Sea world

Seaworld at San Diego was a great experience. The following were the highlights:

1. Journey of Atlantis, a roller coaster ride. The car goes down and splashes water all around. Then it goes into a tunnel, where the car moves vertically upwards, and the roller coaster starts.. Was a really cool ride.

2. Wild Arctic: This was something that I had never seen or experienced. You are made to sit in a aeroplane look-alike with rows of seats. This is a helicopter which has to go to the Arctic on an expedition. On the screen ahead there were videos of the Arctic, snow, sea, penguins and polar bears. The helicopter was going in and out of the cliffs, mountains, ice lakes and all of that. The helicopter moved and rocked in the Arctic winds. The engine broke down and we went plunging down into the ravine. All these effects were amazing and of course were complimented by the seats moving roller coaster-like. A very exciting experience !! :)

3. Dolphin and Killer Whale shows: Very interesting and entertaining shows, which most of us have seen on the TV sometime or the other. But the live show was something else. It was quite exciting. There are a few seats in the front, which are classified as the "soak zone". You can guess why ?? :D


SHAMU.. The star killer Whale!!



4. Shipwreck Rapids: These are boats and kind of waterfalls. Gives you a feel of wide water rafting.. Was a lot of fun, except for the fact that, I got soaked :-( I had to roam around in wet jeans and shoes for the next 3 hrs.

5. Haunted lighthouse 4D show: Right, so do you know wat the fourth dimension is??? Special effects like spraying water and moving chairs. It was an awesome show.. Completely enjoyed it. It was my first experience and was totally worth it :D

San Diego Lego Land !!

For the ignorant and those who think Lego is too childish, see the following link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego

Lego bricks come in all shapes, sizes and colours. There are bricks, men, flowers, wheels, cranes and all other building blocks which will help you make a house, car, ship or a whole city!!

I was amazed when I entered "Lego Land California". You can start your tour with a boat ride through a small man-made lake. At the shores of the lake there are various structures made of Lego. Taj Mahal, Eiffel tower, an octopus playing a number of instruments with his 8 arms :D

There's Las Vagas recreated with Lego bricks.. There are cars moving around. All the amazing Casinos of Las Vagas are right there. Newyork Newyork, Stratosphere, Mirage and some others. So though I didnt get to go to Las Vagas, I saw it in miniature :D There was New york city in Lego too.. There was the train station with people moving up and down the miniature Lego escalator!! There's Washington D.C in Lego including the miniature White House :D

The white house !!

Taj Mahal made in Lego.

There were some rides too.. Nothing exceptional: roller coasters and other similar non-scary rides, except one. This one was like a dragon's claw.. You are held in the claw which tosses you around like a puppet. How much do you wanna get tossed around?? That mah friend, YOU get to decide. There are levels 1 to 5. And you gotta select the level. I went 3, but that was scary enough for me :D

The most amazing part was that loads of things were made in Lego. I had never imagined seeing a host of characters like Darth Vader and R2D2 from Star Wars to a variety of fairytale characters, all made using Lego. Hansel and Gretel, Snowhite, Aladdin, 3 pigs, red riding hood, everything.. There was a complete car made in Lego too!!

Lego Land is mainly built as the entertainment for kids. But for a person like me, who has played with Lego as a kid and loved it, its something really amazing. My dad had got us the Lego set from UK. Me and my sister used to sit for hours together building different things out of it and then putting it on display in the hall. It would stay there for at least 2 to 3 days until we were totally satisfied with our work of art, and then we would replace it with another . One of my most fond memories :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legoland_California

San Diego !!

The flight from Dallas to San Diego was good, comfortable. All throughout the flight I could see the land from the window. Not once did the place go completely above the clouds, like it does in India. I wonder why!! But it was an amazing sight. As soon as the pilot announced San Diego, I could see the whole city. It seemed so huge when compared to Dallas and Arlington, though Dallas is pretty big. Maybe I haven't seen enough of it :-p

Have been here for two days now. Haven't been able to go out to see San Diego much though. But its fun :) Went out with aunt to do grocery and pick up my cousin from playschool. After a long time I am just relaxing. Not bothered about assignments and tests or cooking and cleaning turns. Just lazying around, chatting online with friends (which is my regular routine anyway :D ) and playing with cousins.

First Semester done!!!

The end of one semester in Arlington, Texas, USA.

Positives:
1. College life again :) No managers!!
2. Met lotsa new people. Some nice, some not so nice.
3. Learning to live independently and enjoying it thoroughly !
4. Liked the way courses are designed.
5. Lots of computer Labs and printers. Some which are open 24 hrs a day.
6. Was able to resume one of the things I love doing, dancing. Will continue it in other semesters :)
7. Bought my laptop :D

Negatives:
1. No matter what, you have to cook to survive. Cant help it !!
2. Have to study :-( Anyway, I had a problem with that always :-p
3. Have to look for a job to sustain in this expensive country. [ Which, I still dont have :-( ]
4. Cant move out of campus without a car. No public transport X-(
5. Have put on weight :-(

Life here sucks to some extent when compared to India. Not just talking about the fact that there's family (which includes close friends) in India and not here :)
All in all, having a good time here. But sometimes I feel lonely. Feel that something is missing. Again, not referring to the "obvious reason" mentioned above. Maybe it stems from there.

A toast to the new semester and the new year. I hope to do better in everything this year :)

Thanksgiving Sale!!

Place : Best Buy store, Irving, Texas.
Time : 3 AM
Temperature : Around 0 to -2 degree celcius I think.
What was I doing ?? Was standing in the queue waiting for the store to open.

