Yuvraj had planned for a movie after office on Monday which was shifted for Tuesday after common consensus. We had planned for the latest Shahrukh flick Om Shaanti Om, despite warnings from Manish that its not a good one.
Yuvraj, I must admit is the most active of all. He and Anbu reached this Sunday and they are not showing even a single sign of resting. Both of these guys, esp Yuvraj, is so full of energy that you cant get bored in their company. You wont have to spend even a single working day in just office and home, leave aside the question of weekends. I like them and such people, who are enterprisig enough and always ready to venture out and not kill time by chatting or sleeping in home.
So, we went to Mavelli theatre in Nanuet. The ticket was priced at $6 per person. The theatre was good enough. When I compare it with the theatre in Edison, it was damn good. The screen was bigger, the seats were slightly more comfortable and the audi was spacious.
If you ask me about the movie, it was an average one. The first part was good but the second part kind of killed me. If you ask me on the whole, I would say watch it for Deepika Padukone. Man, she is so beautiful and cute and yep sexy. I cant stop myself from using that s word more often. All in all, worth $6 I would say.
Watch it for the damsel, Deepika!
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Monday, November 12, 2007
Jana Gana Mana in NY
I was waiting in the queue for the ferry to Liberty Island on a chilly and windy Sunday morning. The wind was piercing through me and making me miserable as I was not having my wollen cap to cover my ears nor gloves to protect my hand. All I had as protective wear for the cold weather was a Nike sports cap just to cover my head and my NU jacket, fighting hard against the chilling weather to make me warm. The queue was pretty long and I knew I had to wait for almost 90 minutes before my turn comes for the ferry ride.
Well, standing in the line was not at all boring for me that day. You know standing in queue somewhere in NY city can never be boring. Reason, there are hell lot of people doing things to amuse you, to make you laugh, to make yourself enjoy in the queue, and yep all they want is that you give some money to them so that they can keep you entertaining. So, I was standing in the line and the first thing which I was doing was scannign the zig-sag line for beautiful and secy chicks. I was traversing the queue as far as ppl can be seen clearly and then my eyes stuck on ther beautiful lady standing 4 persons ahead of me. She was damn beautiful and let me say it, she was so hot and sexy. I was like OMG, look at her. When everyone, almost everyone around here is covered head to toe to keep themselves warm and save themselves from the cold wind over the Hudson, there this gorgeous young lady is standing in a mini skirt. Well, to my pleasure :) I can bet you, no one would have resisted seeing her! Everyone passing by was seeing her out of two reasons:
1. She was in mini. So eveyone was like "Hey aint she feeling cold?"
2. She was obv beautiful
Anyways, there was a girl, standing right there in front of me. I kept guessing till the very end of my step in ferry as to whether she was an American of a south-east Asian? She had covered all her face, so I wasnt able to figure it up.
So, I was moving ahead in the queue at a vairable pace. This queue starts all the way from Clinton Castle and goes zig-zag around the battery park to the ferry deck. There are food stalls and guys singing, dancing, playing come musical intruments to entertain the crowd and earn their living. When I reached, this guy who was playing a musical instrument (I dont know whats it called), I was feeling bored. Well. the music was good but I was in no mood to hear that. My attention was on the pigeons which were flying so close to people, it felt at times that they will almost dash right into the face. Children were enjoying in running after those pigeons and making them fly away. These pigeons were in huge number accompanied by sea-gulls and some sparrows. Pigeons clearly outnumbered all other species of birds. I was looking at a sparrow who was hiding under a bench in the sun-light. She was sitting in a leaf, which may be giving her warmth. I was intrigued by the bird, I dont know why. Then there were squirrels, which were running all over. You may be thinking as to what's so special about a squirrel. But there is something speacial, you know. First the squirrels are bigger in size than we have in India. They have a hariy tail and they walk/run taking hops. Hops which a squirrel is charecterized for. I have never seen such beautiful hops back in India. Anyways.
So, as i was moving in the queue, there came a black guy with colored hair and a normal guitar in his hand. He asked a couple standing ahead of me as to where they are from. They answered that they are from Sideny, Australia. And he said that "you can always make something for Sidney and Australia. And he started singing a song related to Sideny and Australia. He was framing the song connecting facts about Australia ranging from geography, people, politicians, Kangaroos and lot more stuff. He was making it rhyme and pleasant to ears. I was enjoying his singing and rest of people were enjoying too. Some of them came ahead and gave some money in his box. Then he asked that hot girl, I talked about. She was with two more people (they were couple, she was their fren). They were from San Francisco and he was right there singing a song on San Francisco and California. It was rhythimc and he was making it sound good. When he finished that, he said to me, Young man, a girl is tanding ahead of you and you are not even talking to her. Why? I felt like saying Hi to the girl but then resisted. I just smiled and he smiled back to me. I thought the girl will at least say something to me but she didnt. I kept silent and looking around at the children. The line was moving slowly now. Time and again, I was looking that girl. I was unable to resist her :)
When I was almost near the security check-in room, there was a guy playing Piano at some distance. I was looking at him and moving in ther line. When I came near him, the queue was static and he looked at me and then started playing again. As soon as I heard his music, I felt like "Wait, I have heard it somewhere" Then I dint took time to recognise it. It was our national anthem, Jana Gana Mana I was moved and it touched me! I looked back at him and he was looking at me. I was the only Indian in that part of line and he said to me You from India? I said "Yes". He said this is Jana Gana Mana. I said: "Ya, it is and you played it perfect". He did played it perfect. He was no Indian guy but was an American, a black guy. He smiled back to me and then I gave him a dollar. I missed recording that in my camera as at that time I was just lost in that thing.
That thing made me feel good and for sometime, I was feeling warm inside.
It really feels good when in US somone, says Namaste to you. But this was much more than that. Our national anthem. And that guy there even knew the name of the anthem. Well, he may be knwing the national anthem of all countries to entertain the visitors coming there. But aint that good? Aint it good to hear your national anthem played by some guy who is not from your nation? I think it was very touching. It made my day.
Friday, November 09, 2007
Diwali
Today is Diwali. When we woke up today, our families and friends have already started their Puja (prayer) and were all set for lighting earthen lamps and light all those colorful crackers.
And I am thousand of miles away from that light, that sound which I would have been hearinf non-stop for almost 3-4 hours. All the way from my family and the delicacies which mom would have prepared today.
I had to go a temple (in Bridgewater) in the evening, but somehow I got so much work load today that I had to slog damn hard today. I was like, I can work for 2 more hours from the office. We had to leave the office at 1530 hrs as per our plan, but the wrok screwed up all plans. I was happy that I would be going to a temple for the first time here and that also on diwali. Maa had told me that temples are decorated beautifully today and puja is performed. More than that a lot of Indian families flock there. Then we had planned to go to Edison to have some indian food and check out the city for any function which may be underway. But everything just got screwed up!
And here I am, sitting in my apartment and trying to motivate myself for work which I need to completed today and send back the mail.
Going to work now after watching some movie!
Happy Diwali India. I missed it big time.
And I am thousand of miles away from that light, that sound which I would have been hearinf non-stop for almost 3-4 hours. All the way from my family and the delicacies which mom would have prepared today.
I had to go a temple (in Bridgewater) in the evening, but somehow I got so much work load today that I had to slog damn hard today. I was like, I can work for 2 more hours from the office. We had to leave the office at 1530 hrs as per our plan, but the wrok screwed up all plans. I was happy that I would be going to a temple for the first time here and that also on diwali. Maa had told me that temples are decorated beautifully today and puja is performed. More than that a lot of Indian families flock there. Then we had planned to go to Edison to have some indian food and check out the city for any function which may be underway. But everything just got screwed up!
And here I am, sitting in my apartment and trying to motivate myself for work which I need to completed today and send back the mail.
Going to work now after watching some movie!
Happy Diwali India. I missed it big time.
Thursday, November 08, 2007
I wish
Into your loving arms
I can feel my heart
And it's fit to burst
I try to clean it up
But I just get worse
Wish I could fall
On a night like this
Into your lovin' arms
For a moonlight kiss
I thought I saw your face
In the evenin' sky
On a lonesome cloud
That was driftin' by
I wish I could fall
On a night like this
Into your lovin' arms
For a moonlight kiss
You got someone else
Maybe it's for the best
Since I took the cure
For happiness
And I'd trade it all
On a night like this
For your lovin' arms
And a moonlight kiss
For your lovin' arms
And a moonlight kiss
Lovin' arms
And a moonlight kiss
Ooh, yeah
Monday, November 05, 2007
Hey, How u doing?
