanation for each of these supposed requirements that our parents tell us to keep in mind. But the truth remains that irrespective of what they say, marriage or a relationship after all brings together two people who love each other enough to actually adjust (if they haven't adjusted already) with all these differences and make it work in the long run. So as the saying goes "Jab miya biwi raazi to kya karega kaazi?" (If husband and wife are ready, what's left for the priest to do?)

Return to India?

I read an article recently. Probably the best I've read in a very long time (Return to India) It describes a family's decision to move back to India after spending a good 15 years in USA. Reading this and my friends' reaction to this kinda got me thinking about what my stand is on this issue.

In my case, having been here for only a little over a year, I suppose I'm still in the "I love everything about this place" phase, adapting to the culture, enjoying the new found freedom, soaking in all that is good that life here can offer. Sure, there are some things that I occasionally come across that I don't like, but I choose to ignore those little things, as of now. Sometimes people ask me whether I want to move back to India and pat comes my response "Ummm.. Well, I don't think so..." The truth is I've not given it a serious thought yet but if I have to decide right now whether I want to move back right away, I would probably just think of staying put. Yeah yeah.. I'm probably going to be labeled "Deshdrohi" (betrayer) for making this statement but as I said earlier, this is without too much thought going into the decision.

Life in USA is easier... and there's no contesting the verity of the statement. Everything around us here is process oriented and systematic. If you want to do something, there will be a website stating the steps. Follow them and you are done, many a times without even having to step out from the comfort of your home. Even if you do have to go down to some Government office, you are not greeted by lackadaisical officers who really seem to be taking a break from their phone calls, chats and tea/coffee drinking sessions by sitting at the desk and signing some forms. The scene back there that I can last recall was totally opposite. After you spend an entire day standing in queues and going from counter to counter, you are told to come back the next day with the false promise that your work will surely get done. You know it won't and yet you are back, simply because you have no choice and you are dearly holding onto that teeny tiny possibility of your work actually getting done. Do I want to go back to that? No... thank you! I mentioned this to my father once and I must say he raised a valid point. He stated that I don't need to do all this running around myself, I can pay and send an agent or something. But the truth remains that someone will have to do it and living in US teaches you to not employ help in such matters and do things on your own. I personally don't think I want to do all that.

Think of the education system. Somehow back there it is more theory driven and the syllabus is outdated. I admit that it may not be practically feasible to keep in pace with every new revolution that may happen in the industry, but is it not necessary to incorporate those changes at least once in 2/3 years? Another issue that somehow goes unnoticed is plagiarism. Homework is done by 1 person and is distributed to the entire class... everyone submits the same thing and nobody is penalized. As for all the quotas in colleges, aah... that's a huge and rather controversial issue that I will probably not get into right now.

Now let's look at career. True, India is making massive progress in technology, especially where IT is involved. But ever looked at the job profile? Most multinationals have branches in India and employ fresh graduates from various engineering colleges but what kind of work do they get? Most places you start in a testing role where you have no access to the code. All you do is run a bunch of scripts every single day and file bugs if you find any. Before you know it your learning curve has become flat and you sit and wonder when you will get to use all the skills you spent 4 years learning. After a couple of years, may be your manager will let you move to some feature development work that has been thrown your way. Somehow the core development work and the "meaty stuff" still happen at the headquarters and other branches in USA and what gets outsourced are things that are not so mission critical. So career wise, moving back would be a big step down. At least that's what it looks like right now. Another issue is the fact that nepotism and politics are still rampant in Indian offices and the hierarchy system is really strong unlike the meritocracy based system and the flat organization structure here. Well I will admit that I personally have very little experience in working in India and US to make such a strong statement, but this is the general impression I've formed after talking to people who've dealt with both.

I suppose I'm painting an awful picture of life in India. Is it all that bad? Certainly not. As the author of the article rightly pointed out, America can give you all the riches in the world, but cannot give you a family. Your parents, your grandparents, cousins, uncles, aunts... your root is still in India and you cannot forget or ignore that... rather you should not. And it's not just about the people... but the culture, the values as well. As and when I become a mother, I too would want my kid(s) to appreciate and learn all that. I would want him/her/them (o boy.. too many uncertainties) to get to know his/her/their (Aaaargh!) relatives and love and respect them. He/She/They (Ok... I'm tired of this so henceforth will refer to the kid(s) as "they") to learn about life in India and not look down upon that as something "icky" and "uncool". I guess somehow I will try hard to give them the best of both worlds... Though how I will do it is something I will have to figure out when the time comes. When it comes to values, I guess I am still connected to my roots and I hope the kids would be too, without becoming the "C" of ABCD (America Born Confused Desi).

I know many people move back to bring their children closer to the Indian culture/values. Our decision is based on how things were when we were children. This worked really well in the past. The current picture is very different though, something I've gathered based on my conversation with a friend currently in Std 11 in a school in Mumbai and other cousins currently in school. Most schools and colleges in the metropolitan cities are filled with "wannabe"s, kids who are trying to ape the Western culture and not knowing where to draw the line. I still get a shock every now and then when I hear stories from their schools and wonder "Oh boy... am I really this old??? When DID I finish school?" I cannot identify with the situations and really cannot distinguish between things in USA and things in India. Looking at the bright side... well the kids can learn to play the "tabla" instead of drums and learn more about the Indian culture by watching plays/movies, reading books, interacting with people and so on, something that may be tougher to come by in USA.

At this point I will mention that there is one tiny little thing that is gnawing at the back of my mind. What should I do when my parents grow old and the time comes for me to take care of them? As an only child, it is clearly my responsibility. Even if I did have siblings, I still wouldn't shrug the responsibility just so that I can continue life as though nothing has changed. Putting them into an old age home is not an option.. Period. Uprooting them and bringing them here would be unfair and selfish. So this fact would play a huge role when it is time for me to decide. Also, the whole "giving something back to the country" argument bothers me a bit. Just donating money to charities is not something that would make me feel like I did something significant. But what I would do or how I would do it, is something I will hopefully figure out in the future.

India is on the road to improvement. I will not deny that. The fact that the "brain drain" has already reduced bears testimony to that. Just that some very important issues still need to be resolved. Some of them have 1 solution... a change in attitude. I know that the saying goes "You need to be in the system to beat the system", but right now in some way, I've taken the easier road out; not that coming here was a conscious effort to escape from it, but it's more like I put my own dreams before the country's needs, at least for now.

Would I call people who do decide to go back stupid? No... I salute them for having the guts to take that huge decision and I pray that they never regret it. They have their reasons, just that perhaps I do not identify with all of them right now. As of now, I'm just going with the flow and postponing that decision. I suppose the fact that I'm still a student gives me the liberty to do so. But may be I too will think the same way a few years later, who knows? If I do decide to head back, I promise I will write about what changed my mind..... :-)

I wish...

I wish I were invisible... I wish I was Superman (or pick your favorite superhero).... I wish I were omniscient... I wish I could see the future.... The many responses to a simple little question... "If you could ask the Almighty for one super power what would that be?" More often than not the answer comes spontaneously... as if it was a question we have asked ourselves over and over again. But to think about it even if this question is thrown at us out of the blue, the answer pops out effortlessly.

The reason for the above "phenomenon", if I may say so (ok ok.. a really big word for describing something rather insignificant) is simple. Situations we face in our life sometimes overwhelm us and drive us to moments of utter desperation when normal measures that the human mind can come up with appear to bear no fruit and then we start thinking of super powers which may aid us in overcoming whatever difficulties we may be facing.

Guess my prologue is long enough so it's time for me to launch into the main story. The super power I want. The one power I crave is the ability to get into people's heads and see what is going on in there... In other words being able to read people's minds. It's not that difficult when the person is around you and you know him/her really well so much so that you can gauge what the person is thinking from just the look in the eyes. But when it comes to dealing with a closed book, boy it can be a Herculean task alright! Sometimes you would feel that you are making some headway while at other times you feel you are in front of a thick wall you are unable to breach. The situation is just as bad or perhaps worse when that person is far away. Sitting thousands of miles away, it is almost impossible to penetrate that person's thoughts and understand what is on his or her mind.

Life would be so much simpler if we could get into other people's heads. There would be no room for any kind of misunderstanding or doubt. Everything would go smoothly. No one would knowingly hurt anyone and if someone is sulking, one could get into that person's head and know exactly what is bothering him or her.

But now that I think about it, I guess life would become a tad dull with this power. The beauty of life lies in its unpredictability. And the human factor is what makes it so very interesting. Agreed it can lead to frustrations at times but then think about the bright side... You can be at the receiving end of pleasant surprises which others may plan for you which would no longer remain a surprise if you could get into their heads and see the idea being formed anyways. How boring! Ah well, it pretty much boils down to the "two sides of a coin" factor. It's a balance. All said and done... guess I'm happy the way I am, not being able to force myself into people's heads... at least for now, until the next time I face a desperate situation...

Conquered... well... almost!