It was one of the electronics stores where the thanksgiving sale was on. Only for this day the stores open at 5.00 Am. Only the first few ppl get the best deals.
We had reached there around 11.30 PM, but the queue already had around 100 to 150 ppl. We planned out the whole thing. The only 2 girls in the group, me and jyoti were supposed to try and break the queue and join a group we knew [ thats cos ppl wont scream at girls for breaking the queue :D ] The guys were going to Circuit city, another store nearby, to check out the queue situation there. We played our part well and joined the other group in the queue. The guys split up, 2 in the same queue as us, somewhere in the rear and 2 at Circuit City. We stood in the queue for what seemed like ages :-( It was deadly cold. Hands and legs were numb, despite the number of layers of clothing.
Anyway, finally managed to get inside the store at 5. But by the time we had entered all the good stuff was already gone. There was a huge rush. All the stuff which was left was still too expensive for us. Friends on phone, were giving regular updates that each item was available for a better price online. So we did not end up buying anything worthwhile.

Ooooooh BTW, did I mention what happened earlier in the day?? IT SNOWED!!!!
Whoa man!! It was awesome.. I totally freaked out in the snow :D My first snow in USA. Was fun :) Started sneezing uncontrollably after that and caught a cold :-p

Though I am sick at the end of it, all in all, quite a fun day :)

JLT

Just saw that I haven't blogged for almost a month!! Was kinda busy.
So writing this just so that there's a post in October :D

Calvin and Hobbbes

The sensitive side of Calvin. Love this strip!! :)

http://www.lovine.com/hobbes/wonderland.html

Virtue

Web Definitions :

Adaptation : the process of adapting to something (such as environmental conditions)
Adjustment : making or becoming suitable; adjusting to circumstances
Understanding : characterized by understanding based on comprehension and discernment and empathy; "an understanding friend"

Important virtues, when you are far from home !!

Totally texan!!

Howdy guys and gals!!

Yeah right !! I saw the true Texas yesterday :)

A social organisation called "Big Howdy" organises this cool things for international students to get a real feel of America, rather TEXAS.. They are the ones who organised the welcome party for us, where they brought yummy home cooked food and dessert and taught us some Texan style dancing.. They are the ones who organised free trips to the nearest Walmarts to familiarise us with the shopping.. And THEY are the ones who took us for a tour to Dallas-Arlington-Fort worth area yesterday :D

We assembled there at 9 in the morning.. For some reasons, I didn't get to board the bus and got stuck ( or so I thought) with a local volunteer.. It was just two of us, me and Sameer ( totally fun guy, reminds me of ally) and our guide-cum-chauffeur. He was a guy called Richard B Grisham aka R.B :) He was a very fatherly figure.. And had amazing experiences. For one, he is 54 yrs and has had a heart transplant.. So he always says " I am 54 but my heart is 34" :)
He took us to his house and showed us around.. He introduced us to his family.. His younger daughter Madison aka Madi wanted to come along with us, and she did.. She was so cute.. I was sitting at the back seat with her for a while.. But I'm not very comfortable in company of kids.. It was almost like sitting beside a nuclear bomb.. I hardly spoke to her.. Later Sameer sat with her, and boy, did they have fun!! They were like two long-lost pals, giving hi-fi's to each other n all :)

RB took us to Fort Worth downtown. It has such narrow streets compared to Arlington, that one would wonder which one is a bigger town (FYI, Fort Worth is bigger :-p) But there are really cool buildings.. Each one has a different kind of architecture.. One is really old and another is totally modern.. Then we went to the Stockyards.. On the way, we came across a TV reporter.. A hot Mexican babe.. RB stopped by there and Madi was screaming " WOW!! would we like come on TV??" :) We took a picture with her.. Then we went to stockyards.. TOTALLY AMAZING!! You feel like you have gone back a 100 yrs.. Ppl dressed as cowboys, old Texan style houses, bars and restaurants.. There's a famous pub called "Billy Bob's". It was closed, but we got perm to go in.. The owner's wife herself gave us a tour.. Whoa!! it was amazing.. A typical cowboy pub.. With music and dim lighting.. A big dance floor for Texan line dancing, with a silver saddle hanging from the ceiling.. There was an arena for rodeo feats.. Was a grt experience !!
http://www.billybobstexas.com/

He took us to a typical Texas style barbecue restaurant.. We had chicken barbecues and a popular drink called Dr. Pepper ( which i didn't like :-/ ) A waitress was bringing freshly baked sooooft bread to our table every now and then.. It was yummy!!

R.B was supposed to take us only to Fort worth, but he drove us down to Dallas too.. The architecture of buildings is amazing out there.. The tallest building is the one which houses the Bank of America and trust me, u will break your neck if u try to see the highest point!!! There's a street called the "Elm Street", which is flanked by verrrrrrry tall buildings.. They call it the Canyon :D We also saw the place where President John Kennedy died.. R.B explained to us exactly how the assassination had taken place..

Then we got back to our university in the evening.. He hugged us before leaving.. We really had had an awesome day, Thanks to R.B :)

First adventure in Texas !!

An event called "Anand Bazaar" happens here every year, around independence day. It is organised by India Association of North Texas, for independence day celebrations. The Indian association from UTA (called FSI) also participates and volunteers for it. In return, they get publicity and funds.

So yesterday, even I volunteered for this. Hidden motive was free entry to the event and free food :D Saved almost $15.