Americans are friendly. Not all of them but most of them. They will greet you in subway, bus, train, washroom, store, market, street and everywhere they come in front of you. They will smile and pass a greeting to you. I really appreciate them and this habit of theirs. It makes one feel good about people, people you dont even know. They are courteous and they are warm.
I learned a lot many things here and am still following up and trying to uncover many more things so that I can add to my knowledge, to my skills be it professional or personal.
I learned a lot many things here and am still following up and trying to uncover many more things so that I can add to my knowledge, to my skills be it professional or personal.
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Saturday Night
Like every weekend after the Niagara visit, everyone except me was sleeping till afternoon. We had no plans for this Sat n Sun. I was awake by 9 in the morning and was all ready and surfing net for nothing. I was getting bored like hell.
Anyways everyone woke by 2 PM and then we had just one place to go in the evening. And that was Edison. There are a lot of Indians there, mostly Gujrati's. You will see more Indians than Americans. People in NJ go to Edison when want to watch Hindi movies and have some Indian food.
We had planned to go for a movie (read Jab we met) and then have some Indian food. the movie was from 7 PM. Edison is almost 75-80 minutes drive from our place. We reached in time to the theater and had tickets for the movie. The theater was a small one, even smaller than I have in my hometown. The seating capacity was, I guess, 200. I must admit that I dont like Hindi movies a lot, esp this normal drama. But I had no choice and I dont know why but even my conscience did not resisted! Maybe I was missing India a lot which wanted me to go for a movie, no matter how crap it may be. Well, the movie was not that bad, but well it was not good even. It was a one time watch, if you are getting bored like hell and have nothing to do! After the movied we went to an Indian Restaurant, Mithaas, which was in the same complex. We had chhole-bhature and Mango Lassi. Man, I cant tell you how satisfying that was. The food was good, which added to my happiness. More than that, I was not expecting it to be good so it came as a surprise. After our dinner, I was feeling sleepy but we had to go to the place of Amit's relatives. He had to pick up the insurance card for the car. After that we headed back to home and I was like not feeling sleepy nomore. I started watching a movie, Heartbreak Kid online but left it in middle and slept.
Ok, lets talk something from the movie now.
It was like my story in pieces being shown to me. I loved some girl, we were going good but girl dumps me for some other person. I am totally out of control of myself and my life. I felt like ending my life (obv I was not going to die from a train :P). Then people consoling me, asking me to forget her for my good. People telling me that she was not at all deserving me, she was this, she was that. And even after hearing so much I was not ready to take her out of my mind. This was Shahid's part in the begining. Enter part 2, Kareena's life...She loves someone big time and dreams and hopes that the other guy also loves her that much. Poor she (Poor me). She goes running after him for marriage and the guy is like comeon, I never committed! (Exactly with me) So she is broke. She cries a lot and tries to plead a lot but he guy is unmoved. She calls him a lot, thinking that he will agree and give in to her. I was having Nostalgia. Well she finds her life in total mess and all the happiness and bubliness vanishes from her life. Check movie for waht happens next. That's not what happened with me.
Anyways everyone woke by 2 PM and then we had just one place to go in the evening. And that was Edison. There are a lot of Indians there, mostly Gujrati's. You will see more Indians than Americans. People in NJ go to Edison when want to watch Hindi movies and have some Indian food.
We had planned to go for a movie (read Jab we met) and then have some Indian food. the movie was from 7 PM. Edison is almost 75-80 minutes drive from our place. We reached in time to the theater and had tickets for the movie. The theater was a small one, even smaller than I have in my hometown. The seating capacity was, I guess, 200. I must admit that I dont like Hindi movies a lot, esp this normal drama. But I had no choice and I dont know why but even my conscience did not resisted! Maybe I was missing India a lot which wanted me to go for a movie, no matter how crap it may be. Well, the movie was not that bad, but well it was not good even. It was a one time watch, if you are getting bored like hell and have nothing to do! After the movied we went to an Indian Restaurant, Mithaas, which was in the same complex. We had chhole-bhature and Mango Lassi. Man, I cant tell you how satisfying that was. The food was good, which added to my happiness. More than that, I was not expecting it to be good so it came as a surprise. After our dinner, I was feeling sleepy but we had to go to the place of Amit's relatives. He had to pick up the insurance card for the car. After that we headed back to home and I was like not feeling sleepy nomore. I started watching a movie, Heartbreak Kid online but left it in middle and slept.
Ok, lets talk something from the movie now.
It was like my story in pieces being shown to me. I loved some girl, we were going good but girl dumps me for some other person. I am totally out of control of myself and my life. I felt like ending my life (obv I was not going to die from a train :P). Then people consoling me, asking me to forget her for my good. People telling me that she was not at all deserving me, she was this, she was that. And even after hearing so much I was not ready to take her out of my mind. This was Shahid's part in the begining. Enter part 2, Kareena's life...She loves someone big time and dreams and hopes that the other guy also loves her that much. Poor she (Poor me). She goes running after him for marriage and the guy is like comeon, I never committed! (Exactly with me) So she is broke. She cries a lot and tries to plead a lot but he guy is unmoved. She calls him a lot, thinking that he will agree and give in to her. I was having Nostalgia. Well she finds her life in total mess and all the happiness and bubliness vanishes from her life. Check movie for waht happens next. That's not what happened with me.
Saturday, November 03, 2007
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Happy Halloween
Oct 31 was celebrated as Halloween day in US. People had decorated their houses with traditional halloween stuff, pumpkins being the most sighted one. Halloween is celebrated on last day of October to frighten ghosts which are believed to rise from their graves at midnight of this day.
Children came looking for candies in the evening which is a part of traditional Halloween celebration. They go door to door with their friends or parents and you're supposed to give them candies. We had bought candies for this occasion a day in advance. Not many children came to our house against my expectation. One group was of Indians and other of Chinese/Japanese/Koreans. Anyways, It felt good to shower them with candies and see them dresses in halloween dresses ready to frighten the ghosts.
I was very much excited to see their dresses. Children here have halloween festivals in their schools wherein they dress in their spooky dresses and have fun together. Parents also take active part in these celebrations. A day before, we were in Wal-Mart shopping for candies and chocolates and there was a huge rush of parents with their children shopping for spooky dresses, baskets (used by children to collect candies) and candies, of course. Every commercial establishment as well as homes are decorated a montn in advance for Halloween.
History of Halloween
The modern Halloween festival has its origin in the ancient Gaelic festival as Samhain. It was a celebration of the end of harvest season in Gaelic culture. The ancient Gaelics believed that on October 31, the boundaries between the worlds of living and dead overlapped and the deceased would come back to life and cause havoc such as sickness or damage crops. The festivals would frequently involve bonfire, where bones of slaughtered lifestock would be thrown. Costumes and masks were also worn at the festivals in attempt to mimic the evil spirits or placate them.
This was widely celebrated in modern day Ireland.
Arrival in USA
The Halloween festival came in USA from trasatlantic Irish immigrants following the Irish Potato femine (1845-1849).
The most famous symbol which can be connected to Halloween is jack-o-lantern which is a glowing pumpkin. The origin of this symbol is also traced to Ireland.
Monday, October 22, 2007
The Apple Store
On Sunday, I had the oppurtunity to visit the celebrate and much talked Apple Store in New York. I had planned for a trip to this place over the weekend.
The store is at 5th Av just besides the Central Park. You wont see an advertisement board or an flashing electronic board indicating the store. After all, Apple stands for simplicity! They have a huge square glass box containing an apple, the registered trademark of the company.
The store is at 5th Av just besides the Central Park. You wont see an advertisement board or an flashing electronic board indicating the store. After all, Apple stands for simplicity! They have a huge square glass box containing an apple, the registered trademark of the company.
There are video screens in shape of iPod on all four sides of this box and an attendant wearing a white Tee to help you out from your first step in the store premises. There's a capsule lift to take you down to the store which is at the first level of Basement. The lift is transparent cylidrical glass. You can also take the stairs, which encircle the lift.