Never thought that a single decision in my life would change how my life would be for over 4 looooong months... Though when I look back I can't seem to recall how time flew... and yet the initial days of the semester are so blurry.... Kind of an antithesis, don't you think?

15-410... these 5 digits are probably embedded in my brain forever. I still remember the fateful night when I stayed up all through just so that I could register for this class at 6 am as soon as course registrations started. This was how desperate I was to get into the class. The reason? The stories I had heard about this course from seniors. I had heard all about it for 2 years before I landed in Carnegie Mellon University. And it fascinated me... it challenged me.... and as soon as I got my admit into this university I knew I was definitely going to take this course.

15-410... Operating System Design and Implementation.... the 5 words that changed my life... OK, somewhat an exaggeration but that's how it feels when I look back at it about 24 hours after I completed my last project in that course. Most people told me it's a C course.. meaning it's an achievement to get a "C" in the course and it requires a hell lot of effort to get a B and an A was possible only if you were as smart as the CS undergraduate students here.

Seniors warned us about the truckloads of work which this course represented. But this did not deter the 21 brave warriors of INI. We were mentally prepared to fight this battle and emerge victorious that too with flying colours. And so the course began, with some simple (most certainly didn't seem simple back then but a piece of cake in hindsight) labs. More of a warm up if I may say so, before the real projects came along. Wrote a stack crawler, some device drivers and a game. OK... so far so good... And we started wondering "What was all the fuss about? This seems pretty doable..." Hah... we were soooooooooo wrong!

Then came along hurdle 1. It was called P2 - the POSIX thread library. 3 weeks of sleepless nights and sheer madness. Eventually my partner and I managed to crash the kernel and received a new one to work with. Finally 2 days before the lab was due we managed to get the tests running. Hurray!

OK.... now the dreaded P3 begins... 6 weeks to build a preemptible multithreaded kernel. Start off with some simple things like the loader and virtual memory. And gradually we get a tiny bit complacent as things seem to be under control while God above laughed at us and said "Right... wait and watch sonny!"

Then gradually things began to take a nasty turn. Bug after bug... and just when we went about announcing to everyone how we got something working. OS got to us. Arguments and frustration ensued. A bug that had my partner and me on the verge of going bald. And one week later we found the problem and learnt a valuable lesson. Never ever copy-paste!!!

The kernel chugged along, with many unexpected halts and frantic debugging. Spent many a night pondering over why I put myself in this mess. C code and hex dumps were my companions every night as I closed my eyes in a futile attempt to sleep. I would see page tables and triple faults and dumps of segmentation faults in my sleep. Not the best dream I tell you. My last thought as I drifted off and my first thought as I woke up 2-3 hours later were the same "Why is this not working?" and some more mumbo-jumbo about design and the code. Just when something started working, some other functionality would break. Frustrations soared with the eagles. Tempers soared higher. Not that my partner and I were trying to blame each other for the code but then when you start spending 14-15 hours every single day working on the same issue day after day, night after night, it kinda gets to you to the extent that you start blasting anybody around you... and who better than your OS partner!!! Sorry Gurpreet.. :-P

At times I used to sit and calculate how my grades would be hit if I couldn't submit the kernel. But it was not about grades really. I was out to prove something to myself. It was a challenge and I wanted to face it and more importantly conquer it.

The hardships did not end once we reached the "code complete" stage. It was when we started running the plethora of tests that we realized how "incomplete" the kernel was. Quick design changes followed by recoding happened ever so often. And of course bugs, bugs and more bugs everywhere.

But it was not all bad. The joy we experienced when after hours of debugging we would rectify an error is indescribable. We felt on top of the world every time we fixed an error and got another test to run successfully. OS and I shared a love hate relationship. Loved the course when things worked and absolutely hated it when it didn't. I once referred to the kernel "Pebbles" as my boyfriend, given the importance it held in my life and the amount of time I was devoting to it... much to the displeasure of a certain person... :-P

Finally we got the damned thing to work... or rather so we would like to believe.. so it's better for your welfare that you do not contradict us on this. The tests ran "happily" as my partner says and we submitted the kernel and promised never to run and look at it till the grades were out. But the 6 weeks had hit us so hard that every waking moment we continued to spend thinking of possible errors and other improvements. Thankfully we still had write permission so we made a couple of changes later. He he...

And yes, this post is incomplete without a mention of the Floppy Disk seminar. This was on the night that the kernel was due. All through the semester the professors had been talking about this rather important seminar where we would learn about giant (about 14" in diameter going by what he showed us through gestures) floppy disks. Finally we signed up for the seminar and had to choose from some rather interesting and in fact ridiculous options. Eventually this turned out to be a class tradition. Every semester, the night when the kernel is due, the professors treat the students to pizza and soda at the CS department lounge at 12 am. It was a fabulous surprise and a looooot of fun!!! As for the name.. well think about it.. pizzas are like disks too and are floppy... ingenious! That's our CS department for you...

Then came the last project. The boot loader for the kernel. This too was challenging. Some bugs and 2 sleepless nights later we managed to boot our kernel with our very own bootloader. Oh that felt so wonderful. I started jumping up and down in excitement.

Never have I ever taken a course that took me from utter hopelessness and depression to sheer ecstasy within a few seconds. Never have I ever done something so fulfilling. Never have I done something that will make me finally agree upon the saying "There's no gain without pain." The take away from this course is mind blowing. Nothing else could have taught me what I have learnt in the last few months. Systems programming concepts, design, debugging tactics, teamwork and many innumerable moments of happiness and sorrow. These 4 months I shall treasure... It was an experience worth blogging about, a journey worth remembering, an experience of a lifetime...

Silence......

Ever heard the phrase "Deafening silence"? I laughed at the oxymoron... till I heard it. It is so loud that you feel like placing the palms of your hands on your ears and say "Please God no more..."

Labeled since childhood as a talkative girl I never understood the importance of speech until recently. Ironical, isn't it? Communication is probably the lifeline of every relationship, be it among friends, lovers or family. Usually it does not receive its due importance because more often than not this aspect is always there. You haven't spoken to a friend for a few days, and you call up and say "Yo dude! Wassup?" But what happens when this call never comes? You begin to wonder.... "Why doesn't this person call? Doesn't he/she care about me any more?"

Communication - the imparting or interchange of thoughts, opinions, or information... and perhaps a lot more.... by speech, writing, or signs. In the absence of this all you are left with are memories and imagination. Sometimes it's acceptable and you can make your peace with it... but sometimes you cannot and your mind is filled with unpleasant thoughts as you drown in a pool of sorrow which probably the other end never consciously intended pushing you into.

It begins with convincing yourself that things are still the same. You look at old e-mails, letters, cards, gifts and chat transcripts, recall old conversations and tell yourself that nothing has changed. But at some point you cannot ignore it any longer, you cannot help but notice that something is missing from the relationship. Then the Devil sitting inside your mind gets to work, filling it with all kinds of strange, unpleasant, sometimes baseless thoughts, and you try hard, really hard to battle them with optimistic thoughts, pleasant memories and so on. Sometimes the latter emerges victorious and you calm down, but only for some time till the next battle is waged. Otherwise you succumb to those thoughts.... "Does this person care about me any more? Is he/she not calling because he/she doesn't like talking to me any more? Oh this must be the case... That explains why the communication gap is bothering me so much but not the other person involved...." and it continues. With every such thought you push your spirits one notch lower.

It's strange that the absence of a little thing like communication can wreak havoc in your life and the relationship you share with the other person involved. Perhaps you give that person undue importance in your life so much so that the person unknowingly begins controlling your moods, your life. Probably not a very smart idea, but nevertheless at that point all you can do is feel lost and helpless. You try talking to that person, explaining how you feel... if you are lucky then things get back to normal, if not the self inflicted torture continues....

And the battle continues...

"Think with your heart". I said this to a friend once amidst a heated and somewhat emotional argument. To this he responded saying "That's utter rubbish .... you can't think with u r heart --- it's almost antithetical". And I wonder why this statement makes so much sense to me? Why is it that I can actually do this? Have I lost my senses? Did God make a mistake when He created me and interchanged the heart and the head?

There are 2 elements that influence us when we think. The heart and the head. "Don't let your heart rule over your head" is how the popular saying goes. But then there are times when just to understand what the other end is saying or implying and to act accordingly you need to reverse this.

The head -> Practical, realistic, cold, unfeeling. Ok, not as bad as it sounds. Pretty useful when most decisions need to be taken. It is trained to be mature but perfect for situations not involving the heart. So I can almost say that the problem domains they address are mutually exclusive. Need to decide a project team? Wondering what to tell a friend to avoid some kinda awkward situation? Need an excuse for why you cannot do something? And the head steps in.

