Sunday, December 5, 2010

Lazying Around

It is not like I am very busy after coming to USA but its just that I keep on lazying around but yeah I feel that I have to get back to writing regularly on my blog.
I am gonna do it soon, atleast I hope so.

Life is going on good.There have been quite a few occasions worth writing for, NY Trip, Miami Trip and few more. Will surely write about them soon.

So what the hell keeps me busy these days? hmm.. I dont know. I am just lazying around.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Finally…Finally…Finally…in USA

So finally got an onsite opportunity…was waiting for this one from a very long time…struggled a lot, in fact fought a lot…got delayed for quite a long…more than a year to be honest and then many more hurdles…getting into some unwanted project and then the release issue and then promises which didn’t work out and then bad luck of projects getting scrapped…but at last it did work out for me…better late than never :)

Last few months have been really frustrating and depressing...the only thing on mind was when will my onsite work out…and finally when it did I am happy :)

The visa got processed from some different account and then got opportunity from some different account and travelled to Davidson, North Carolina, USA.

The things happened at the lightning speed and as usual I being a person doing things at the 11th hour, it all was such haste, I just can’t forget. Special thanks to Akshay and his car ;) that made it possible to reach the port on time and also the last minute shopping and packing, goodness it was like the 1 minute show when you do things at the fastest speed possible, hehe. Can you imagine giving 3 trousers for alteration and buying a lot of other stuff I needed to pack, at 8 pm when my check in time was supposed to be 9 pm, that’s another thing that I checked in at 10.30. I am such a careless bastard. Hehe. But at last everything went well so I don’t have any regrets.

The flight was fine. A non stop from Mumbai to NY. Then a connecting one to Charlotte and then a taxi drive of 30 minutes to Davidson.

The 1st day was a real different experience. Everywhere it was so silent, I could not sustain it for some time. Hardly anyone on the streets. All houses of the same type, cars parked everywhere, all turns look the same, it’s gonna be difficult to remember the roads. But its fine, I will get accustomed soon, it has just been a week :)

The human experience has been cool too. Americans are as courteous as I had expected them to be. Anyone you come across will wiggle their head and tell you Hi.

The changes I observed were in the desi janta, my own people. Some teetotalers who thought drinking as a real bad habit in India have now started drinking perhaps thinking that makes them hip. And then some real unexpected human courtesy changes but lets not talk about that. For a day I was bit down but then its life and it doesn’t fuckin wait for anyone so you have to move along. Came across some real cool guys and now friends and won’t forget their courtesy.

Still gotta need some time to settle down as the next house available is on 23rd Oct and that’s almost 1 month later and again you cannot be entirely self dependent here unless you own a car so that’s another thing I have to take care of and will take bit long since I don’t know how to drive a four wheeler :(

Other than this, office is cool, learning is good and I am keeping it up so looking forward to having a good time with a lot of value addition.

Rest all is fine. Things gonna get settled soon and I am gonna have the time of my life in here without any regrets. Missing my friends in India a lot ;-( hope you all missing me too :D

Friday, July 9, 2010

Argentina Vs Germany --- End of the dreams

The day had come, the day to wear my Messi jersey with all high spirits and hopes that no matter what I gonna come back home with head held high.

This time Ankit and Abhishek had gone to Pune so had company of Akshay and Vikas.

Had expressed to so many of my friends face to face and online on facebook as well, everyone knew whom I am supporting, had changed my display pic to a cropped pic of me and Messi together and what not. Though Germany is my 2nd favorite team but my 2st favorite gotta won, I knew.

Same place after a week, FUEL – the Lounge.

Match starts and before we could get adjusted in our seats Germany’s Muller scores, simply WTF situation, 4 mins ??? like the fastest goal in this tournament. Screams and sighs in the house. The fans were almost equal for both the teams. The 1st half was almost equal possession by both teams equally trying for the goal, Argentina needing it most but they couldn’t.

2nd half begins and all I thought was of the match one day before when Holland was lagging with 0 – 1 but then beat Brazil by 2 – 1 in the end.

Alas! It was only the fantasy of Argentine fans cuz the reality was far much bitter than what they had ever imagined. In last 20 mins, Germany socres 3 more goal and Argentina none. Klose scored 2 and one more guy another. No sense in describing them cuz it anyways did not matter.