As you come out of the lift, you will see a deluge of people trying their hands on most sleep and attractive gadgets of this decade. There's simplicity inside the store too. All products are displayed on large rectangular tables. Big posters are on the walls, most of them of iPod nano and iPod touch. The iPods areplace on tables with high quality Bose headphones attached to them, which will give birth to the unresistable temptation to own both of them, the nano and the Bose headphones. The new iPod nano is damn sleek, more lightweight, sleeker and sexy in looks. There cant be a better mp3 player in market which can beat it in looks or sound quality. I cant comment about durability.
There are attendants all over the store to help you out about any question related to apple products. There are attendants standing near some pre-designated posts where they have iPod touch and iPhone for people who want ot buy them. You just need to be in queue and let them know if you want free laser engraving or not and then you can pay the bill at the cash counters.
On the other side of the lift are Macintosh, powerbook. Damn, they look so tempting to own one!
Then there are lot of accessories on sale for everything from iPod to Mac. They have sound systems and headphones and socks for iPod :P
All in all a great store. If you happen to be in Ny, do pay a visit to this place, no matter you love Apple products or not!
Saturday, October 20, 2007
The US Diaries - Chapter 6
Casino
Yesterday, we went to Mohegan Sun. Its a casino in Ulcassville, Connecticut. The place was around 137 miles from our apartment. Amit was our coach & guide there. He drove around 137 miles. All of us form apartment were in car, which makes 5 people.
I was going to a casino for the first time in my life. I had seen big casinos and all that jazz in movies. Now here I was standing in the parking of Mohegan Sun and ready to enter the grand complex. Believe me these casinos are huge and damn beautiful from inside. Mohegan Sun is especially noted for its interior decoration.
Amit guides us through different sections and told us about different games and rules and stuff. The first thing we tried our luck was in fortune wheel and we pulled a win! It was not something great which needs to be told but we managed to gain a profit on our investment. Happy start!
The next thing Amit tried was those boxes were in you keep pressing buttons and if some pattern comes you ein accordingly. I dont know what they are called. Then we moved to Roullette, the most played game in a casino. We put $50 on bet, 10 from each person. Amit was playing as I was busy in understanding the game, rules and how it's played. I was also busy in one more thing. Watching Chicks! :D There were many of beautiful females hanging around with their partners :) We secured $25 from our bet.
We decided to play individually, whatever one wants. I lost $20 on that box thing. Everyone of us lost and no one pulled up a win!
Reached back home at 4:30 AM.
Yesterday, we went to Mohegan Sun. Its a casino in Ulcassville, Connecticut. The place was around 137 miles from our apartment. Amit was our coach & guide there. He drove around 137 miles. All of us form apartment were in car, which makes 5 people.
I was going to a casino for the first time in my life. I had seen big casinos and all that jazz in movies. Now here I was standing in the parking of Mohegan Sun and ready to enter the grand complex. Believe me these casinos are huge and damn beautiful from inside. Mohegan Sun is especially noted for its interior decoration.
Amit guides us through different sections and told us about different games and rules and stuff. The first thing we tried our luck was in fortune wheel and we pulled a win! It was not something great which needs to be told but we managed to gain a profit on our investment. Happy start!
The next thing Amit tried was those boxes were in you keep pressing buttons and if some pattern comes you ein accordingly. I dont know what they are called. Then we moved to Roullette, the most played game in a casino. We put $50 on bet, 10 from each person. Amit was playing as I was busy in understanding the game, rules and how it's played. I was also busy in one more thing. Watching Chicks! :D There were many of beautiful females hanging around with their partners :) We secured $25 from our bet.
We decided to play individually, whatever one wants. I lost $20 on that box thing. Everyone of us lost and no one pulled up a win!
Reached back home at 4:30 AM.
The US Diaries - Chapter 3
Week 1
The apartment is 1 BHK and has big rooms. These apartments had dishwasher pre-installed in them apart from gas stove, oven and a refregerator which are mandatory to have in an apartment according to Federal laws.
October 1 was my first day at Pearson Technology, USR, NJ. I was asked to come over to my PM's apartment (which is near my apartment) at 8:45 AM as I was suppposed to reach office with him and my RM.
The place I am living in (Mahwah) is a small but beautiful place. The office is around 2.5 miles from our apartment. The drive to the office was pleasant and soothing to eyes. The houses which I was seeing on both sides of the road were beautiful and I bet you would have loved it too. Trees lined on both sides of the road had started showing fall colors. There was a golf course on the way and it was beautifully landscaped. Some of the houses are almost built in woods. The house is standing alone with trees all around it like a curtain hiding the innards from the outsiders. You can see the sign boards indicating drivers to drive carefully as Deers may come suddenly on road. And it's true. You can spot a deer if you are driving at night. I had spotted one when I was coming to my apartment from JFK.
Anyways, we reached office. The office belongs to Pearson Education. Its a beautiful and landscaped complex with 90% open area. The parking is open and is huge, well-thought and planned. I loved this thing as it seemes that the planners knew that the building they are designing will house many people and everyone needs parking! (This concept is alien to India. Builders, architects in India dont give a damn about parking facilities. ) The work culture is commendable. During work hours, people work. You wont see people hanging around, flocking the coffee vending machines or busy in chit-chat across desks. The office starts at 8 AM and almost everyine leaves by 5 PM. So you have a lot of quality time for your family. The partitions across desks here are high which makes sure that you are not distracted often by others.
Lunch and breakfast was a big headache as alsmot everything in Cafetria had either beef or chicken in it except salad. I had to be extra cautious while deciding what to eat as sometimes even if you order chicken, it can contain beef in it. Dont be in the impression that if it's written Veggie Burger then it means that it's veg. Nopes, you have to specifically ask or tell the person that you dont want beef, chicken in it. Be specific in telling No Meat.
Throughout the first week we were fighting with Jet-lag. Everyday we came from office and used to sleep by 6 PM and then we used to wake by 12:30 AM. So I was skipping dinner everyday. I used to sleep sometimes around 4:30 AM till 6:00 but most of the times I was up throught the rest of day.
I had a good day in office and met all my business users and PT folks. The office desk here is spacious. The space I have here is shared by 4 people back in Noida.
On Saturday, my relatives came over to my apartment and I went with them to meet some relatives in Parkridge, NJ. I stayed there that night as my colleague (who was living with me) had gone to Atlantic city. Next day was Sunday and I was taken to Manhattan, NY. That will be in next post.
The apartment is 1 BHK and has big rooms. These apartments had dishwasher pre-installed in them apart from gas stove, oven and a refregerator which are mandatory to have in an apartment according to Federal laws.
October 1 was my first day at Pearson Technology, USR, NJ. I was asked to come over to my PM's apartment (which is near my apartment) at 8:45 AM as I was suppposed to reach office with him and my RM.
The place I am living in (Mahwah) is a small but beautiful place. The office is around 2.5 miles from our apartment. The drive to the office was pleasant and soothing to eyes. The houses which I was seeing on both sides of the road were beautiful and I bet you would have loved it too. Trees lined on both sides of the road had started showing fall colors. There was a golf course on the way and it was beautifully landscaped. Some of the houses are almost built in woods. The house is standing alone with trees all around it like a curtain hiding the innards from the outsiders. You can see the sign boards indicating drivers to drive carefully as Deers may come suddenly on road. And it's true. You can spot a deer if you are driving at night. I had spotted one when I was coming to my apartment from JFK.
Anyways, we reached office. The office belongs to Pearson Education. Its a beautiful and landscaped complex with 90% open area. The parking is open and is huge, well-thought and planned. I loved this thing as it seemes that the planners knew that the building they are designing will house many people and everyone needs parking! (This concept is alien to India. Builders, architects in India dont give a damn about parking facilities. ) The work culture is commendable. During work hours, people work. You wont see people hanging around, flocking the coffee vending machines or busy in chit-chat across desks. The office starts at 8 AM and almost everyine leaves by 5 PM. So you have a lot of quality time for your family. The partitions across desks here are high which makes sure that you are not distracted often by others.
Lunch and breakfast was a big headache as alsmot everything in Cafetria had either beef or chicken in it except salad. I had to be extra cautious while deciding what to eat as sometimes even if you order chicken, it can contain beef in it. Dont be in the impression that if it's written Veggie Burger then it means that it's veg. Nopes, you have to specifically ask or tell the person that you dont want beef, chicken in it. Be specific in telling No Meat.
