I hate long weekends..I really abhor them. Wanna know why? They are like a bubble. They dont last long enough! Just when you start having a swell time you reach a dead end. Thanksgiving weekend is one of the weekends I both look forward to and not look forward to.
Thanksgiving 2007 was the most eventful one for me. Did one of the craziest things ever in a long long time. The last time I did something crazy was I think around 2002, when me n my posse were in Besant nagar beach , Chennai. The mild wind, the pleasing sound of waves, the peals of laughter..the place..we were high on the place :). A really whacky thought struck us and we decided to play truth or dare. Yeah yeah.OK guys dont sulk! This was totally different and really daring for 19 yrs old girls to do at 7.30 in the night. Mine was masterstroke. There was a happy family of husb, wife, two kids, grandparents.(guessing they were the man's parents., as old lady dint talk much to the lady of the family ) . I have never seen anything as white as this. Wow. Not a grey here or there. Such was grandma's crowning glory..yes her hair. It was neatly tied into a knot..typically whats called Kondai in South India. And my dare was to walk upto her and ask her if she uses any dye to keep it so white. I wanted to kill my friend that came up with this. Gaaawd! Making a total fool of myself! Oh well its a dare , I had to do it. At the age of 19 I was also more of the dont care kind of person...never worried about what people thought about me etc etc.. Paati was such a sweetheart..she said :-" Illa ma, ithu dye illa ithu ennoda natural hair!" ok thats for those who understand Tamil. And I could actually see my other two friends rolling on the floor , from the corner of my eye. Damn them! But oh yeah it was fun!
When I think back, I wonder how I managed to do such things.
Five years have past. Now the craziest thing of this year. Midnight Madness at Best Buy. If I had stood any longer, my legs would have given up on me, my senses would have bade me goodbye. I stood from Thursday evening 8 o clock to Friday morning 5 o clock. No one was ready to accompany me initially. Nevertheless I almost prepared myself to go alone. Guess thats a Taurean's doggedness. :) Thankfully , another friend of mine decided to come too. Thanks Chakku!! Cannot imagine how it would have been standing alone!! The experience was absolute fun though. First few hours past pretty fine..just when reality hit me hard..I am in NY, and its freaking sub zero here. Damn! I dint even care about the waiting part..but it was the cold that was killing me. Piercing chillness. God is never completely harsh on you. one of my relatives who lives close to BB drove over to give me some warm clothes..and some hot chai. This was around 12 o clock. Some people were chattering away to glory, while some were inside their cozy tents trying to get a wink of sleep. When the clock struck 3, the crowd became active. People started packing their stuff..and getting ready to bag tickets. That was the best part. It was nothing short of a fish market with people shouting at the top of their voices. Toshiba! Sony! Tom Tom! Oh god, it was a riot.At 5 the doors of BB opened, and there was another loooong q at the Computers section. Well the wait was worth it. I got what I wanted. for dirt cheap!
Post thanksgiving..things are back to square one..with an assignment that I have been stuck with for the last two weeks. Huh.. sickening. The brighter side of this being I am getting closer to graduation.
Chau
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Sunday, November 25, 2007
A year and a half back
Its November 25 2007. Its been exactly 458 days since I came to the US. The journey of MS has been bumpy , I should say. I was looking at the Sunysb group emails sent one year back. I could feel nostalgia fill my heart and ready to burst out. All those "this is me" , "how much does this cost", "I need financial aid" , "which professor", "do I bring iron box", "lets meet" emails.. really brought tears to my eyes. I still vividly remember myself sitting through the night dissecting the SUNY SB website.. those SOP s, reco letters, marksheet copies...waaww.. I realized I have come a long way. Looking back, those moments which I had fretted and fumed about brought a smile to my face. I had a rather cute "welcome to US". My friends from undergrad brought a 'Welcome Back' balloon. I was touched. Also seniors got hot samosas for us! I reached Stony Brook at around 10 in the night. Chapin..Home Sweet Home..By far the most homely and cozy apartment complex I have ever seen..or may be because I am 1.5 yrs old here, I feel at home. Thankfully it was Fall season , so wasnt too cold. The next day bus ride to Waldbaums, I still remember bugging my senior about which brand of potatoes to buy:) And each time I would look at the price , do the math conversion to Rs in my mind and let out a small cry in shock! Hilarious, naive, intimidated.Well, it was an extraordinary experience.
You guys would think I am mad if I said there s some pleasure in pain . The times I struggled doing assignments (!? Did I? Well I would like to say so atleast :)), the times I had negative balances in my account, the times when I toiled to get an internship. It taught me a lot about the world, about how much truth lies in "Survival of the Fittest". On the whole,I am glad I came here!
