Get set and Go
============
Well folks, I am about to leave to india next monday. So, I am glad to get back there. My biggest problem here is I am eating hotel food everyday, which is very bad. U may never know when u will breakdown and by gods grace I was fit and fine over the entire trip. I hope to remain the same till next monday as well. So everything said and done, I was really planing to do something major this weekend. I wanted to visit LA or LV. But I didnt go to either one. Basically I am going to get ready and just while away my time or may be go to mani chitappa's house if i dont find any hopes of doing something useful. But the lesson learnt from planning for the trip.. U have keep something in mind before u talk to guys.. they will only digress the matter further if u have not planned.. and u Should be strong about what u have in mind.. And PLAN Early..
keep u posted with my developments.. as i head back home
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Hey Guys,
How r u doing??? Since my visit to sf, the whole of last week has gone as usual - typical wake up & leave to office, do work till evening.. - go / dont go to gym - out for dinner back to room, so nothing great to write last week.. And this saturday we went to a place called monterey bay acquarium. Its the worlds largest acquarium. I am not going to write my experiences completely now as I am heading to my chitappa's house today after an hour, so i am basically getting ready. But I want to write something which I learnt yesterday.
A leader should not be diplomatic. He should never try to convince everyone. He should listen to the suggestions of everyone, but should take his decision (by keeping in mind the suggestions given by the rest) unless his decision is so rediculously stupid. I remember reading something similar when I studied about Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan and I had mugged it very well in tenth. But, I understood it very well till yesterday. I really did something stupid yesterday and learnt a lesson of life. :-) These are pearls of life. This will come only with experience. As I told u, I will try to write about this sometime next week..
How r u doing??? Since my visit to sf, the whole of last week has gone as usual - typical wake up & leave to office, do work till evening.. - go / dont go to gym - out for dinner back to room, so nothing great to write last week.. And this saturday we went to a place called monterey bay acquarium. Its the worlds largest acquarium. I am not going to write my experiences completely now as I am heading to my chitappa's house today after an hour, so i am basically getting ready. But I want to write something which I learnt yesterday.
A leader should not be diplomatic. He should never try to convince everyone. He should listen to the suggestions of everyone, but should take his decision (by keeping in mind the suggestions given by the rest) unless his decision is so rediculously stupid. I remember reading something similar when I studied about Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan and I had mugged it very well in tenth. But, I understood it very well till yesterday. I really did something stupid yesterday and learnt a lesson of life. :-) These are pearls of life. This will come only with experience. As I told u, I will try to write about this sometime next week..
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Passion & Patience - Highlights of my weekend
=================================
Hey guys,
Last weekend I didnt go to any major places. So this weekend I was bent on going somewhere. But unfortunately no body who had a car volunteered to take us out. So, we took an adventure outing. We planned the trip by 10 am in the morning, took a train to sf, visited a lot of places just by using maps, walked through the city, and came back by train. This was my saturday. It was serious fun.
But I leant a nice lesson in the whole process. Passion can do wonders to you. It was only because of passion that I had that come what may, I am going out for the weekend.. It was because of passion that we went to ghirardelli square for the worlds famous ice cream. I would have let go off this place, tushar was passionate about eating thr. Similarly, guys wouldnt have minded giving up on the trip.. but it was my passion that made me go for it.. although many ppl were interested in joining if something happened.. Passion gives u the spark that makes things happen.. Passion brings out a leader in you.. It CAN make a huge difference.
While still the pleasant memories of lambard street and 22nd street and china town and the bay bridge and everything other thing which i saw in sf, was still lingering in my mind, i landed up in a huge fix today. I locked myself of my bedroom, thanks to the completely different type of locking system here.. My laptop, phone, and camera etc was lying inside... I thought I could go out and check if i can ask for some help, and my apartment door locked.. god!! I am locked out of my house.. incidentally i dont evn have room mates to get back into my house, let alone my room.. Then, luckily i met prk, i went and had my lunch. I was actually patient during the whole process. I would have been so tensed and i would have made a fuss of the whole process if i was the same guy like how i was in college. The best part was I was able to think in the crisis situation. I prioritized what I should be doing first. I came back, called the emergency number of marriott, found a PATH to the solution. I go to leasing office, but I find that it was closed for lunch. I waited at prk's house.. having some fun with him, go back to office and then I get the keys to my apartment. It is not the solution which I want. Then a guy came with some screw drivers and all the necessary tools to my house and opens the door of my bedroom. I was very relieved. I am very happy that I was patient through the whole process. It was another experience, Not a pleasant one though.. Now, I knw I will be careful everytime I lock or
go out my room..
Catch u later
=================================
Hey guys,
Last weekend I didnt go to any major places. So this weekend I was bent on going somewhere. But unfortunately no body who had a car volunteered to take us out. So, we took an adventure outing. We planned the trip by 10 am in the morning, took a train to sf, visited a lot of places just by using maps, walked through the city, and came back by train. This was my saturday. It was serious fun.
But I leant a nice lesson in the whole process. Passion can do wonders to you. It was only because of passion that I had that come what may, I am going out for the weekend.. It was because of passion that we went to ghirardelli square for the worlds famous ice cream. I would have let go off this place, tushar was passionate about eating thr. Similarly, guys wouldnt have minded giving up on the trip.. but it was my passion that made me go for it.. although many ppl were interested in joining if something happened.. Passion gives u the spark that makes things happen.. Passion brings out a leader in you.. It CAN make a huge difference.
While still the pleasant memories of lambard street and 22nd street and china town and the bay bridge and everything other thing which i saw in sf, was still lingering in my mind, i landed up in a huge fix today. I locked myself of my bedroom, thanks to the completely different type of locking system here.. My laptop, phone, and camera etc was lying inside... I thought I could go out and check if i can ask for some help, and my apartment door locked.. god!! I am locked out of my house.. incidentally i dont evn have room mates to get back into my house, let alone my room.. Then, luckily i met prk, i went and had my lunch. I was actually patient during the whole process. I would have been so tensed and i would have made a fuss of the whole process if i was the same guy like how i was in college. The best part was I was able to think in the crisis situation. I prioritized what I should be doing first. I came back, called the emergency number of marriott, found a PATH to the solution. I go to leasing office, but I find that it was closed for lunch. I waited at prk's house.. having some fun with him, go back to office and then I get the keys to my apartment. It is not the solution which I want. Then a guy came with some screw drivers and all the necessary tools to my house and opens the door of my bedroom. I was very relieved. I am very happy that I was patient through the whole process. It was another experience, Not a pleasant one though.. Now, I knw I will be careful everytime I lock or
go out my room..
Catch u later
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Queries Gallore!!
=============
Its more than a month since I first stepped in to this land, land of love at first sight.. (for many) and a big bad country for other.. :-) like harsha.. it has been quite an experience. Something which i find the most interesting is whenever i had a chat with anyone,they all ask me.. "Whats the time there now".. I am pretty sure as u r reading this blog, u will recollect that it is probably the first thing u would have asked me.. he he.. caught u.. There is nothing wrong or right about it, but i am generally telling what i experience.. infact, even i did this, when i had a chat with harsha, after he moved over here for his ms. For a moment, after i tell the time.. (i guess) you will wonder its 8o clock in the moring thr (or whatever the time is) and it will usually be dark for u in the night.. its time to give ur body some rest after a long day out in the sun.. but it will morning for me.. wonder how it will feel.. all sort of weird thoughts run in ur mind for a few seconds.. and then chat as usual.. people have also asked me how is the new place.. how is the culture here.. ( plz, i am not here to judge the culture here..) and what kind of food i get.. some of these are out of care, some out concern that they will be reaching here soon.. and some, just for curiosity.. after answering all these questions.. and whatever useful talk we have.. its again a turn to get confused.. more ofthen than not, they tell me good night.. and then put a nice smiley and then tell good morning.. :-) have a nice day.. i think u would have probably recollected every single thing i wrote here..
i am just wondering what would be running in their minds when they ask me questions like these.. y would everyone ask the time.. y do people ask about the weather.. after some introspection (while i am waiting for a program to compile), it is PROBABLY this.. people have a picture or a mindset about the place.. or for that matter anything.. picture is drawn either because of notation that they have built about the place from indirect sources, by seeing that place in tv, hearing about it.. getting to knw from people etc.. or directly when they visit it and when they ask you a question, all they do, is to verify or confirm the fact that their picture is correct.. if not, they change their mental picture about it.. thats how things are in life.. (i feel).. i am pretty sure.. u would have asked these questions..or something similar in life.. 1) how did u find forum - it would have been crowded right.. 2) It should be night for u right.. 3) how was ur visit to taj mahal.. it would have been beautifull.. 4) How are doing thr.. are u enjoy ur visit abroad.. these are the picture which ppl have.. they believe that a visit abroad is having fun.. or an enjoyment.. they think taj mahal is beautiful.... once u begin to confirm about the picture in ur mind.. or say correct ur picture in mind.. u dont generally ask these questions.. for example, nobody asks me time every day.. no body asks me.. how is the temperature.. unless i tell them that it was very cold or veryhot.. or something special.. the freshness and the curiosity to confirm the correctness... this makes ppl ask questions.. well if u see things in the long term.. i feel life is more or less like what i described.. u ask questions.. u form/ correct ur picture in you mind.. and then.. and once u get a good picture in ur mind.. u feel more assured .. i would say.. this is the process of maturing.. u can probably describe stuffs like insecurity is when u r unable to accept that the picture that u have in mind is going to change.. or some such thing.. u r getting me right.. well, i tried to pen down the meandering thoughts about life.. on the whole i had a some v pleasant experience.. well i also some bad experiences.. my picture of life has changed quite a lot.. i knw one thing is for sure.. the picture of life is sure to change every hour.. every day... throught life.. coz.. change is the only permanent thing.. but, the changes will not be drastic.. if these changes are drastic.. i would say, u r yet to mature in life.. yet to face life on your own.. life will move on.. keep u posted..
=============
Its more than a month since I first stepped in to this land, land of love at first sight.. (for many) and a big bad country for other.. :-) like harsha.. it has been quite an experience. Something which i find the most interesting is whenever i had a chat with anyone,they all ask me.. "Whats the time there now".. I am pretty sure as u r reading this blog, u will recollect that it is probably the first thing u would have asked me.. he he.. caught u.. There is nothing wrong or right about it, but i am generally telling what i experience.. infact, even i did this, when i had a chat with harsha, after he moved over here for his ms. For a moment, after i tell the time.. (i guess) you will wonder its 8o clock in the moring thr (or whatever the time is) and it will usually be dark for u in the night.. its time to give ur body some rest after a long day out in the sun.. but it will morning for me.. wonder how it will feel.. all sort of weird thoughts run in ur mind for a few seconds.. and then chat as usual.. people have also asked me how is the new place.. how is the culture here.. ( plz, i am not here to judge the culture here..) and what kind of food i get.. some of these are out of care, some out concern that they will be reaching here soon.. and some, just for curiosity.. after answering all these questions.. and whatever useful talk we have.. its again a turn to get confused.. more ofthen than not, they tell me good night.. and then put a nice smiley and then tell good morning.. :-) have a nice day.. i think u would have probably recollected every single thing i wrote here..
i am just wondering what would be running in their minds when they ask me questions like these.. y would everyone ask the time.. y do people ask about the weather.. after some introspection (while i am waiting for a program to compile), it is PROBABLY this.. people have a picture or a mindset about the place.. or for that matter anything.. picture is drawn either because of notation that they have built about the place from indirect sources, by seeing that place in tv, hearing about it.. getting to knw from people etc.. or directly when they visit it and when they ask you a question, all they do, is to verify or confirm the fact that their picture is correct.. if not, they change their mental picture about it.. thats how things are in life.. (i feel).. i am pretty sure.. u would have asked these questions..or something similar in life.. 1) how did u find forum - it would have been crowded right.. 2) It should be night for u right.. 3) how was ur visit to taj mahal.. it would have been beautifull.. 4) How are doing thr.. are u enjoy ur visit abroad.. these are the picture which ppl have.. they believe that a visit abroad is having fun.. or an enjoyment.. they think taj mahal is beautiful.... once u begin to confirm about the picture in ur mind.. or say correct ur picture in mind.. u dont generally ask these questions.. for example, nobody asks me time every day.. no body asks me.. how is the temperature.. unless i tell them that it was very cold or veryhot.. or something special.. the freshness and the curiosity to confirm the correctness... this makes ppl ask questions.. well if u see things in the long term.. i feel life is more or less like what i described.. u ask questions.. u form/ correct ur picture in you mind.. and then.. and once u get a good picture in ur mind.. u feel more assured .. i would say.. this is the process of maturing.. u can probably describe stuffs like insecurity is when u r unable to accept that the picture that u have in mind is going to change.. or some such thing.. u r getting me right.. well, i tried to pen down the meandering thoughts about life.. on the whole i had a some v pleasant experience.. well i also some bad experiences.. my picture of life has changed quite a lot.. i knw one thing is for sure.. the picture of life is sure to change every hour.. every day... throught life.. coz.. change is the only permanent thing.. but, the changes will not be drastic.. if these changes are drastic.. i would say, u r yet to mature in life.. yet to face life on your own.. life will move on.. keep u posted..