The time it was 0 – 2 still I was expecting the match to equal up but then the 3rd goal made it clear telling whose gonna win. The girl on next table started weeping like anything after it was scored. Other times it wud have amused me but not today :-(

Argentina was not having much possession in 2nd half and German’s counter attack no doubt was out of the world and they just did it. 4th goal was no surprise. They could have scored 5th as well if there were more 10 mins.

The day was bad, the feelings completely sad, the jersey life not more than 2 hours but I was somewhat glad that my 2nd fav team had won but again the loss of the most favorite team was not letting me smile.

Simply, end of the dreams.

Uruguay vs Ghana – amazingly exciting match.

To start with a confession, never knew any of their players.

But had to watch the watch, after all it was quarter finals. As far as I know Ghana being the only African nation to have reached till here, really appreciable and then Uruguay, winning world cup twice, long back in 1930 and 1950 is no more keeping their form. Anyways match for me was between not very good teams but obviously not bad teams as they have to be good to reach till here.

I did not see the entire match from start but Ghana scored 1st goal in the end of 1st half I remember and Uruguay managed to equal the scores in the 2nd half. The game ended 1 – 1 followed by 2 extra times of more 15 minutes each. But then the last min of 2nd ET was so amazing.

The Ghana player hit the ball from corner I guess which was then hit as header by Ghana guy and the keeper saved it, the ball fell on ground and Ghana guy kicked it this time hitting the man – Suarez’s feet and the ball bounces back and then one Ghana guy hits a header directly into the goal of Uruguay which gets missed by the goalkeeper but Suarez plays the role in the rush of blood and simply pushes the ball outside the goal with his both hands…that’s it…the guys appealed and won the penalty kick in the last few seconds of the match. Suarez did the extreme a player can do, a handball in penalty area simply getting a red card. The man is out of the match and Ghana one kick away from winning. But wait drama left, the Ghana guys Gyan takes the penalty kick and guess what, hits it out of the goal, not even on the goal, the keeper was not even needed infront of the goal…hehehe.

So the match now goes into penalty shootout.

1st goal scored by Uruguay, for Ghana see the courage, the same guy comes Gyan, but no mistake this time, he scored too.

2nd goal scored by both teams.

3rd goal scored by Uruguay but MISSED by Ghana…the captain Mensah kicking the ball the most lame way a footballer can do… like hitting something while strolling in the park…keeper saved it too easily.

4th goal guess what, saved by Ghana keeper … that means they still stood a chance, this goal need to be scored but then high class drama the goal was again saved by Uruguay keeper.

5th goal, Uruguay guy comes front to kick it and make into the semis or miss it by giving Ghana guys one more chance and no mistakes for him…he scores it thus letting Uruguay into the semifinals of the tournament after a long long time…the fans cheering and hugging each other and Ghana guys and fans both crying. Alas!! They could have been the 1st African country to make it to semifinals.

Anyways for people like me not supporting any country so seriously the match was unlimited fun.

Netherlands vs Brazil – End of the Champions

The match was scheduled at 7.30 pm and it’s the working hour.

I had gone to another office as a faculty for the training. Almost forgetting the game and when it struck it struck like a thunderbolt.

Brazil had scored a goal in the 1st half itself and then the man – Sneijder scored 2 goals in 15 mins. Oh man…futbol, futbol is really unpredictable, by the time I reached home the 5 times world champions were 5 mins away from getting eliminated from the tournament.

And then they tried everything but Holland was all ready to make it to the semis and they did.

Not to forget the Felipe Melo’s height of frustration when he stamped on Robben so fuckin intentionally, no wonder he got the red card.

So that was the end of the champions and dreams of so many supporters.

Germany vs England (Round of 16, pre quarters)

We had decided to watch it over the drinks in Fuel – The Lounger, just next to our place.

Since Ankit and Abhishek were supporting England, they had bought Rooney and Lampard jerseys respectively and I am an Argentina fan so I had bought Messi jersey (wasn’t wearing it then though).

I was supporting my 2nd favorite team Germany :-)

There were hardly 10 guys in the house supporting Germans, all were screaming for Englishmen with most of them in England jersey as well but then they had to know who is the Daddy :D

It was 1st goal scored by none other than Klose to have the upper hand, just a bunch of crowd cheering and then 2nd by Podolski I guess which made them scream again, the rest of the crowd disappointed but then just in short time the English guy (don’t know whom) scored and you see the crowd, screaming like England has lifted the trophy, I was almost deaf.

