My tryst with food continues.....
one gud thing that has happened to me over the past year in US is that I have been able to try out the various international cuisines which probably I would have given a miss back home...
i have tried out Italian, French, Chinese, Mexican, Thai, Greek and the most outrageous..Mongolian.. :)
well the roadblock for me in all of these was the fact that I am a Vegetarian ( Eggi-tarian), and that basically blocks out 80% of the options available, but with some minor adjustments, you could always take out the Chicken, and add TOFU or Mushrooms :-P ...
out of all of these cuisines.. Italian cuisine takes the cake.. and OLIVE GARDEN needs to given a pat on its back.. their Garlic Breads and Salad are the best...
rest of them have their own specialities... like the Veggie Stir Fry in Thai, or the Schezuan Mushrooms in Chinese...the Guacomole in Mexican....
the Mongolian cuisine experience was quite unique in the fact, that you had to choose all the raw ingredients along with the sauces..and then take the whole bowl of Raw stuff to the Kitchen..where it gets cooked in front of u... its something that i had experienced for the first time...different to say the least..
sometimes I think .. that if I was a Non - vegetarian.. and not a Engineer.. I would have loved to become a Food Connoisseur...
welll.. thats it for this entry.. will be putting in some more stuff about my first American Summer experience...watch out...
welll frnds.. I am back again..after a long hiberation (that is wht polar bears like me do in SUB ZERO TEMPERATURES)..
well there have been quite a few firsts over the past 7 months ...to name a few...
- saw snowfall for the first time in my life.. but have seen so much of it.. tht would not want to actually see it for quite some while... as they say.. excess of everything is bad...
- drank a glass of wine for the first time.. might not be a big thing for some.. but when i think about it... it was completely sinful day .... drank a glass of wine.. then drove the car over the speed limit without license in an unknown country...:P.. wonder what alcohol does to you... decided to not drink it again... lets hope i stick to it..
- went to skiing.... was a complete misfit for it.. total disaster to say the least...
- saw Los Angeles, Washington DC, Philly, NYC.. met all my college frnds here...nice times..
- celebrated Diwali away from home :(
- got my eyebrows and upper-lip covered with ICE while being outside in -30 C on one occasion..
it has been quite extreme weather conditions up here for the past 4-5 months (going to as low as -38 C)... but sincerely speaking....didn't really feel the actual pinch of it.. bcoz most of the time was spent inside the houses.. with the heaters turned on at all times..
gave the GMAT.. only scored 610. sad.. english proved to be the nemesis again...sometimes I do wonder whether i really need to go for an MBA.. anyways.. lets not go into it.. deep debate.. :P
life has been pretty bland over the past 4-5 months with most of the time spent indoors, working, talking to frnds....and not much fun around...
now finally spring is here...looking forward to having some good times out there... lets hope things brighten up....
and yaa...... next post will be coming sooon..surely...
welll... i m back.. finally .. about time I guess.....
The times have changed.....I have traveled across Seven Seas, and currently in the US of A.... right now in Minneapolis ( for the uninitiated... it is the same place where a bridge fell in the early part of August....thts What I had explained to each frnd who asked me where r u going maaan...)
just a flashback to the times b4 boarding that AA plane.... waved goodbyes to all my Frnds in Mumbai...mind you...not the final ones .. will meet them surely once I return back...
went home.... had a BLAST on my parent's 25th Marriage Anniversary party.... met most of my relatives.... sort of nostalgic feeling... there was a Marriage of one of my relatives 2 yrs back, where I met most of my relatives... felt nice.. but also a little Sad.... :(
The D-Day arrives....11th Aug night .... was told many things about flights to the USA, that they are a pain and stuff... but I guess I felt more relieved in the Flight, as I kept sleeping all the way from pakistan till the Atlantic Ocean came... primarily bcoz I was tired after the week long preparations for the party.... so I can safely say.. it was comfortable....