Aah, now the heart... Soft, sentimental... may be unreasonable to a certain extent. Arguing with a close friend and he or she is upset and you are deciding what to say next? Use your heart. That means be a little soft and emotional when you are about to respond. That does not translate to being irrational. Just means keep in mind what that person means to you and the fact that you probably don't want to hurt that person with your words or actions when the other end is vulnerable. At times, depending on the situation, it may mean putting yourself in that person's shoes and looking at it from his or her perspective. This most certainly does not imply that you forget or ignore the fact that you may be upset too. But at times, when both are upset, someone needs to take the high road, and put aside his or her feelings and resolve the issue at hand, keeping the bigger picture in mind. So it really boils down to who will take the first step then. Then comes the next issue, emotions motivating you may be positive or negative. I have to admit this is a valid point. If positive, it's simple. If negative, then it helps to keep the big picture in mind.... focussing on what that person means to you. It is really okay to be a little impractical at times as long as it keeps the involved parties happy.

Then there is a third category of issues, perhaps the worst of the lot, on which both your heart and your head will try to take control and that is when the real battle begins. Your heart will say something and your head will say something completely contrary. And you are torn between the two. Do what is right (as per your head) or do what you think won't hurt the other person? Give importance to yourself or the other person involved? This situation arises only when that person means something to you. And you are caught in a dilemma, having to choose between the devil and the deep sea. Life sure isn't easy. And to complicate matters we have another entity called ego playing complete spoilsport. None of us wants to portray an image of emotional weakness. But unfortunately most of us do give it undue importance.

To resolve such issues there is no fixed algorithm then.... just do what you think is best. And make sure you do not lose what you already have.... if you treasure it of course... Keep in mind that your decision should be such that later in life you would not have to look back at this episode with regret and say "I wish..."

And the raging battle continues....

Do you love your friend?

Well this was a little something I have been pondering over for a really long time. Thought I would blog about the same but everytime I decided to pen my thoughts (or rather type them out here), some stupid project/assignment submission kept getting into the way. Now that the 1st semester is finally behind me, I finally have some time to put this post together.

General norm... you do not say you love your friend. You say you like your friend. You will say "I love my friends" in general but will never say "I love ...." as in you will never take a specific name. I wonder why. Why the double standards? You can say "I love my mom", "I love my sister", "I love Tommy (your dog)" but why can't anyone ever bring himself to say "I love ABC", ABC being your best friend. I mean is that person not as important to you as any of the others. Does he/she not deserve the same treatment as the rest? Why is the word always associated with a romantic angle whenever it is used in conjunction with a name.... Just something embedded in people's heads?

There have been so many occasions when I have seen people judiciously steering clear of the word. Even if they accidentally use the word "love" the disclaimer "as a friend" is soon to follow. And when I witness this exchange more often than not I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Should I blame society for this distinction? Or the sheer narrow mindedness of people?

Society has anyways provided a means by which even by using the word "love" we can distinguish between the romantic aspect and the non romantic aspect. For the romantic aspect you can always use the phrase "in love" and English anyways provides a pretty vast set of words which can be used to express this. Yet if the word "love" is used for a friend, it gets misinterpreted. So one has to resort to saying "I like ABC" even thought he knows that deep down he has strong feelings of affection and trust for that person, enough to qualify him for the other word. So when you say you love some family member or someone close, aren't you pretty much talking about a similar level of affection and trust? Then why are friends not entitled to a similar treatment?

I personally feel that "like" is perhaps too mild a word to capture the real depth of feelings associated with the word "love". Can you think of saying "I like my mom"? Hell no. Agreed that all friends do not reach that depth but as and when if one friend does, he is still never promoted to the "love" level.

I know I cannot change the way the world thinks and nor do I intend to. Though I do wish that someday's people's outlook would change and they will learn to accept their true feelings for their close friends.

The first snow...

I was walking down Forbes Avenue towards the main campus, completely flustered about an upcoming mid term examination in a rather difficult course. I was sure I was not going to do well and it would pull my grades down. The smile had been wiped off my face. I had just spoken to my father and was feeling bad that I couldn't wish him "Happy Birthday" at 12 am sharp IST.


Suddenly I felt something cold landing on my lip. Confused, I looked up. And there it was! Snow flakes descending from the grey overcast skies above... all around me. It was a beautiful sight. Just a flurry... some random snow flakes here and there. I looked around completely mesmerised. I forgot that I had been worried about an examination. Suddenly I looked at my watch and realised I had to reach within the next 8 minutes... Increased my speed but kept looking around every now and then. But now there was a huge smile on my face...


This is what the first snow can do to you....

The Epic Journey to Pittsburgh......

This is gonna be 1 loooong post n took me ages to write.... It has been put together for the benefit of those who wished to read a detailed account of my messed up journey to Pittsburgh... For all those who are deterred by the length, please scroll down to the next post.... ;-)


When it began : Aug 6, 2006 5.20 pm IST
When it ended : Aug 8, 2006 2 pm EST ( 11.30 pm IST)

It was a bright sunny afternoon... Oh no Oh no! How can it sound so nice? It was a cold wet afternoon when the whole of Mumbai and parts of Pune were facing the onslaught of a severe thunderstorm. And the rains showed no signs of letting up. Right since morning I had received several phone calls n messages from my future classmates warning me about the deteriorating conditions in Bombay and advising me to leave early, since I had to travel by road from Pune to Sahar Airport.

Finally left for Bombay at 5.20 pm. This leg of the journey was reasonably uneventful. Visibility was low but thankfully the driver was good. So no problems. Made a pit stop at a Food mall and then went on our way. Made it to Bombay by around 9 pm and then started hunting for an eatery nearby. Finally thanks to directions from Arpan, located a Pizza Hut and had my last meal with my parents (for now) and then went on my way.

Reached Sahar Airport Terminal 2C at around 11.30 pm. In a group of 12 people, I was the 8th to arrive. Amidst a lot of commotion and tears, we finally embarked upon what eventually became an epic journey.

Got the bags shrink wrapped, checked in and completed the immigration formalities. Then waited in a snaking queue for security check. Just when we were about a few meters from the entrance, an airport official hollered "All passengers going by AI 111, please sit down. Your security check will be later on" Aaaaaargh! How frustrating! We went and sat down in the lounge and waited for our friends to join us. Finally at around 2.45 am our flight number was announced and we proceeded for security check.

Boarded the aircraft, a Boeing 747-400 at around 3.15 am and our wait began. It was past 3.40 am, the scheduled departure time and the aircraft demonstrated no signs of budging even an inch. Finally the plane took off at 5 am and we were on our way to Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi.

By around 5.30 am all of us were fast asleep but AI stewards chose to serve breakfast then.. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! What a pain!!!Amdist a lot of abuses n frowns we finished the food and got set to go back to sleep. But alas! That was not meant to be. We fastened our seat belts as the plane started landing. We reached Delhi and waited for the Delhi bound passengers to disembark. After that we all gathered around and chatted for a while and some of us shifted here and there as the cleaning was in progress. After about 40 min or so, we got back into our seats and waited for the other passengers to board the aircraft. Soon the remaining passengers were in their seats and all hopes of flying comfortably in an almost empty plane were shattered... :-(

Anyways, we waited and waited in the aircraft yet another time. Heard strange sounds and then there was a power cut. Looked like Air India was trying to remind us one last time that power cuts do happen anywhere on Indian soil. After a further delay of about half an hour the flight took off and we were finally en route to London.

Reached Heathrow after some 7-8 hours which we tried to sleep through but failed miserably because everytime we kinda managed to sleep we were served food and then more food. Uffff! Anyways, had to deplane with our handbags for aircraft cleaning and security reasons. Went around a whole circle, while gaping at the awesome duty free oh-so-perfect-for-window-shopping stores. I was stunned to see a board where some security instructions were in Gujarati. Felt like telling the airport folks that Hindi is the national language, not Gujarati (no offence to Gujjus but this was too much to digest!) Thankfully we travelled a few days before the London bomb fiasco so did not face the kind of problems others did. Anyways, boarded the supposedly cleaned plane and waited to get going again.

Alas, the Delhi episode repeated itself... This time more noises and a longer power cut. Finally the craft took off and we were on our way to John F. Kennedy International Airport, NYC. Another last ditch attempt to sleep.. but luck would not allow it. More food... more beverages and some lousy movies made sure I was up.

Landed at JFK on Aug 7, 2006 at 5 pm local time. Got off the plane and waited in a loooong queue for immigration. Finally it was my turn... I approached the officer with my I-20, passport, I-94 and some sheet for customs where I had to declare what I was carrying. He checked it, scribbled an A on that customs form, signed and stamped my I-20 and I-94 and I was on my way... or at least that's what I thought. Collected all three humungous bags which were pretty easy to identify because of the shrink wrapping and then waited for my other not so lucky friends to collect their bags. Once all 12 of us were set, we decided to push off for our connecting Delta flight. At this point the significance of the A marked on my customs form became obvious as I was asked to go to the Agriculture section since I was carrying some food stuff. Airport officials chose to check my cabin bag and 1 suitcase which had nothing. I smiled gleefully, came to the other end with my trolley (for which I had to pay $3 by the way), and then my struggle to put the bags back on the trolley began. The airport official there, seeing my condition offered to help and I gladly took his assistance. Meanwhile, Janhavi, who was also flying with me, was not so lucky. She had to open her suitcase and show them what she was carrying. Finally they were satisfied and both of us started walking towards a pair of huge doors leading to the arrival lounge and the elevators which we were to take for connecting flights. With a looot of struggling I managed to push my trolley out and from the corner of my eye saw Janhavi struggling to find her ticket. Meanwhile we had completely lost track of the remaining 10 cartoons we were travelling with. I waited for Janhavi to come out for quite some time. Then started looking around for the rest... didn't wanna miss the flight. By that time I felt I was lost in that huuge airport with less than an hour left for my connecting Pittsburgh flight. My trolley, loaded with 3 32 kg (actually all of them weighed more than the allowed quantity :-P) bags and my 12 kg handbag was extremely difficult to maneuver. Anyways, after a few minutes of hunting around I finally found some of my friends and with a sigh of relief I went and joined them.