Each year there are millions of students who travel to US with thousands of dreams of making it big. One message to all of them:- Its not a bed of roses here, but with lot of hard work, lot more perseverance, and a little bit of luck thrown in, it all works out well at the end. Its a happy ending story :) If it is not , then picture abhi baki hai bhai!! (Om Shanthi Om style :))
Rock on!
You guys would think I am mad if I said there s some pleasure in pain . The times I struggled doing assignments (!? Did I? Well I would like to say so atleast :)), the times I had negative balances in my account, the times when I toiled to get an internship. It taught me a lot about the world, about how much truth lies in "Survival of the Fittest". On the whole,I am glad I came here!
Each year there are millions of students who travel to US with thousands of dreams of making it big. One message to all of them:- Its not a bed of roses here, but with lot of hard work, lot more perseverance, and a little bit of luck thrown in, it all works out well at the end. Its a happy ending story :) If it is not , then picture abhi baki hai bhai!! (Om Shanthi Om style :))
Rock on!
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Donno what to call it!
Yaaron..Dosti badi haseen hai!
Cant tell how much truth lies in these simple words. But this simplicity eludes us. Underneath lies complexity as never seen before. Human relationships are by far most convoluted. Friendship? Not an exception. According to some, friends come and friends go. How much importance do people attach to friendship? Or does it diminish as time passes and each one gets their own family?
Personally, I would like to think that it never reduces, but truth is that , in most cases priorities change after one gets his own family.
Arent there some things that you can never share with your parents/spouse? They would not relate to it as well as your old pal would. Its a different world..aint it? Those peals of laughter, those words of wisdom, those times of what-you-did-today, what-I-did-today,those confessions of love. Beautiful, Genuine. Cherishable. Some of them you want to keep for life. Thats Dosti :)
You might dislike a thousand things in your friend, but the one thing that makes you love him so much, blinds you, enables you to accept him as he is.
Its a sea , so you ought to experience rough weather sometime! But nothing like talking it out. When you have problems, talk it out with the person concerned. Else it will build up and burst another day. When do friendships start getting bitter? When expectations arise. When there s an imbalance in the relationship, when you love him more than he does. When you do small things thoughtfully for him that he never realizes. This is why its very important to acknowledge what people to do for you, however small they are. Thanking a friend is not going to mean anything formal, its just going to mean that you realize what he has done for you, and that will make your friend feel good, not that he expects you to do it, but nevertheless it becomes your duty, never take anyone for granted. I have heard many people tell me that their friendships with close ones never involve sorry and thank you. According to me, it is most important that everyone realizes what the other person does for them, its important to express when you have to, it takes a big man to apologize.
Let me take this opportunity to thank all my friends who have done little and big things for me:-
Subbu, Aishu,Archana,Alok, Swetha,Anu, Deepika, Gayathri, Pallavi, Poorva,Joshwini, Shama, Varun, Prema, Vinod, Swami,Sathish, Dinesh,Ajay,Rupesh, Krishna, Chethan, Navneeth, Mummy, Daddy :)
Love ya all!!
Rock on!
Cant tell how much truth lies in these simple words. But this simplicity eludes us. Underneath lies complexity as never seen before. Human relationships are by far most convoluted. Friendship? Not an exception. According to some, friends come and friends go. How much importance do people attach to friendship? Or does it diminish as time passes and each one gets their own family?
Personally, I would like to think that it never reduces, but truth is that , in most cases priorities change after one gets his own family.
Arent there some things that you can never share with your parents/spouse? They would not relate to it as well as your old pal would. Its a different world..aint it? Those peals of laughter, those words of wisdom, those times of what-you-did-today, what-I-did-today,those confessions of love. Beautiful, Genuine. Cherishable. Some of them you want to keep for life. Thats Dosti :)
You might dislike a thousand things in your friend, but the one thing that makes you love him so much, blinds you, enables you to accept him as he is.
Its a sea , so you ought to experience rough weather sometime! But nothing like talking it out. When you have problems, talk it out with the person concerned. Else it will build up and burst another day. When do friendships start getting bitter? When expectations arise. When there s an imbalance in the relationship, when you love him more than he does. When you do small things thoughtfully for him that he never realizes. This is why its very important to acknowledge what people to do for you, however small they are. Thanking a friend is not going to mean anything formal, its just going to mean that you realize what he has done for you, and that will make your friend feel good, not that he expects you to do it, but nevertheless it becomes your duty, never take anyone for granted. I have heard many people tell me that their friendships with close ones never involve sorry and thank you. According to me, it is most important that everyone realizes what the other person does for them, its important to express when you have to, it takes a big man to apologize.