Well.. now finally I landed in Chicago.. went thru the Customs.. then took the Domestic Flight to Minneapolis... and wooooo... I am finally there..... now the experiences start...
At the Baggage pickup..... I had 3 big BAGS to take off.. but no carts to find....and then woooooohhhh... I saw a CART and it was 3$ per Cart.... BULLSHIT maaan...not that it is too much .. but hey.. what is this..... anyways.. I got the CART..bcoz I cudn't do without it.... and then .. I waited.. I waited for an hour... for anyone to come.. and then finally saw my PM and then started cursing him for being so late.... maaan. tht was too much...
Anyways.... not a good experience on the first go... .. moving ahead... got onto the Freeways in the CAR from the Airport.. which my PM was driving.. Wide Roads... Green Lussh Sideways...Cool Breeze.....all is nice... and suddenly...what does my PM do.. he looks to the back of the CAR to change a lane..and I am like.. hey maan... what r u doing... he says I am checking for the Blind Spots...and I am saying... watch the front maaan... u r blind on tht side... anyways..i come to know later... this is the rule in USA... so one more new thing to learn...
welll the first two instances were just a snapshot of the first day in the US of A...
Many more things u get to know... like rolls and rolls of Toilet paper.... and still feeling unclean....yuck.. how do they live....
having Cheese in almost anything... Man Now i hate it....but hey.... I am now able to cook lots of Indian food.. getting the Recipe from my Mom though...but I guess I would get better....
but hey there r some things gud also....In every nook and corner, there is consideration for the Handicapped, like separate parking lots... ramps everywhere... gud stuff..and it has been taken care everywhere.. tht is really gud...should be taken as an Action point in India too..
Also.. i have learned to drive a CAR here... and yaaa.... i do look back sometimes :)
Well... tht is it for this post I guess... will keep you guys posted on the latest happenings on my end... and yaa.. before I go...I Got promoted on Sep 1.. feels gud....
Miss my family and Frnds... :(
Do Post in your comments on any things more you wish to know...
Well... its been quite a while since i had written a post.. i wont tell a lie ..
i haven't been utterly busy... but its just that i didn't remember to update my
BLOG... lets hope that from next time.. i might update it a bit more
frequently...(but i think .. i won't..bcoz i will ...hmm..forget it again :-P)
Now my journey (contd. from where i left off in my previous post).... I returned from Home on the 10th of Nov... had a hearty time spent with the family.... and came here on Bench (for the uninitiated .. BENCH is a software Industry Term which basically means that company pays u ...so that u can relaax.. :) ...)... well i must say....it was gud frm the fact that I got to
see Sanjay Dutt.. and some TV Actresses.. as one of the Studios was besides our
Incubation Centre (yes that is wht they call the office where ppl on BENCH
sit..)....
Suddenly... a bolt from the Blue..... i was assigned a Project from 22nd Nov.. initially it felt gud.. tht atleast someone from our batch ( of 19 ppl ) had got a project..... then for the next 7-8 days.. . it was really difficult to get up early in the morning and report at time in the office.. well i gradually got used to that..
About the work... well intially some work was given to me to test my skills.. and i guess i fared well in tht.... So, finally on 8th Dec.. i was hooked onto a live project ( on .NET ofcourse) or u can say my first real productive work for the company.. :) ..... well it was not too much difficult.. and so got it over with smoothly.. with 1-2 minor hiccups .. which r expected in a project..
Well.. simultaneously.. i got my gud frnd GANESH shifting to my home ( Nov onwards)... it was cool... atleast got one more gud frnd next to me... i was happy for tht...i celebrated the new year in an innovative way.. by Greeting the New Year at JUHU BEACH..
Now.. in Jan and Feb.. life has generally been cool.. followed INDO-PAK series... and now gearing up for the INDO-ENG series.. constant chat & phone talk with all my gud frnds in Delhi or elsewhere in the World....