Throughout the first week we were fighting with Jet-lag. Everyday we came from office and used to sleep by 6 PM and then we used to wake by 12:30 AM. So I was skipping dinner everyday. I used to sleep sometimes around 4:30 AM till 6:00 but most of the times I was up throught the rest of day.
I had a good day in office and met all my business users and PT folks. The office desk here is spacious. The space I have here is shared by 4 people back in Noida.
On Saturday, my relatives came over to my apartment and I went with them to meet some relatives in Parkridge, NJ. I stayed there that night as my colleague (who was living with me) had gone to Atlantic city. Next day was Sunday and I was taken to Manhattan, NY. That will be in next post.
Monday, October 08, 2007
The US Diaries - Chapter 2
The Taxi Ride
When we came out of the terminal, the first thing I wanted to do was make a call back home. But I couldnt coz in US, you cant make an international call without a calling card and I did not had one. I tried to call Mausi, but for that also I needed some coins, I needed some quarters and all I had was dollar dills. I tried to get change from a cafe but the attendant there said that she cant gicve change until and unless I buy something due to some rules of the shop (it was regarding the cash register). I went to the exchange counter to try my luck and the girl sitting there tendered 4 quarters for a dollar bill. I hooked onto a telephone and inserted the coin in it. But the phone did not responded. I pressed for coin return but the coin did not came out! I inserted another coin but the same thing, the phone did not responded and the coin did not came out! I didn't wanted to waste another coin. I was standing near the gate with my luggage, when a short Asian came to me and spoke something in Bangla. I did not responded and so he asked me " You are not from Bangladesh?" . I said "No"
Man: "Where you from?"
Me: "I am from India"
Man: "Ok, so you are Indian"
Me: "Yep"
Man: "you waiting for someone?"
Me: "Yes, I am trying to make a call but I am not able to make a call"
Man: "Where you want to call? India?"
Me: "No, Just here only, Virginia"
Man: "Ok, you can use my phone"
(He had iPhone in his hand and offered me)
Me: "Non, no its ok. I will try again and then ask you, if you are around here"
Man: "Ok, as you wish"
Me: "So how long you are in USA?"
Man: "I came here in 1989 and from then I am here"
Me: "Ok"
Man: "I have to pick comeone today"
Me: "Ok"
Man: "So this is your first time here?"
Me: "Ya"
Man: For studying?"
Me: "No, business"
Man: "You are here for doing business?"
Me: "No, no, its official trip. I work and I am here on office work"
Man: "Ok, so where you live in India?"
Me: "I live in New Delhi"
Man: "Ok, that is capital of India, right?"
Me: "Yes"
Me: "So you are from Bangladesh, na? Where you lived here?"
Man: "Dacca"
Man: "So where you going in US"
Me: "New Jersey"
Man: "So someone is going to cpick you up?"
Me: "No we are going to tak a cab"
Man: "Ok"
I was somewhat uncomfortable after taking to him for so long. But, since my colleague was not doing anything for moving out, I had to think of something. The man moved from there and was out of my sight. After some time, I decided to go and ask for his cell phone. I looked around the place and then I found him. I went up to him and asked for his cell. He dialled the number and handled the bluetooth jack to me. I called Mausi and told her that I have reached here and I am going to take cab from outside. I asked her to call mom and tell her this. I thanked that guy and moved from there. Suddenly he sent some guy, who came asking for our destination and offered that he can drop us. I was pretty suscpicious and so I told him that someone gonna come for picking us up and went towards the yellow cab stand. There we lined up and that guy came again. now, it was embarassing as I had told him that someone gonna pick us up and now we were in the queue for the cab. He said to me that he will charge no extra money and will drop us. I politely turned down his proposal and then he went.
Our turn came and we boarded a Yellow cab. The driver was having curly long hairs and he was an American. I told him that we wanna go to Mahwah, NJ. He agreed and we boarded it. Fare was not negotiated when we got on the cab. In NY and NJ commuting is very easy. You can easily get cabs for moving in and aroud these two states. We started the cab ride from JFK and I started enjoying the NY. I can see the curling highways, going underneath each other and creating loop. Tree lined roads, fast moving vehicles, swanky cars and fast bikers. I was enjoying the sight.
The cab driver was talking too much. He was well informed about India and South East Asia in general .He said that he watched news and read newspaper regularly. He was a student and was doing graduation in Communciation Engg from some college in NY. We were stuck in Traffic near Lincon Tunnel for almost 45 minutes. We were told by our friends that it will take at most 90 minuts to reach out destination.
Now starts the drama! The cab driver did not knew the way! He had a book, which gave directions but it mentioned only three directives, which were not at all sufficient for him. He was lost and so were we! After moving for almost 3 hours, we crossed the same toll three times. The cab driver had lost the patience and so had I. My colleague, who was never concerned for anything as if he was my responsibility was fast asleep. I was helping the driver in finding the way by checking in my google map printout. The driver was unable to reach Route 17, on which we had to go. After almost 6 hours, we finally reached the house of our PM at 9:30 PM. It was such a bad ride that I am not in a mood to explain that in detail. The cab driver asked us to give whatever we want and said that "Please consider the distance, I covered". We gave him $220. Our PM had just arrived from somewhere in his car and he saw us. He told the way back yo NY to the cab driver and then we followed him to his apartment. There Tarun greeted us and came outside to help us out with our luggage. We left the luggage outside and went in. We had water and then we had dinner and I called Mausi from their cell that I have reached. Then mom's call came and she was furious thay why hadnt I called her? I told her in short and crisp words about what happened and promised to call next day.
After having dinner, we left for our apartment which was at a walking distance. We reached there and moved in.
So after such a bad first-hand experience I finally reached the place. We did nothing but opened our luggage and gave the Cigg package to Tarun and handed the sweets and Suji to Manish and then we slept to get ready for the office next day! We were aksed to reach Manish's house at 8:45 in the morning.
When we came out of the terminal, the first thing I wanted to do was make a call back home. But I couldnt coz in US, you cant make an international call without a calling card and I did not had one. I tried to call Mausi, but for that also I needed some coins, I needed some quarters and all I had was dollar dills. I tried to get change from a cafe but the attendant there said that she cant gicve change until and unless I buy something due to some rules of the shop (it was regarding the cash register). I went to the exchange counter to try my luck and the girl sitting there tendered 4 quarters for a dollar bill. I hooked onto a telephone and inserted the coin in it. But the phone did not responded. I pressed for coin return but the coin did not came out! I inserted another coin but the same thing, the phone did not responded and the coin did not came out! I didn't wanted to waste another coin. I was standing near the gate with my luggage, when a short Asian came to me and spoke something in Bangla. I did not responded and so he asked me " You are not from Bangladesh?" . I said "No"
Man: "Where you from?"
Me: "I am from India"
Man: "Ok, so you are Indian"
Me: "Yep"
Man: "you waiting for someone?"
Me: "Yes, I am trying to make a call but I am not able to make a call"
Man: "Where you want to call? India?"
Me: "No, Just here only, Virginia"
Man: "Ok, you can use my phone"
(He had iPhone in his hand and offered me)
Me: "Non, no its ok. I will try again and then ask you, if you are around here"
Man: "Ok, as you wish"
Me: "So how long you are in USA?"
Man: "I came here in 1989 and from then I am here"
Me: "Ok"
Man: "I have to pick comeone today"
Me: "Ok"
Man: "So this is your first time here?"
Me: "Ya"
Man: For studying?"
Me: "No, business"
Man: "You are here for doing business?"
Me: "No, no, its official trip. I work and I am here on office work"
Man: "Ok, so where you live in India?"
Me: "I live in New Delhi"
Man: "Ok, that is capital of India, right?"
Me: "Yes"
Me: "So you are from Bangladesh, na? Where you lived here?"
Man: "Dacca"
Man: "So where you going in US"
Me: "New Jersey"
Man: "So someone is going to cpick you up?"