Monday, November 06, 2006
Hi guys..
nothing major "happening this weekend", i went to chitappa's house on friday evening.. stayed there till saturday evening.. there was an important match between google mtv guys vs google bangalore guys, this curtailed my itenary at freemont as there was a sudden emergency requirement for a star player for bangalore office(luckily no match.. i can write whatever i want)... santhosh came home on sat night also.. watched a movie - bruce almight.. i liked the movie... i liked the role played by jim carrys wife.. then as usual.. chit chatting.. pulling leg... maximizing the orkut facilities.. had fun.. slept at 4.. for a match at 8 next morning.. no reply or no signs of match at all.. finally that threaded ended when bangalore's star player called it off .. MATCH ENDED DUE TO LACK OF ENTHU.. i then went to walmart with santhosh.. we spent so much time.. buying things for ppl back home.. then i went to stan for grub.. ( range mache.. ) came back to room.. read some book for sometime.. worked for an hour.. then watched How to lose guy in ten days.. it was really really nice. i am searching for some songs in serendipity.. and i am planning to watch more movies of this type.. wish i had those dvd/cd etc..
on the whole.. nothing hep and happening over the weekend.. next week.. should be off for a day trip atleast i hope..
nothing major "happening this weekend", i went to chitappa's house on friday evening.. stayed there till saturday evening.. there was an important match between google mtv guys vs google bangalore guys, this curtailed my itenary at freemont as there was a sudden emergency requirement for a star player for bangalore office(luckily no match.. i can write whatever i want)... santhosh came home on sat night also.. watched a movie - bruce almight.. i liked the movie... i liked the role played by jim carrys wife.. then as usual.. chit chatting.. pulling leg... maximizing the orkut facilities.. had fun.. slept at 4.. for a match at 8 next morning.. no reply or no signs of match at all.. finally that threaded ended when bangalore's star player called it off .. MATCH ENDED DUE TO LACK OF ENTHU.. i then went to walmart with santhosh.. we spent so much time.. buying things for ppl back home.. then i went to stan for grub.. ( range mache.. ) came back to room.. read some book for sometime.. worked for an hour.. then watched How to lose guy in ten days.. it was really really nice. i am searching for some songs in serendipity.. and i am planning to watch more movies of this type.. wish i had those dvd/cd etc..
on the whole.. nothing hep and happening over the weekend.. next week.. should be off for a day trip atleast i hope..
Friday, November 03, 2006
Fun with Santhosh
---------------------
Hi, i will continue my story about my hike later. here is what happened yesterday.
Santhosh came to my room yesterday. For those who dont know who santhosh is, he is one of class mates at st. josephs. He is a part of my close friends circle at st. josephs. So, from there he went to iitm and now he is in stanford university. He is pretty close friend of mine. I went to visit him two weeks back at stanford. So, it was his turn to reciprocate. He had come to my room on thursday evening (????) and we went out for dinner. The place where went was amber cafe. It is hardly a few hundred feet from the bus stop where i was waiting for him. Once he came, we were just talking and we didnt realize that we had walked a lot ahead. and, then we started to walk back and got completely confused of whr we were.. we were basically oscillating from one end to another.. and think that we r taking the wrong direction and walk back.. oh god, what a mess.. finally we reached the hotel. we were discussing his LEELAIGALs over the weekend.. it was fun.. like talking so freely on the road.. and casually walking.. this usually doesnt happen here.. cab comes and drops u off at ur apartment most of time.. you hardly get to walk a lot.. but it was fun.. basically i enjoyed his company a lot..
I asked him to get tamil movies, he comes over and tells.. he forgot bring them.. but he had a cd bag of all types of nonsensical stuffs.. hindi movie, songs. etc... but i was in no mood of watching a movie.. we started chit chatting.. we basically spoke a lot.. basically it was junk for an outsider.. and we started reading some of the movie reviews.. and we laughed and laughed.. man.. seriously.. we watched some google videos.. some on you tube.. those lollu sabha videos.. (spoosf in tamil) were amazing.. and then i found this review.. a must read.. if u follow tamil movies.. evn others can read and still enjoy.. and then.. we watched a couple of episodes of futurama.. while waiting for a movie to download.. the movie which wanted to download was "JUST MY LUCK".. it was a very cute movie which i watched on flight on my way to los angeles.. it was already 12 :45.. so we decided to sleep.. from 12:45 to 2:30 types.. we were just chatting with the lights off.. we remembered a lot of funny stuffs that happened in first puc... 11std.,. it was fun.. i was laughing my ass off.. trust me.. things look so funny now.. finally we decided to sleep.. he had a class at 8:30am today .. and even i had to go to office.. so.. i just wanted to chk out the time.. switched on the alarm.. we woke up like 7:30.. he was on his way to college.. and i was on my way to office..
it was a moment to cherish.. nobody expected that we would be having a such a nice time.. in a place so far away from our mother land... so far away from the place we met.. and so far away.. from the place we had all the fun.. it was great!! these are moments i will carry back home.. these are moments which he will remember for the next few years he is going to be here.. it was extremely special.. coz. u wont get anybody to speak to with ur heart open.. all though every damn tom dick and harry will tell you "Haaai, how r u doing ... " on the road.. u wont get anybody to share ur sorrows or happiness..
friends are something which u earn in life.. i am very happy and proud of my very close friend circle.. i hope one of u will read this. i dont have to tell who my close friends are her.. coz.. if u r one of them. u knw it. missing u all guys.. i am missing my family and ppl back home.. i am missing my college days.. i am missing my night outs.. bakharing.. i am missing my days.. when ppl used to wake me up for 8:30 class and i used to tell.. 5 mins and sleep.. i miss that early morning phone cals from opal to wake me up.. the care and affection of ppl back home.. i am missing my moms food.. i am missing my chats with my dad.. leg pulling of my cousins and sis.. i am missing my grand father a lot.. i am missing my grandmother who wakes me up in the morning.. everyday... at bangalore..
life is a paradox here.. i was very happy about having fun with santhosh.. in fact we were talking a lot about fun we had.. and then after all that.. u suddenly say.. man!! i miss those days.. and then u talk about all the things that u miss.. and then u feel sad!! its better not to think of happy days.. when u r here.. its better to be like a robots.. no emotions to be displayed.. or shared.. love ur life thr... if u just waiting to immigrate to india.. u might not find that again in your life.
---------------------
Hi, i will continue my story about my hike later. here is what happened yesterday.
Santhosh came to my room yesterday. For those who dont know who santhosh is, he is one of class mates at st. josephs. He is a part of my close friends circle at st. josephs. So, from there he went to iitm and now he is in stanford university. He is pretty close friend of mine. I went to visit him two weeks back at stanford. So, it was his turn to reciprocate. He had come to my room on thursday evening (????) and we went out for dinner. The place where went was amber cafe. It is hardly a few hundred feet from the bus stop where i was waiting for him. Once he came, we were just talking and we didnt realize that we had walked a lot ahead. and, then we started to walk back and got completely confused of whr we were.. we were basically oscillating from one end to another.. and think that we r taking the wrong direction and walk back.. oh god, what a mess.. finally we reached the hotel. we were discussing his LEELAIGALs over the weekend.. it was fun.. like talking so freely on the road.. and casually walking.. this usually doesnt happen here.. cab comes and drops u off at ur apartment most of time.. you hardly get to walk a lot.. but it was fun.. basically i enjoyed his company a lot..
I asked him to get tamil movies, he comes over and tells.. he forgot bring them.. but he had a cd bag of all types of nonsensical stuffs.. hindi movie, songs. etc... but i was in no mood of watching a movie.. we started chit chatting.. we basically spoke a lot.. basically it was junk for an outsider.. and we started reading some of the movie reviews.. and we laughed and laughed.. man.. seriously.. we watched some google videos.. some on you tube.. those lollu sabha videos.. (spoosf in tamil) were amazing.. and then i found this review.. a must read.. if u follow tamil movies.. evn others can read and still enjoy.. and then.. we watched a couple of episodes of futurama.. while waiting for a movie to download.. the movie which wanted to download was "JUST MY LUCK".. it was a very cute movie which i watched on flight on my way to los angeles.. it was already 12 :45.. so we decided to sleep.. from 12:45 to 2:30 types.. we were just chatting with the lights off.. we remembered a lot of funny stuffs that happened in first puc... 11std.,. it was fun.. i was laughing my ass off.. trust me.. things look so funny now.. finally we decided to sleep.. he had a class at 8:30am today .. and even i had to go to office.. so.. i just wanted to chk out the time.. switched on the alarm.. we woke up like 7:30.. he was on his way to college.. and i was on my way to office..
it was a moment to cherish.. nobody expected that we would be having a such a nice time.. in a place so far away from our mother land... so far away from the place we met.. and so far away.. from the place we had all the fun.. it was great!! these are moments i will carry back home.. these are moments which he will remember for the next few years he is going to be here.. it was extremely special.. coz. u wont get anybody to speak to with ur heart open.. all though every damn tom dick and harry will tell you "Haaai, how r u doing ... " on the road.. u wont get anybody to share ur sorrows or happiness..
friends are something which u earn in life.. i am very happy and proud of my very close friend circle.. i hope one of u will read this. i dont have to tell who my close friends are her.. coz.. if u r one of them. u knw it. missing u all guys.. i am missing my family and ppl back home.. i am missing my college days.. i am missing my night outs.. bakharing.. i am missing my days.. when ppl used to wake me up for 8:30 class and i used to tell.. 5 mins and sleep.. i miss that early morning phone cals from opal to wake me up.. the care and affection of ppl back home.. i am missing my moms food.. i am missing my chats with my dad.. leg pulling of my cousins and sis.. i am missing my grand father a lot.. i am missing my grandmother who wakes me up in the morning.. everyday... at bangalore..
life is a paradox here.. i was very happy about having fun with santhosh.. in fact we were talking a lot about fun we had.. and then after all that.. u suddenly say.. man!! i miss those days.. and then u talk about all the things that u miss.. and then u feel sad!! its better not to think of happy days.. when u r here.. its better to be like a robots.. no emotions to be displayed.. or shared.. love ur life thr... if u just waiting to immigrate to india.. u might not find that again in your life.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Hi guys..
