In the year 2009

We are at the brink of another new year ... a year which holds so many promises ... so many potentials. Like each new year, this year too I’ve set few small goals ... few milestones which I want to achieve. You may term them as new year resolutions ... every year I set few aims that I try to achieve. I am not a planner ... but as I am growing older, I’ve mellowed down a bit. Gone are the days of restlessness (or recklessness) ... I’ve started to appreciate a bit of order in life. Anyways, I still don’t have a long term future plan – personally or professionally. To tell you the truth, I’ve absolutely no idea what I’ll be doing in next 5 years or what I want to do with the rest of my life. I’m still looking for life answers ... but heck ... I’ll take it whatever comes my way. Life hasn’t been an ally ... it always teases me ... putting me in precarious positions ... and I am left to fight all the demons. People say that it feels good to come out of predicaments ... trust me ... I’m getting pretty sick and tired of it. I am tired of feeling insecure ... tired of all the worries ... tired of all things that makes me lose my sleep. I never plan ... because they never come good ... never. Instead, I make small (most of the time ... meaningless) goals ... and feel happy if some of them (or any) comes true. So here I go ... these are few of the things that I wish I achieve this year

Specific

• Get at least 1 professional certification
• Buy a nice digital music system
• Watch at least 4 movies in theater ... even if I have to watch alone
• Buy 2 decent pair of shoes
• Must break the 80 kg barrier ... even if it lasts a day

General

• Put a simple financial plan in place ... start saving money ... earn extra cash
• Be more accommodating ... try to be polite and try to listen to others (just try)
• Curb loosing control ... temper down anger ... especially at home
• Must do at least 1 nice thing for family
• Must take a week long break ... to a place far far away
• Do one really wild thing ... anything out of the ordinary
• Dedicate regular time for self upgrade ... learn new things which might be useful in career
• Start exercising regularly
• Learn cooking (or at least try)... even if it’s a simple dish
• Try not to be critical of all things Bollywood (just try)
• Cut down on television and internet surfing
• Stop cussing while driving ... drive like a girl or an oldie ... calmly
• Start seeing someone ... or worse ... get married

Will evaluate on the eve of 2010 ... hopefully I’ll achieve all of them.

HAPPY NEW YEAR ... Cheers !!!

Dudette and Ghajini

Yesterday evening, we (I aka Jajs, Mohini aka Mohans, Anshuman aka Annuman, Deepak aka DD, Nitin aka Chaws) went to Ruchi’s (aka dudette) house. Mandeep (aka Mandy – dudette’s hubby) is not well for the past couple of months. At such a young age, his kidneys are not working properly and he needs regular dialysis. Dudette is working from home for quite a while now so that she can take care of him. We all can only imagine the kind of pain and anguish dudette is going through – that too at such a young age. Hence, we decided to visit them ... also we thought that they need to unwind a little. After a long time, the GL gang got together ... met Mandy ... he was cheerful and so was dudette (as usual). After a while, we (I, DD, Annuman, Mandy) went to a nearby eatery and ordered a nice dinner. Got the dinner packed and headed back home ... where the girls and Chaws (usual for him ... ahahaha) were setting the table for dinner. We ate ... joked ... pulled each other’s legs ... had quite a bit of fun. At around 11:30, we headed back to our homes. On our way back, we got a SMS from dudette ... she messaged to say thanks for the nice evening and they felt good. Mission accomplished.

Today, my BS team planned for a team outing ... movie (Ghajini) and lunch ... niceeeeee. Even though I’ve quit GL, they asked me to join for one last team outing. Since the show time was 10:30 AM, got up early in the morning. Caught the metro at 8:50 ... could not believed my eyes ... it was cold and the fog was really dense. It was so smoggy that I couldn’t see anything beyond the metro’s track flyover (Delhi’s metro is elevated). Reached Noida (Great Indian Place mall ... Big Cinema) sharp at 10:30 ... Viabhav was standing at the gate so that I can enter the hall (he had everyone's tickets). Just when I entered, the start credits were being shown. The movie is a remake of a hit Tamil movie (of same name), which itself was “inspired” by Memento. However, I really don’t care about these details ... am just a normal moviegoer ... ain’t a movie critic/reviewer. The movie was hyped as the biggest blockbuster of 2008 ... although I can’t deny that in terms of simple box office collection ... it may turn out to be the highest earner, but I'm not too sure that it is the best film of 2008. However, it is not the worst either. The story was kinda fresh ... liked the first half because of the lead pair’s funny romantic track. Asin (lead actress) looked good and she seemed confident enough on screen. Aamir (lead actor) ... being Aamir ... gave everything to the movie. I heard that he trained for 13 months to get a ripped bod for this movie. One thing is for sure with Aamir, if he is doing a movie, it would be worth a dekko. The second half and the songs could have been better ... but then nothing can be perfect (even if it is an Aamir Khan movie). All in all, it was good enough ... would give it 3 stars.
After watching the movie, we all lunched at Pind Balluchi. Hmm .... Nice Punjabi food .... yummy!!! Then we all headed for the office .... me too because I had to submit few documents for the final settlement paycheque from GL. Met couple of friends there ... got a lift back home from Mohans. She dropped me at usual place ... and I walked back to home. On my way back, I took the usual short cut via District Park ... man it was fun. Since the park is pretty big and open, it was really foggy ... could not see anything in front of me ... and it was pitch dark ... not a single soul near me ... nice winter evening walk. Finally, it has started to feel like winters ... thank god.