Me: "No we are going to tak a cab"
Man: "Ok"
I was somewhat uncomfortable after taking to him for so long. But, since my colleague was not doing anything for moving out, I had to think of something. The man moved from there and was out of my sight. After some time, I decided to go and ask for his cell phone. I looked around the place and then I found him. I went up to him and asked for his cell. He dialled the number and handled the bluetooth jack to me. I called Mausi and told her that I have reached here and I am going to take cab from outside. I asked her to call mom and tell her this. I thanked that guy and moved from there. Suddenly he sent some guy, who came asking for our destination and offered that he can drop us. I was pretty suscpicious and so I told him that someone gonna come for picking us up and went towards the yellow cab stand. There we lined up and that guy came again. now, it was embarassing as I had told him that someone gonna pick us up and now we were in the queue for the cab. He said to me that he will charge no extra money and will drop us. I politely turned down his proposal and then he went.
Our turn came and we boarded a Yellow cab. The driver was having curly long hairs and he was an American. I told him that we wanna go to Mahwah, NJ. He agreed and we boarded it. Fare was not negotiated when we got on the cab. In NY and NJ commuting is very easy. You can easily get cabs for moving in and aroud these two states. We started the cab ride from JFK and I started enjoying the NY. I can see the curling highways, going underneath each other and creating loop. Tree lined roads, fast moving vehicles, swanky cars and fast bikers. I was enjoying the sight.
The cab driver was talking too much. He was well informed about India and South East Asia in general .He said that he watched news and read newspaper regularly. He was a student and was doing graduation in Communciation Engg from some college in NY. We were stuck in Traffic near Lincon Tunnel for almost 45 minutes. We were told by our friends that it will take at most 90 minuts to reach out destination.
Now starts the drama! The cab driver did not knew the way! He had a book, which gave directions but it mentioned only three directives, which were not at all sufficient for him. He was lost and so were we! After moving for almost 3 hours, we crossed the same toll three times. The cab driver had lost the patience and so had I. My colleague, who was never concerned for anything as if he was my responsibility was fast asleep. I was helping the driver in finding the way by checking in my google map printout. The driver was unable to reach Route 17, on which we had to go. After almost 6 hours, we finally reached the house of our PM at 9:30 PM. It was such a bad ride that I am not in a mood to explain that in detail. The cab driver asked us to give whatever we want and said that "Please consider the distance, I covered". We gave him $220. Our PM had just arrived from somewhere in his car and he saw us. He told the way back yo NY to the cab driver and then we followed him to his apartment. There Tarun greeted us and came outside to help us out with our luggage. We left the luggage outside and went in. We had water and then we had dinner and I called Mausi from their cell that I have reached. Then mom's call came and she was furious thay why hadnt I called her? I told her in short and crisp words about what happened and promised to call next day.
After having dinner, we left for our apartment which was at a walking distance. We reached there and moved in.
So after such a bad first-hand experience I finally reached the place. We did nothing but opened our luggage and gave the Cigg package to Tarun and handed the sweets and Suji to Manish and then we slept to get ready for the office next day! We were aksed to reach Manish's house at 8:45 in the morning.
Friday, October 05, 2007
The US Diaries - Chapter 1
Departure & Arrival
My flight was on Sunday morning 01:30 AM. I was flying on Austrian Airlines. This was my third choice, so I was kinda happy that I got a flight of my choice. My other two choices were Lufthansa and KLM.
Saturday was a hectic day for me from the very begining. Mom and dad helped me in packing my suitcases and getting hold of all things. I finished my packing before brushing my teeth. This was the first thing on my To Do List. I had called Sunny to come over so that he can also be with me when I leave. After doing the packing stuff, I did my chores and then ran to Haldiram to get sweets. Umesh was supposed to come there, but when I called he asked me to get sweets on his behalf for Manish and Saurabh. I reached home and then took Dad along with me to Sai baba mandir in Sector 61. It was already 4 in the evening doing all these things. Sunny had arrived by then. I was calling everyone in family from morning. I had tried to call Nitin and Abhishek but Nitin's cell was unreachable and Abhishek didnt picked up. Finally in the evening Abhishek picked up the call. I talked to him and Nitin for a long time. I was happy that I called them and talked to them before leaving.
I left my flat with mom, dad and my brother on Saturday night at 21:00 hours. It took us almost 80 minutes to reach International termninal of IGIA, New Delhi. There was slight commotion near the terminal due to vehicles. Sunny got out of the car and went to get a trolley. The driver stopped the car near Gate 1 and we all got out. I got my luggage from the car and loaded on the trolley. A Traffic constable was blowing horns on all vechicles to drive away fast. I touched the feet of my parents and hugged them and Sunny and asked them to leave. Mom wanted to stay back for some more time but I asked her to leave as I didnt wanted to see her wet eyes. I bid farewell to them and they left. As soon as they left, I felt a jolt inside me. Guess, it was the thought that I will be away from them for three months! I dont know why I felt such, coz here also in NOIDA, I leave alone and I went home after 6 months last time! Maybe this is what they call psychological factor. As far as I was in India, it felt like I was with them only. But now it seemes what it likes to be away from family.
My colleague was already there with his parents. We waited for some half an hour and then decide to enter the terminal. By that time I had already weighed my luggage. It was well under allowed baggage limits. I felt relieved. We went inside the terminal and then crossed the level 1 of security check, where the do the x-ray of the baggage and tie it up. The Check in counter of Austrian Airlines was at the other end of the lobby. We moved there. The queue was not lengthy and there were three active counters for check-in. After doing normal formalities I got my boarding pass. Then I started searching for a phone booth so that I can tell mom n dad that I have checked in and ask whether they reached or not? I got sight of a BSNL booth. I called mom from there. They had reached home. That booth didn't allowed local calls. I had to make a local call and after a lot of searching I got hold of a pay phone. Neverthless, that thing was screwed as the other party on the line was not able to hear my voice. I was like Damn you #%$&%#*. I asked my colleague to lets move in. We got in queue for immigration check and got the immigration stamps. Then I saw another Airtel PCO booth. We decide to get our cameras stamped at Custom office first. The guy sitting over there stmped our camera. We were asked to get that doner by Amit so that if we have another camera with us while returning they wont object that! So from there, I rushed to make a call and then did that. The attenadant over there was a lousy bastard and he didnt returned change. I was like, why these bastards think that keeping a ruppee or two with them is like their fundamental right?? It's not that a single ruppee was that important for me in terms of monetary value. No, it was not. But I hate giving away without any reason and I hate more when I have to leave some amount without any reason, no matter how small that amount may be! Freaking morons!
I was seeing duty free shops and I started strolling inside one shop. All that was available on sell was either wine or ciggarettes. Nothing of my interest. So I headed for final check. We crossed the security check and reached Gate 9, where from we had to board our Austrian Airlines flight. I was like scouting for some chicks around but all I couldnt find many of them! :P
However one thing drew my attenton was an indian couple, actually I was hooked on the girl. She was wearing a red pullover and had shoulder length hairs, which were free. no hair bands. She was wearing specs, which were adding to her appeal! Time and again my eyes went on her. My apologies :) So here I was. Waiting for my maiden air ride :) All too excited to fly to US!
As we were waiting the crew members came and I was like Ooosh, how beautiful she is! One of the air hostess was so beautiful and cute. There dress was red in color, which is Austrian Airlines color. they allwnet behind the doors and we were still waiting for the the door to open finally. After some time, we were finally asked to form a queue and the gates were opened.
You may luagh at me, but I was too excited while I kepy my first foot in the plane. We were seated in our economy class seats. The place was not a big one! The economy class seats were having green color covers and every seat had a tv screen. Thanks for that Austrian! I was seated in the middle column first row, which added to my discomfort :( I wanted to be at window seat so that I can have a look outside shen the flight takes off. Jut the thought of the scene outside the window was making me more and moe excited. But here I was seated in the middle column :( Anyways so the plane took off smoothly and we left Indian soil behind us!
The handset in my seat was all screwed up and after repeated attempts to dismount that, I failed! I kept pressing buttons by having that fixed in its position! The embarassing moment came when I swicthed some channel and after wasthing for seconds, started looking into my book, the next moment I looked onto screen and the thing that was running was an adult movie!!! I was shocked and immediately switched off the screen. It was embarassing cos besides me was an Indian couple! Thank God, the lady didnt saw that but I think the guy had a look when I hurried to switch off the screen and dur to my damn handset, I created a stir there :)
I resisted having wine or beer in the flight! Though at moments, I was tempted but someone came in my thoughts. I had my promise to keep to someone for whom I dont even matter now! But for me, the person and the promise still hold as strong as it was on the day, I made the promise.