Its been really long time since i blogged. Once I started blogging and i had to stop it for some work. Ok.. so, here i am typing whatever i remember in cache memory, atmost in my ram, certainly i am not going to dig my hard disk for what happened.. he he. ok..
So.. last weekend, I went out to a place called YO SEMITE. It means grizzly bear. You knw what, this is my best trip of my life. I am not a major traveller or anything, so anything i do should be a good trip, but this was something so amazing. It was a very well planned trip, except that 2 out of the 5 people gave a kela at the last minute. So, finally three of us went thr. Narayan, should be given major credit for the trip. He did most of the planning and booking. Bharath helped us with the drive. And ofcourse, ME for if i had also dropped out, then only two of them were left, enthu would have dropped below threshold and we would have packed the trip. So the total credit goes to one and only me.. he he.. just kidding.. i was just accompanying them.. my only contribution for the trip was to eat the food which we had bought.. :-) ok.. so.. moving along, we woke up at 5:30 (?? Does this surprise u.. I wake up at 9 and rush to office at 10) and we start our trip as early as 6:30. Car is packed with lot of eating stuffs.. Gotorades.. water bottles.. it was the most planned trip ours u see.. :-) We moved along..
On the way, i took some cool snaps, which i finally deleted because either it didnt come out good or it was too ordinary for the other photos.. taken thr.. my first good photo started at a reservoir. I generally like seeing water.. even a tub of water makes me feel happy... but this was simply beautiful.. chhooo much water... took a few snaps of the place and ofcourse a lot of mine.. so that i dont want to mess up my cool photos.. took a few snaps of narayan.. and ofcourse bharath.. but bharath doesnt like to be a part of the picture..
Along the drive, we had some interesting discussion.. or a rambling babbling.. whatever u call... we digressed through a wide range of topics starting from the role of a product manager to civil engineering.. and roads.. and a lot of interesting / boring talks.. in the process missed an exit and lost our way.. and me making vital contributions to it.. whenever i am awake.. basically it goes like this.. i ask a general question.. we have a good discussion.. after some time.. when it goes very off topic.. i sleep off.. then i wake up.. i curiously ask.. what ever u talking about.. i will pose an enthusiastic question and ofcourse.. goto : previous sentence.. and finally.. after good 2 hrs of intermittent sleep.. i wake up.. i am all set for the nature sight seeing.. it was very beautiful drive.. my "AMAZING"s or "WOW"s didnt stop at all through out.. We stopped at some of the vista points.. took a few snaps.. ofcourse my narcism was given its due respect..
We reached yosemite like somewher like 11:30 or 12 noon.. not sure.. we had good lunch.. i mean.. a pizza.. thats all... in this season.. only pizza's are available.. all the other shops are closed for winter.. i fundu..ly ordered an healthy "ORANGE JUICE PLEASE..." He gives a fruity type dabba. which i have to pour into a tumblur(glass) and drink.... ha ha ha.. healthy.. ( I should tell myself and drink that FRESH fruit juice.. ) anyways.. we then took our room keys.. my morning rites are yet to performed.. so.. i was hurrying the rest.. we plan to leave all our eatables / toiletries.. at BEAR SAFE CONTAINERS... people back in india would be afraid of monkeys.. this place is inhabited by bears.. there were many incidences of bears taking food.. so we have to keep everything that smells in a BEAR SAFE containers.. look.. i still remember having cried at a at palani because a monkey tried to snatch some milk from my hand.. and now.. going to face bears.. praying god.. that i should reach safely back home.. and we head towards our home sweet home.. we are already feeling very cold.. we find a very well built tent.. see photos.. plz.. i will link it up soon.. we happily see that we are going to live in such a CUTE place.. with a very WARM night of 5 degree celcius.. Awesome.. btb, the place is called curry village.. its in the valley.. it was very nice to stay there.. in terms of sight..
We were all set and enthusiastic about the hike.. we chose the trail ( so called.. there was no trail there.. it was just rocks.. ) to the top of the bernal falls. It was very difficult at the start. bharath was walking very fast. we couldnt catch up at all.. it was very steep.. and narayan and i were gasping for breath already... not even half way through.. i innocently asked bharath.. is the trail going to be like this through out?? he yes.. slightly more steeper.. :-) i was wondering.. y the hell on earth am i doing this.. the mistakes which we did were 1) we were trying to keep up with bharath.. who was a professional hiker.. and he wanted to beat the crowd.. 2) we didnt eat full stomach.. 3) we carried a lot of water bottles.. that made our backpack very heavy.. anyways.. then i realised that there was no point goin that fast.. narayan and i slowed down.. walking slowly.. resting whenever we felt like.. we reached the top of the bernal falls.. it was a very beautiful sight.. all the tiredness of climbing for such a long time.. was gone at the sight of the water.. then we saw the emerald lake.. water was crystal clear.. it looked green.. it was such a beautiful place.. along the way we took a lot of photos at the mid point of the falls.. we got a very good view of the falls.. ther.. we went down to the pool to feel the spray of water.. it was a very enriching experience.. man!! it was very good.. it was natural.. that was the best part.. u dont have concrete roads.. u dont have cars to go to such a place.. u dont have heaters.. u dont have a seperate bathrooms... its all shared.. the place is very rugged.. u have to walk.. u have to climb.. no porters.. nothing.. its all u and u alone.. the place is very big.. so more often than not.. u will find a maximum of 4 or 5 ppl.. in any given place... it was difficult to be honest..
from the emerald lake... we went up see a bridge.. this is when things began more and more difficult.. it was steep.. it didnt have stone steps.. you have just walk on rocks.. we saw the bridge.. in the process learnt a couple of camera tricks from bharath.. bharath told we will go to the top of nevada falls also.. we wont be coming here everyday.. we asked someone and they told us the route.. we started our next long and strenous hike.. midway to nevada falls.. we suddenly hear the sound of water.. its actually music....... the sight of the water, with trees having an yellowish color of fall.. sunlight reflecting from water and yellow leaves... looked like a golden place.. it was special.. by then i had exhausted all of my energy.. i was crawling to the top.. bharath asked me to sit somewhr.. so that he can chk out if there is a beautiful sight at the top.. it was already 5 in the evening.. me and narayan were generally discussing about how tiring the trip was.. and bharath was missing all of a sudden.. some guy came and warned us.. that in an hour.. everything will be dark... and its better not to search our path in the wilderness... especially when u cant see anything and ofcourse.. its going to be damn cold mind u!! remember 5 degrees.. we searched for bharath.. forced him to come down.. and ya.. all set.. we walked back to the bottom.. narayan was having a lot difficulty walking back.. our legs wer all paining.. and somehow we managed to find our way back to our tent..
to be continued...
Its been really long time since i blogged. Once I started blogging and i had to stop it for some work. Ok.. so, here i am typing whatever i remember in cache memory, atmost in my ram, certainly i am not going to dig my hard disk for what happened.. he he. ok..
So.. last weekend, I went out to a place called YO SEMITE. It means grizzly bear. You knw what, this is my best trip of my life. I am not a major traveller or anything, so anything i do should be a good trip, but this was something so amazing. It was a very well planned trip, except that 2 out of the 5 people gave a kela at the last minute. So, finally three of us went thr. Narayan, should be given major credit for the trip. He did most of the planning and booking. Bharath helped us with the drive. And ofcourse, ME for if i had also dropped out, then only two of them were left, enthu would have dropped below threshold and we would have packed the trip. So the total credit goes to one and only me.. he he.. just kidding.. i was just accompanying them.. my only contribution for the trip was to eat the food which we had bought.. :-) ok.. so.. moving along, we woke up at 5:30 (?? Does this surprise u.. I wake up at 9 and rush to office at 10) and we start our trip as early as 6:30. Car is packed with lot of eating stuffs.. Gotorades.. water bottles.. it was the most planned trip ours u see.. :-) We moved along..
On the way, i took some cool snaps, which i finally deleted because either it didnt come out good or it was too ordinary for the other photos.. taken thr.. my first good photo started at a reservoir. I generally like seeing water.. even a tub of water makes me feel happy... but this was simply beautiful.. chhooo much water... took a few snaps of the place and ofcourse a lot of mine.. so that i dont want to mess up my cool photos.. took a few snaps of narayan.. and ofcourse bharath.. but bharath doesnt like to be a part of the picture..
Along the drive, we had some interesting discussion.. or a rambling babbling.. whatever u call... we digressed through a wide range of topics starting from the role of a product manager to civil engineering.. and roads.. and a lot of interesting / boring talks.. in the process missed an exit and lost our way.. and me making vital contributions to it.. whenever i am awake.. basically it goes like this.. i ask a general question.. we have a good discussion.. after some time.. when it goes very off topic.. i sleep off.. then i wake up.. i curiously ask.. what ever u talking about.. i will pose an enthusiastic question and ofcourse.. goto : previous sentence.. and finally.. after good 2 hrs of intermittent sleep.. i wake up.. i am all set for the nature sight seeing.. it was very beautiful drive.. my "AMAZING"s or "WOW"s didnt stop at all through out.. We stopped at some of the vista points.. took a few snaps.. ofcourse my narcism was given its due respect..
We reached yosemite like somewher like 11:30 or 12 noon.. not sure.. we had good lunch.. i mean.. a pizza.. thats all... in this season.. only pizza's are available.. all the other shops are closed for winter.. i fundu..ly ordered an healthy "ORANGE JUICE PLEASE..." He gives a fruity type dabba. which i have to pour into a tumblur(glass) and drink.... ha ha ha.. healthy.. ( I should tell myself and drink that FRESH fruit juice.. ) anyways.. we then took our room keys.. my morning rites are yet to performed.. so.. i was hurrying the rest.. we plan to leave all our eatables / toiletries.. at BEAR SAFE CONTAINERS... people back in india would be afraid of monkeys.. this place is inhabited by bears.. there were many incidences of bears taking food.. so we have to keep everything that smells in a BEAR SAFE containers.. look.. i still remember having cried at a at palani because a monkey tried to snatch some milk from my hand.. and now.. going to face bears.. praying god.. that i should reach safely back home.. and we head towards our home sweet home.. we are already feeling very cold.. we find a very well built tent.. see photos.. plz.. i will link it up soon.. we happily see that we are going to live in such a CUTE place.. with a very WARM night of 5 degree celcius.. Awesome.. btb, the place is called curry village.. its in the valley.. it was very nice to stay there.. in terms of sight..