I had sent a mail the previous day, to volunteer for the event. But one of the guys we know from FSI, told us there are more than enough volunteers and there's no place for us. So we were totally disheartened n all.
But when the pick-ups started, to take ppl to the event, we just stood around to see wat's happening. Suddenly, one of the FSI members we knew, waved at us and told us to get in a car. Advantage of having important contacts :D

When we reached there. They gave us caps and T-shirts, so that we are identified as FSI volunteers. We were deployed at the ticket counter. $8 per ticket. Whoa man!! Handled soooooooo many dollars :-O I sold the maximum tickets :) We sat at the counters from 5.30PM to 8.30PM. Saw so many cute guys. Total hunks and all :sigh !!

At 8.30PM we asked for replacements and pushed off to see the fair. It was literally a fair as in India. Since most were Indians. There was also a live band singing Hindi music songs.. They were pretty ok. Lots of stalls were there and lots of Indians trying to pass off as Americans. Quite disgusting. We had chaat, burf ka gola, and coconut water n all. Then we sat and listened to the band for some time. We showed our faces back in the ticket place only at 5 mins to 10 :-p Cos we knew that the counters are to be closed at ten :D

After that, there was a firework show. Amazing!! Reminded me of diwali :) Then we listened to the band for some more time. Me and my friend went in the front and danced with the crowd, till 11.30 PM Total masti..

Then we met the FSI guys and one of the fellows dropped us home. Was a total bindaas day. The kind of thing I couldn't have done back home, cos of time constraints. Enjoyed a lot !!

Turning into a beggar !!

Kya se kya, ho gaya !!

Difference !!

Things which are different here in UTA as compared to India :

1. There are either cars or people on the road. Few cycles. Saw a few cool motorbikes though.
2. Have to wash and dry clothes in the washing machine. No clothes line.
3. Electric stove. Can't prepare phulkas. What a pain in the neck X-(
4. Only shower in the bathroom, no dear old balti :-(
5. You dont have to boil milk once you buy it.
6. Every building is fully air-conditioned. And its like a furnace outside. So you get cold and hot alternately.
7. The whole apartment is carpeted. What will happen when it rains ?? Dont even wanna think about it :sigh
8. Lot of wastage of electricity.
9. I get to use lot of tissue paper in the kitchen bindaas :D Dont have to go through the trouble of cleaning with the cloth and then cleaning the cloth.

YAY!!!

Finally landed in US of A.

A senior came to pick us up from the airport. The first thing which confused me were the traffic rules. Sat in the front seat on the way from the airport and it took some time for me to realize that, there's a free right. Basically, since all the directions are opposite, i got confused big time :D Roads are wide and smooth. Cars run faster. The system of crossing roads is cool. You have to press a button and wait for the signal to cross :) Got the plastic ID card made in a jiffy. People are pretty helpful. I realised that my experience working in HP gives me advantage over others. The confidence while talking to americans, understanding their accent comes from there :) Some others are suddenly taken aback when someone smiles out of the blue and says "How are you doing" :D

Like many others I compared US with India instinctively. I observed some good things about US, those which I've mentioned already. But felt that India is rather better in many ways. Public transport for one. Here, you either have to own a car or depend on someone else for a ride. Thats sucks. And there are no street lights here on the university. There are few streets like that in Indian cities I guess !!

Not missing home right now. Lots of things to do and observe. Everything is new to the eye. When the eyes will get used to it, they will automatically remember home :)

Kitni baatein yaad aati hain,
Tasweerein si ban jaati hain,
Main kaise inhe bhooloon,
Dil ko kya samjhaoon.

My granny (or Aaji as I call her), that is, my mom's mom, cant hear properly from one ear. This is an old problem and cos of that she talks very less. I have always been close to my grandad (or Ajoba as I call him). Discuss stuff with him, listen to all the amazing stories and poems he has up his sleeve.

Aaji is generally seen busy with her own things, cooking, reading. With her, it is always a couple of sessions, only her and me, sitting in isolation and chatting for a while.

This time it was my last visit before leaving for USA. So we sat together on the jhoola in the veranda and talked. She was interested about all the things I will be doing USA, where will I stay and the like. It was quite a normal conversation.

But the day I was leaving, I touched her feet, she applied kumkum on my forehead, and hugged me. Something she has never done, or at least not in recent times. I was overwhelmed !!

Then I went and sat in the auto and they waved me goodbye. Suddenly she ran in again and returned with a small red rose, a new bloom in the garden. I told the auto guy to stop. she came forward, smiled and gave me the rose. I was so so touched. My eyes instantly filled with tears.

I have kept the rose in my personal diary :) Its a precious gift.

Action Replay !!

In the last 3 years in school I was the most popular girl. Topper of the batch, known to all teachers, was elected school captain (literally elected in a secret ballot). People in DRDO complex knew my parents by my name those days !!

But when I joined college it was like falling down from an airplane. Struggling with the parachute which did not open. Fell down on the earth with a huge blow on my head. Though I was used to changing schools and friends, this time it was totally different. Everyone around me seemed to be just like me - popular, school topper. Most ppl were far better than me. It took some time to adjust to make friends ( true friends I mean)

And now, I'm getting prepared to go through the same thing again. I have made my own cozy space and image here in office. I am comfortable with this image and quite used to it, I must admit. It will be difficult to get thrown in a whole new world, where no one knows you.

Its an action replay of the past, with a small difference that I am wiser and prepared for the worst (Hopefully) !! I hope my parachute opens and helps me land safely :)

Shri ganeshaya namah!!

Time to fly away !!

Got my passport today, stamped and complete with visa :)

This is exciting, and scary too.

