Not Just Another Sunday!

After so many lonely and boring weekends, I had something to cheer on this Sunday. I dint wasted the day alone.

I went to the college to meet Akshay near 1 PM and has a long chat with him in front of the new tuck shop (Its named A to Z now). They have placed bences in front of that SAC building on the footpath. [ Can you visualize that :) ]
Many new faces and some old ones. Some other guys also came to meet me who recognized me sitting there. And the best part, the safai wale bhaiya who used to clean our block did recognized me in one shot! For me that was more rewarding than some teacher recognizing me for licking his boots! Coz that's what I would say a humane relation which must have had some sweetness in terms of true respect! So I did see BG also on the college gate only (ATM wala gate). The funny part is that guards are still troublesome. I had to do some talking before the guy let me in. But once I was in, everything was like known to me. Akshay is doing good in studies. He is not that 9 pointer but he is godd at what's he doing and he is committed. We talked about a lot of stuff ranging from studies to fake professors to girls to US and blah blah. I felt so good after talking to him. Felt like old days. However, I couldn't roam in the campus as I was not much in mood to waste more time of his :)

I left at around 2:20 and then thronged Shipra Mall to walk down. Nothing interseting so I just wkinda walked all over the place and decided to head back home.

In the evening, some old friends met up at Lomash n Soma's place and have a good chat for some time. It was as the newly wed couple was wished and we gave the gifts to them.

Bakc home, I started Apocalypse Now but slept in between due to lingering back pain. Overall a Good Sunday.

This is the end

This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end
Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end
I'll never look into your eyes...again
Can you picture what will be
So limitless and free
Desperately in need...of some...stranger's hand
In a...desperate land
Lost in a Roman...wilderness of pain
And all the children are insane
All the children are insane
Waiting for the summer rain, yeah

What a country we live in!

No country in the world you will see or hear about which places restrictions on movement of its citizens across different states in search of a better living, studies, employment, travel, leisure, business or whatever. There are excpetions but they are in exceptional scenarios. One I know is China, which used to place restrictions on movement towards Tibet, which it controls.
Come to India and here politicians, who think they are nothing less than God are preparing to place restrictions on who lives and who leaves a particular city or for that matter state. Yes, I am talking of a Maharashtra politician who thinks Maharashtra is only for people of Maharashtra origin and people belonging to other states in India have no right to enter the capital Mumbai or any other part of Maharashtra. What made him issue such a statement? He knows the answer to this question and no one else. And which group of people irked him to made such a statement? It's people of Bihar, who else it can be. People all over the country hate in a way or other Biharis. The word Bihari is used a slang in most places and Biharis who make their presence in all most all states and cities throughout India and looked down upon. It doesn't matters whether that guy from Bihar is pulling a rickshaw, driving autorickshaw or taxi, is a daily-wage labour, is plumber, electrician or doing your household chores or is a software engineer or is a senior manager in some organization or is an IAS officer or is a diplomat or a senior official in central government; everyone is made a part of abusive talk between non-biharis. All Biharis as talked about and taunted in a way or other. The politician I talked about is Raj Thackrey who feels he will decide who lives where and would really love to re-write the constitution to place a ban on people of Bihar entering Maharashtra. That guy even made an obscene comment on a holy festival, Chhath which is celebrated in Bihar and Western UP. No one takes action against him! I see no reason for not taking any action against that man. We have provisions under Indian Penal Code to register a case against anyone who hurts or tries to hurt religious sentiments of any particular section of society. But since the offender is from a state other than Bihar, media wont cover it much and nobody cares until it is someone from Bihar!
This country and its people really are going awry. I dont want to live in such a country where the fellow country men insult you, abuse you and make fun of you all because you come from a state which is Poor and yet produces finest talent and laborious people for the whole country.
Welcome to a shining India which has started practising Racism in a new flavour!

Apple Macbook Air

Another technological marvel from Apple. They keep on proving again and again that they are the undsiputablew leaders when it comes to desgining products. Product after product, they keep the competitors on their toes, who fail to emulate Apple's innovation.

Steve Jobs unveiled World's thinnest laptop at Macworld 2008. They have named it Macbook Air. Whats more intersting than the sleekness of this product is the revolutionary multi-touch trackpad interface. The tested and applauded interface of iPhone and iPod touch comes to Macbook Air. You can have a look on the trackpad here.

The thickness of this laptop varies from 0.16 inches at its thinnest point to 0.76 inches at its thickest point! Apple has had to shed some features to make this ultra thin. There's no optical drive, Ethernet jack in here. Its built for the wireless world. Thought not for masses as it is priced at $1799 (base model). Having no optical drive does not mean you can't install any sofwatre or play your favourite movie from your DVD/CD. There's remote disc software which enables you to play your DVD/CD on your PC/Mac and transfer the content onto you Macbook Air. Check out details here.