We were all set and enthusiastic about the hike.. we chose the trail ( so called.. there was no trail there.. it was just rocks.. ) to the top of the bernal falls. It was very difficult at the start. bharath was walking very fast. we couldnt catch up at all.. it was very steep.. and narayan and i were gasping for breath already... not even half way through.. i innocently asked bharath.. is the trail going to be like this through out?? he yes.. slightly more steeper.. :-) i was wondering.. y the hell on earth am i doing this.. the mistakes which we did were 1) we were trying to keep up with bharath.. who was a professional hiker.. and he wanted to beat the crowd.. 2) we didnt eat full stomach.. 3) we carried a lot of water bottles.. that made our backpack very heavy.. anyways.. then i realised that there was no point goin that fast.. narayan and i slowed down.. walking slowly.. resting whenever we felt like.. we reached the top of the bernal falls.. it was a very beautiful sight.. all the tiredness of climbing for such a long time.. was gone at the sight of the water.. then we saw the emerald lake.. water was crystal clear.. it looked green.. it was such a beautiful place.. along the way we took a lot of photos at the mid point of the falls.. we got a very good view of the falls.. ther.. we went down to the pool to feel the spray of water.. it was a very enriching experience.. man!! it was very good.. it was natural.. that was the best part.. u dont have concrete roads.. u dont have cars to go to such a place.. u dont have heaters.. u dont have a seperate bathrooms... its all shared.. the place is very rugged.. u have to walk.. u have to climb.. no porters.. nothing.. its all u and u alone.. the place is very big.. so more often than not.. u will find a maximum of 4 or 5 ppl.. in any given place... it was difficult to be honest..
from the emerald lake... we went up see a bridge.. this is when things began more and more difficult.. it was steep.. it didnt have stone steps.. you have just walk on rocks.. we saw the bridge.. in the process learnt a couple of camera tricks from bharath.. bharath told we will go to the top of nevada falls also.. we wont be coming here everyday.. we asked someone and they told us the route.. we started our next long and strenous hike.. midway to nevada falls.. we suddenly hear the sound of water.. its actually music....... the sight of the water, with trees having an yellowish color of fall.. sunlight reflecting from water and yellow leaves... looked like a golden place.. it was special.. by then i had exhausted all of my energy.. i was crawling to the top.. bharath asked me to sit somewhr.. so that he can chk out if there is a beautiful sight at the top.. it was already 5 in the evening.. me and narayan were generally discussing about how tiring the trip was.. and bharath was missing all of a sudden.. some guy came and warned us.. that in an hour.. everything will be dark... and its better not to search our path in the wilderness... especially when u cant see anything and ofcourse.. its going to be damn cold mind u!! remember 5 degrees.. we searched for bharath.. forced him to come down.. and ya.. all set.. we walked back to the bottom.. narayan was having a lot difficulty walking back.. our legs wer all paining.. and somehow we managed to find our way back to our tent..
to be continued...
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Hey guys,
so basically i had a pretty good week. I would say it was typical thingy. Today being sat, i went out to a place called san antonio rancho. the place was hardly 3 miles from my place. it took us a drive of 15 mins. we went to chinese restaurant, packed food.. went over to that place.. the place was really good. nice place for couples to go thr and talk over for a while.. coz thr isnt much too exciting.. just a beauty in calmness.. it looks like u r in the middle of a jungle.. not the dense ones.. but the ones, which are away from the city.. or connecting two cities.. so.. we had lunch.. generally talking about the types and kinds of work.. general google culture.. how work is different in different companies.. some personal stories.. basically a nice picnicy evn.. and from thr we took a trail.. started walking.. took some nice pics.. it was good loop.. the place was beautiful.. saw some deers also. i have taken pics of those..
ya from thr.. we went to madras cafe had tea, packed dinner.. back home.. and now blogging :-)
so basically i had a pretty good week. I would say it was typical thingy. Today being sat, i went out to a place called san antonio rancho. the place was hardly 3 miles from my place. it took us a drive of 15 mins. we went to chinese restaurant, packed food.. went over to that place.. the place was really good. nice place for couples to go thr and talk over for a while.. coz thr isnt much too exciting.. just a beauty in calmness.. it looks like u r in the middle of a jungle.. not the dense ones.. but the ones, which are away from the city.. or connecting two cities.. so.. we had lunch.. generally talking about the types and kinds of work.. general google culture.. how work is different in different companies.. some personal stories.. basically a nice picnicy evn.. and from thr we took a trail.. started walking.. took some nice pics.. it was good loop.. the place was beautiful.. saw some deers also. i have taken pics of those..
ya from thr.. we went to madras cafe had tea, packed dinner.. back home.. and now blogging :-)
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Different Cuisines @ MTV
----------------------------
Yesterday... I went out for a dinner with bangalore folks to a thai restaurant!! I ordered some wierd stuffs. I really dont knw their names. The food was pretty good yesterday, but the starters were bad. But today, I went to mediterranean restaurant. starters were good, but food was bad.. :-(
On the whole, it was pretty good experience..
catch u later
----------------------------
Yesterday... I went out for a dinner with bangalore folks to a thai restaurant!! I ordered some wierd stuffs. I really dont knw their names. The food was pretty good yesterday, but the starters were bad. But today, I went to mediterranean restaurant. starters were good, but food was bad.. :-(
On the whole, it was pretty good experience..
catch u later
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
For the past couple of days.. nothing really great to write in the blog.. The usual life is moving on.. But i thought i will just share a couple of lines about the temple i visited last sunday. Its in Fremont! The place is not very big, but it big enough to accomodate like say 100 - 150 ppl. The temple is more like an iskon temple, idols of many Gods are thr. This gives u a feeling of entering a place, which is more like a north Indian touch. Even the poojari, who is a tamilian, sings om jay jagadeesh hare.. and anybody can take take arathi... not like the south Indian ones where poojari takes aarathi and he shows it to ppl.. so basically by now u will get the picture of what i am talking about. But south Indians have something to cheer about.. u have a pillaiyar (ganesha) vigraha and navagrahas. I have not seen navagrahas in north indian temples.. so, excuse me if i am making a wrong statememt! Anyways.. so after worship u get prasadam.. u knw what we get.. we get almond + pistas + badams.. etc.. we get fruitsalad (panchaamrutham) in india, here we get dry fruit salad .. :-) We also get free dinner! I dont knw if it is given on specific days or everyday. But food is pretty good! Given in a nice plastic tray with spoon, fork etc.. Its a different experience on the whole! I can only think of ISKCON temple.. No wonder ppl go there as a hang out.. Westernization dude!!
Things change from place to place.. so do people!!! YOU HAVE TO ADAPT FAST!! Adaptation and acceptance is the name of the game!! you have to realize this and move on in life.. afterall.. CHANGE IS THE ONLY THING WHICH IS PERMANENT!!
Have fun
See u later
Things change from place to place.. so do people!!! YOU HAVE TO ADAPT FAST!! Adaptation and acceptance is the name of the game!! you have to realize this and move on in life.. afterall.. CHANGE IS THE ONLY THING WHICH IS PERMANENT!!
Have fun
See u later
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Weekend ( Oct 14th - 15th)
-----------------------------
So over the weekend, I just visited both major and minor places. So, on saturday a lot of bangalore folks enthusiastically (???) went to a few places in and around napa valley. Napa valley is one of the world famous vineyards. So u get to taste a different varieties of wines here. Apart from that, u can in general get to see a very beautiful and scenic place ( chk photos ).
We didnt directly go to napa valley. We also visited a couple of other tourist attractions. The first one was petrified forest. Here, we get to see some trees turned into stones. This happened mainly because of a volcano and the effect of its lava. The sicilon is supposed to have replaced the plant cell. It looks pretty good on the whole. I also saw lot of red wood trees. The stem and the branches were brownish red in color. It was small loop of such remains, and some models of some bears and other etc etc stuff. Not of major interest though. This place was visited by R.L.Stevenson, and there is a land mark here attributed to his name. Not worth it for 6$ entry ticket, but ok.. different experience. Got to see some stuffs, which i had never seen before. I wouldnt advise anybody to go and visit this place.. It is just one of the tourist place which u visit if you r going to some other place and this is along its way. Its not a major place, to go and visit.
And then, we went to a place called OLD FAITHFUL GEYER. Mother nature has been giving them 8$ per person for seeing an offshot of warm water once in every 40 minutes. (Check photos). Water raises to some serious heights.. some of the photos have captured it!! Its too good to believe that it is natural. I was not there to check the authenticity of the place, I was thr just to take some pics and enjoy the scenic beauty of nature. The place has some cool backgrounds. Apart from that, just to keep the tourists interesting, they had a variety of goat called fainting goats.. these goats just faint if they get scared.. They dont look any different though, and ofcourse we didnt want to see them faint. There were some lamas.. and some time pass stuffs.. Ok spot, similar to the previous one. Not a must go, given the choice between the two, I would advise you to choose the place depending on whether u have a cam or not. This place has some really good PHOTO POINTS...
And then we headed towards, napa valley. Thanks to my extreme interests in taking a photos, I asked my colleague to stop the car in the middle of the highway and took a photo at an extremly beautiful spot!! Chk that out! Its really cool.. then it was more and more beautiful stops coming... Visited a place called PEJU WINEYARD. It charged 7$ for 5 wine tastings. And had some cool types of wine bottles and wine glasses. Boring inside the building.. Outside .. just went to the vineyard.. walked across the grape plants.. took photos.. some of the photos are amazing.. and then we headed back.. Now the group was split into 5 each and one half went to treasure island and other went back to home coz .. satish who planned this trip had to meet his friend for dinner. So we went to treasure island.
And you knw what, words cant describe this place. I have taken some photos with the help of bharath! thanks to him, he was able to use the complete potential of my camera and take some amazing snaps!! Its looked like some of the posters.. check out the last few snaps.. they look like posters.. chk out.!! I was extremely happy for going to this place...
then on sunday, chitappa picked me up.. i visited his house.. spent some time with ganesh little .. ate good lunch.. i also went out for shopping. i visited walmart, walgreens and others. chitappa was extremely happy on seeing my camera and he told that it was very good buy. We had some camera specific discussions. I also bought a rechargable battery.. and then had a typical afternoon.. just chking mail.. had some fun.. and now i am heading back.. i think i will be going for some bhajans.. have dinner there and then go back to my room at park place!! tomo is monday.. and back to same routine...
catch u later
-----------------------------
So over the weekend, I just visited both major and minor places. So, on saturday a lot of bangalore folks enthusiastically (???) went to a few places in and around napa valley. Napa valley is one of the world famous vineyards. So u get to taste a different varieties of wines here. Apart from that, u can in general get to see a very beautiful and scenic place ( chk photos ).
We didnt directly go to napa valley. We also visited a couple of other tourist attractions. The first one was petrified forest. Here, we get to see some trees turned into stones. This happened mainly because of a volcano and the effect of its lava. The sicilon is supposed to have replaced the plant cell. It looks pretty good on the whole. I also saw lot of red wood trees. The stem and the branches were brownish red in color. It was small loop of such remains, and some models of some bears and other etc etc stuff. Not of major interest though. This place was visited by R.L.Stevenson, and there is a land mark here attributed to his name. Not worth it for 6$ entry ticket, but ok.. different experience. Got to see some stuffs, which i had never seen before. I wouldnt advise anybody to go and visit this place.. It is just one of the tourist place which u visit if you r going to some other place and this is along its way. Its not a major place, to go and visit.
And then, we went to a place called OLD FAITHFUL GEYER. Mother nature has been giving them 8$ per person for seeing an offshot of warm water once in every 40 minutes. (Check photos). Water raises to some serious heights.. some of the photos have captured it!! Its too good to believe that it is natural. I was not there to check the authenticity of the place, I was thr just to take some pics and enjoy the scenic beauty of nature. The place has some cool backgrounds. Apart from that, just to keep the tourists interesting, they had a variety of goat called fainting goats.. these goats just faint if they get scared.. They dont look any different though, and ofcourse we didnt want to see them faint. There were some lamas.. and some time pass stuffs.. Ok spot, similar to the previous one. Not a must go, given the choice between the two, I would advise you to choose the place depending on whether u have a cam or not. This place has some really good PHOTO POINTS...