Its time to fly away from my nest now. Got phrase "flying away" from my friend. But unlike her, I do not want to call my home a cage. It is a nest, where I grew up and learnt all that I know . Its time to test this learning and fly to new lands.

Shri Ganeshaya namah !!

It happens rarely that I see someone on the road, and get totally impressed by them. And sometimes, have an instant (and temporary) crush on them. Mind you, only guys come under this second category.

Today was one such day.

As I approached the Trinity circle the signal turned red and I had to stop right in the front. This guy on a Honda Unicorn stopped beside me. Couldn't see much of his face. Looked good from how-much-ever I saw. He wearing a navy blue shirt tucked in Jeans of a lighter shade of blue. Killer combination for me :D Sneakers and helmet were normal, not too unique, but added to the whole look. Even after few seconds of standing at the signal, he seemed kinda at ease, oblivious of the fact that the signal can turn green anytime now. But as the signal turned green, and I took off ( at the best speed my scooty offers), I knew that at exactly the count of three, he is gonna zoom past me. And believe me thats wat happened. Ooooh what style he had !! And then he took a left turn showing the hand signal for turning left (which is also very rare). Even that made me smile and say WOW!! :-P

Really cool lyrics !!

Zara Nazron Se Keh Do Ji Nishaana Chook Na Jaye
Zara Nazron Se Keh Do Ji
Maza Jab Hai Tumhari Har Ada Qaatil Hi Kehlaye
Zara Nazron Se Keh Do Ji

Qaatil Tumhe Pukarun Ke Jaan-E-Vafa Kahun
Hairat Mein Pad Gaya Hoon Ke Maein Tum Ko Kya Kahun
Zamaana Hai Tumhaara
Zamaana Hai Tumhaara Chaahe Jiski Zindagi Le Lo
Agar Mera Kaha Maano To Aise Khel Na Khelo
Tumhaari Is Sharaarat Se Na Jaane Kis Ki Maut Aaye
Zara Nazron Se Keh Do Ji

Haye, Kitni Maasoom Lag Rahi Ho Tum
Tumko Zaalim Kahe Vo Jhootha Hai
Ye Bholaapan Tumhaara
Ye Bholaapan Tumhaara Ye Sharaarat Aur Ye Shokhi
Zarurat Kya Tumhen Talwaar Ki Teeron Ki Khanjar Ki
Nazar Bhar Ke Jise Tum Dekh Lo Vo Khud Hi Mar Jaye
Zara Nazron Se Keh Do Ji

Hum Pe Kyun Is Qadar Bigadti Ho
Chhedhne Vaale Tumko Aur Bhi Hain
Bahaaron Par Karo Gussa Ulajhti Hain Jo Aankhon Se
Havaaon Par Karo Gussa Jo Takraati Hain Zulfon Se
Kahin Aisa Na Ho Koi Tumhaara Dil Bhi Le Jaye
Zara Nazron Se Keh Do Ji

Maestro !!

Mohd. Rafi..

I so wish I could hear or see him perform live.

His style was superb and expressions perfect :) He brings out every emotion perfectly in his songs, be it happiness, romance, sadness or excitement.

Salute to the Great Maestro !!

Mausam hai Ashiqana :)

Learnt this Song yesterday, its so beautiful. Its been going on in my head since morning :)

Mausam Hai Aashiqana
Ae Dil Kahin Se Unko Aise Me Dhondh Laanaa

Kehana Ke Rut Javaa Hai, Aur Hm Taras Rahe Hain
Kali Ghata Ke Saaye, Birahan Ko Das Rahe Hain
Dar Hai Na Maar Daale Saavan Ka Kya Thikana
Mausam Hai ...

Suraj Kahin Bhi Jaye, Tum Par Na Dhoop Aaye
Tumko Pukarate Hain, In Gesuon Ke Saaye
Aa Jaao Main Bana Doon, Palakon Ka Shamiyana
Mausam Hai ...

Phirate Hain Hum Akele, Baanhon Mein Koi Le Le
Aakhir Koi Kahan Tak, Tanahaaiyon Se Khele
Din Ho Gaye Hain Zalim, Raaten Hain Qatilana
Mausam Hai ...

Remix

Remixes spoil a song a really bad. All remixes sound bad, except few, which can be counted on fingers. I am not talking about old songs which are re-sung by new singers, many of those are ok.

Visa date... Big step.
Made me nervous !!

Living alone far away !!

Living alone far away !!

Its scary !! The mere thought of it is scaring the hell out of me. Just looked around the website for residence halls, meal plans n all. Gosh its difficult to decide things from here. I'll have to clean the room and the toilet myself !!

I hope I do a good job of it without spending too much money :-p

Help me God!! Shri Ganeshaya namah !!

SuperGoley

I love to ride my TVS Scooty Pep !! :)

I know the motorcyclists are going to be sneering right about now, thinking, " Bah!! How can someone ride a gearless, slow, blah, blah two wheeler like this!!" (i don't know how else they condemn scooters like scooty and activa)

But thats the only vehicle I own. And I do love riding it. I rarely keep my feet down [even at low speeds] and kinda feel proud of myself when I see ladies riding with there legs hanging down even at 30 Km\h .

Today I was riding on the road and overtook an aunty on a two wheeler. As I passed her, I saw that her bag, kept in the front, was almost falling out. So I slowed down, while she caught up with me. And then I said "Aunty, check your bag !!" She gave me a grateful smile and bent down to adjust the bag. I smiled and sped away really fast, seeing her become smaller in my rear-view mirror !