The second half was disheartening for the supporters, England supporters :P

Muller – the man scoring 2 goals within 10 mins you see, the score 4 – 1. Game over!

Yes there were few bad decisions by the referee specially the Lampard goal but then its futbol, referee is the most important person on the field ;-)

The day was over with two England jerseys ruined at our place with no life more than 2 hours.

**The night was Argentina vs Mexico with former defeating the latter by 3 – 1.

Futbol Fever

Too late to write this…hehe…the finals is on Sunday and the fever began almost a month back now.

So how much do I follow football? Not much to be honest but I do when I can and when I do then I do to my best.

The last posts in this label are during the 2008-2009 UEFA Champions League final I guess which was between Manchester United and Barcelona the latter winning the game. I was so happy cuz a year before to this Manchester United had won the cup defeating Chelsea the team I was supporting. It was this time I started liking Messi after his second half goal.

After that I didn’t follow the game much but then since it is 2010 FIFA World Cup, hardly anyone can be ignorant to the event. And since all roommates are following as well then it is fun to watch the match together at the apartment.

So it all began on 11th June, the event hosted in South Africa. We all didn’t miss the matches except the ones clashing with the office hours. Kept updating and searching the score for them as well when in office. It is good. People are talking about football and only football everywhere.

Discussion are now only about how that guys kicked and missed and tackled and scored and headers and Jabulani and vuvuzelas and bad referees and wins and losses and octopus paul and all and everything related to futbol and only football.

Wanted to write differently for few of the fabulous games we saw, the same day but again here is a proof of my laziness :-)

Anyways there are few matches I can’t stop myself from writing about, so will be making separate posts :D

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Invictus

What a movie!! I just loved it.

Invictus - a very inspiring and feel good movie. If you are like on the top of some cliff ready to jump and end your frustrated life which you think is frustrated but may be it is not frustrated, then this movie can save you... believe me, it is one of those kind.

The movie is too good and how can a GOD like Clint Eastwood make not too good movies...You are the man \m/

Two best actors Morgan and Matt and one great viewer Manish...hehe

No sense writing bout the movie...all i can say is that its a real cool movie and specially when you know that this is inspired by true events then you actually start thinking perhaps life ain't bad. :D

I am the master of my fate...
I am the captain of my soul...

A perfect weekend

Last weekend was superb. One of the most tiring but most joyous as well.

It was a big get together all of my dentist friends had planned. Rahul came down to Pune after a long time and fortunately most of his batch mates could manage to be there, though most of them busy with their own clinics or post graduations studies.

For me the weekend started with an adventure of a long ride to Alibagh 150 km away from Mumbai. I was in office on Friday night till 12.30 am cuz of some issue and my roommates had planned the ride. Earlier I was not in for the plan but later mood changed and I joined in. we started at around 1.30 am on 5 bikes 9 guys. I did not ride in the entire trip which obviously sounds so dumb but then that was the way it was. FYI: I am a good rider. Anyways so we reached the beach at 5 in morning and did some time pass and sipped some beer and visited the fort and came started from there at 9. At around 10.30 the guys dropped me at a highway point from where I could get the bus for Pune.

Cuz of rush I had to stand all the way for almost 3 hours and I was dozing off badly. I just prevented not to fall.

I reached pune and then we met all these guys who were waiting for me from morning and then we all went to Lavassa city in cars and it was a nice ride too except that I slept for most of the time…hehe…we spent some nice time together around 12 friends. We came back by evening and then had the awaited grand party at Amol’s place. All were very happy to see each other and it was this big get together after a long time for my dentist friends. Me, Raghuvir and Priya were the only non-medicos in the house. The party was awesome. Antiquity Blue…I love You. Everyone enjoyed their time and it was good drinks, food, music and the company :D

Not to forget there were few additional adventures of puking and then cleaning it and puking again at various places making it difficult to clean and then passing out on commode and then jokes and arguments and lot of rubbish abusive language which no one meant though and then opening the commode door thinking the guy has fainted inside and discovering that he is just defecating and having a good time…hehehe…it was an amazing night…dialogues like “if I don’t drink, I will puke”…I will remember this forever…I am still laughing hard remembering it all.