And then we headed towards, napa valley. Thanks to my extreme interests in taking a photos, I asked my colleague to stop the car in the middle of the highway and took a photo at an extremly beautiful spot!! Chk that out! Its really cool.. then it was more and more beautiful stops coming... Visited a place called PEJU WINEYARD. It charged 7$ for 5 wine tastings. And had some cool types of wine bottles and wine glasses. Boring inside the building.. Outside .. just went to the vineyard.. walked across the grape plants.. took photos.. some of the photos are amazing.. and then we headed back.. Now the group was split into 5 each and one half went to treasure island and other went back to home coz .. satish who planned this trip had to meet his friend for dinner. So we went to treasure island.
And you knw what, words cant describe this place. I have taken some photos with the help of bharath! thanks to him, he was able to use the complete potential of my camera and take some amazing snaps!! Its looked like some of the posters.. check out the last few snaps.. they look like posters.. chk out.!! I was extremely happy for going to this place...
then on sunday, chitappa picked me up.. i visited his house.. spent some time with ganesh little .. ate good lunch.. i also went out for shopping. i visited walmart, walgreens and others. chitappa was extremely happy on seeing my camera and he told that it was very good buy. We had some camera specific discussions. I also bought a rechargable battery.. and then had a typical afternoon.. just chking mail.. had some fun.. and now i am heading back.. i think i will be going for some bhajans.. have dinner there and then go back to my room at park place!! tomo is monday.. and back to same routine...
catch u later
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Hey guys..
So past the two days, i am eating at a hotel called MADRAS CAFE. You would have guessed it.. It is a pucca south indian hotel. Its not one of those hotels with great paintings & great ambience. Its really cheap.. very simple place.. Probably looks slightly better than my college canteen. But the food was awesome. I enjoyed both the dinner yesterday and today. The best part was i spoke to those guys in tamil. It was fun on the whole.
But I incidentally noticed something here.. most of the indian guys / girls marry an american indian or an american. I rarely see people come down to india and get married and go back. Ofcourse i knw a couple of ppl who have done that.. but most of the times.. they marry ppl here and go back and tell ppl at home that they r married.. like the HDFC insurance ad.. he he.. thats too much.. i was kidding. they inform before the marriage itself.. :-)
Mostly they get acquainted to fellow indians.. and especially in the land which they have no clue of, they prefer the company of the fellow citizens, aka desis (ppl of same desh)... the acquaintance slowy but surely turns into love.. which is actually not wrong.. i remember one of the old movie dialogue.. in kuch kuch hota hai.. first the girl has to be my friend to be my love.. this is very true with guys / girls here.. all the best for u guys.. come out in flying colors.. long live ur love.. long live ur happy married life.. :-)
and btb... i was wondering that i would be difficult to bring up kids and i was infact discussing the same with one of my colleague.. and he gave a very good answer.. which is worth sharing with ppl.. he told when in america.. be prepared to bring up ur kids as americans.. else they will be like ABCD .. i asked what the hell on earth is ABCD.. he told AMERICAN BORN CONFUSED DESIS.. that i was one of the coolest acronyms.. but dude!! think.. do u want ur kids to be ABCDs.. just bring them up the american way.. dont force indianism.. thats what my minds says.. but my heart says.. I LOVE INDIA AND ITS CULTURE..
I am confused in the process!!! :-) he he
catch u later!
So past the two days, i am eating at a hotel called MADRAS CAFE. You would have guessed it.. It is a pucca south indian hotel. Its not one of those hotels with great paintings & great ambience. Its really cheap.. very simple place.. Probably looks slightly better than my college canteen. But the food was awesome. I enjoyed both the dinner yesterday and today. The best part was i spoke to those guys in tamil. It was fun on the whole.
But I incidentally noticed something here.. most of the indian guys / girls marry an american indian or an american. I rarely see people come down to india and get married and go back. Ofcourse i knw a couple of ppl who have done that.. but most of the times.. they marry ppl here and go back and tell ppl at home that they r married.. like the HDFC insurance ad.. he he.. thats too much.. i was kidding. they inform before the marriage itself.. :-)
Mostly they get acquainted to fellow indians.. and especially in the land which they have no clue of, they prefer the company of the fellow citizens, aka desis (ppl of same desh)... the acquaintance slowy but surely turns into love.. which is actually not wrong.. i remember one of the old movie dialogue.. in kuch kuch hota hai.. first the girl has to be my friend to be my love.. this is very true with guys / girls here.. all the best for u guys.. come out in flying colors.. long live ur love.. long live ur happy married life.. :-)
and btb... i was wondering that i would be difficult to bring up kids and i was infact discussing the same with one of my colleague.. and he gave a very good answer.. which is worth sharing with ppl.. he told when in america.. be prepared to bring up ur kids as americans.. else they will be like ABCD .. i asked what the hell on earth is ABCD.. he told AMERICAN BORN CONFUSED DESIS.. that i was one of the coolest acronyms.. but dude!! think.. do u want ur kids to be ABCDs.. just bring them up the american way.. dont force indianism.. thats what my minds says.. but my heart says.. I LOVE INDIA AND ITS CULTURE..
I am confused in the process!!! :-) he he
catch u later!
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Some minor things make life so much more better
--------------------------------------------------
I really find some minor things in us, or atleast in the place whr i am visiting, which is making life better.
1) The different varieties of tissue papers in the restaurants.
2) I liked the the way they give instructions on the card board box.
The normal box, which is used for packing. They write 1, 2, 3.. insert etc. Its so nice to use such things..
3) Something which I found difficult initially,
The way the taps work.. The best part is this convention, which is followed everywhr..
left hand side for hot water and right hand side for cold..
You feel nice things are so organised. Yes!! You find it difficult till understand. :-)
There are many things.. like these.. which makes life so nice..
Ya forgot, u might not be able to visualize this till have tried one
4) There is a loop in the vacuum cleaners.. so that wires dont keep moving from one side to the other... I saw this when i went to my uncles house...
Lots of learn from here.. Even the std places whr they keep dustbins..
esp, one under the kitchen sink. I was search for it quite sometime.. but it was finally near only..
6) Thr is a convention for blue, black dustbin - one for recycling and other for non-recyclable stuffs..
nice place.. nice things.. he he
catch u later.
--------------------------------------------------
I really find some minor things in us, or atleast in the place whr i am visiting, which is making life better.
1) The different varieties of tissue papers in the restaurants.
2) I liked the the way they give instructions on the card board box.
The normal box, which is used for packing. They write 1, 2, 3.. insert etc. Its so nice to use such things..
3) Something which I found difficult initially,
The way the taps work.. The best part is this convention, which is followed everywhr..
left hand side for hot water and right hand side for cold..
You feel nice things are so organised. Yes!! You find it difficult till understand. :-)
There are many things.. like these.. which makes life so nice..
Ya forgot, u might not be able to visualize this till have tried one
4) There is a loop in the vacuum cleaners.. so that wires dont keep moving from one side to the other... I saw this when i went to my uncles house...
Lots of learn from here.. Even the std places whr they keep dustbins..
esp, one under the kitchen sink. I was search for it quite sometime.. but it was finally near only..
6) Thr is a convention for blue, black dustbin - one for recycling and other for non-recyclable stuffs..
nice place.. nice things.. he he
catch u later.
Monday, October 09, 2006
Long Time No See
--------------------
Hey guys.. Sorry!! for not posting for really long time.. Basically I went on a trip on sat, friday i had lot of work.. evn on sunday i was here at office for completing some work.. So here I am on monday, blogging my experiences over the weekend.. ofcourse, i will try to remember as many things as possible..
I think, satish and I planned for a campus trip on thursday. I am not sure if i posted that either. So basically we went on a long walk seeing each and every place in google. Google is a very huge place. so evn if you visit mtv, u will generally go to your building or max a couple of buildings.. You wont knw what else is thr in Google!! You see, Google has googley things, which u wont find it elsewhr.. So, we visited all the buildings. The photos are all put up. I assume, you knw whr to click. One of my previous few blogs gives links to all photos. It was a nice afternoon, we left around 4 and we reached back office around 7 after seeing all the place. The highlight ofcourse is the clicking time. Both us were having a new camera and we just wanted to click a lot !! :-)
We then went to amber cafe, for dinner. It was a pretty good place. Had a nice dinner. On the whole a good experience.
Then, on friday.. It was typical day at work. But we worked quite a lot on sat. By the time we reached bed, it was easily the next day early morning! But the best part of the day was the discussion about which place to visit. After some serious contemplation and hard fought brain stroming session, we all uninamiously deciding to go the THE POINT REYES. For pics, click on one of the previous blogs. Basically it is around 50 miles from 101 highway. It was cool 2hr drive thanks to the traffic! The place has many trails to hike, but we chose the one with the coastal view. Trust it was indeed a great place!! Then from thr, we went to Shalimar - A pakistani restaurant for dinner. Naan was really amazing. Again came back and zzzzzzzZZZZZZZzzzzzzzz
Sunday, I woke up late.. I came office.. did some work.. went back and slept off!!
--------------------
Hey guys.. Sorry!! for not posting for really long time.. Basically I went on a trip on sat, friday i had lot of work.. evn on sunday i was here at office for completing some work.. So here I am on monday, blogging my experiences over the weekend.. ofcourse, i will try to remember as many things as possible..
I think, satish and I planned for a campus trip on thursday. I am not sure if i posted that either. So basically we went on a long walk seeing each and every place in google. Google is a very huge place. so evn if you visit mtv, u will generally go to your building or max a couple of buildings.. You wont knw what else is thr in Google!! You see, Google has googley things, which u wont find it elsewhr.. So, we visited all the buildings. The photos are all put up. I assume, you knw whr to click. One of my previous few blogs gives links to all photos. It was a nice afternoon, we left around 4 and we reached back office around 7 after seeing all the place. The highlight ofcourse is the clicking time. Both us were having a new camera and we just wanted to click a lot !! :-)
We then went to amber cafe, for dinner. It was a pretty good place. Had a nice dinner. On the whole a good experience.
Then, on friday.. It was typical day at work. But we worked quite a lot on sat. By the time we reached bed, it was easily the next day early morning! But the best part of the day was the discussion about which place to visit. After some serious contemplation and hard fought brain stroming session, we all uninamiously deciding to go the THE POINT REYES. For pics, click on one of the previous blogs. Basically it is around 50 miles from 101 highway. It was cool 2hr drive thanks to the traffic! The place has many trails to hike, but we chose the one with the coastal view. Trust it was indeed a great place!! Then from thr, we went to Shalimar - A pakistani restaurant for dinner. Naan was really amazing. Again came back and zzzzzzzZZZZZZZzzzzzzzz
Sunday, I woke up late.. I came office.. did some work.. went back and slept off!!
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Hi...
I think I didnt post what happened yesterday. I went to SUE's indian kitchen. I had a great south indian food there. I had dahi vadai and masala dosa. It was really good to eat. I liked it very much. But beyond all the stuffs to eat, I find something so fascinating about these indian restaurants.. they play carnatic music at a very mild level.. most of the ppl dont care a damn for it.. ofcourse there are some like me though.. I just enjoyed the veena yesterday. I was a ragam thanam pallavi on veena. I think it is genly difficult to sing, and playing on veena is even more difficult. I came back to my room.... Had a chat with bhavana for an hour or so.. and then went to sleep....
I then woke up at 8:30 today. It was really late.. then went to book a cab. I met a tamilian girl from hyd.. we travelled together to office. Had some nice discussions.. and finally started off my work.. The usual work.. Today I left a bit early. I then went out for CAMPUS TOUR with satish kambala. He is my college senior working in google. A pretty close friend of mine. So we visited loads of places .. i mean all the offices.. We took lots of photos. The photos link will get updated soon. It was nice on the whole. 3 hours or so.. it took us.. legs started paining.. so much we walked.. we couldnt use the scooters.. It was raining so we couldnt use that.