I felt like a superwoman :D ( Super heroes generally come out of nowhere, help ppl and then vanish with amazing speed )

I am SuperGoley !! :D

Strength and Weakness !!

A 10-year-old boy decided to study judo despite the fact that he had lost his left arm in a devastating car accident.

The boy began lessons with an old Japanese judo master. The boy was doing well, so he couldn't understand why, after three months of training the master had taught him only one move.

"Sensei,"(Teacher in Japanese) the boy finally said, "Shouldn't I be learning more moves?" "This is the only move you know, but this is the only move you'll ever need to know," the sensei replied.

Not quite understanding, but believing in his teacher, the boy kept training. Several months later, the sensei took the boy to his first tournament.

Surprising himself, the boy easily won his first two matches. The third match proved to be more difficult, but after some time, his opponent became impatient and charged; the boy deftly used his one move to win the match. Still amazed by his success, the boy was now in the finals.

This time, his opponent was bigger, stronger, and more experienced. For a while, the boy appeared to be overmatched. Concerned that the boy might get hurt, the referee called a time-out.

He was about to stop the match when the sensei intervened. "No," the sensei insisted, "Let him continue." Soon after the match resumed, his opponent made a critical mistake: he dropped his guard. Instantly, the boy used his move to pin him. The boy had won the match and the tournament.

He was the champion. On the way home, the boy and sensei reviewed every move in each and every match. Then the boy summoned the courage to ask what was really on his mind.

"Sensei, how did I win the tournament with only one move?"

"You won for two reasons," the sensei answered. "First, you've almost mastered one of the most difficult throws in all of judo. And second, the only known defense for that move is for your opponent to grab your left arm."

The boy's biggest weakness had become his biggest strength.

Sometimes we feel that we have certain weaknesses and we blame God, the circumstances or ourselves for it but we never know that our weaknesses can become our strengths one day.

Each of us is special and important, so never think you have any weakness, never think of pride or pain, just live your life to its fullest and extract the best out of it!

Kar Wars!!

Karwar is a beautiful place. Nestled in the western ghats on the shore of Arabian sea, it totally takes your feet off the ground. Karwar is located at the estuary of the Kali river and Arabian sea. I can't understand what the people in Kerala are so proud off, cos all the seaside locations (including karwar) in the western ghats look as amazing as kerala. There's greenery, beautiful sea and the quiet and peaceful locations.

We reached Karwar on saturday morning and checked-in at the resort. Our resort called Estuary Resort was ok, not that good. Its built on top of a hill overlooking the estuary, which used to be Shivaji maharaj's fort once. Now only the boundary walls are remaining. The view was breathtaking, no complains. But the service was not at all worth what they charged.

There is another resort called "Devbagh resort" which is on an island of sorts. Around 11 we got into a boat to take us to Devbagh. And then the fun began !! :D

We got to their private sea beach which was almost deserted. Got into the water almost immediately cos the sand was burning. We played volleyball and football on the beach, and then more volleyball and frisbee in the water. This was the first time I had so much fun in the sea without fear of water :) Great experience !!

Lunch was another fun experience. All my teammates were in full spirits, drinking and gossiping. For the record, I drank only "mango slice" !!

Then it was time for some water sports. Para sailing was closed cos of unfavourable winds, so missed that. But there was kayaking and banana ride. Kayaking was way out of my league, cos i don't have the strength to keep rowing for so long :-p.
Banana ride was something else !! Very scary, but exciting!!!! Let me explain. There was a cylindrical rubber boat which was tied to a motor boat. We were given life jackets and made to sit on the rubber boat, 5 at a time. The motor boat then pulled the banana boat far from the shore and then the guy sitting in it gave a signal and took a sudden sharp turn!! The banana boat toppled and threw us mercilessly in the sea!! I went totally under water and lot of salt water got into my mouth, lungs and stomach. And then I floated up and was like " WOW !!!" He did this 3 times and honestly, since I am scared of water, I was relieved when it was over. But this is an experience I will never forget !!

After that we just spent some time at the sea shore while we waited for our boat to take us back to our resort. I got back, had a nice hot shower and went to join the others around a bon fire. Then we had dinner and sat around in a room till 2.00AM, playing cards and talking about ghosts :)

The guy who was the in charge of the water sports was a pleasant guy from Uttaranchal. His name was Deewan Singh. He promised to take us for rock climbing the next day. So on Sunday, we woke with aching arms and legs but still excited about the day ahead.

Deewan Singh had arrived with a gaadi to take us about 10-15 Km from Karwar city. We started our trek which seemed simple enough in the beginning but later got tough. But was fun. After climbing for about an hour we reached the rock we were supposed to climb. It was a 50Ft rock, towering over our heads. My first reaction was," Thank you very much, I am not climbing THAT thing" !! But I saw a couple of people do it and it didn't seem that tough after all. I also put on my gear and climbed it. It was total fun. Rappling down the rock was easier. Later we trekked back to humanity at sea level. And set ahead for the next adventure. All in all, the whole experience was just splendid !! :)

Next, Deewan Singh took us to the resort he works for. That is situated on the shore of the back waters. There he gave us life jackets and we all jumped into the water to cool our heels (literally, cos it was quite hot !!) I was the source of amusement there cos I couldn't swim ( like many others there) and made a big issue about it :-p .
Made some futile attempts at the art of swimming. I know my coach will be disappointed in me :-( , but come on, the flow of water terrifies me. I kept screaming, " Damn damn I'm going away from the shore,I'm going away from the shore.. SOMEBODY SAVE ME !!"