The next day we had some gaming action, pathetic bowling alley though. The atmosphere outside was really cool and then Rahul left and then I left and then I came back…hehe…yes…cuz it rained heavily and I could not get the ticket for Mumbai so I came back…coffee…some food and good night sleep.

Next day I was supposed to leave early morning but then I never saw it, when I woke up it was broad day light. Most of us had a craving for sea food and hence we went to a nice sea food restaurant and enjoyed a superb meal along with some beer :D and then we came back to Mumbai in Rohan’s car..not to forget one more nice ride.

So as I mentioned earlier it was a tiring but joyous weekend.

Mamta Weds Pankaj

One most important development in life…really relieving and happiest moment for my family…Tai (elder sister) got married on 1st April 2010. As anticipated 2010 is good as compared to last few years where it has been such a mundane life.

Tai’s wedding was a big tension for my family cuz Dad doesn’t have much social contacts around and since parents are from village there are not many well educated relatives and then Tai has studied a lot…she is MBBS and now doing MD Pathology. Now to find a groom for her means he has to be at least as much educated as she is. No one was in relatives. Mom and Dad were trying but then my combined effort with them yielded the fruit. I made two profiles on two leading matrimonial sites and it worked. There were quite a lot interests for her but then the filter was PG Medico.

And then the match came one day and then the formalities happened and the guy met the girl and then both liked each other and parents spoke to each other and waved the green flag and formal meet happened between the families and then everything went smooth. The dates were fixed and the day came, BIG DAY I would say.

It was a real nice experience, if it is 1st marriage in your family then there are many things to take care of. There is a lot of management and always some mismanagement to look after but then the day’s end is what it is for. The bride going along with the groom happily.
It is a beautiful mixture of all the feelings. The tiring work, frustrating small things, formalities in front of at least 50% people you never saw, answering the FAQs so many times that you would blabber the same in sleep that night, the out of the world happiness of seeing you sister smiling with her groom, getting a feeling that they are made for each other, the pleasure of sensing the happiness amongst all the beloved families and friends who have showered their blessings and wished you and teased you saying “you are the next”, the 100 new Poojas and Mantras of your religion which you heard for the 1st time (I don’t care to be honest), the final sad feeling of bride’s departure and the tears in the eyes. As I said it is a beautiful mixture of all the feelings.
Jiju (brother in law) is a nice person, Tai is happy with him and that’s what the most important thing is. This post is for you. Wish you a very happy married life. I am sure you are never going to read this blog though hehe…

** Blog dedicated to all families and friends who shared the joy with me on the day…specially the friends who sweated equally as me and the monetory help as well :)

Long time No see

Yeah it has been a real long time that I wrote something here…quite a lot things have happened around me…some good some bad…hope to write a separate posts on each of them.

Life is ok...neither happening nor depressing as we say “Bass, katt rahi hain :-) “
Hope ya all too doing good.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Something’s wrong with ME

I don’t know what but something’s definitely wrong with me. I can’t be cool anymore, the way I have been most of the times. I have to consult at least 2 3 people before taking any decisions, I get so nervous whenever any problem arises and just can keep my calm and think over it. People come to know I am tensed. This was not me few years back, perhaps few months back. I used to be calm and cool and always laughing and taking things not so seriously and dealing with situations the best way.

Few hours back I just got in a situation (in fact I am not out of it yet) but then there was no need to be so tensed and nervous, as I got. My seniors talked to me when I consulted them and then my dead confidence boosted up. It’s not like I don’t have the courage or confidence or the decision making ability but somehow these days I get quite frightened of the situations even before they begin, forgetting that the situation can be dealt with and it would be all cool again.

I still can think from all aspects when some of my friend falls in any situation and I have helped and help them with the best way out. But when it comes to me somehow I get too nervous as if it’s the end and all. Perhaps sometimes my temperament makes me more nervous, like I get angry over things and obviously think of not expressing it every now and then and then just suppressing it within I get nervous what would happen. This is being so confusing, I am sure the one who will read this will be more confused but then I just had to note this down for my future reference. Hehe.

Anyways right now I am bit relieved, I aint sure if the current situation gonna get worse or better but still I am being patient. Let’s see what happens.

Don’t worry I am cool.