Went up to the 3rd level from where I was supposed to take the shuttle/train to Terminal 3. The train came in a couple of minutes. 2 of my friends boarded and just when I was trying to push my trolley onto the train, the wheel got caught in the groove and just when I (with help from others) had managed to free the same, the door began to close. I had no option but to stare helplessly at the train and my friends as it sped off to the other terminal. Anyways after an agonizing 10 minutes wait, given that it was a race against time courtesy the AI delay and the long queue at immigration, the train came and this time my friend and I managed to board it. Reached the terminal and then made our way to the Delta counter which was a little far off and required a lot of walking. My 3rd bag kept falling off the trolley every few minutes and my friend Hardik and I had to keep putting it back in place. Uff!

At the Delta counter I checked in and got my boarding pass. It was 7 pm and the flight was in 30 min time. We rushed through the security check and reached the gate at around 7.15 pm. Rushed to the lady near the gate and asked her if the Pittsburgh bound Delta flight had started boarding yet. She flashed me a polite but thoroughly bored smile and asked me to wait. At around 10 minutes past the scheduled time, the flight started boarding. Sanchita and I burst into a grin after seeing the size of the airplane which we were to take. But our smiles disappeared when we had to hand in our cabin bags with our precious documents because they were too big for the overhead lockers. Anyways, we boarded the plane, fastened our seatbelts and waited to get going on the last leg of our journey. Alas, this was not meant to be this smooth.....

We waited for almost an hour... and the plane showed no signs of planning to take off. Finally the pilot apologized for the delay caused by ATC and taxied to the runway. Just when the plane seemed to pick up speed and (we thought) gear up for take off, it came to a halt. After another hour the pilot's voice crackled on the PAS, stating that there may be some delay owing to the heavy traffic caused by 1 non operational runway at JFK. Optimistic as I am, I thought things would be sorted out soon. Another hour passed by. Some of us had already begun to doze off. Finally after what seemed like an eternity, the pilot made the announcement we were dreading... He stated that the flight had been timed out or in other words cancelled since it was sitting on the runway for 3 hours. After an additional hour we reached the terminal, completely dejected. It was 12.30 am and we were starving and tired, having gone several hours without food and sleep. Alas, our woes were far from over....

We reached the Delta counter only to find out that our group had been split up and some of us were not even confirmed. After requesting them to put us all on the same flight, this was where our final itinerary stood. LGA (for those uninitiated that's La Guardia airport, the 2nd airport in NYC, about 18 miles from JFK) to Cincinnati at 6.30 am and then from Cincinnati to Pittsburgh at 12.45 pm. Pretty crazy eh?

Anyways, we requested Delta folks to provide us with accommodation and transportation from JFK to LGA but they refused. By then we did not even have the energy to argue any further. We just took the number of the cab service and then went to the baggage claim area to collect our bags.

It was 2 am. The 11 of us started hunting for our bags in the huge baggage claim area. The fortunate few, including me, found all our bags and waited for the rest. There was one security personnel sitting at one end of the room. Those who couldn't find their bags went to him for help but in vain. Finally someone somewhere (ok... honestly I don't quite remember the details here...) mentioned that perhaps the missing bags had been put on the Atlanta bound flight which did take off and these would reach Pittsburgh the next morning. Yikes! Poor Pooja lost all three bags of hers and several others had 1-2 bags missing. We sat there... hungry, sleepy and dejected, with some of us (including me) sitting on the conveyor belt. The only bright spot were the theplas supplied by Jayini, which fyi, the American immigration officials confused for mangoes. :-P Finally around 4 am we called for cabs and mentioned to them that we have around 35 bags. Around 5 am a huge van and a large car arrived outside the baggage claim area. We piled into the van with help from the drivers.

After speeding through the city in the dead of the night, we reached La Guardia Airport in about 30 minutes. The airport was buzzing with activity. After waiting for a loooong time and finally checking in our bags, we proceeded towards security check. Finally at around 6.20 am we were through with the formalilties and while we were running towards the gate for boarding we could hear our names being announced on the public address system. We apologised and boarded the aircraft. Found our seats and sunk into the same after placing our cabin bags in the overhead lockers. Thankfully this flight took off and a beautiful air hostess served us drinks which we sipped happily and then dozed off to sleep.

Reached Cincinnati on time (for once) and then trooped out of the aircraft. By that time we had no energy to even drag ourselves, leave alone our cabin bags. After some amount of walking, reached a lounge and collapsed into the seats. Then went and bought some sandwiches for breakfast from Starbucks. The poor vegetarians had no choice but to drink hot chocolate at McDonalds. After breakfast we went and freshened up (which included brushing our teeth too... lol!). Met an American lady who asked us whether we have been travelling for a long time to which we responded with an affirmative. This was the first proof that we indeed looked tired by then. She then asked whether we were from India and when we said yes to this too, she gave a huge smile and said "Welcome to America". That sure felt really nice....



This time, with ample time in hand, we went and patiently waited near the designated gate for the Pittsburgh bound flight. Had a mini photo session there. After some time we got on board and thus embarked on the last leg of the journey. This was pretty uneventful. I sat listening to music throughout the complete duration of the flight, while occasionally peering out of the window to catch the first glimpses of Pittsburgh. And then I saw.... Scattered buildings amidst lush greenery. Greenery wise no comparison with Cincinnati, but beautiful nevertheless. I was absolutely excited. I paused my mp3 player and just stared out... mesmerized by the view of my new home. It was a fantastic feeling.

After the 55 hour long haul from Pune, I was finally at my destination, namely, Pittsburgh. There was a huge smile on everyone's face and everyone had just one thing to say "Finally we've reached". The excitement was oh so evident. It was almost like an achievement, a battle that we had survived. And at that point it felt as though all the efforts were worth it... And with this the saga ended as we parted ways and departed for our new homes.

Speech is silver, silence is golden

Popular saying but for a chatterbox like me, this is not even remotely applicable, though I'm sure people reading this would beg to differ.. They are probably saying "Ok.. when is she gonna shut up n let me speak????"

Ah well... today I shall not be talking about the non existant "Mute" button on me but my perennial panga with the same on electronic gadgets around me. My journey begins when I was a toddler and could just about manage to walk, with occasional stumbles. My parents had bought a lovely Sony music system and were sitting right in front of it and investigating the same. Dad fished out a cassette of ABBA (ok ok.. obviously I don't remember these tiny details hence bluffing to make this post a li'l more interesting/believable... but the cassette part is true since I've heard this story several times) and placed it into the player. Then with an expectant/excited look on their faces, Dad hit the "Play" button. But to their dismay they couldn't hear a thing. Dad and Ma exchanged worried glances and quickly discussed "Yes.. it's a new set so within warranty.. We can easily get a replacement". Dad, the engineer that he is, decided to investigate. Took his face closer to the player and checked... Yes it was indeed playing. But then why couldn't they hear anything? He was probably one step away from opening it up when they realised that the tiny "Mute" button was down. Parents were obviously zapped because they distinctly remembered NOT hitting that button. So they started looking around for a possible explanation when they happened to see me in my usual mastiful mood standing quite close by. And there I was the culprit... whose tiny hand had shot out right past them and hit the button.

Fast forward to my engineering days (coz nothing noteworthy happened in between). Sumedh, Anshula, Suvrat and Indranil had come over to my place to work on the ADTL (Application Development Tools Laboratory) project. This was sometime towards the end of Third Year as far as I can remember. Anyways, after a tiring day of designing and coding we started fooling around. Sumedh sat with dad's pipe in his mouth (empty by the way.. he just wanted the feel of it). I got my webcam out and recorded a bunch of videos of all of us goofing around. After that we played all the videos, but to our dismay they were all silent. I was zapped. I remembered using the microphone built into my monitor. But why was it not working??? After a lot of pondering I finally attributed this to the installation of Windows XP on my home PC because the last memory of the working mic was when I had the eternally crashing/hanging Windows ME on my machine. After a few months my dealer paid me a visit with a new keyboard etc (ok people this time I ain't bluffing... I actually remember) and very indignantly I told him that the microphone had stopped working and that it should be replaced. The fella gave me an incredulous stare and then opened the advanced volume panel from the little icon on the taskbar. And there it was.... the culprit. A little green tick in the tiny checkbox below the microphone symbol and next to 1 teensy weensy word "MUTE". Man did I feel stupid or what!!!