After repeated attempts to sleep, I was feeling like hell. I wanted to lie down on the floor and have some sleep, at least for an hour. But I knew I couldnt do that. It wasearly morning, arounf 5:00 AM Vienna time andI woke up completely. I can see the darkness in the sky fading. The temperature outside was -1 degree celsius. What!!! I am gonna freeze, if it will be so cold down there as I didn't had any warm clothes with me in my hand bag. The plane started descending and the temperatyre started increasing making me happy. When we started to land for touchdown, the temperature down was 7 degree C. I was like "Ok, Its not that cold. And after all, we have to be in the transit area only. The flight landed and I was seeing the beautiful landscape outside. Lush green trees and forest in the distance can be seen out the right window.
The terminal was small but beautiful. It was aesthetically designed and was not at all congested despite being small. I shot some pics here and there and then went to transit area to take rest. I sat there for almost 3-4 hours, somwtimes wandering here and there in shops, trying to convince myself to buy something. But I didnt bought anything. My colleague did bought something for someone special, I had no such person and so I bought nothing :D
The time to check in came and we lined up near teminal 1. After security check, we came to know that the flight has been delayed due to some technical fault. It got delayed for almost an hour. I was busy in bird-watching ;) and try to have eye contact with someone, but I think I didn't had that much guts.
Finally, it was announced that the flight is ready and passengers were requested to board the flight. We boarded the flight and after taking our seats, the captain announced that they are going to take the flight at its 83 % of max speed to cover the time lag. This time I got the window seat but it was not adjacent to my seat, it was a bit ahead so I had to bend to look outside it :(
Theperson seated next to me was an American and as soon as he seated he opened his book and started reading. I asked him, whether he can change the seat so that my colleague can sit with me? He was not interested and so I did not insisted again. This time, I had to eat non-veg coz both options were non-veg. I opted for chicken coz the other option was Pasta with tuna fish :(
For drinks, I went for Coke only :D
After around 7 hours, we reached NY. I was checking the map on my screen and seeing outside window. I was seeing the beautiful country right down there, the land of my dreams, the land of my oppurtunities. Soon, the map showed that we were in the NY skies. I was looking down at the Manhattan skyline. Wow, it looked amazing from up there. Man, I wanted to hold that flight there and sit in the cockpit to keep looking at that skyline. Soon, we were hovering above the JFK and the flight started to prepare for landing. We touched the American soil and I was all set and done for coming out of the flight. I was seeing the vast airport outside my window and all the flights standing in the hanger area. When the flight was docked, I took my bag and came out of flight. We were given two forms to fill for Immigration check in the flight. I had to re-fill I-94 coz I had screwed some section in the form.
The immigration check was easy and simple and I was just asked some simple questions. I got stamping and the date was 29th DEC, so I would not be here for seeing the new year bash at Times Square. Anyway, we went for collecting the baggage which came after almost 20 minutes. We collected our baggage and took the baggage trolley after paying $3 bills. We came out of the terminal and so here we were looking at the gate of JFK and US outside that gate!
I had arrived uncle Sam!
My flight was on Sunday morning 01:30 AM. I was flying on Austrian Airlines. This was my third choice, so I was kinda happy that I got a flight of my choice. My other two choices were Lufthansa and KLM.
Saturday was a hectic day for me from the very begining. Mom and dad helped me in packing my suitcases and getting hold of all things. I finished my packing before brushing my teeth. This was the first thing on my To Do List. I had called Sunny to come over so that he can also be with me when I leave. After doing the packing stuff, I did my chores and then ran to Haldiram to get sweets. Umesh was supposed to come there, but when I called he asked me to get sweets on his behalf for Manish and Saurabh. I reached home and then took Dad along with me to Sai baba mandir in Sector 61. It was already 4 in the evening doing all these things. Sunny had arrived by then. I was calling everyone in family from morning. I had tried to call Nitin and Abhishek but Nitin's cell was unreachable and Abhishek didnt picked up. Finally in the evening Abhishek picked up the call. I talked to him and Nitin for a long time. I was happy that I called them and talked to them before leaving.
I left my flat with mom, dad and my brother on Saturday night at 21:00 hours. It took us almost 80 minutes to reach International termninal of IGIA, New Delhi. There was slight commotion near the terminal due to vehicles. Sunny got out of the car and went to get a trolley. The driver stopped the car near Gate 1 and we all got out. I got my luggage from the car and loaded on the trolley. A Traffic constable was blowing horns on all vechicles to drive away fast. I touched the feet of my parents and hugged them and Sunny and asked them to leave. Mom wanted to stay back for some more time but I asked her to leave as I didnt wanted to see her wet eyes. I bid farewell to them and they left. As soon as they left, I felt a jolt inside me. Guess, it was the thought that I will be away from them for three months! I dont know why I felt such, coz here also in NOIDA, I leave alone and I went home after 6 months last time! Maybe this is what they call psychological factor. As far as I was in India, it felt like I was with them only. But now it seemes what it likes to be away from family.
My colleague was already there with his parents. We waited for some half an hour and then decide to enter the terminal. By that time I had already weighed my luggage. It was well under allowed baggage limits. I felt relieved. We went inside the terminal and then crossed the level 1 of security check, where the do the x-ray of the baggage and tie it up. The Check in counter of Austrian Airlines was at the other end of the lobby. We moved there. The queue was not lengthy and there were three active counters for check-in. After doing normal formalities I got my boarding pass. Then I started searching for a phone booth so that I can tell mom n dad that I have checked in and ask whether they reached or not? I got sight of a BSNL booth. I called mom from there. They had reached home. That booth didn't allowed local calls. I had to make a local call and after a lot of searching I got hold of a pay phone. Neverthless, that thing was screwed as the other party on the line was not able to hear my voice. I was like Damn you #%$&%#*. I asked my colleague to lets move in. We got in queue for immigration check and got the immigration stamps. Then I saw another Airtel PCO booth. We decide to get our cameras stamped at Custom office first. The guy sitting over there stmped our camera. We were asked to get that doner by Amit so that if we have another camera with us while returning they wont object that! So from there, I rushed to make a call and then did that. The attenadant over there was a lousy bastard and he didnt returned change. I was like, why these bastards think that keeping a ruppee or two with them is like their fundamental right?? It's not that a single ruppee was that important for me in terms of monetary value. No, it was not. But I hate giving away without any reason and I hate more when I have to leave some amount without any reason, no matter how small that amount may be! Freaking morons!
I was seeing duty free shops and I started strolling inside one shop. All that was available on sell was either wine or ciggarettes. Nothing of my interest. So I headed for final check. We crossed the security check and reached Gate 9, where from we had to board our Austrian Airlines flight. I was like scouting for some chicks around but all I couldnt find many of them! :P
However one thing drew my attenton was an indian couple, actually I was hooked on the girl. She was wearing a red pullover and had shoulder length hairs, which were free. no hair bands. She was wearing specs, which were adding to her appeal! Time and again my eyes went on her. My apologies :) So here I was. Waiting for my maiden air ride :) All too excited to fly to US!
As we were waiting the crew members came and I was like Ooosh, how beautiful she is! One of the air hostess was so beautiful and cute. There dress was red in color, which is Austrian Airlines color. they allwnet behind the doors and we were still waiting for the the door to open finally. After some time, we were finally asked to form a queue and the gates were opened.
You may luagh at me, but I was too excited while I kepy my first foot in the plane. We were seated in our economy class seats. The place was not a big one! The economy class seats were having green color covers and every seat had a tv screen. Thanks for that Austrian! I was seated in the middle column first row, which added to my discomfort :( I wanted to be at window seat so that I can have a look outside shen the flight takes off. Jut the thought of the scene outside the window was making me more and moe excited. But here I was seated in the middle column :( Anyways so the plane took off smoothly and we left Indian soil behind us!
The handset in my seat was all screwed up and after repeated attempts to dismount that, I failed! I kept pressing buttons by having that fixed in its position! The embarassing moment came when I swicthed some channel and after wasthing for seconds, started looking into my book, the next moment I looked onto screen and the thing that was running was an adult movie!!! I was shocked and immediately switched off the screen. It was embarassing cos besides me was an Indian couple! Thank God, the lady didnt saw that but I think the guy had a look when I hurried to switch off the screen and dur to my damn handset, I created a stir there :)
I resisted having wine or beer in the flight! Though at moments, I was tempted but someone came in my thoughts. I had my promise to keep to someone for whom I dont even matter now! But for me, the person and the promise still hold as strong as it was on the day, I made the promise.