Adios GL

Today is my last day in GL. After 3.5 years, I am saying goodbye to a workplace, which was full of professional experiences (more good than bad) ... made so many good friends ... learned so many things ... changed my carrer path from TW to QA ... good stuff ...

Just getting the final NOC form signed by various departments (Admin, IT, Finance, HR, Manager) ... and by evening I will be all set to leave GL one last time as an employee.

Incidentally ... writing this post from office ... one last time before they terminate my mail/internet account ... so goodbye GL ... you been the best working experience so far ... hope we cross our paths again ... someday.

(Sulk and Cheer !!!)

Back from Mumbai

Am back from Mumbai ... was there to attend my niece's birthday party ... she is 1 year old now :-)

Getting tickets in this festive season, for a place like Mumbai, was a challenge ... I planned the trip 40 days in advance and still I couldn't get reserved tickets. As a result, I had to book my tickets in special holiday season Rajdhani. I boarded the train from Hajrat Nizamuddin station and immediately I felt that this ain't the usual Rajdhani. Anyways getting the reservation was good enough. Luckily I got the side lower seat, which meant that I do not have to deal with 5 other commuters. I just have to face another lonely soul ... and luckily my co-passenger was a young gal ... her name was Urvashi. I noticed BITS logo on her sweatshirt and asked if she is indeed studying there. She said yes and told me that she just finished her majors in Public Health. Since I also studied at Pilani (did little bit of schooling from BHS), we instantly started talking about the place. Soon we developed good rapport and started talking on various other things. Not only was she beautiful, she was intelligent (has to be if you are a BITS student) and fun to talk to. The next morning the train entered Mumbai ... amazingly it was an hour ahead of its scheduled arrival time. To correct its timing, the train started to stop frequently. When the train stopped at Dadar (it was not scheduled to stop there), Urvashi asked me - Is this train gonna stop here. I told her that I don't think it is supposed to stop here. She told me that her place is nearby and if it stops it would be good for her. So when the train finally stopped, I asked her that if she want to get down, I can help her. She told me yeah and we rushed to the door so that she can get off the train quickly. She thanked me and told me ... will meet sometimes (like thats gonna happen !!!). When I came back to my seat, I called my Jijaji (brother in law) and told him about that the train. He asked me to get down there (Dadar) since it is easier to catch the connecting local train to Thane (Jijaji's place). So I got down and saw Urvashi again ... but by that time she was leaving the station. Meeting new people while travelling is fun, especially when the person you meet is interesting. I know that meeting her again is almost an impossibility, but that's the beauty of travelling. Its like instant friendship ... short and sweet.

Next day (22nd Dec), the big day arrived ... my niece's birthday. We booked a newly built hall for the occasion. From 4 pm, we started decorating the place with balloons. We also set up the music system and arranged the podium. My sister made couple a big banner for her princess on thermacol. She also made a collage of Avni's pics (my niece).

The gifts were packed in special hand made gift bags, which my mom made (they were really cool). Amazingly, these bags were made from normal stuff which you would find in any Indian home.


The party started at 7ish. Since it was basically a kids party, there were games, music, dance, the usual kind of birthday fun. Before cutting the cake, the Khoya bag (bag full of goodies) was broken. The bag bursts — toffees, pencils, erasers, kids stuff tumbled out. All the kids pushed each other to collect the "loot". What a fun !!!

Finally the cake was cut (a whopping 4kg choco cake). Just when the candles were about to be blown away, my niece swung her hand into the cake. I guess that was the perfect way to cut the cake (cutest way too .... hahaha). Afterwards, the dinner buffet was served. Yummy food, yummy cake, yummy ice-cream ... all my dieting went for a toss ... but who the heck cares ... anything for my princess.

Got in the train on 23rd from Bandra. Again I got the side lower seat. This time also there was a gal ... alas this time, she was butt ugly and illiterate. The train arrived an hour late this time. Aah ... good times gotta end sometime. Before boarding the train, I asked my mom to send the office bag to station ... Mamaji came to station and dropped me to office.

The trip was nice ... and already am missing my sweet little niece.