Let me take this opportunity to thank all my friends who have done little and big things for me:-
Subbu, Aishu,Archana,Alok, Swetha,Anu, Deepika, Gayathri, Pallavi, Poorva,Joshwini, Shama, Varun, Prema, Vinod, Swami,Sathish, Dinesh,Ajay,Rupesh, Krishna, Chethan, Navneeth, Mummy, Daddy :)
Love ya all!!
Rock on!
Sunday, November 4, 2007
On wheels
What an eventful Sunday I had!
I have never wanted anything so much in life as much as I wanted the train to stay for a few minutes more!
Imagine, despite waking up two hours prior to train departure, if one had to make a dash towards the train,... seriously!!
I had called the taxi service at 6.20, the train was at 7.17. It was 7.10 and the taxi hadn't showed up. God bless the soul who gave us a lift. We managed to catch the train just in time. It was extremely dramatic, as we ran shamelessly across the road, the passengers looked at us in amazement mixed with amusement. Some cheered. Lol that was indeed funny. Needless to say we were proud of ourselves. Achievement No 1.
Train ride was a long rigmarole. After transferring thrice, taking two buses, we reached Flushing Temple. Phew! It was very mentally relieving. The rhythm of Vishnu Sahasranamam after a long time... was heartening. As the mysore masala dosa entered our empty stomachs..we charted out a plan to do our job..apartment hunting. Getting back to the city was without much pain.
Finally, we reached Newport. Mild wind blew while the sun shone smilingly at us. We halted at one of our senior's houses. Bless them! Poor guys gave us some yummy lunch! Rather we made it too obvious to them that we were hungry! The mall in Newport was our second home during our internship times..obviously we couldnt leave without paying homage to it.
By the time we rode back to city, it was already 5.57 PM and our train was at 6.06 PM.
You can imagine, we dint have tickets. We had to walk from 33rd to Penn to get to the LIRR.
NYC on a Sunday evening looked like all people got out of their homes. We reached the station at 6.04, got tickets by 6.05 ( thats really quick considering the fact that those machines forever have a problem reading your credit cards correctly!!) Rushed to track , jumped into the train at 6.06 exactly. Bingo! Achievement No 2.
We were half dead by the time we returned home. As fate would have it, I met my friend on the way, and was tempted to join them for a game of bowling. May be coz I wanted to kill myself completely. Well, so I did. Guess fatigue helps sometimes. I played well for a change! Achievement No 3.
All good things come to an end..here I am, its Monday afternoon. Back to sq 1, back to thinking what to make for lunch, back to inertia to do everything, back to watching Law n Order on TNT, back to on wheels!!
I have never wanted anything so much in life as much as I wanted the train to stay for a few minutes more!
Imagine, despite waking up two hours prior to train departure, if one had to make a dash towards the train,... seriously!!
I had called the taxi service at 6.20, the train was at 7.17. It was 7.10 and the taxi hadn't showed up. God bless the soul who gave us a lift. We managed to catch the train just in time. It was extremely dramatic, as we ran shamelessly across the road, the passengers looked at us in amazement mixed with amusement. Some cheered. Lol that was indeed funny. Needless to say we were proud of ourselves. Achievement No 1.
Train ride was a long rigmarole. After transferring thrice, taking two buses, we reached Flushing Temple. Phew! It was very mentally relieving. The rhythm of Vishnu Sahasranamam after a long time... was heartening. As the mysore masala dosa entered our empty stomachs..we charted out a plan to do our job..apartment hunting. Getting back to the city was without much pain.
Finally, we reached Newport. Mild wind blew while the sun shone smilingly at us. We halted at one of our senior's houses. Bless them! Poor guys gave us some yummy lunch! Rather we made it too obvious to them that we were hungry! The mall in Newport was our second home during our internship times..obviously we couldnt leave without paying homage to it.
By the time we rode back to city, it was already 5.57 PM and our train was at 6.06 PM.
You can imagine, we dint have tickets. We had to walk from 33rd to Penn to get to the LIRR.
NYC on a Sunday evening looked like all people got out of their homes. We reached the station at 6.04, got tickets by 6.05 ( thats really quick considering the fact that those machines forever have a problem reading your credit cards correctly!!) Rushed to track , jumped into the train at 6.06 exactly. Bingo! Achievement No 2.
We were half dead by the time we returned home. As fate would have it, I met my friend on the way, and was tempted to join them for a game of bowling. May be coz I wanted to kill myself completely. Well, so I did. Guess fatigue helps sometimes. I played well for a change! Achievement No 3.
All good things come to an end..here I am, its Monday afternoon. Back to sq 1, back to thinking what to make for lunch, back to inertia to do everything, back to watching Law n Order on TNT, back to on wheels!!
Friday, November 2, 2007
Tik Tik..and it changed!