Dinner, we went to place called ambers cafe.. It is different from amber. It was one of the best naan i have ever had. Had some nice time with satish kambala. Photos coming soon..
then i reached room.. completed the formalities and here i am blogging.. I will sleep in a few minutes..
bye
zzzzzzzzzzzzz
I think I didnt post what happened yesterday. I went to SUE's indian kitchen. I had a great south indian food there. I had dahi vadai and masala dosa. It was really good to eat. I liked it very much. But beyond all the stuffs to eat, I find something so fascinating about these indian restaurants.. they play carnatic music at a very mild level.. most of the ppl dont care a damn for it.. ofcourse there are some like me though.. I just enjoyed the veena yesterday. I was a ragam thanam pallavi on veena. I think it is genly difficult to sing, and playing on veena is even more difficult. I came back to my room.... Had a chat with bhavana for an hour or so.. and then went to sleep....
I then woke up at 8:30 today. It was really late.. then went to book a cab. I met a tamilian girl from hyd.. we travelled together to office. Had some nice discussions.. and finally started off my work.. The usual work.. Today I left a bit early. I then went out for CAMPUS TOUR with satish kambala. He is my college senior working in google. A pretty close friend of mine. So we visited loads of places .. i mean all the offices.. We took lots of photos. The photos link will get updated soon. It was nice on the whole. 3 hours or so.. it took us.. legs started paining.. so much we walked.. we couldnt use the scooters.. It was raining so we couldnt use that.
Dinner, we went to place called ambers cafe.. It is different from amber. It was one of the best naan i have ever had. Had some nice time with satish kambala. Photos coming soon..
then i reached room.. completed the formalities and here i am blogging.. I will sleep in a few minutes..
bye
zzzzzzzzzzzzz
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Food at Amber
-----------------
Yesterday, work was pretty typical.. But the best part of the day was we went to amber for dinner. It was really good. Puri was not great.. But tea and rice item .. was good. I had some nice conversation with mahesh and vinodh. I was cool though to listen to various view points. Once again, I saw a car stop for us to cross the road. For mahesh it was a the first time. So he was surprised. Apart from that nothing much, I was reading the manual. I think I will finish it today.
Thats it for now.
-----------------
Yesterday, work was pretty typical.. But the best part of the day was we went to amber for dinner. It was really good. Puri was not great.. But tea and rice item .. was good. I had some nice conversation with mahesh and vinodh. I was cool though to listen to various view points. Once again, I saw a car stop for us to cross the road. For mahesh it was a the first time. So he was surprised. Apart from that nothing much, I was reading the manual. I think I will finish it today.
Thats it for now.
Photos at Mountain View.
As I told u, I got my digicam, I will be in clicking mode. I will put all my photos here.
I am going to stack it up.. so that u can see the most recent one up..
18) Pics from 17 mile drive.
This was my last fun trip of this visit. I am extremely happy to have bought this cam. I liked it very much. It has given some exceptional photos.. And I would like to thank lord almighty to give me such an oppurtunity
Pics from Monterey Bay Aquarium & Cannery Row
17) My photography skills put to fore. :-) - Some at park place.
16) Mystery Spot
15) Photos at acquarium
14) Photos of homo - sapiens
Here are the pics which i took when i visited stanford and santhosh :-)
13) Visit to sanfrancisco city. - Nov 11th.
12) Visit to stanford.
Blog posting will come up soon..
11) Halloween Party at google.
I have already posted a part of the my trip.. 2nd days experience coming soon..
10) Photos at Yosemite
9) Photos at Rancho San Antonio
Keep you posted!!
Here are some of the photos taken at Mani Chitappa's house and the park nearby. ( Chitappa == Uncle in simple english) Look what Ganesh Little Does!!
8) Photos at Mani Chitappa's Residence
Ok.. sorry for the delay. Here are the photos from my trip to Napa Valley, Castoliga and others.
Since I take a lot of photos, I would like to pic the most important / good photos and put up as Highlights ( If you are not interested in seeing my face a number of times / if you are in a hurry look at the highlights.) The "complete" includes the photos of highlights also. So, depending on your time and mood, you can choose to see whatever you want. This time, I have included the photos send by Navneet Loiwal. He is an excellent photographer. Dont miss out his pics.
5) Highlights of Napa Valley (Removed now)
6) Complete photos of Napa Valley Trip
7) Napa Valley - By Navneet (Dont Miss this one)
I am putting satish's photos coz, first half i took snaps, later in the day he took snaps. I this happened in campus tour as well as point reyes trip. :-)
3) Photos at Point Reyes - By Satish.
4) Campus Tour - By Satish
2) Oct 5 - Campus Tour + Oct 7th - Trip to point Reyes.
This is my first set.
1) Oct 3 - Living the googley way.
As I told u, I got my digicam, I will be in clicking mode. I will put all my photos here.
I am going to stack it up.. so that u can see the most recent one up..
18) Pics from 17 mile drive.
This was my last fun trip of this visit. I am extremely happy to have bought this cam. I liked it very much. It has given some exceptional photos.. And I would like to thank lord almighty to give me such an oppurtunity
Pics from Monterey Bay Aquarium & Cannery Row
17) My photography skills put to fore. :-) - Some at park place.
16) Mystery Spot
15) Photos at acquarium
14) Photos of homo - sapiens
Here are the pics which i took when i visited stanford and santhosh :-)
13) Visit to sanfrancisco city. - Nov 11th.
12) Visit to stanford.
Blog posting will come up soon..
11) Halloween Party at google.
I have already posted a part of the my trip.. 2nd days experience coming soon..
10) Photos at Yosemite
9) Photos at Rancho San Antonio
Keep you posted!!
Here are some of the photos taken at Mani Chitappa's house and the park nearby. ( Chitappa == Uncle in simple english) Look what Ganesh Little Does!!
8) Photos at Mani Chitappa's Residence
Ok.. sorry for the delay. Here are the photos from my trip to Napa Valley, Castoliga and others.
Since I take a lot of photos, I would like to pic the most important / good photos and put up as Highlights ( If you are not interested in seeing my face a number of times / if you are in a hurry look at the highlights.) The "complete" includes the photos of highlights also. So, depending on your time and mood, you can choose to see whatever you want. This time, I have included the photos send by Navneet Loiwal. He is an excellent photographer. Dont miss out his pics.
5) Highlights of Napa Valley (Removed now)
6) Complete photos of Napa Valley Trip
7) Napa Valley - By Navneet (Dont Miss this one)
I am putting satish's photos coz, first half i took snaps, later in the day he took snaps. I this happened in campus tour as well as point reyes trip. :-)
3) Photos at Point Reyes - By Satish.
4) Campus Tour - By Satish
2) Oct 5 - Campus Tour + Oct 7th - Trip to point Reyes.
This is my first set.
1) Oct 3 - Living the googley way.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Shifted to the Park Place
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Yesterday morning we checked out of the residence inn. We kept our luggage at reception though. We then went to office. Subchin was thr to pick us up. We were 4 of us yesterday. Vinodh and Mahesh from the news team were also thr. So, work went on as usual. I also called up usha attai yesterday. She was very happy to listen to me after quite some time. What else.. ya the most important thingy.. I got my digital camera. I was happy. I then reached the new place. My flat mates are narayan kamath and don, a guy from ireland. they are cool.. Forgot to tell about the place... this room of mine is blue room.. so u knw what.. the entire room is furnished with blue.. the bean bags.. the pillows. and the bed... evn the foot mat at the toilet is blue.. i will put up the pic for sure.. I then went had my dinner at "SHIVAS".. an indian restaurant in the downtown..
It was good.. I had a chat.. it was not great.. soup was ok.. i had naan and dal makhani.. the dal makhani was excellent... more than everything (generally goes unnoticed) the ambience was really good.. there was a lord nataraja's idol.. you have an indian welcoming you.. dont worry .. it wasnt forcing hinduism on you.. The walls had a muslim style of art.. it was reallly fantastic sight to watch... the congruence of the hindu muslim culture.. it was a great place.. the music was mostly veena.. and other accompaniments.. food i would say was pretty good..
the guy who serves thr incidently is an indian who works in synopsys.. had a chat with him.. and i got to knw that thrz no finger bowl in this part of the world.. on the whole, a pretty good dinner..
i reached back my room.. i then called up my friende... i switched on the music .. carnatic ofcourse and started reading the manual.. read the basic manual.. i will read the advanced manual and then off i went to sleep.. woke up only at 8:33 today. that was my day yesterday..
catch u later. .
love
sundar
-------------------------
Yesterday morning we checked out of the residence inn. We kept our luggage at reception though. We then went to office. Subchin was thr to pick us up. We were 4 of us yesterday. Vinodh and Mahesh from the news team were also thr. So, work went on as usual. I also called up usha attai yesterday. She was very happy to listen to me after quite some time. What else.. ya the most important thingy.. I got my digital camera. I was happy. I then reached the new place. My flat mates are narayan kamath and don, a guy from ireland. they are cool.. Forgot to tell about the place... this room of mine is blue room.. so u knw what.. the entire room is furnished with blue.. the bean bags.. the pillows. and the bed... evn the foot mat at the toilet is blue.. i will put up the pic for sure.. I then went had my dinner at "SHIVAS".. an indian restaurant in the downtown..
It was good.. I had a chat.. it was not great.. soup was ok.. i had naan and dal makhani.. the dal makhani was excellent... more than everything (generally goes unnoticed) the ambience was really good.. there was a lord nataraja's idol.. you have an indian welcoming you.. dont worry .. it wasnt forcing hinduism on you.. The walls had a muslim style of art.. it was reallly fantastic sight to watch... the congruence of the hindu muslim culture.. it was a great place.. the music was mostly veena.. and other accompaniments.. food i would say was pretty good..
the guy who serves thr incidently is an indian who works in synopsys.. had a chat with him.. and i got to knw that thrz no finger bowl in this part of the world.. on the whole, a pretty good dinner..
i reached back my room.. i then called up my friende... i switched on the music .. carnatic ofcourse and started reading the manual.. read the basic manual.. i will read the advanced manual and then off i went to sleep.. woke up only at 8:33 today. that was my day yesterday..
catch u later. .
love
sundar
Monday, October 02, 2006
Ganesh little .. My cute cousin
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Hi.. I have a very cute and v small cousin by name ganesh. He is 6 years old. He is so excited to see ppl... He always wants to finish the food first and sleep first. He likes playing with the cars and of course.. he loves laurel and hardy.. He is great guy to be with. U can have loads of fun with him..
I played cricket, chess and other games with him.. He is a lovely kid..
------------------------------
Hi.. I have a very cute and v small cousin by name ganesh. He is 6 years old. He is so excited to see ppl... He always wants to finish the food first and sleep first. He likes playing with the cars and of course.. he loves laurel and hardy.. He is great guy to be with. U can have loads of fun with him..
I played cricket, chess and other games with him.. He is a lovely kid..