Alas, my list of dumb acts does not end here. I have a lovely headset which I use at home. It has a long wire and allows me to walk around and sometimes even lie down on my bed while I am talking to someone. OK.. strayed enough. So getting back to the point... I connected my headset to talk to a friend. The Google Talk call went through. We started off with rounds of "hello".. "Hulllllllo" "Anybody home?" "Knock knock" "can you hear me?" etc. I could distinctly hear my friend but not vice versa. Thought something was wrong with my PC. Hence rebooted my machine. But in vain. I verified the settings several times to ensure I was not repeating an old error. Even tugged and then connected the wires back. Finally I was convinced that the microphone of my beloved headset had conked off. Dejectedly I made the switch... office working headset with mic with the one I use at home. A couple of days down the line, ond fine day (honestly like any other day), I happened to be listening to music while working parallelly. I was toying with the wire when I felt the little control panel. I looked down curiously and saw a little black button on it. I brought it closer to my eyes and realised that the button was pushed to one side and next to were the 4 now familiar letters M U T E. Baaaah! Another feather to my "Dunce" cap for sure.

Well these were the most memorable(actually the only) Mute pangas that I can recall as of now... Will update you guys when I have more related stupidities to write about. So till then Sayonara and have a nice day!

The final hurdle...

Now that I had the admit, there was only one thing that stood between me and my dream... the visa. It's a well known saying that when you are destined for something then all the forces conspire to make that come true. And that's what happened in my case too...

Without much ado, I shall now launch into an account of how things proceeded during my visa interview...

Since my parents were acompanying me, I had taken the VFS lounge service. Morning went to that place at around 8.20 am for the scheduled interview at 9.30 am. Waited n waited n waited.. Finally at around 9.40 am the bus came to transport us to the consulate. Apparently the embassy was running behind schedule. Eventually we were allowed in at 10.30 am, after waiting in the light drizzle for sumtime.

After the usual stuff (read security check n collecting the DS forms et al), I stood in the queue for the finger printing part. One chap hurriedly came n told all of us... "keep your hdfc receipt etc in.. u don't need that now." Now clumsy as I am... I struggled to open the piano folder with 1 hand and just when i felt good about having achieved the superhuman feat... SRRRR.........CRASH!... Okay.. for those uninitiated that is the sound of my docs landing on the floor and finally the complete folder. I hurriedly bent down to pick everything up... in the process the sequence of docs to be placed inside the passport was messed up. Anyways, I finally entered the booth in front of counter number 3 to be greeted by an American lady and an Indian dude who was assisting her. That chap got a little irritated to see that the olive green (or yellow as they actually call it) envelope was below the passport and not inside it... (grrr!) and said "Had it not been for the long queue, i wud've sent u back"... I flashed a sheepish grin and mumbled "Actually my docs had fallen down"

Anyways, so I placed my left hand index finger on the scanner and after a few rounds of "Press a leeetle more" from the american lady, she concludes that my finger is too dry. The chap rapidly wiped my finger with wet tissue, dried it on a piece of brown paper and attempted it again.. this time no problemo. Next right hand index finger... no problems here too. Soon I settled down in the waiting area.

Within 5 minutes or so the fella at counter 7 hollers my token number. I went and stood in the queue... the 3rd person there. I craned my head and saw an American gentleman sitting out there. So I looked at my watch and practised to myself "Good morning Sir"... Anyways, the 1st chap is done within a few seconds and exited with a huge smile on his face. Then the 2nd met the same fate and now it was my turn and here's how it went (while the chap was furiously typing away at his terminal).

VO: Token please
Me: (i hand it over and then realise i haven't greeted him)
Me: Good Afternoon... (fumble as i look at my watch)...ooops I mean Good Morning Sir
VO: (smiles) Good Morning (i look around feeling like a complete idiot)
VO: (mumbles sumthing)
Me: I beg your pardon
VO: Which university?
Me: Carnegie Mellon University
VO: Why this university?
Me: Primarily because of my area of specialisation....
VO: What specialisation? (doesn't let me complete)
Me: Information security Sir. There are v few univs that offer that course and carnegie mellon is the best
VO: (looks ok with the answer) So, where else have you applied?
Me: (I launch into the list and barely get 3-4 names out and I get the next question)
VO: So where have you been working?
Me: IBM India Software Labs
VO: (Now he looks interested and happy) Where?
Me: Pune
VO: What are you doing there?
Me: I am working as a software engineer (pause... then realising that the VO wants more details I continue)... I have been working on a security product Tivoli Access Manager for Business Integration
VO: Ok.. so who's financing you?
Me: My father and my grandparents
VO: What does your father do?
Me: He's (post) in (company)
VO: (now the VO seems impressed) Where?
Me & VO in unison: Pune
VO: Have you been to US before?
Me: No
VO: (mumbles sumthing abt passport delivery that i didn't hear and then says the magic words) Enjoy your trip!

I trooped outta the room with a huge smile on my face and left the consulate... Wondering how simple it was in hindsight and how I wasted time preparing that folder that I didn't even open....

Wasted my time the entire afternoon and finally at around 4.30 went back to the VFS to collect my passport. Got it finally at 5.30 pm....

So with this I crossed the final hurdle and I came home at 12 am and the first thing I did was change my status message on different messengers to "CMU Here I come... nothing can stop me now"

So CMU Here I come!!!

Dream --> Reality... All in a day...

Well... to be very honest my last post was a tiny bit incomplete... as in I didn't divulge why after so many years I was getting my passport rectified and all. But now I suppose would be the right time to reveal what really has been going on in my life for the last few months, since that fateful day in March when it sorta changed forever...

By now I suppose some eyebrows are raised (kinda reminds me of that msn emoticon.. can just about visualise it), while close friends have started chuckling "Aah.. finally she comes out with it." Sharmistha, yeah yeah.. you can start yelling and telling people about what you've been yearning to broadcast for a long time.

The day : 22nd March, 2006
Time : 0800 hours
Place : My bedroom....

Ok.. more raised eyebrows and flying imaginations... STOP! Don't let your thoughts wander.. I shall explain.

Getting back to the story, it was 8 in the morning, the sun was shining and the birds were chirping outside my window. It was a beautiful Spring morning but my mood was as dark as the nimbus clouds filling the skies on a wet afternoon in the Amazon jungles. I woke up groggily as my alarm clock created a racket. My mom comes in gingerly and waits near the footboard.. trying to gauge how I was doing, given the fact that I was miserable the previous night and had been very very upset... Ok, given the fact that I mentioned "bedroom" and am now talking about a "bad night", I wonder what rubbish people's imaginations are churning out. Lol! Here's what had really happened. I had applied to several universities of USA for a Masters program in Computer Science/Information Security. It was the 3rd week of March and everyday and every night I used to pray fervently for that 1 mail/letter that would change my life but no luck till then. Honestly speaking I was miserable. Suvrat, Amit, Rohan(Shah) and Ameya consoled me that it was gonna come... my ticket to a new life in a fantastic university taking up courses in the area of my interest. But I was impatient and this was magnified by the fact that several friends of mine already had multiple good admits by then. Even people I didn't know personally seemed to be getting admits left, right and centre. I used to dread coming online coz I knew I was gonna meet someone or the other who would say "Btw so-and-so got an admit from so-and-so university.. amazing eh?" Anyways, 21st March was when I got my first reject, from a university where I thought I would get through (Blame people who were cock sure and convinced me that I would). This brought back the terrifying memories of the previous year's application process and the fate I had met back then. I promised myself I wouldn't cry so I didn't but deep inside a river of sorrow had already begun to flow.

Ok.. now that I've built the scene, it's time for the curtains to rise. I sat in front of my computer without even brushing my teeth and turned my computer and modem on, something I had been doing ever since early February when universities start responding. I connected to the internet and then signed into Google Talk. I was sure things would remain as bad as they were. Well I was wrong... so wrong....

Anyways, as soon as I signed into the messenger, I started receiving the mail alerts at the bottom right hand corner of the screen. I had 3 new mails and the 1st one was what changed my life forever. It was a mail from one of my dream universities (and the only one that I had applied to) and I just managed to see as much as I could in that split second. It read something like "We are pleased to inform you". That's it! I knew this was what I had been waiting for all my life... ever since I comprehended the concept of going abroad for higher studies. This was what I had dreamt for for as long as I can remember. Anyways, the look on my face underwent an immediate change as I burst into a broad grin. Mom meanwhile was watching the proceedings and she realised that her prayers had been answered. My hand was shaking while I struggled to click on the Mail icon on the messenger. I had to read the complete mail after all. After about 5 seconds or what then seemed like an eternity, the page loaded and there it was.... I had my first admit and that too from the university where I had been yearning to go. None other than Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US of A!!!