** this tension is about office life and I dint want to mention all details in here so hope u just get the gist of the situation. (wrote in office at 6pm 4/3/10, will publish at night)

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Sachin “GOD” Tendulkar


What a perfect day to write about GOD…yes GOD…I can’t think of any other word for this person.
I am high on happiness today.
It’s been almost one hour now but my goosebumps are not leaving me…
I am lucky…very lucky…

At about 5 pm I was at home and surfing net, dint care to see the match score. India VS South Africa.
After sometime I remembered some one mentioned in office that Sachin had scored another century…I simply opened the scorecard online and that was it…I got the shock of life…the most lovely shock…I saw Sachin’s score as 197…My breath stopped, believe me, it did. I went on to see the news and then I realized that the life was about to get more lovely and sweeeeeeet.

I actually thought match was over and Sachin scored 197 Not Out which was a world record anyways…but then I came to know Dude is still playing.

Oh goodness…I just cant express watching those last 7 balls of the match.

I simply saved myself from being called the unluckiest motherfucker sitting at home surfing internet while GOD was making miracles there making the WORLD RECORD of 200 runs in ODI.

I have lived my life. Sachin, you are the phenomenon. You are simply the BEST.
It’s not only the scores but your modesty and humble nature which keep u at the top of the world. You have created history and I know that there is more to come.

I am simply high on happiness today. Don’t need nothing to get more high. GOD I have got a new mantra for u…its called “Om Namah Sachinaay… Om Namah Sachinaay…”

Please say it aloud… :-)

Love you Sachin.

Image courtsesy :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/8534309.stm
*** Heard a lot about twitter and hence joining it today.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

2010 is here…Happy New Year (hehehe…I kno I am late)

Hehe. I know I am so late in wishing but then its better late than never.
Its all my laziness to be blamed here and no excuses of work or other tensions…sheer laziness.

Anyways I have been all optimistic about 2010…don’t know why, but I feel everything’s gonna be all goody goody for me in this year.

The two major tensions I always had in life were my elder sister’s wedding and my onsite.

1st cuz she has studied a lot and it had been impossible to find a equally educated groom for her with medico background in our caste and family doesn’t have much social contacts to get some good proposal.

2nd cuz its all about money. Onsite is the only chance where I can earn a bit of money in bulk so that I can plan something for my family in future.

2010 began and my sister got a good proposal and the marriage is finalized and she will be getting married somewhere in next month. I am so happy for her. Her,would be, is also a post graduate medico and both have liked each other a lot and that’s all what matters in marriage.

The onsite thing, its all up and down even now. I have completed almost 4 years in offshore now and thats a pretty long time in one company and especially in the one I am employed in. Some stupid people even judge this as incompetitiveness but I know all about it now. Luck does matter a lot.
There are very less onsite opportunities for me out there, it seems. Got interviewed for one and it was pretty weird and some miscommunication and still waiting to hear from the BIG GUYS…one has contacted and I haven’t confirmed them yet…today got one more call from someone regarding one more opty and he was sounding too affirmative…so lets see what happens…I am hoping that something works out pretty soon…lets hope for the best.

So you see both the tensions seem to be ending now.

To add to these there have been some real good things going on around.

One of my closest friend Mandar got engaged just last week and it was such a cool night, what better date than V’day to carry out such a great ceremony. His fiancĂ© Spruha is a prefect match for him.

A week before that my close college friend Romi got married. And it had been such a memorable time. Right from the Sangeet night, the Wedding occasion both Maharashtrian and Marwadi style and then the reception night. All was fun and fun and only fun. We were a bunch of like 15 20 guys out there and we really did the best we can do and everyone did notice that these guys are amazing and that was a nice feeling.

And a lot many such occasions gonna come this year, I am sure.

The very 1st moment of 2010, I got this feeling of optimism that the year’s gonna rock for me. I have been positive all the time and I gonna remain the same. It has been scientifically proven that luck comes to people who consider themselves lucky. Though many of the times crib about being the most unluckiest guy but then I do believe that I have been lucky and that’s what has kept me positive most of the times. This year is going to completely prove the science :-)

Hope you all have a rocking year ahead.
This is my year…your year…our year \m/

P.S. Year 2009 was the worst year of my life…I don’t recall anything good happening to me in the last year. Good that it’s the past now and I won’t remember it anyways going forward…