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Googles contribution to navarathri @ USA :-)
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Today, I woke up at nine. I saw my uncle vacuum clean the house.. helped him a bit in his car cleaning.. he was telling that this is life at USA.. you have to do ur own work.. theres no maid servant buddy... Theres no rest day.. everyday.. u have got to do ur work.. u have to clean ur cars... u have to take care of ur life.. i then had bath.. then came down for puja.. to find something surprising..
my chitty typed in google.com and downloaded audio songs for puja.. she also downloaded a pdf file containing the script of the same song.. and we all recited the slokas.. we had to put in some effort to make my young cousin to tell a sloka... he was v reluctant to that.. look what "GOOGLE" has made to our lives.. thank you google... otherwise that recital of slokas also wont be thr.. :-) :-)
this is probably something u have to bear with if u have plan to settle out here.. i mean the culture is really different here.. i was just thinking about the pros and the cons of life here.. its going to be thr everywhr.. its like your preferences in life.. its like idly vs bread vs chapathi.. .. how quickly can you adapt.. and how willing are u to adapt.. whats the gain... whats your priorities in life.. it all depends on that.. sometimes.. IT JUST HAPPENS.. whethr u like it or not.. u land up in america.. some are lucky, some are not lucky because they land up in america.. some ppl strive a lot to come here.. some come here effortlessly.. evn though they arent v keen to be here..
its there in everything in life.. some ppl want something so badly.. but dont get it.. there are others.. who get it and evn if they dont want it.. ofcourse it might sound that i am here and i am not so keen on coming to this land... thats not the fact.. i dont want to tell it here.. and most importantly.. if u r destained to enjoy/suffer a life in america.. u will .. :-)
and ya.. beyond sentiments... i watched good movies today.. i watched a tamil movie vetrivizha.. and i also watched a v cute disney movie chicken little.. one more indian family visited my uncles place.. evn they had kids.. and man.. these kids get excited on seeing ppl.. they dont get to meet ppl often.. they need ppl, you have decide ur trade offs.. its ur life afterall..
had a great dinner.. typical full south indian meal.. it was festival here.
then my uncle dropped me back here.. i should thank him so much for such a wonderful weekend.. thank u chitappa.. and ofcourse my chitty also for good food.. :-)
i just packed my stuffs.. tomo i am moving to park place..
so.. thats it for now. .
i will catch u later..
bye
zzzzzzzzzzzzz
-----------------------------------------------
Today, I woke up at nine. I saw my uncle vacuum clean the house.. helped him a bit in his car cleaning.. he was telling that this is life at USA.. you have to do ur own work.. theres no maid servant buddy... Theres no rest day.. everyday.. u have got to do ur work.. u have to clean ur cars... u have to take care of ur life.. i then had bath.. then came down for puja.. to find something surprising..
my chitty typed in google.com and downloaded audio songs for puja.. she also downloaded a pdf file containing the script of the same song.. and we all recited the slokas.. we had to put in some effort to make my young cousin to tell a sloka... he was v reluctant to that.. look what "GOOGLE" has made to our lives.. thank you google... otherwise that recital of slokas also wont be thr.. :-) :-)
this is probably something u have to bear with if u have plan to settle out here.. i mean the culture is really different here.. i was just thinking about the pros and the cons of life here.. its going to be thr everywhr.. its like your preferences in life.. its like idly vs bread vs chapathi.. .. how quickly can you adapt.. and how willing are u to adapt.. whats the gain... whats your priorities in life.. it all depends on that.. sometimes.. IT JUST HAPPENS.. whethr u like it or not.. u land up in america.. some are lucky, some are not lucky because they land up in america.. some ppl strive a lot to come here.. some come here effortlessly.. evn though they arent v keen to be here..
its there in everything in life.. some ppl want something so badly.. but dont get it.. there are others.. who get it and evn if they dont want it.. ofcourse it might sound that i am here and i am not so keen on coming to this land... thats not the fact.. i dont want to tell it here.. and most importantly.. if u r destained to enjoy/suffer a life in america.. u will .. :-)
and ya.. beyond sentiments... i watched good movies today.. i watched a tamil movie vetrivizha.. and i also watched a v cute disney movie chicken little.. one more indian family visited my uncles place.. evn they had kids.. and man.. these kids get excited on seeing ppl.. they dont get to meet ppl often.. they need ppl, you have decide ur trade offs.. its ur life afterall..
had a great dinner.. typical full south indian meal.. it was festival here.
then my uncle dropped me back here.. i should thank him so much for such a wonderful weekend.. thank u chitappa.. and ofcourse my chitty also for good food.. :-)
i just packed my stuffs.. tomo i am moving to park place..
so.. thats it for now. .
i will catch u later..
bye
zzzzzzzzzzzzz
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Navarathri @ USA
surprised !! yes it is true... so let me tell u in detail.
29th evening, thats yesterday, i left my office around 6pm and my uncle picked me up. I met him probably after 10 years, that too during his marriage. He was telling that i havent changed a bit since i saw him lastime... :-) i am very happy to meet him. we drove for 25 minutes from mountain view to freemont.. thats whr he stays.. that was my first glance of america... no wonder its a land of love at first site.. it was just beautiful.. i liked the broad roads with multiple lanes, the orderly traffic... there wasnt much traffic then... everyone following the rules.. it was certainly a wonderful sight.. a sight which i have not seen in india.. and then i saw the bay (because of which it is called a bay area) and the valley (silicon valley).. cute and small houses.. ofcourse they were huge inside.. but it was not a multistoreid.. and many many things.. the neat roads.. etc etc.. and finally i reached his house.. whr his small and a cute son ganesh was eagerly awaiting for me.. so was my chitti (aunty).. they were very happy to see me.. and so i was .. i was extremely happy to see them...
they showed me the house and my room.. i freshened up.. just updated them about my travel and my work.. the typical questions like hows everyone at home.. how long were u thr.. how was college.. how was hostel life.. and off we went to one of the indian ppl 's home here.. it was really nice to see them speak a wonderful brahmin tamil.. first of all, mmmm i dont speak, second, it was v pure.. they had v cute baby girl.. we were playing with her. . and then we were generally talking about google products.. it was fun on the whole.. i had sundel and some payasam (This is v common during dasara in india).. it was v v good..
there is this one more thing which i noticed here.. when ppl invite others for home.. they make it pretty clear if they are inviting them just for some chit chat and some snacks or for dinner.. they are v open, thats how life here is.. its far more difficult to invite a family for dinner here unlike india.. it means a lot of work to the hosts... family management in itself is a bit difficult here.. life is hectic here dude!!
ya.. then the dinner at home in the night.. this was probably the first time after i reached america, that i had such good food.. however i realised the inherent problem ... its just that i dont eat vazhavazha kozhakozha things.. (sticky.. and noodlish food)... thats y i am finding it difficult to digest the fact that some of the items here are really veggie... ok.. i think i am digressing too much.. i have lots to write.. ok.. food here was great.. my chitti did dosais for me.. it was v good.. and i had some rice items.. we had a long discussion over dinner.. it was really long since we met.. so we shared some really good experiences that i had in college.. incidentally my chitappa also studied in hostel.. so was able to ask the appropriate questions.. genly ppl ask me whats a typical day in hostel.. they dont realize that life cant have a pattern in hostel.. every day is different.. i also told them about the miracle during the tsunami.. i also told him about my google interview exp.. we generally discussed about the work cultures.. he was pretty surprised about the flexibility at google.. i also got to knw how work in general is in america.. he is a manager.. so i asked him whats the kind of work he does.. and my chitti is informatica.. so the topic was a not a bore for anyone.. so was pretty relavent to everyone.
the next day i woke up early (8:30 am.. :-)).. i woke up really late. .. in my hotel rooms i generally wake up at 7:00 am.. i freshened up.. i had a nice kaapi.. (coffee..) it was really good...
and then.. i was generally chatting with them and my chitappa.. he configured my wireless network.. so that i can use my laptop everywhr.. and then i called up home from yahoo call service.. which i tried for the first time.. i would say the counter part is much better..
ok.. then i went to library... a small one here.. there are supposed to bigger ones here.. and this library was just say 15times the size of nit library.. we also get dvd movies here.. so we picked up a few kids movie for my cousin.. the library was good.. that was my first place of visit in america..
we came back, laziness prevented me from taking a bath.. so we watched a laurel and hardy movie.. it was so hilarious.. i laughed my heart out.. it was too good.. had lunch.. then started watching another laurel hardy movie.. it was more fun than the previous one.. we paused it in the middle.. then i visited shopping malls here.. its a freepark shopping mall.. and then went to mervyns, macys and so many others.. they bought some goods.. they also returned a few goods..
there is this nice funda here.. during the winter season, they put summer goods for sale at cheaper rates.. and vice versa.. so ppl shop for summer stuffs before winter and vice versa..
they can also return the stuffs withing 90 days.. so they generally purchase in bulk.. chk out if it fits at home and then return if they dont like it.. i had some variety of breads.. we went to a shop called as 1 dollar shop.. what ever u pick up its a dollar.. it was pretty big shop.. i just picked up a pouch.. just for the heck of it.. i dont knw whom i am going to give it too though..
we then reached home.. i had bath he he.. we left to another indian families house.. this time.. they really had a golu.. (arrangements of dolls during the dasara.. ) it was nice. .. and the best part was the bought the bommai golu items.. in america.. so u can find dashavathara.. (10 avatars.. not the avatars that u find in online forums).. ramayana, chettaiyar bommai.. and others.. it was really nice.. but the best part was.. the kids were so excited to see other kids.. they were running around.. and making so much noise.. i think they really need ppl and kids of their age.. its not like india.. whr neighbour's kids play with you.. its far more lonely here... they meet their friends only in school.. i was so surprised at their excitement.. we then came home..
ya forgot.. on the way.. we went to some more shops.. but the best one was the "THE INDIAN SHOPPING MALL"... you can guess what u get thr.. but there is a catch.. u also get more than what u get in india.. i have not see somany fruits and vegetables available thr.. there is also a tamil magazine.. which is a free pickup.. we bought a lot of stuffs.. theres ready to eats.. thrz chutney and samabars and curds and thengais and the fruits and the vegetables.. and what not.. u can see a "maxi" food world thr.. i am really surprised at whats u get and what u dont.. u get literally everything.. i mean everything...
we had nice dinner again.. i forgot to tell u we had vatta kolumbu.. its a special type of sambar made in south india.. it was great.. i really enjoyed the day.. we watched the remaining part of laurel and hardy to tickle my senses.. its was really good.. and off i went to sleep.. so here i am blogging.. after waking up v early (9:00 am)..
i will catch u later..
i returning to marriott tonight.. i have vacate tomo... i am moving to the park place..
so i blog todays experience from thre..
bye for now..
:-)
surprised !! yes it is true... so let me tell u in detail.