After repeated attempts to sleep, I was feeling like hell. I wanted to lie down on the floor and have some sleep, at least for an hour. But I knew I couldnt do that. It wasearly morning, arounf 5:00 AM Vienna time andI woke up completely. I can see the darkness in the sky fading. The temperature outside was -1 degree celsius. What!!! I am gonna freeze, if it will be so cold down there as I didn't had any warm clothes with me in my hand bag. The plane started descending and the temperatyre started increasing making me happy. When we started to land for touchdown, the temperature down was 7 degree C. I was like "Ok, Its not that cold. And after all, we have to be in the transit area only. The flight landed and I was seeing the beautiful landscape outside. Lush green trees and forest in the distance can be seen out the right window.
The terminal was small but beautiful. It was aesthetically designed and was not at all congested despite being small. I shot some pics here and there and then went to transit area to take rest. I sat there for almost 3-4 hours, somwtimes wandering here and there in shops, trying to convince myself to buy something. But I didnt bought anything. My colleague did bought something for someone special, I had no such person and so I bought nothing :D
The time to check in came and we lined up near teminal 1. After security check, we came to know that the flight has been delayed due to some technical fault. It got delayed for almost an hour. I was busy in bird-watching ;) and try to have eye contact with someone, but I think I didn't had that much guts.
Finally, it was announced that the flight is ready and passengers were requested to board the flight. We boarded the flight and after taking our seats, the captain announced that they are going to take the flight at its 83 % of max speed to cover the time lag. This time I got the window seat but it was not adjacent to my seat, it was a bit ahead so I had to bend to look outside it :(
Theperson seated next to me was an American and as soon as he seated he opened his book and started reading. I asked him, whether he can change the seat so that my colleague can sit with me? He was not interested and so I did not insisted again. This time, I had to eat non-veg coz both options were non-veg. I opted for chicken coz the other option was Pasta with tuna fish :(
For drinks, I went for Coke only :D
After around 7 hours, we reached NY. I was checking the map on my screen and seeing outside window. I was seeing the beautiful country right down there, the land of my dreams, the land of my oppurtunities. Soon, the map showed that we were in the NY skies. I was looking down at the Manhattan skyline. Wow, it looked amazing from up there. Man, I wanted to hold that flight there and sit in the cockpit to keep looking at that skyline. Soon, we were hovering above the JFK and the flight started to prepare for landing. We touched the American soil and I was all set and done for coming out of the flight. I was seeing the vast airport outside my window and all the flights standing in the hanger area. When the flight was docked, I took my bag and came out of flight. We were given two forms to fill for Immigration check in the flight. I had to re-fill I-94 coz I had screwed some section in the form.
The immigration check was easy and simple and I was just asked some simple questions. I got stamping and the date was 29th DEC, so I would not be here for seeing the new year bash at Times Square. Anyway, we went for collecting the baggage which came after almost 20 minutes. We collected our baggage and took the baggage trolley after paying $3 bills. We came out of the terminal and so here we were looking at the gate of JFK and US outside that gate!
I had arrived uncle Sam!
Thursday, October 04, 2007
The US Diaries - Introduction
This is an Introduction to a series of posts I am going to publish. I will be talking about my US trip in this series. I will try to cover my experiences, share my views and thoughts about the country in particular and people, places, culture, business and everyting that I can understand and feel like talking about.
Some of you may be thinking that how come I reached US and what for I am here? Well, I am on official trip at the client site.
Let me take you back in history for a moment. I remember when I was a kid, I used to watch almost all animation stuff on TV. I just loved it and I still do a lot. Myself and my younger brother never used to miss Disney stuff. The treat in those days used to be Tales Pin and Duck tales. As far as I remember, it used to come on Sunday morning from 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM, Tales Pin followed by Duck Tales. After days of running, they started a contest (those were the days when almost every serial on tv used to have contest and we sent postcards to win something somewhere), the grand prize was trip to Disney Land, Florida, USA. They used to show snippets of Disney Land and we were like seeing our destination to be. That was the first time, at the age of 11-12 I dreamt of visiting US someday! So this dream to be in this country was not born when I was in college but long way back!
Without describing more of this stuff (the part when I was in High School and University), I got the oppurtunity to be in States through my employer. I was working on a project for US based client and so I got a chance to be onsite. The destination was New Jersey.
I will take you through each day (If something worth sharing happened). Hope you will love to go through this stuff!
Cheers
Some of you may be thinking that how come I reached US and what for I am here? Well, I am on official trip at the client site.
Let me take you back in history for a moment. I remember when I was a kid, I used to watch almost all animation stuff on TV. I just loved it and I still do a lot. Myself and my younger brother never used to miss Disney stuff. The treat in those days used to be Tales Pin and Duck tales. As far as I remember, it used to come on Sunday morning from 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM, Tales Pin followed by Duck Tales. After days of running, they started a contest (those were the days when almost every serial on tv used to have contest and we sent postcards to win something somewhere), the grand prize was trip to Disney Land, Florida, USA. They used to show snippets of Disney Land and we were like seeing our destination to be. That was the first time, at the age of 11-12 I dreamt of visiting US someday! So this dream to be in this country was not born when I was in college but long way back!
Without describing more of this stuff (the part when I was in High School and University), I got the oppurtunity to be in States through my employer. I was working on a project for US based client and so I got a chance to be onsite. The destination was New Jersey.
I will take you through each day (If something worth sharing happened). Hope you will love to go through this stuff!
Cheers
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Love - A lifelong journey, A lifelong pain
This may not be true for everyone and I pray from the depth of my heart that no one should feel as I feel!
It ended as a nightmare for me. I could not forget her and all the things said and done. However, it was so easy for her. Day in and day out, I see the past and I see the future and of course the present. I see myself in the past but cant see myslef anywhere near her in present and future. Reason being, she is someone else's now! I dont why cant I forget all this? Why cant I walk off as easily as she did? I know the answers but I dont want to take them as answers beacuse I am afraid of even forgetting the questions!
I loved you dear and I still love you that much. Probably more than that and I know I will keep loving you forever!
God bless you both!
It ended as a nightmare for me. I could not forget her and all the things said and done. However, it was so easy for her. Day in and day out, I see the past and I see the future and of course the present. I see myself in the past but cant see myslef anywhere near her in present and future. Reason being, she is someone else's now! I dont why cant I forget all this? Why cant I walk off as easily as she did? I know the answers but I dont want to take them as answers beacuse I am afraid of even forgetting the questions!
I loved you dear and I still love you that much. Probably more than that and I know I will keep loving you forever!
God bless you both!
Thursday, August 16, 2007
How an Animation movie comes into being
All animation fans..
Here's a stuff which will guide you through the steps in making an animation movie...
Here's a stuff which will guide you through the steps in making an animation movie...
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Happy Birthday!
14th August 2007, my birthday!
My Team had a surprise party for me. We had the cake and I got a beautiful card and a coffee mug as birthday present. Besides that another of my colleague presented me with a card and a book, Discovery of India. Whew! The best present for a person like me is a book. I can have it with me throughout my life and besides that it will satisfy my hunger of knowledge.
I will arite a post towards the end of day again!
My Team had a surprise party for me. We had the cake and I got a beautiful card and a coffee mug as birthday present. Besides that another of my colleague presented me with a card and a book, Discovery of India. Whew! The best present for a person like me is a book. I can have it with me throughout my life and besides that it will satisfy my hunger of knowledge.
I will arite a post towards the end of day again!
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
The Green and the Sun
Sparkling Sunlight behind the Green!
This was taken on the way to Mukteshwar. I with my project team was on way to the beautiful place in mountains, Mukteshwar. It's in Uttaranchal and I bet you, it's such a damn beautiful place, away from noises and hustles of the metropolitan life, you will fall for the place as soon as you deboard the vehicle you are travelling in.
The Corridor
I have walked through this stretch for 4 years. Year on Year, it's length was increasing and I with my friends kept on walking, running, shouting, laughing, giggling, staring, sitting, standing in this long corridor.
It seems to me that we were growing with this corridor or this corridor was growing with us! Either way, the most memorable days of life were spent here and I know we all will be more willing for a chance to do everything we did, once more!