Well.. right now i am enjoying the Project Parties ( an added Advantage of
getting a project :) )... the TEAM is really gud and supportive...been awarded
the best performer for the Quarter... feels gud.. and above all i am enjoying at the workplace.. as there is not much TENSION...
Just one problem.. i miss my family too much.. lets hope tht it is a passing phase and will be resolved in near times ahead...
I am going back to Delhi on the 9th of March..up until the 19th March..hope to spend some real Quality time there.. with my family and all my relatives and ofcourse many of my gud frnds who r there.... also hope to celebrate HOLI with really gud fervour....so.. Lets RANG DE.....
hey guys.... its really been a long time since i had written a blog post....actually u see i was a little busy with all that was happening around me and also with me over the last 72 days....Lets start this journey ....
15th August : Our 58th Independence day..... i had a feeling of independence while leaving from Delhi to the city of dreams....Mumbai....got into a jet flight.. reached Mumbai....had a preconcieved notion of Mumbai being a big city with tall bulidings and wide roads...but my notions were broken as soon as coming out of the airport...while I was coming from Airport to our company accomodation...There were Tall Buildings alrite and too many of them... but to supplement them, there was always a Nallah besides it or small roads which were the main roads.... not an ideal start... but it was fine... after all it was my first expedition out of my home....After that .. i reached my company acco... nice place... started liking my company... made soem new friends.. and cool ones at that...(by the way I tell u i am not good at maintaining friendships ... i have had two of my good friendships broken due to unexplicable behaviour from my friend's side....BUT Thank GOD i still have many good friends whom i can depend upon...)
16-17th August.. (induction Day)..Good News : I am being paid from now on....(or as they say here...Meter chaloo ho gayaaaaaaa)...Boring presentations.... Bank Accounts..Lots of form-filling....ALL in ALL a cool time...
18th August .. My first Day at the Company Premises...Expected a long building with many floors...but instead found a 1 floor building...Actually was a little disappointed.. but when I entered the office, i was glad to see..that it extended deep.. meaning it was a lot of walking for me.. and no lifts :))......
18th - 29th August : Got a taste of corporate culture... was enjoying the 9-10 days within the company.. got a rented acco in Navi mumbai with 2 other frnds....and then got a dreaded news on 29th morning .... i was given .Net stream (tht was the good news) but we had to go to some place in Juhu which was around 40 Kms from my house...and took nearly 2 hrs to reach there..
29th August - 29th September : Got a taste of Mumbai ... and also my company... was sent for a training on .Net technology in some far away place in Juhu... well one thing was good... I saw AB's house.. and found one of the most techno-savvy guys in Amol Vaidya.... i would say about him as a person ... he is full of knowledge and still gunning for more.... enjoys his life.. plays games...great Trainer... The only reason i regularly went around 40 Kms... to attend classes without fail for over a month....
3rd october - 14th October : i would say , one of the most Hard-working Days of my life... from 7 am to 11:59 pm .. i used to think about the Dummy Project assigned to me... really understood what it means to be working in a pressure based scenario..... met 2 guys from my company... Neville and Dylan... Interesting guys..different personalities... but i would say... the goal of teaching us the life-cycle of a project to the fullest was common between the two of them...especially Neville...who had taken a keen interest in the projects at hand... ( i think he was taking a special note of our project .. wonder that is the truth or just my Hallucination)....
16th-17th october : Soft skills training .. TOTAL MASTI.....
18th october onwards : On bench....nothing much to do... just catching up with the left-over work over the 2 months.. caught up with frnds of college posted in mumbai... and basically doind what i love to DO and tht is RELAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.........
Future : well right now i am going back to Delhi for DIWALI....hope to catch up with frnds and relatives and come back here in Mumbai....But i tell u my secret desire : I WANT TO GO BACK TO DELHI..TO THE PLACE WHERE I BELONG...LETS SEE HOW MUCH TIME IT TAKES....
Right Now.... As i always say .... NO TENSION.......