Amazing location, enjoyable company and right attitude. All of these are needed to make a holiday a great one. And that's what this was :D

-Cheers

Sky

At the horizon, the sky rose high,

But it looked gloomy, it was about to cry!!

The clouds were very grey, hiding the brightness beyond,

How could one visualise or welcome the new dawn!!

Then I heard the lightening, there was a painful sigh,

Which turned into a downpour, The sky had begun to cry !!

But when the rain stopped, I saw a new light,

The sun had started shining, with its renewed might!!

As I witnessed this scene, I began learning,

That after a mournful day, there's always a new morning !!

Crazy Woman!!!

I saw a crazy woman in a shop today !! She tore up a Rs. 500 note shouting " Mujhe nahi chahiye nahi chahiye". She tore it up in 500 pieces and threw it !!!

Dark(Sad)ness is my friend !!

Raat humari to
Chand ki saheli hai
Kitne dino ke baad
Aayi woh akeli hai !!
Sonjha ki baati bhi koi bujha de aaj
Andhere se jee bhar ke karni hain baatein aaj !!

Andhera Pagal hai
Kitna ghanera hai
Chubhta hai, dasta hai
Phir bhi woh mera hai !!
Uski hi godi main, sir rakhke sona hai
Uski hi baahon main, chupke se rona hai
Ankhon se kajal ban, behta andhera aaj !!

Its the story of the boy who cried wolf.. Nobody will believe him again !!

I don't know who said this, I got it as a forward. But it makes sense...

Jeevan mein hamesha do raaste hote hain..

1. Bhaag lo (run away)
2. Bhaag lo (participate)

The choice is yours !!

Lost !!

I have lots of things to do at office. But am not able to prioritize at all. The thing which is important is not interesting and that which is interesting is not important. I am going back almost everyday without having done anything significant.
I need someone to sit me down and tell me what to do, like in school !! :-/

Silver's not bad :)

Today I came to know how many muscles exist in my body :-( They are all screaming out loud and making their presence felt. But I'm elated at the same time :D

Flasback to yesterday, 21st of March, to the events that got me to this state .....

The annual sports day of HP STSD, bangalore was held yesterday, at YMCA grounds. There were a number of track and field events and some fun games too, like .. uh err ehem .. (didnt try anything other than that crossing obstacles stuff :-p)

But, i DID try my hand, rather my legs, at 50m and 200 m sprint (for the ignorant, it means "A quick run" ) In both I successfully got through the heats (again for the ignorant, it means "A preliminary race in which the winner advances to a more important race" )
In the 200m finals I sucked big time !! Started a couple of seconds late, so was last. Tried to match up to others, but my stamina gave way, so I gave up !! But I jogged the last 50m or so and completed the race graciously (displaying true sportsmanship :-p )
Friends and teammates looked sorta disappointed. My section manager said " When I saw u were coming last, i stopped cheering " Hmph !! You can guess why he is a bad manager !!

Anyways, I did manage to shock ppl with my performance in 50m finals (that was an achievable distance for me :D ), in which I bagged the SILVER. In fact, my team mates noticed that I was far ahead of the others. And if i was a 40m race I would have come first :)

....... end of flashback.

This is my first medal in an individual sports event, and it makes me feel really good :D

"Fear of water"

This is a famiy disease. No one in my family knows how to swim. My father has always been terrified of water. And this has got conveniently passed on to us. In fact, this december, when we went to the shores of the Arabian sea in Gujrat, he stated with disgust "I hate the sea"!!

Years back, when we were 4 or 5 yrs old, mom took us to a swimming pool to learn swimming. Since I was younger, I was just left with a tube around me, bobbing around in water with other tiny tots my age. And the trainer turned to my sister to teach her. But she ended up running all around the pool in her underclothes, with the trainer chasing behind her. Finally he gave up and we never returned !! But here, I must acknowledge that though my dear sis never swam again, she did go on to become a university level athlete!! :D

The first ( and maybe the last ) time our family spent a considerable amount of time in water was in a water park, about 5 to 6 years back. Initially, my dad was being very protective and making sure that all of us were holding each other's hands while in the dreaded liquid. But then we realised that the water was not very deep and there would be only a 0.0000001 percent chance that one of us might drown :D So, we had great fun and forgot our fear for the moment.

This fear of water is not too uncommon, but is quite uncommon!! So I have decided to tackle it. As a beginning, I went for my first swimming lesson today. The first lesson my friend ( read trainer) gave me was " Don't hate water ". So I tried to do that. I must say, I didn't learn much, but I did enjoy myself :) I guess thats more important.

Cheers

One of the most romantic songs by the Mohammad Rafi

Door Rehekar Na Karo Baat, Kareeb Aa jao,
Yaad Rehejayegi Yeh Raat, Kareeb Aa jao,

Ik Mudat Se, Tamanna Thi, Tumeh Chuneki,
Aaj Bas Mein Nahin jazbaat, Kareeb Aa jao,

Sard Jhonkon Se, Bhadakte Hein, Badan Mein Shole,
Jaan Le Legi, Yeh Barasaat, Kareeb Aa jao,

Is Qadar Humse Jhijakne Ki Zuuroorat Kya Hai,
Zindagi Bhar Ka Hai, Ab Saath, Kareeb Aa Jao

Door Rehekar Na Karo Baat, Kareeb Aa jao,
Yaad Rehejayegi Yeh Raat, Kareeb Aa jao

Calvin n Hobbes !!

This is by far the cutest picture ever made by Bill Waterson in the strip "Calvin and Hobbes". And now I proudly display it in my room :)

I even love the context in which this picture appears in the strip. It is during Christmas when Calvin forgets to get a present for Hobbes. It brings an instant smile to C&H lovers as well as the others.