29th evening, thats yesterday, i left my office around 6pm and my uncle picked me up. I met him probably after 10 years, that too during his marriage. He was telling that i havent changed a bit since i saw him lastime... :-) i am very happy to meet him. we drove for 25 minutes from mountain view to freemont.. thats whr he stays.. that was my first glance of america... no wonder its a land of love at first site.. it was just beautiful.. i liked the broad roads with multiple lanes, the orderly traffic... there wasnt much traffic then... everyone following the rules.. it was certainly a wonderful sight.. a sight which i have not seen in india.. and then i saw the bay (because of which it is called a bay area) and the valley (silicon valley).. cute and small houses.. ofcourse they were huge inside.. but it was not a multistoreid.. and many many things.. the neat roads.. etc etc.. and finally i reached his house.. whr his small and a cute son ganesh was eagerly awaiting for me.. so was my chitti (aunty).. they were very happy to see me.. and so i was .. i was extremely happy to see them...
they showed me the house and my room.. i freshened up.. just updated them about my travel and my work.. the typical questions like hows everyone at home.. how long were u thr.. how was college.. how was hostel life.. and off we went to one of the indian ppl 's home here.. it was really nice to see them speak a wonderful brahmin tamil.. first of all, mmmm i dont speak, second, it was v pure.. they had v cute baby girl.. we were playing with her. . and then we were generally talking about google products.. it was fun on the whole.. i had sundel and some payasam (This is v common during dasara in india).. it was v v good..
there is this one more thing which i noticed here.. when ppl invite others for home.. they make it pretty clear if they are inviting them just for some chit chat and some snacks or for dinner.. they are v open, thats how life here is.. its far more difficult to invite a family for dinner here unlike india.. it means a lot of work to the hosts... family management in itself is a bit difficult here.. life is hectic here dude!!
ya.. then the dinner at home in the night.. this was probably the first time after i reached america, that i had such good food.. however i realised the inherent problem ... its just that i dont eat vazhavazha kozhakozha things.. (sticky.. and noodlish food)... thats y i am finding it difficult to digest the fact that some of the items here are really veggie... ok.. i think i am digressing too much.. i have lots to write.. ok.. food here was great.. my chitti did dosais for me.. it was v good.. and i had some rice items.. we had a long discussion over dinner.. it was really long since we met.. so we shared some really good experiences that i had in college.. incidentally my chitappa also studied in hostel.. so was able to ask the appropriate questions.. genly ppl ask me whats a typical day in hostel.. they dont realize that life cant have a pattern in hostel.. every day is different.. i also told them about the miracle during the tsunami.. i also told him about my google interview exp.. we generally discussed about the work cultures.. he was pretty surprised about the flexibility at google.. i also got to knw how work in general is in america.. he is a manager.. so i asked him whats the kind of work he does.. and my chitti is informatica.. so the topic was a not a bore for anyone.. so was pretty relavent to everyone.
the next day i woke up early (8:30 am.. :-)).. i woke up really late. .. in my hotel rooms i generally wake up at 7:00 am.. i freshened up.. i had a nice kaapi.. (coffee..) it was really good...
and then.. i was generally chatting with them and my chitappa.. he configured my wireless network.. so that i can use my laptop everywhr.. and then i called up home from yahoo call service.. which i tried for the first time.. i would say the counter part is much better..
ok.. then i went to library... a small one here.. there are supposed to bigger ones here.. and this library was just say 15times the size of nit library.. we also get dvd movies here.. so we picked up a few kids movie for my cousin.. the library was good.. that was my first place of visit in america..
we came back, laziness prevented me from taking a bath.. so we watched a laurel and hardy movie.. it was so hilarious.. i laughed my heart out.. it was too good.. had lunch.. then started watching another laurel hardy movie.. it was more fun than the previous one.. we paused it in the middle.. then i visited shopping malls here.. its a freepark shopping mall.. and then went to mervyns, macys and so many others.. they bought some goods.. they also returned a few goods..
there is this nice funda here.. during the winter season, they put summer goods for sale at cheaper rates.. and vice versa.. so ppl shop for summer stuffs before winter and vice versa..
they can also return the stuffs withing 90 days.. so they generally purchase in bulk.. chk out if it fits at home and then return if they dont like it.. i had some variety of breads.. we went to a shop called as 1 dollar shop.. what ever u pick up its a dollar.. it was pretty big shop.. i just picked up a pouch.. just for the heck of it.. i dont knw whom i am going to give it too though..
we then reached home.. i had bath he he.. we left to another indian families house.. this time.. they really had a golu.. (arrangements of dolls during the dasara.. ) it was nice. .. and the best part was the bought the bommai golu items.. in america.. so u can find dashavathara.. (10 avatars.. not the avatars that u find in online forums).. ramayana, chettaiyar bommai.. and others.. it was really nice.. but the best part was.. the kids were so excited to see other kids.. they were running around.. and making so much noise.. i think they really need ppl and kids of their age.. its not like india.. whr neighbour's kids play with you.. its far more lonely here... they meet their friends only in school.. i was so surprised at their excitement.. we then came home..
ya forgot.. on the way.. we went to some more shops.. but the best one was the "THE INDIAN SHOPPING MALL"... you can guess what u get thr.. but there is a catch.. u also get more than what u get in india.. i have not see somany fruits and vegetables available thr.. there is also a tamil magazine.. which is a free pickup.. we bought a lot of stuffs.. theres ready to eats.. thrz chutney and samabars and curds and thengais and the fruits and the vegetables.. and what not.. u can see a "maxi" food world thr.. i am really surprised at whats u get and what u dont.. u get literally everything.. i mean everything...
we had nice dinner again.. i forgot to tell u we had vatta kolumbu.. its a special type of sambar made in south india.. it was great.. i really enjoyed the day.. we watched the remaining part of laurel and hardy to tickle my senses.. its was really good.. and off i went to sleep.. so here i am blogging.. after waking up v early (9:00 am)..
i will catch u later..
i returning to marriott tonight.. i have vacate tomo... i am moving to the park place..
so i blog todays experience from thre..
bye for now..
:-)
Friday, September 29, 2006
ok.... here i go.. again i am waiting for gws to come up.. u knw what.. one of the most difficult thing to do in mtv is sandhyavandhanam. Trust me.. I wake up and go out my suite.. only to find its cloudly.. I cant see sun at all.. I have nev seen sun in the morning or in the evening here.. so i dont knw which is east, and which is west.. so all my sandhyavandhanam is just facing the kitchen sink, both in the morning and in the even. I am waiting for my digital camera... It might take some more tme.. thanks to the weekend in between. So, I am waiting to take snaps after I get that.
And finally some good news, my uncle here in cal has invited me to his house.. (Or I dont knw.. If i forced him to invite :-) ) I off for the weekend.. hoping to speak some indian language.. i speak kannada when i chat with harsha in google talk.. for those who dont knw harsha, he is a frnd of mine.. and ofcourse... the yellow cab drivers have to bear my great hindi... they are all indians.. i especially like subchit.. he is such gentle and soft spoken indian.. i am planning to hire his taxi everytime i do. I have taken his personal number.. he he.. taxi problem solved..
ok.. catch u later..
And finally some good news, my uncle here in cal has invited me to his house.. (Or I dont knw.. If i forced him to invite :-) ) I off for the weekend.. hoping to speak some indian language.. i speak kannada when i chat with harsha in google talk.. for those who dont knw harsha, he is a frnd of mine.. and ofcourse... the yellow cab drivers have to bear my great hindi... they are all indians.. i especially like subchit.. he is such gentle and soft spoken indian.. i am planning to hire his taxi everytime i do. I have taken his personal number.. he he.. taxi problem solved..
ok.. catch u later..
Thursday, September 28, 2006
So.. Here i am waiting for gws to start up. It seems to be taking more time. So let me blog my thoughts. Ya as I told, today is the third day I am here at office. The thoughts of the past 2 days.. I will try to put up some time. So, this is experience of the day. This is some thing which I have experienced for the first time in my life.
I called up the reception to book a cab to go to google plex. He asked at what time. I told 8:45 AM. I then went to bath and I was getting ready. It was 8:43 AM. I thought, I am pretty sure that guy is going to take some time, coz i informed the help desk only at 8:28AM. Then at 8:45 AM sharp, I get a call. "Sir, Your car has arrived...". Isnt it surprising. Probably the only other time I had booked cab was when I was in chennai and I had to go to GRE exam. This came to my mind. I reminded that guy the previous night and the next day I had to keep calling him 3 times, and he arrives strongly 15 minutes beyond schedule. I was just lost in thougths.. What a surprise, in US the cab driver comes in time.. I was literally thinking of the past and was almost lost for 2 minutes..
knock knock..
this is not my dream..
the cab driver comes to my room and says.. "Sir did u book a cab"
Me : "yes"
"I will be thr in a minute.. I am just wearing my shoes"
CD (Cab driver) : "I am waiting here for 3 mins. Please come fast."
Me : "Sure"
Surprise 2. I am waiting here for 3 minutes.. Man.. whats happening..
There I go into the car, I sit down
"Just wait a min, my collegue is coming."
CD : "Please ask him to come fast, I have waited for such a long time"
I get down, go and call him. He says, he will come in a minute.
But it was 3 mins and he didnt come. The cab wala incidentally is from India.
He starts speaking in hindi. He says, I have other customers. What do I tell them,
I was waiting for u guys.
It was already 8 mins.
"I cant wait anylonger...."
He starts the cab. Trust me. I thought he is going to park elsewhere.
I didnt .. He just zoomed off..
"Your collegue will find another cab."
"Ok, but let me inform him and come.."
He was silent..
He asks which building in google.. we were already half way through..
I was so shocked. I couldnt react.
Man whats happening.
He drops me at my lobby at office. He gives back the change.
"I am sorry, this is my profession. Every minute costs me. I waited there so long only because you are from India."
Me : "Thanks, I am sorry for the delay"
I get down from the car. He gives the bill.
I off he goes... zooooooooooooooooooooom...
I was telling myself.. "Welcome to America"
I called up the reception to book a cab to go to google plex. He asked at what time. I told 8:45 AM. I then went to bath and I was getting ready. It was 8:43 AM. I thought, I am pretty sure that guy is going to take some time, coz i informed the help desk only at 8:28AM. Then at 8:45 AM sharp, I get a call. "Sir, Your car has arrived...". Isnt it surprising. Probably the only other time I had booked cab was when I was in chennai and I had to go to GRE exam. This came to my mind. I reminded that guy the previous night and the next day I had to keep calling him 3 times, and he arrives strongly 15 minutes beyond schedule. I was just lost in thougths.. What a surprise, in US the cab driver comes in time.. I was literally thinking of the past and was almost lost for 2 minutes..
knock knock..
this is not my dream..
the cab driver comes to my room and says.. "Sir did u book a cab"
Me : "yes"
"I will be thr in a minute.. I am just wearing my shoes"
CD (Cab driver) : "I am waiting here for 3 mins. Please come fast."
Me : "Sure"
Surprise 2. I am waiting here for 3 minutes.. Man.. whats happening..
There I go into the car, I sit down
"Just wait a min, my collegue is coming."
CD : "Please ask him to come fast, I have waited for such a long time"
I get down, go and call him. He says, he will come in a minute.
But it was 3 mins and he didnt come. The cab wala incidentally is from India.
He starts speaking in hindi. He says, I have other customers. What do I tell them,
I was waiting for u guys.
It was already 8 mins.
"I cant wait anylonger...."
He starts the cab. Trust me. I thought he is going to park elsewhere.
I didnt .. He just zoomed off..
"Your collegue will find another cab."
"Ok, but let me inform him and come.."
He was silent..
He asks which building in google.. we were already half way through..
I was so shocked. I couldnt react.
Man whats happening.
He drops me at my lobby at office. He gives back the change.
"I am sorry, this is my profession. Every minute costs me. I waited there so long only because you are from India."
Me : "Thanks, I am sorry for the delay"
I get down from the car. He gives the bill.
I off he goes... zooooooooooooooooooooom...
I was telling myself.. "Welcome to America"
Hi all,
This is the first time i am writing a blog. I thought I will write down whatever experiences I have here at Mountain View, from now MTV at california. I am have here for a business visit. This is my third day at this place. And I already had some really nice (good, bad, shocking, strange.. dont knw) experiences.. so i plan to post it here.. once a day. The objective is just to keep a collection of my experience. It will might be some good time pass for u guys to read.. Plus u will learn quite a bit about life here at US of A. :-)
k..
i will keep posting..
bye for now..
got to mean business..
This is the first time i am writing a blog. I thought I will write down whatever experiences I have here at Mountain View, from now MTV at california. I am have here for a business visit. This is my third day at this place. And I already had some really nice (good, bad, shocking, strange.. dont knw) experiences.. so i plan to post it here.. once a day. The objective is just to keep a collection of my experience. It will might be some good time pass for u guys to read.. Plus u will learn quite a bit about life here at US of A. :-)
k..
i will keep posting..
bye for now..
got to mean business..
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