I just managed to tell Ma what happened and then started laughing and crying... all at the same time. My brain stopped working. I didn't know whether to sit down or stand, dance or jump with joy, scream or just laugh. Mom gave me a hug and started crying as well... Guess if someone had caught all the water or tears Mom n I spilt all over our clothes and the floor, we could have probably filled several buckets. After a long time finally managed to regain my composure and started calling people with the news. Relatives and close friends who had always believed in me. Forwarded my admit mail to dear friends as well.

That day.. I couldn't stop smiling. People would've probably thought that I had slept with a hangar in my mouth the previous night. But as my mom rightly said that the reject the previous night added to the joy I experienced the next morning. So within a span of 12 hours I had experienced the nadir and the zenith of emotions. And once again my faith in the saying "Whatever happens, always happens for the best" was restored.

That day was a landmark in my life... The day that would change my life forever.... The day that took me 1 step closer to turning my dream into a reality......

What's in a name???

Well over the past ____ years (now a lady ain't supposed to give out her age), I've faced such a lot of trouble with my name that I felt it totally deserved a post... so here goes...

Well as long as I was in Calcutta not too many hassles with my name coz the surname or rather its spelling wasn't too uncommon or perhaps people didn't try to use their brains too much.

Anyways rewind to my initial few days at St. Mary's School, Pune. Chemistry class and our teacher Mrs. Dhawan decided to ask some questions before starting off with the lesson. She looked at me and said "Yes Abhilasha, tell me....." (Excuse me for not remembering the question... yeah I got an elephantine memory but I happened to Shift+Delete those details). Anyways, getting back to the topic at hand, since I did not know the girls in my class I had no idea that I was supposed to stand up and answer. I sat and started looking around, wondering why no one had stood up while the teacher was glaring at me. Then she bellowed "Yes you girl." Oh boy! I stood up and meekly said "Mam, my name is Rupsha." and then proceeded to give the answer. Here's another 1... this one at a History class conducted by dear Miss Khemlani. Here I am christened again. She wanted someone to come n read out the lesson... So she looks at me and says "Vipasha, why don't you come and read it out?" Ok.. history repeats itself.. but this fast? With a sense of deja vu I start looking around and wonder "Is my name this difficult to remember? Uncommon may be... but still!!!"

Well ICSE done... I got a lovely marksheet with no errors and went on to join Laxmanrao Apte Jr College for the 2 years leading up to HSC. Board exams approach and we receive our "Hall tickets". My name is called out, I go and receive mine, look down and give out a cry in dismay... My surname had been misspelt.. I was supposedly Rupsha ChOudhAri. I go upto the office and they cross check records and set it right, as in put a stamp and hand write the surname with correct spelling. Anyways, exams get over and it's time for the results. I had made it to the Merit List and was very excited. Amidst a ceremony featuring reporters et al, we receive our marksheets and once again, my surname had been misspelt. Baaah! Took close to 10 days to sort out that pickle with me having to convince the people at the board that I indeed knew the spelling of my own name.... Aah almost forgot! Same story for my college leaving certificate too with people arguing with me that the spelling I was telling was wrong. What the hell!

Well my history of messed up surname continued through engineering. First Year Sem 1 marksheet.. and I am told I am Rupsha ChaudhAri. Whoa! And soon I am at the receiving end of jokes as people start asking me when I married a friend Umesh Chaudhari... Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! My smart a** friend Rohan told me that perhaps I really didn't know the spelling of my surname. Anyways, soon after in all competitions etc I started being given certificates with strange spellings... and I stopped correcting them. It was indeed a futile attempt. As long as the gender was right and the name came somewhat close to my actual name, I was happy.

Engineering continued smoothly namewise as marksheets were issued correctly sem after sem (of course I had other woes then with incorrect marks but may be more on that later). In my BE, I got placed with IBM and a few months later I receive my appointment letter. It was addressed to Miss Rupsha ChOudhAri. I let out a sound of sheer frustration but felt I was better off than my male friend Apoorva who had received a letter for Miss Apoorva Mehra and another female friend who's offer letter was addressed to Mr. Nishigandha Mahajan. Oh boy!!! So I sent the signed letter back adding a note about the incorrect spelling.

Another time I had gone for some competition with a friend. And while my partner was filling out the form, he first put down his own name and then when it came to my name, he wrote down my first name and his surname. I was like "Whoa! What are you doing dude?" He gave an embarrassed smile and scratched it out and started writing out what I thought was my surname. He lifted his pen and voila! It was his surname again. By that time he was so very embarrassed that he was burying his head under the table while mumbling that he was very sleepy and his brain had switched off. Finally gave him the benefit of doubt, took the form, used the whitener liberally and wrote my name myself... with no errors this time.

But things were not to end here. A few months later I got another letter from IBM, again with the same spelling. Again a note... and hoped it would work this time. In July I joined IBM and received my Lotus Notes ID... (Shishir n Siddharth.. not revealing the id here so don't get excited). Basically it was derived from Rupsha Choudhari. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh! Soon after I realised that the payroll database also had the same entry. Now this was clearly not good since this meant I would not get any money. And that happened... July went by with no money being deposited in my bank account. :-( Finally after a month of following up with HR people and several others I got the issue sorted out.

Meanwhile my BE result was declared and we received our college leaving certificates. Mine was ChOudhAri... Popular spelling I must say! No wonder Rohan tells me to change it to that permanently. I went down to the Students' Section to battle this out. The lady told me that this was the entry in the college register. She pulled it out and it was ChOudhUri.. ok... 1 letter down 1 to go. So she meekly agreed to correct only 1 character. Now I told her it was A and not O. So she told me this was what it was in the earlier college leaving certificate. I said "Not possible ".. fyi.. for those who have forgotten the earlier part, I had already gotten that rectified 4 years ago. So from amidst a faaaaat bundle of college/school leaving certificates mine was pulled out n Voila! It was ChAudhUri. So reluctantly she rectified her mistake with a whitener and I came out with a triumphant smile.

Alas this was not the end of it.... This time a new hassle. After having used my passport for 7 long years, which even included a trip to Japan and exams like GRE, I realise that according to my passport I had no surname... Yes.. the surname field was blank and my first name was Rupsha Chaudhuri. Took another round of running around to fix that 1....

That's the sob story of my name upto now... Will update this story as n when I have more messes to report. Till then Cheerio!

A Ladies' Day

Hello ppl! Back blogging after close to 2 whole months. Kya karoon.. life got kinda boring in between plus an appendectomy ain't sumthing I would enjoy writing about.. so in short had nothing much to report...

Today, I have decided to do something zara hatke.. Ha ha.. For once I am not gonna bore u guys with my IBM stories. A Ladies Night as u know, is a popular concept. Well, given Pune's horrible public transport system and our parents fear of us daughters not getting back on time, we decided to make it a Ladies' Day... And boy did we have a blast!

To begin some of us went to Pune Central in order to shop for a friend's birthday gift. As usual, we didn't get the gift early... bang on the day of the treat sabko jhatka laga. The shopping part surprisingly didn't take too long even tho the gift shopping team included someone who I would call a big pain to shop with.. He he.. no offence Sharmistha! It is incredibly difficult to satisfy her. But surprisingly within a very short span of time (I guess 30 min to 1 hour is very li'l time if 3 girls are shopping.. no kidding!). Swapna being Swapna was attracted to a red top which the rest of us vetoed. Again no hard feelings girl! Anyways, just when we were about to leave, we saw this Revlon free make up thing. Well, abhi free hai so letting the opportunity go would be sheer stupidity... We all thought that but felt awkward going and actually inquiring. Finally Sharmistha went n found out. I bought a lipstick (which fyi, my mom accidentally broke later) and we decided to get our so called makeovers done. Nothing much really.. some basic make up accompanied with beauty tips.

Following this we went to Gold Adlabs, via Baker's Basket (to pick up a delicious blackforest cake of course.. Yummm!) and met Yogita there. After contemplating on which movie to watch, we realised no movie showing was worth shelling out any cash on even tho I was enthusiastic enuff to watch any movie. So we just got that pencil sketch ish photograph/portrait thing done after we saw that machine there, which pretty much adorns all malls off late. We went in and saw a Sunsilk hair make over thing there. Sharmistha got very excited since she had seen the advertisements on TV. Swapna and I volunteered to become guinea pigs. My hair was anyways looking ghatiya, so I thought "Heck! Why not get a free hair wash?" So the both of us trooped in. Well it wasn't really a make over or restyling.. All they did was wash our hair and blow dry it partially. :-( But as long as it was free, no worries, eh?

After a scrumptous meal at Yana's where we also went through the traditional cake cutting ceremony, which also included us smearing the icing on Yogita's face, we decided to spend some time in Yogita's apartment. When we reached there, we realised that the area had no electricity but that could not stop us high spirited gals. We settled down on the mattresses and chatted away. Swapna entertained us with a dance performance while Yogita paraded around in a bunch of new clothes. Boy it was fun and yeah yeah, as guys would call it, totally "Girlie!" But hey, we were a bunch of gals after all and not too often we get to do anything girlie! Anyways, after sometime, we went out for ice creams or rather sundaes (so much for my diet ha ha!) and then parted ways.