Focus on solutions

Difference between "Focus on problems" and "Focus on solutions".

This is really simple and interesting. Very often we get carried away
in problem solving. Keep it simple and move on.

When NASA began the launch of astronauts into space, they found out
that the pens wouldn't work at zero gravity. In order to solve this problem,
they hired Andersen Consulting (Accenture today). It took them one decade and 12
million dollars. They developed a pen that worked at zero gravity, upside
down, under water, on practically any surface including crystal and in
a temperature range from below freezing to over 300 degrees C.
...................
...........................
....................................
............................................

The Russians used a pencil.

Cheers
:)

Birthday Blast!!

Four words : Had a great day :)

My wide smile stretches a mile !! ( Linguistically only. Don't let you imagination run berserk)

To start with, yesterday night my dad wished me at 12 in the night, which is a rare occasion in itself. Got up around 7.45 and started helping out Mom, who conjured up an amazing meal for my party within a couple of grueling hours. I rushed off to get my birthday cake. When I returned home, helmet still on, bags clutched in both hands, my friends were already there !!
And then began a fiesta of fun and entertainment. And gifts !!

Padma gave me a cute glass painting of Calvin and Hobbes she made. Though she didn't sign it, it will remind me of her forever. Thanks Paddy :) I also got a Zodiac mug with most of my piscean traits mentioned.

Even I had surprises planned, which included a Chinese menu, a yummmy chocolate cake and a Treasure Hunt!! It was fun to make ppl run around for a treasure of chocolates which was finally distributed amongst all :D

The biggest surprise was yet to come. This was a CD called Tarane, which has a superb video about our college days AND some songs sung by my talented friends themselves.
They are songs with the murder of music in some places and excellence of melody in others. They are songs full of goof-ups, fun and lots of love . They are songs which I will treasure for life. :)

Later in the day, my parents arrived home with a beautiful gold chain and pendant which again was a big surprise. Because my mom doesn't believe in surprises and always tells me what my b'day gift is going to be !!

All in all : Had a great day :)

Kite Flying

Something interesting I found. There is something called "Kite aerial photography".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kite_aerial_photography

Really fascinating.

Cleartype !!

Learnt a very simple thing from "Gadget Guru" today.

There is an option called "Cleartype" in the Display properties of your desktop. Once you enable this option the display becomes clearer, the edges sharper. Really nice !! They said that this change is more visible in Flat screen/LCD monitors. I will check the truth of this, once I get back to office.

Philosophy to Reality !!

Very intense lines from a song in Guru

Jaage hain der tak hamein, kuch aur sone do.
Thodi si raat aur hai, subah to hone do !!

I realized that this is almost the same mantra which I chant every morning when my Mom tries to wake me up !! :D

From philosophy to reality.. Not much difference :D

Nothing but problems

One day I was walking down the street, when I saw my friend George approaching. It was evident from his downtrodden look that he wasn't overflowing with the ecstasy and exuberance of human existence, which is a high-class way of saying George was dragging bottom.

Naturally I asked him, "How are you, George?" While that was meant to be a routine inquiry, George took me very seriously and for 15 minutes he enlightened me on how bad he felt. And the more he talked, the worse I felt.

Finally I said to him,"Well George, I'm sorry to see you in such a depressed state. How did you get this way?" That really set him off.

"Its my problems", he said. "Problems-nothing but problems. I'm fed up with problems. If you could get rid of all my problems, i would contribute $5000 to your favorite charity.

Well now, I am never one to turn a deaf ear to such an offer, and so I meditated, ruminated and cogitated on the proposition and came up with an answer that i thought was pretty good.

I said, "yesterday i went to a place where thousands of people reside. As far as i could determine, not one of them has any problems. Would you like to go there?"

"When can we leave? Thats sounds like my kind of place," answered George.

"If that's the the case George," I said, "I'll be happy to take you tomorrow to Woodlawn Cemetery because the only people i know who don't have any problems are dead!!"

Golden memories.

Listening to the O P Nayyar special on Radio today brought alive some of my Golden Memories.

According to my parents, Mom used to sing some standard Marathi lullabies to us when we were babies ( that constitutes first 3 to 4 years of life). I can't obviously remember those times, but I'm sure these are few of the sweetest memories for my Mom.

What I do remember is listening to my dad singing some old melodious songs to us before we slept. In the cold winter nights his voice used to generate the kind of warmth that no quilt can give. In the hot summer nights in NOIDA, when the current used to play tricks with us, Mom and Dad used to fan us with Newspapers (i suspect, till late into the nights) and he used to sing to us. Few of his favorites were Kisi ki muskurahaton pe ho nisaar, thandi hawa ye chandani suhani, ye raatein ye mausam nadi ka kinara, Maine tere liye hi saat rang ke sapne chune, kahin door jab din dhal jaaye, lakhon hain nigaah mein.

I used be awed at the sheer simple yet compelling melody of these songs, especially sung by my Dad, whom I used to consider the greatest singer.

He was my hero then, now and will always be !! :)

Some intense lyrics these are :

Main nadiya phir bhi main pyaasi, bhed ye gehra baat zara si ......

Main deepak ki aisi baati, jal na sake jo, bujh bhi na paati ......

Helpless

When you perceive someone as very strong, the strongest support of your life and you see him/her cry, you feel so helpless. The person cries because he is hurt by someone else, who again is one amongst the most important people in your life. You dont know how to console, what to say, what not to say. " I'm feeling so helpless", the person said. My heart was just repeating the same words over and over again....