Keep going Apple!

WWF Study on Glaciers and their retreat

Here's a report on Glaciers, Glacier retreat and its subsequent impact in the Nepal, India and China by WWF.

For more intersting articles of similar nature on related topics you hit websites of WWF India or WWF.


PS: This is a pdf document so make sure you have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your machine. If not you can download it from here.

Sacred Ganges at the verge of extinction?

The Ganges, better known to us Indians as Ganga maa is on the verge of extinction. I had started collecting facts about Global Warming efforts in India and suddenly my current interest shifted to our sacred river.

It has been known for long that the Ganges is reeling under the pressure of pollution. Pollution was attributed to be one of the prime reason for the changing course at many places and receding water levels. The government still fails to launch a national intensive program to clean-up the river. The river depends on the disconnected efforts of a lot of NGOs and public bodies. Thought the river traverses 4 different states before it leaves Indian border, we have not seen any joint effort towards cleaning up the river. The river which holds a sacred place in the heart of Hindus lacks attention in this regard from the central governement. Even if there is something which the central government is doing, its not worthy and visible.

I came across a report by WWF which enlists The Ganges among the the world's top 10 rivers at risk. Another report published in Washington Post points out the receding glacial sources as the reason behind the progressing extinction. This all is attributed to global warming which is in all responsible for increasing average temperatures across the world and leading to receding glacial levels, which actually feed the large rivers. It has been evident that the Gangotri glacier in upper himalayas has been the source of 70% water for Ganges during summer. Faster melting levels mean flash floods in near future and an extinct river in the long run.

These events will have an impact on economic conditions also. That is evident from the fact that The Ganges is so interspersed with millions of lives in the region it passes through!

Who will save The Ganges is the biggest question. In a fastly developing country, the government has ironically little time for climatic issues and global warming. Nothing can be seen as being done by the central government, so how can I and others blame private enterpreneurs for overlooking all this?

An interesting Story!

I just read an article on wired about iPhone's impact on the wireless industry. Do read this.

Dont kill the Car!

Finally, it's out. The much awaited and much hyped people's car Nano by Tata Motors is here.

There's much criticism going on around this car. Environmentalist all around the world are saying a lot against the car. They are concerned that the car, if succesfull will add to world's woes in fighting against global warming. However, there is a lot of admiration and praises too!

I am not sure which group you fall in. But I have for sure all praise for this achievement by Tatas. Why dont you read this before being a critique of the car?

Wicked Games

I heard this song in Pacific Mall (GZB) for the first time. We were there on a birthday treat in Jan 2006. It was her treat!
When we were leaving the place, this song started playing and I loved the rhythm and the voice. Joy, a batchmate had heard this song earlier and he told me that it's by Chris Isack
What an occasion it was for me to hear this song. In that crowd, it was only me who could understand why I was loving this song so much at that point of time. She was around!

The world was on fire
No one could save me but you.
Strange what desire will make foolish people do
I never dreamed that I'd meet somebody like you
And I never dreamed that I'd lose somebody like you

No, I don't want to fall in love
[This love is only gonna break your heart]
No, I don't want to fall in love
[This love is only gonna break your heart]
With you
With you

What a wicked game you play
To make me feel this way
What a wicked thing to do
To let me dream of you
What a wicked thing to say
You never felt this way
What a wicked thing to do
To make me dream of you
And I don't wanna fall in love
[This love is only gonna break your heart]
And I don't want to fall in love
[This love is only gonna break your heart]

{World was on fire
No one could save me but you
Strange what desire will make foolish people do
I never dreamed that I'd love somebody like you
I never dreamed that I'd lose somebody like you

No I don't wanna fall in love
[This love is only gonna break your heart
No I don't wanna fall in love
[This love is only gonna break your heart]
With you
With you

Nobody loves no one

Mumbai Molestation!

Mumbai was considered a safe place for women till new year's day.
On new year's day two NRI women were molested by a mob of at least 50 people. The incident took place just outside a 5 star hotel which they have just left after partying. The women were accompanied by their husbands. I need not and I wont recount the story. Everyone must be knowing this unfortunate incident. What irked me is the comment made by police chief of Mumbai. He said "This is a small incident. Such incidents keep on happening. Why make such a hue and cry?" When the police chief of a metropolitan thinks that molestation is just normal, how safe are women in that city? For that matter how safe anyone can feel? I hope if something similar happnes to his family members, maybe then he will understand the gravity of the incident. His remark would have painted a tarnished image of Mumbai in particular in foreign tourist's eyes.
I dont know where India is going with all this. We are developing at a fast pace as a country. But I guess, the morality is declining at that pace!

Om Shaanti Om

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!

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

I miss!

Chhole-Bhature
Kaju Katli
Aalo Paratha
My bike
Mom n Dad
Sunny
CAT

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.

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.

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!

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.