I came home at around 7 pm with a huge smile on my face. The entire day had been a huge success and at some level I was actually happy that the guys had been unable to join us due to certain reasons. Sorry if I offended u guys... but sometimes it sure is great to have a Ladies' Day Out!!!

Proud to be a COEPian.... and an IBMer....

Yesterday was an interesting day for me... I had gone to college to catch up with old friends. There was some event that was scheduled in the college auditorium in the afternoon. I had received an email the previous day about some inauguration there where IBM was supposed to receive an award. I knew it was going to be like one of those typical boring functions and was not even remotely interested in attending it... or at least that's what I thought... But somewhere deep down, I could hear a tiny voice about going to the college auditorium and attending this award function as a proud IBMer. I knew that COEP too was involved with the event and felt it may be a different experience to go there as an IBMer + an ex student of COEP.

Anyways, somehow I ignored this voice and went out with some friends. After hanging out with them for a while, we decided to part ways and go back home. I got into a rickshaw and told the driver my destination, i.e. home. Suddenly I found myself saying "Bhaiya, achchha wahaan nahi jaana. Thoda plan change hua, mujhe engineering college jaana hai... woh Shivajinagar wala...." That guy must've thought I've lost it....

Anyways, I went back to college, put on my IBM ID badge and strutted into the auditorium. On my way in I met someone I didn't know, who asked "IBM?" I nodded and said "Yes"... but after sometime I couldn't resist myself and added "Also an ex student of this college." Immediately the look on his face changed. It was more like "Oh WOW!". (Yeah yeah I know my English isn't particularly great... but couldn't come up with an abstract noun that embodied the feeling of "Oh wow!".... Also, my last 2 paragraphs start with "Anyways"... just saw but chhod!)

I am tempted to start this one with "Anyways" too... useful word when you tend to stray away as much as I do... Went in through the security check n all. Security was tight as the Chief minister was supposed to grace the occasion. I entered the crowded auditorium and luckily found a vacant seat. I looked at one direction and saw professors sitting together and students in uniform. I looked the other way and saw very senior employees of IBM, including the country head and all. Of course there were lots of other people too, but not worth mentioning in this particular post, what say?

The event had started before I entered, so I was just in time for the prize distribution. IBM received an award for excellence in IT. I applauded. It felt fantastic sitting in my college auditorium, where I had spent many memorable days practising for Firodiya etc, and seeing my current organization receiving an award. It was a proud moment. Then COEP received an award for excellence in education. I clapped even harder. I cannot even begin to describe how wonderful it felt. At that moment I realised how emotionally attached I was to the college even 7 months after I had graduated. People sitting around me looked at me in surprise, wondering why I was so excited about the college getting an award. They knew I was an IBMer thanks to the badge I was sporting and the bag I was carrying which said in bold letters "IBM Software Group India Software Lab". I just smiled, looked back at the stage where the Principal was receiving the award from the Chief Minister, and continued applauding.

Long time back, while we were still in college, I remember my friend Swapna getting all excited when Narayan Murthy, the Chief Mentor of Infosys, had received an award. She was placed with Infy and I thought she was crazy. Today, when I look back, I feel that perhaps she was not so crazy. Yesterday, I too felt as if I had received those 2
awards. It's a wonderful feeling that I belong to both organizations that were awarded.

I am indeed a proud COEPian and a proud IBMer!!!

Work vs College Life

Well it's been a reaaaaaaaaaallllllly long time since I've blogged... Not that I didn't wanna, but just that nothing significant happened for me to blog plus I'm real lazy... It's not that something's happened now but I'm hoping that while I ramble on for a while, writing aimlessly, hopefully something will strike me and I can write about that.... No luck yet though... He he he...

It's strange how life changed after we started working and to be honest, I'm loving it... Ok OK.... Not a McDonald's advertisement here... Not just because I don't have exams any more (oh wow.. that is awesome) but I love the independence it represents. Financial independence is one aspect. We need to spend sensibly alright, but it's a wonderful feeling to spend the money you have earned.. be it on yourself or on gifts for people. For example the other day I met a bunch of my dear friends from college for lunch and movie. And unlike times when we were in college, this time we went to a classy kinda expensive restaurant... It's not the amount that mattered, but the change in everyone's attitude that was worth noticing. Another thing is the independence to decide for yourself. We are given some work but how to do it optimally is upto us. We can break our heads on the same and figure things out on our own and it's exhilerating once you succeed.

But the changes don't stop here... Discussions tend to get kinda boring as people start discussing animatedly about how much income tax they shell out and what investments would help when it comes to tax benefits. Cmon ppl.. get a life!!!

I gotta admit though that our conversations are far more mature, as we discuss work environments, technologies we are working on, and so on. But when it comes to talking about hunks n babes, well not much has changed since college days. The teasing part is still the same.

But I certainly cannot say that I don't miss college life. I miss sitting aimlessly in the canteen, with a chai and vada-pav in hand, talking about everything and nothing at all, sharing happy and sad moments. In your workplace you usually have neither the time nor the inclination to make thick friends, the kind that you make in college. It's not that we don't have fun in office with friends, just that at times you feel a void... as though something is missing but you can't quite pinpoint it to anything in particular.

Here I'll add a li'l forward I had received a few days back. Kinda apt...


Yeh degree bhi lelo ye naukari bhi lelo
Bhale Chheen lo mujhse USA ka Visa
magar mujhko lauta do college ka canteen
vo chaay ka pani vo teekha samosaa
college ki sabse purani nishaanee
vo chaayvaalaa jise saare kehte the... jaani
vo jaani ke hathon ki 'cutting' chaay meethee
vo chupkese journal mein bheji hui chitthi
vo padhte hi chiththi uska bhadakna
vo chehre ki laali vo aankhon ka gussaa...


kadi dhoop mein apne ghar se nikalnaa
vo project ki Khatir shahar bhar bhataknaa
vo lecture mein doston ki proxy lagaanaa
vo sir ko chidhanaa ,vo aeroplane udaanaa
vo submission ki raton ko jagnaa jagaanaa
vo orals ki kahani vo practical ka kissaa....


bimaari ka detention ke time bahanaa
vo doosron ke assignments ko apnaa banaanaa
vo seminar ke din paironka chhatpatanaa
vo workshop mein din raat pasinaa bahanaa
vo exam ke din ka bechain maahaul
par vo maa ka vishvas - Teachar ka Bharosaa...


college ki wo lambisi raatein
vo doston se canteen me pyaari si baatein
vo gathering ke din ka ladnaa Jhagadnaa
vo ladkiyon ka yuhin hamesha akadnaa
bhulaaye nahin bhool sakta hai koi
vo college, vo basen, vo shararatein vo javani...
vo kagaz ki kashti vo barish ka pani...



Ok now I've started humming the song "Purani Jeans" as well. Don't worry folks, won't paste the lyrics of that here as well... In that case thoda aur pakau ho jayega...

It's a well known saying that "The grass is always greener on the other side".... but I won't say that applies to me. I loved college while I was in college, and I love my workplace while I'm here. Yes, I do miss college, but won't state that college life is better. Each has its own perks.... Actually now that I think about it, when it comes to comparing college life and work, I'll use my friend Sumedh's phrase "Same Difference"... Yes this phrase sounds incredibly absurd but it embodies a lot. Some things are different, the environment is different, things you are doing may be different... but you are still you and nothing can change that. It's all in the mind... If you want you can jolly well maintain things such that your workplace is as much fun as your college canteen. You just need to find that equivalence and then everything falls into place.

I have no idea whether whatever crap I've written here makes any sense at all... But if you remember, in the beginning itself I had clearly stated I had nothing in particular to write about here... Just thought of letting the Blogging world know that "I exist"... Oh well, before people start thinking of changing that fact I'll bid "Adieu!" n ppl pray that the next time I come back, I have something concrete to write about n not bore you guys to death again... Till then Cheerio!!!

IBM under a magnifying glass - An insider's view...

Well... I am a li'l over a month old in IBM now... so thought I'll kinda summarise my experience here so far.... A message to any other IBMer who happens to stumble upon this blog: I ain't gonna reveal any IBM proprietory stuff here... So relax n hopefully enjoy the ride!

To begin with IBM's a really cool place to work in.... and I mean it literally too. It's freezing inside, with the labs being maintained at close to 15 degrees celsius. So we actually feel comfy when we are out in the sun... no kidding! But taking the other meaning of "cool", yeah it is a great place to work. Before I joined IBM I had painted a very boring picture of IBM in my mind and I am glad I have been proven wrong. Team members... old or young... do know how to have fun! The environment is such that you do feel like working.. n looks like IBMers strongly believe in "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy"... so it's fun to see people working, but also parallelly listening to music and chatting with loads of people thanks to Yahoo! and MSN and now Google Talk, not to mention Sametime, an internal IBM tool for chatting with IBMers worldwide... And it's fun to see the scene when a person busy chatting suddenly realises that his/her boss is standing behind him... He he... Immediately all chat windows are closed and people revert back to the actual "work" window with an innocent look on the face.... Yep! I do that too...