This photo was taken by me
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Top 10 List's
Scott McNealy has summed up some top 10 list's on different topics, which is worth reading. Check out
By the way, you know who is Scott na! Well for people who are not into computers and IT (just them) Scott McNealy is Co-founder of Sun Microsystems and continues to be Chairman of Sun Microsystems.
By the way, you know who is Scott na! Well for people who are not into computers and IT (just them) Scott McNealy is Co-founder of Sun Microsystems and continues to be Chairman of Sun Microsystems.
Sanskrit
How many of you know Sanskrit or loved it in school? I loved it so much that I preferred it over Hindi in my 9th and 10th grade! I always topped my class and I dont remember any term when I scored less than 90 out of 100. Yup, I like to boast this fact :) You can loath me for this :P
I dont how many of you know the fact that it has been suggested to use Sanskrit as a metalanguage for knowledge representation in natual language processing, mahcine translation and other allied areas due to its highly regular structure. This is due to Classical Sanskrit being a regularized, prescriptivist form abstracted from the much more irregualr and richer Vedic Sanskrit.
Check out this report. This has been published in early 1985 by a NASA scientist.
I dont how many of you know the fact that it has been suggested to use Sanskrit as a metalanguage for knowledge representation in natual language processing, mahcine translation and other allied areas due to its highly regular structure. This is due to Classical Sanskrit being a regularized, prescriptivist form abstracted from the much more irregualr and richer Vedic Sanskrit.
Check out this report. This has been published in early 1985 by a NASA scientist.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Jai Mata Di
This is the view of the Bhawan and other buildings near the shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi. This photograph was taken by me on the way to Bhawan. I was with my project team members and we were just 2-3 kms away from reaching there, when I was able to capture this.
Trip to College
Last Saturday, 28th July 07 I went to college to collect the convo photographs. I guess I am the one who lives closest to the college yet it took me almost 5 months to go there and collect the pics :) No denying that I was lazy in doing so. So for all my batchmates, who have not been to college for a real long time, here are some updates!
1. For the first time in the history of JIIT, I guess, there were no guards at the entrance gate 2 (the main entrance gate supposed for us and visitors and everyone :D ) . Actually some construction work (God knows when will they stop mending and re-mending things) is going on both gates simaltaneously. There was a guard at Gate 1 but no one was seen on Gate 2. I easily made my way inside without much hassles. Otherwise you know how many questions they were habituated to!
2. The red brick look on the entrance gates is about to go as they are putting on large granite tiles onto gates! However the buildings are untouched.
3. The Tuck shop has shifted to the ground floor of Activity center (I guess you all remember where was activity center)
4. We now have our very own college bus! I dont know what it's used for but it was standing right behind the stage. Its a brand new swaraj majda mid-size bus. Got it how it looks like! I will upload the photographs this weekend!
5. The gardeners, safaiwallas and other helping staff have got uniforms! The gardeners have all green, safaiwalas have blue. Dont ask me exact color as I am week at naming colors :(
6. The garden in front of Sarojani bhawan has been fenced with heavy iron fences!
7. Now the best part! The cafeteria has got a complete makeover! Looks like a modern and swanky cafe! Staring from the entrance door to the floor to vceiling everything has been changed! The entrance gate stands tall in dark brown color. The floor is completely revamped with new stylish tiles and patterns! The plastic tables are gone and we have good looking chairs and tables. All of them are square tables and have sitting of 4 people. There were 4 long tables which have sitting for 10-12 people! The counter has also changed. The height of the counter has been reduced to normal level, much to comfort of many people ;) . The ceiling is also looking cool with false ceiling in wave patters giving it a cool look. There a screen rolled up in the middle of the room, hanging from the ceiling. I am not sure of it's purpose but maybe it's used for screening some movies or presentations!
8. The rates in the canteen are almost same as we had them except coffee which is now for 6 a cup and some more items have changed by 1 or 2 ruppees.
So this was it. As against the hype of JBS students (you know what hype ;) ) I dint find it to be that true! Well to certain extent, it is :D . The first year also looks good :)
1. For the first time in the history of JIIT, I guess, there were no guards at the entrance gate 2 (the main entrance gate supposed for us and visitors and everyone :D ) . Actually some construction work (God knows when will they stop mending and re-mending things) is going on both gates simaltaneously. There was a guard at Gate 1 but no one was seen on Gate 2. I easily made my way inside without much hassles. Otherwise you know how many questions they were habituated to!
2. The red brick look on the entrance gates is about to go as they are putting on large granite tiles onto gates! However the buildings are untouched.
3. The Tuck shop has shifted to the ground floor of Activity center (I guess you all remember where was activity center)
4. We now have our very own college bus! I dont know what it's used for but it was standing right behind the stage. Its a brand new swaraj majda mid-size bus. Got it how it looks like! I will upload the photographs this weekend!
5. The gardeners, safaiwallas and other helping staff have got uniforms! The gardeners have all green, safaiwalas have blue. Dont ask me exact color as I am week at naming colors :(
6. The garden in front of Sarojani bhawan has been fenced with heavy iron fences!
7. Now the best part! The cafeteria has got a complete makeover! Looks like a modern and swanky cafe! Staring from the entrance door to the floor to vceiling everything has been changed! The entrance gate stands tall in dark brown color. The floor is completely revamped with new stylish tiles and patterns! The plastic tables are gone and we have good looking chairs and tables. All of them are square tables and have sitting of 4 people. There were 4 long tables which have sitting for 10-12 people! The counter has also changed. The height of the counter has been reduced to normal level, much to comfort of many people ;) . The ceiling is also looking cool with false ceiling in wave patters giving it a cool look. There a screen rolled up in the middle of the room, hanging from the ceiling. I am not sure of it's purpose but maybe it's used for screening some movies or presentations!
8. The rates in the canteen are almost same as we had them except coffee which is now for 6 a cup and some more items have changed by 1 or 2 ruppees.
So this was it. As against the hype of JBS students (you know what hype ;) ) I dint find it to be that true! Well to certain extent, it is :D . The first year also looks good :)
Monday, April 09, 2007
A new Look!
Well, it was time for a change. I, myself was bored and felt a bit low by seeing that All Black template. I wanted a new look for my blogs, something that is attractive and has some lively colors.
Someone had said that, "Only Change is Constant in nature". So true! Everything keeps on changing. It starts from us and influences each and every thing around us. This can be other way round too.
I look around myself and I couldn't find even my best friend. Well it has changed. They have moved on. They don't consider me as a good friend any longer. They have got someone new! Well, not to clame them. After all this is the law of nature! I find it very difficult to align myself with this law. I feel a pain, whenever I try to think like that. But I guess, sooner or later, I will have to do something to make me adapt myself to this crap, where we have to nod assertivel whenever someone we love leave us and sticks to someone new! How come so? Why the hell? Is it really that necessary? Well, I can never understand all this stuff :(
I want to remain different. I am in no mood to follow those sheeps!
I am myself and I will continue to be myself. The reason being, I know that I am right!
Someone had said that, "Only Change is Constant in nature". So true! Everything keeps on changing. It starts from us and influences each and every thing around us. This can be other way round too.
I look around myself and I couldn't find even my best friend. Well it has changed. They have moved on. They don't consider me as a good friend any longer. They have got someone new! Well, not to clame them. After all this is the law of nature! I find it very difficult to align myself with this law. I feel a pain, whenever I try to think like that. But I guess, sooner or later, I will have to do something to make me adapt myself to this crap, where we have to nod assertivel whenever someone we love leave us and sticks to someone new! How come so? Why the hell? Is it really that necessary? Well, I can never understand all this stuff :(
I want to remain different. I am in no mood to follow those sheeps!
I am myself and I will continue to be myself. The reason being, I know that I am right!
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Convocation !!
I will be awarded a degree! Hey our convocation is round the corner and I am walking down that corner. It really feels great that I will meet many of my friends almost after an year.
I had applied for acomodation in hostel for 2 days during convocation.
This oppurtunity of living in hostel with everyone once again cant be escaped. Its tempting.
JIIT here I come again on a short visit, though
:)
I had applied for acomodation in hostel for 2 days during convocation.
This oppurtunity of living in hostel with everyone once again cant be escaped. Its tempting.
JIIT here I come again on a short visit, though
:)
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