So is it a welcome change? The change of the theme is a result of my friend's whining.:)
Change. Mutation. Alteration. Transformation. It has become an indispensable part of everyone's life. Isn't it? Sometimes its your hair do, sometimes its the requirements from a client (Huh! those guys!!) , sometimes its just you, sometimes its Microsoft coming up with versions one after the other ( Correction..most of the times :P) and the list goes on.
As the "rate of change of changes" gets overwhelming, it becomes more inescapable that man adapts to them. Welcome the new one with a bear hug, you dont obviously have the option to give it a highway salute! What makes the difference is how fast we get comfortable in the new atmosphere. It is most appropriate for us to get accustomed as quickly as possible, else we are left behind in the rat race.
One incident that caught my eye. Most of the banks in India have gone the e-way now. With the number of ATMs around, life is becoming easier for us.But, how well is the system accepted and utilized by all age groups? Read on:::
Gpa: Madu, lets go, I have to withdraw some money from my account.
Me: Sure pa, give me two minutes.
My Esteem never starts at the first push, damn! But finally I pulled it out and we stopped outside the SBI Ashok Nagar branch. Note the ATM just next to it.
Gpa: Madu, you stay in the car, I will be back in sometime.
Me( wondering why its going to take "time"): Ok pa, sure.
With his leather bag that he holds on to sooo tightly, he strutted away. Oh wait.. where is he going?? He is going to the bank?? I got out of the car, asked him:
Me: Do you need to do anything else besides drawing cash?
Gpa: No.
Me: How much?
Gpa: 500
Me: Pa, then goto the ATM.
Gpa: No no, I would prefer the bank dear.
Me: But I dont understand.. Why??
Gpa: Its just too..complicated and laborious..
Me: And standing in the queue , sweating in that Non A/C pigeon house isnt?
Gpa: No its better dear..
Me: Come on pa, make use of what man is creating.
Gpa: Madu...
Me: Let me take you.
Gpa: Ok, just this one time for your sake ok??
And he did it just for my sake. The machine did not impress him. Why?
I am sure there are hundreds of people out there who are hesitant to use new technologies, resistant to change. According to me, a lot of these problems can be solved by packaging the change more humanely. In the sense, they could have classes that teach people how to deal with it. Or just stick posters everywhere that show a stepwise procedure. Just dont make it look too complicated and preposterous for common man! Means a little extra effort on the government's side. But it will be well appreciated.
Change. Mutation. Alteration. Transformation. It has become an indispensable part of everyone's life. Isn't it? Sometimes its your hair do, sometimes its the requirements from a client (Huh! those guys!!) , sometimes its just you, sometimes its Microsoft coming up with versions one after the other ( Correction..most of the times :P) and the list goes on.
As the "rate of change of changes" gets overwhelming, it becomes more inescapable that man adapts to them. Welcome the new one with a bear hug, you dont obviously have the option to give it a highway salute! What makes the difference is how fast we get comfortable in the new atmosphere. It is most appropriate for us to get accustomed as quickly as possible, else we are left behind in the rat race.
One incident that caught my eye. Most of the banks in India have gone the e-way now. With the number of ATMs around, life is becoming easier for us.But, how well is the system accepted and utilized by all age groups? Read on:::
Gpa: Madu, lets go, I have to withdraw some money from my account.
Me: Sure pa, give me two minutes.
My Esteem never starts at the first push, damn! But finally I pulled it out and we stopped outside the SBI Ashok Nagar branch. Note the ATM just next to it.
Gpa: Madu, you stay in the car, I will be back in sometime.
Me( wondering why its going to take "time"): Ok pa, sure.
With his leather bag that he holds on to sooo tightly, he strutted away. Oh wait.. where is he going?? He is going to the bank?? I got out of the car, asked him:
Me: Do you need to do anything else besides drawing cash?
Gpa: No.
Me: How much?
Gpa: 500
Me: Pa, then goto the ATM.
Gpa: No no, I would prefer the bank dear.
Me: But I dont understand.. Why??
Gpa: Its just too..complicated and laborious..
Me: And standing in the queue , sweating in that Non A/C pigeon house isnt?
Gpa: No its better dear..
Me: Come on pa, make use of what man is creating.
Gpa: Madu...
Me: Let me take you.
Gpa: Ok, just this one time for your sake ok??
And he did it just for my sake. The machine did not impress him. Why?
I am sure there are hundreds of people out there who are hesitant to use new technologies, resistant to change. According to me, a lot of these problems can be solved by packaging the change more humanely. In the sense, they could have classes that teach people how to deal with it. Or just stick posters everywhere that show a stepwise procedure. Just dont make it look too complicated and preposterous for common man! Means a little extra effort on the government's side. But it will be well appreciated.
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