Once a month there's a big birthday party with cake n all, for all the people who's bday happened to be that month. This was really unexpected and also sooo much fun... The last time we even had a Mad Ads competition... First prize went to a team for advertising "Curtains for windows" while we bagged the second prize (Ahem Ahem!) for our innovative ad for "A chair that makes u work"... Of course I have to mention that we were forced into participation... kinda IBM's way of ragging new joinees.

Training sessions are fun too... It's great to see the trainers actually taking an initiative and taking necessary efforts to ensure they can teach us properly. It's not like a boring classroom session where you start nodding off. Of course here I must mention a certain training session involving some of my friends who actually started off a NetMeeting session towards the end of it and the whole batch joined in...

The food is good... really. And there's an ice cream counter too, selling products of Kwality Walls. Pizza Hut will be opening a counter soon. And the description of any software firm is incomplete without the mention of the fukat ka chai/coffee. Yep! Each floor has two pantries and you get a large variety of tea and coffee, ranging from cappuccino, cafe au lait to espresso and regular tea to lemon tea, masala chai, etc. The pantry is also equipped with a microwave oven and a refrigerator.

Here's a piece of warning for all new joinees of IBM. Please check the spelling of your name in the database. There are so many things that depend on that that it's a huge pain if there's a goof up. Saying this from personal experience. It takes ages to sort this whole problem out and if you don't do it in time.. you don't get your money. Aha! Now that will make you sit up and take notice of what I said... he he

Another thing I must mention is the full form of IBM. We know it as International Business Machines but for all proud IBMers, it is I Blame Microsoft. It's actually fun witnessing the Microsoft bashing that goes on and believe me, no one spares Microsoft here. Pata nahi logon ko itna khunnas kyon hai, but it's still fun to see/ hear it.

Must add that IBM is a very process oriented company. For every small thing there's a process to be followed. One month and I'm still confused and need to take help from my colleagues.

Anyways, guess I've bored u guys n gals enough... especially any non IBMer who might be reading this.. so before I get to hear "Boo"s... I'll say Auf Wiedersehen!

The ship that never sinks........ Friendship

Today is Friendship day... And after so many years of my life, suddenly I have sat down to ponder over the importance this day holds in my life... and the phenomenon it celebrates.

Ever since we are toddlers in a kindergarten, we are told to make friends. We are told to share our tiffins with them, play with the same toys and in general be good to them. At such a tender age, this Hallmark holiday really holds no meaning for us and the depth of friendship that we really feel within, is merely the tip of the iceberg. As we grow older the meaning of friendship gradually changes.

As a 5 year old, a friend was someone I could play with; someone whose house I would visit with my Barbie dolls every evening and have a blast as we enacted fairy tales and other stories involving princes and princesses with our dolls playing the protagonists. As I grew older, this definition of friendship changed. A friend was someone I could laugh with, talk to in a low volume amidst a very boring History lesson (for the record, I have nothing against history... just took an example), share my dabba with, play pranks with and all in all have a lovely time.



Of course, as everyone knows, friendship is not about merely having a lovely time as I mentioned earlier. But we begin to comprehend the real meaning of friendship only as we mature. The word "friend" encompasses a relationship that probably no one can possibly capture in words. It is so beautiful, so pure. Barring your parents, probably no one will know you as well as a good friend.. and perhaps with regard to certain things, even better than your parents....


I got a few very beautiful smses today which I felt were quite apt for this post, because it captures what I'm trying to communicate here.

A friend understands when you say I forgot, waits forever when you say 1 minute, stays when you say "Leave me alone" and opens the door even before you knock...

Love says: "If you ever need anything, I'll be there"...whereas friendship says,"you'll never need anything, if I'll be there."

A true friend is someone who can listen to you even when you are not uttering a word, who will be with you through thick and thin, someone who will guide you when you go astray and will love you and accept you for who you are.... no strings attached. But friendship is no one way street. One needs to reciprocate too. Indeed, as a friend of mine rightly said, "Friendship is a sweet responsibility"

Moving onto the first Sunday of August, popularly celebrated as Friendship Day. As the buzz hit my ears, I too got down to the tradition of making or sometimes purchasing (whenever I was too lazy) beautiful friendship bands, cards n gifts for my friends to make them feel special on that day. Year after year I carried out this tradition. Then as we matured, all of us began to feel that this was rather childish. So we came up with new ways to celebrate the day, like going out for coffee, watching a movie together or sometimes just hanging out together in our college canteen.



Sometimes I wonder... do we really need a special day to actually celebrate friendship? Do we not celebrate it each and every moment we spend in the company of a dear friend? We laugh and we cry with them... But then I feel if we can have "Father's Day", "Mother's Day", "Teacher's Day" and the ever so popular "Valentine's Day", well what's wrong with having "Friendship Day", considering friends are such an important part of our lives.

I could go on and on about friendship, even more so because I'm currently in a very pensive mood as my best friend will be leaving for his higher studies in a few days time but I guess I shouldn't torture all the readers as well... So I'll just end with a very cute write up I had come across on friends. This is actually something that is written on a little show piece I have and I read it almost every single day... and it never fails to bring a smile on my face...

Friends share the ups and downs in life - understand the "I don't feel like talking" moods and stories that need to be shared over and over again. They help during the hard times, celebrate the really great times, ignore the crabbiness and join in the silliness...

The City of Joy....

First of all, I apologise for the screwed up sequence of posts.. but I felt that my lovely trip to Calcutta, where my dimensions changed from that of a rugby ball to that of a football, deserved a post...

Well, after 2 long years I finally visited my hometown for a fortnight. As the Captain of the aircraft told us "Fasten your seatbelts, we are about to land", I looked out to see the twinkling lights of the city. It was a beautiful sight. I tried to trace patterns with those lights and the view just mesmerised me as we approached the airport. Finally the plane landed with a thud and through the corner of my eyes, I saw my mother quickly thanking god for the safe flight. A familiar excitement began to grow within me at the very thought of meeting my near and dear ones after such a long time...

After seeing the movie Parineeta, I had a strong desire to visit the places that had been mentioned or shown in the movie. So I made sure I pass by the phuchka wala at the entrance of Victoria Memorial, one of the most beautiful monuments in the city. Even in the daytime, it looked spectacular. For those uninitiated, there's a lovely dancing fountain right next to Victorial Memorial called "Fountain of Joy". Also while going down Park Street, I made sure I don't miss Moulin Rouge and Trinca's; Moulin Rouge, of course is the night club where Rekha was seen singing "Kaisi paheli zindagaani"... (ok great.. now I've started singing the song as well...) Baghbazaar was not exactly en route anywhere I went, so couldn't look around that area...

Plenty of new shopping malls had come up within the last few years. In my earlier visit, I had made two attempts to visit Metro Plaza, a huge shopping complex there, but my earlier efforts had been thwarted back then, once by incessant rains followed by a car breakdown and another time by the Ratha yatra that I wasn't aware of. This time my mom n I decided that come what may, we will check this out. So amidst a lot of traffic on a Monday evening, we made my dad drive down all the way for over an hour n when we finally reached the destination we see a board "Monday Closed. The shop will reopen on Tuesday at 1:30 pm"... At that point, I don't think anyone could've felt more homicidal than my parents... Me? nonchalant as usual... The newest addition to the sprawling city is the lovely City Centre in the heart of Salt Lake area. It is a massive shopping mall, a few times the size of Forum in Bangalore and houses outlets of a lot of famous brands, including a few international ones and also has quite a few eateries for foodies like me. For movie goers, this place has Inox as well, a big multiplex... Ok.. now this has started looking like an advertisement of City Centre so I suppose I oughtta stop...

Any description of Calcutta would be incomplete without a mention of food... My mouth's watering at the very thought of it... Right from the chicken rolls (here we call them Calcutta Kathi Kabab), cutlets to the phuchkas (that's the pani puri equivalent), jhaal muri and chudmud... Calcutta.. oops sorry, Kolkata has it all. As for the sweets... yummy... mishti doi, rasgullas (or roshogollas), shor bhaja, gujiya, sandesh, pantua (that's like gjs... er.. gujab jamun) n the list goes on... Probably now you would understand why it is so difficult to watch one's weight in Calcutta...

Guess I've advertised enough for Calcutta... though honestly the city of joy needs no advertisement. It's such a lively city with warm people... Anyways, time flew while I was there n suddenly the day of my departure arrived. The plane took off and I could see the Hooghly river with bridges over it... Howrah, Second Hooghly bridge etc n could even see Victoria memorial from a great height as the plane ascended.... n then the city was obscured in white feathery clouds as I looked back longingly to catch one last glimpse of the city I had grown up in...

Well, definitely looking forward to visiting the city again next year... n now I aim to grow from football to a rugby ball in the horizontal direction... he he he... till then auf wiedersehen!