Laughing :D :D

I just got a compliment on the way I laugh. Exact words : "its nice when u laugh....its like u are outta control! "

Hmmm, now that I think about it.... Yes, I do get stared at sometimes cos I laugh too loudly (mostly in silent places :-p ).

But it is one of the best gifts we've got !! I never hesitate to laugh. It indicates i'm happy and carefree all the time. And yes, laughter is the best medicine, at least for the mind definitely.

Thought of finding out what some other people say about laughing :

"If human life did not have laughing, that would be boring. Laughing is what makes life fun."


"If you can't laugh, there's something wrong. You gotta let it out. If you didn't laugh it would be all bottled up. Then it'd probably come out as anger instead of laughter."


"Laughing is a kind of release. When I am sad and I laugh, I can forget about my problems at least for a little bit and be free from all the bad things that happen."

"Laughing is the smile of the World."

Cheers
:)

My new PC !!

Fulfilling the request from Krishna, I have displayed my new PC : complete with the new UPS, keyboard, mouse, monitor and CPU. Its sitting royally on the relatively new computer table!! :D

Yippppie !!

Got a brand new PC. Compaq presario, Pentium D. 960 MB RAM and 160 GB hard disk (:-O didnt know my dad had ordered for that). On board ethernet card (me happy cos the previous ethernet card gave up just two days ago, depriving me of net access from home). Super cool headset and web cam. New optical mouse (my old one had got really old, was on the verge of dying), new keyboard (with nice smooth keys. The old one insisted on getting hit hard for every key). DVD ROM too.

The best is ---> LCD flat monitor with built-in speakers. Too cool !! :D

Template Change

On popular demand and the impact of being at the receiving end of the storm of complaints about "teammates stare at your pink blog !!" I have changed the template to a more tolerable one :D

ENJOY !!

Thought for the day

"The more u get, the more u want".

Isn't it better to be deprived?? But thats not fair :-(

A Great feeling !!

Specially record/download a song to learn it, write down the lyrics and learn the song. Make mom and dad listen to it, any time of the day. And then hum it everyday until I perfect it !!

This was almost a routine for me . But from the past year or so I somehow stopped doing this.

Did it again today. While searching for another song I found a song I had learnt during school as an invocation song. But when I heard the original song yest, god its beautiful !! HAD to take time and learn it.

Felt really good !! :) Made me realise that whether I get to sing for others or not, I MUST continue to do this for myself !! :)

Another revelation, was badminton!! I played last weekend, and truly it felt like I had stopped doing something I love doing !!

Have decided to make these two an important part of my life again, just like in school days :D .
All I used to do those days was sing on stage during school and play badminton in the evenings [ and of course, study if i get time from these ;) ]

Continue begiiiiiiiiiiiiiin.....................

This is in continuation of the previous post. First, let me exaplin the title "Continue begiiiiiiiiiiiiiin............."

Our PT sir in Delhi used to shout out that command, supposedly to tell us to continue with the exercises after a rest. But he used to say that even for the first exercise of the day !!! Continue?? continue what ??? :D

Anyway, so there were a lot more jhakaas statements our Java instructor. The following are the funniest ones. Note the ones in bold. Used in this sequence, they seem to generate a "double meaning" according to my teammates. No explanation from my side :-p We had a good laugh though !!

- I will give you a twist. (Please spare me ...............)
- Java has specified that we have to be declared. ( Oh yeah sure !! Declare us as dead after ur class !!)
- Whatever things I have been taught I will ask. ( How do we know what you have been taught ??? !!??)
- You must be needed to be done ( Huh??? )
- You are going to be generate your own stub ( Huh?? yet again )
- We have only 15 mins. We have to be covered completely (Huh??? Excuse me !!!!! You to be talking very vulgar mister!! I to not be accept this !!)
- I am describing you
- Many applications are running on the market ( Ohkay.. if u say so !!)

One of his last statements were, " If god knows, we will meet again". Come on dude. GOD KNOWS ALL, he wont make me meet you again !!!

Phew !! Thats all for today :D

Cheers
Shilpa

Huh ???? :-o

Anyone and everyone claims to know a lot and begins to train you. I do not feel accomplished enough to comment on the "knowing" part. Maybe they do know a lot about the subject. But hellllllloooooo, where the hell do communication skills exactly come in while giving someone a job of a trainer !!

I am attending a Java training this week. The person who is training us should be made to sit in class 3 to learn basics of english. He desperately needs a lesson in grammer, tenses and sentence formations. I never comment on accents. Cos I agree that people from different regions have different accents. But specifically hiring someone as a trainer, by completely ignoring his spoken english, is highly insane.

Let me recall a few samples of our dude's sentences:

I hope you have been understood ( Intends to say : I hope you have understood)
You have been worked on Java? ( Intends to say : Have you worked/programmed in Java?)
You have any feeling or query, please be express ( Intends to say : Please let me know if you have any queries)
You have to be see this code ( Intends to say : You have to see this code)

Now you must have got a hang of it. Please solve the following :

I going to be show you the demo.
It will locate for the object not longer uses. (This is a tough one i guess :D )

My definitions !!

- Friends are those with whom u can talk about any crap most comfortably.
- Friends are those who can blast you for being stupid and bring u straight on track.
- Friends are those who know they can always use your shoulder to cry. Those who think they are a burden to you are not truly friends.
- Friends are those you can call out in misery.
- Friends are those you can scream at and hug the very next moment.

These are just a few !!

My mom and me at the Somnath beach :)