End of Semester: Hello Columbia

Before joining the Bschool everyone was saying things move fast. Not until I wrote my final exam did it really hit me how fast the semester has come and gone. Sometimes things moved fast and sometimes super fast. It was a roller coaster experience. And after 4 months of struggle it was time to take a break and spend time with my friends in Columbia, SC. Its a total different city to start with. Weather is much better than that of Boston. Its more like a country side with new houses.  And more than the place, it is the people you spend time with that matters. Ending 2012 on a high note. The end of year celebration is in New Orleans. Sounds  fun.  

First Snow

There were no signs and warnings for this. Only information was the weather application which indicated the probability of change in weather conditions. I was locked up the whole day in the school and seen people sneaking out to feel the change. Yet until in the evening there wasn't much difference in the color of the roads. So I resigned to the fact that it is too early to expect the whiteness. In the evening when I stepped out of the school it was a total different experience. Its cool but not chilling. There is something falling from the sky but its not raining. Within minutes my black coat had specks of white flakes. Then I realized it is snowing.My first snow experience. I let my jacket turn white while others scurried under their umbrellas. 

                                         The next day in the morning from my window. Refreshing .

NY & NJ

As noted in the previous post, life in Boston has been pretty much hectic. I have to change a lot of things to keep all the things in control. Before coming here I was rarely awake beyond 12 midnight and here I rarely go to bed before 12 midnight. Well the latest timing stands at 4 am.

So trip to NY and NJ was more than a break from the chaotic life here in Boston. The best part is meeting with Kolli. Meeting him after 5 years made me feel how much I missed the good old undergrad days. And he was more than nice to me by getting biryani and showing the city around. Guess I will always cherish my undergad days and the friends I made there. NJ was more than a surprise to me. The place where Kolli stayed is literally swarmed with Indian restaurants and shops. Heck even the street was closed just because there are playing dandiya. I didn't see that many people playing together even in India. All of a sudden my chaotic life felt connected in some way.

I heard so much about NY before and it didn't disappoint me. Even though I seen just a fraction of NY it stood up to its reputation as being running on a fast pace. I always knew that NY subway is most complicated line in the US. But having experienced the subway, 'complicated' felt an understatement. For a stranger it is like a kid trying to figure out the first day of a school. Nevertheless it was fun to get lost in a strange city. And yes subways are HUGE source of entertainment. No matter what time it is in the day, there is always someone to entertain you!

  

B-School and Boston

Life in B School is kinda formula1  race. You race for everything. Not like a competition but to see yourself on the other side of the finish line. Just to reach the other side of the finish line on time. And the next one starts as soon as you start breathing heavily at the finish line. And this cycle doesn't seem to end any time soon. Endless loops of work.

As mentioned in the previous post yours truly started doing everything on this own. Cooking, laundry, housekeeping.Trying to juggle with so many things is a huge task. I have become a better cook I must say. Even though my dishes may not taste perfect like my mothers, I am liking the way I am cooking. Initially I messed up with some of the dishes but as time passed by it only got better and better. 

My first impressions about Boston weren't so good. Coming from Singapore, this city seemed to be very substandard.I thought Singapore is a expensive city. But Boston beats Singapore black and blue. Everything is darn expensive here. Food, housing, groceries everything. The only thing that is cheap is the MBTA transport. That is because it is so lousy compared to Singapore's MRT. 

One thing that surprised me is the running culture in Boston. Here at any point of time you can see at least one person running on the streets. Noon Sun doesn't challenge anyone. May be its because it is cooler here compared to Singapore. I did my first 5K last week and it surprised me that I barely sweat! Winter has barely started but I am already feeling the shivers. Scared to even think of January now. I already started hating winters. It is making me so lethargic that I cant even wake up to my alarm. 

Sometimes miss all the little joys of Singapore. The Kopitiams, the NTUC's, Mustafa, the every 2 min MRT train, the pasar malams, the close knitted society and the easy accessible malls. 

And yes, need to finish off my next assignment soon! 

Adios Singapore

In the final year of my undergrad I was not sure what I was going to do after my graduation. The countless tests that I wrote only added to my confusion. None of results offered any bright prospects. So it was down to two options. Either accept my placement offer or join my parents and sister in Singapore for my Masters. Looking back I am glad I choose the later. Of course I needed to forgo some but the experience of living with my family and love I received in return is priceless.

I came to Singapore on 20th July 2007. Six year after living away from my family, I finally joined them in a different country. The first year of those six was tough but as time passed I started changing myself for the better. My engineering life was really smooth and it made me more independent. So the transition to Singapore was way too much. In Singapore I no need to do anything. No cooking, no laundry, no house keeping. Everything Mom does. She is a super woman. All I have to do is enjoy my family's presence. 

Five years down the line everything is going to change. Its back to square one. Except that it is not in India, not in Singapore. A new place sans my family. I need to do my own cooking, laundry and house keeping. 

I never felt more loved than the 5 years I spent in Singapore. Living with parents in a foreign land is a privilege of very few. My parents and my sister are more than enough to make me feel happy and satisfied. They made me realize what I missed in 6 years of my stay in India. They are everything to me. I will miss them in the new place. Love you all. 

P.S I have scheduled this post to be published when my flight takes off. 

P.P.S "Hello World!"

Last Day

When your graduation nears the first thing in everyone's mind and your mind is how the job search going to be? That was at the peak of the financial crisis and I didn't expect to get the job any time sooner. Luckily for me that was not the issue as I got my first job even before completing my final exams. When I first stepped in the office for the interview I seen some scribbling on the board. That was someone discussing baud rate, voltage and all the electronic stuff. As an electronic graduate I was fascinated by that  sight and realized that I am at the correct place. 3 Years and 7 months down the line I quit the same job and going back from where I came - to the university.

It was really a great 3 years at the company if not the best. I went in with almost minimal knowledge of coding in embedded systems. Now if I look back the three years seems like a light year experience. The initial days were tough but with some of the colleagues really made it easy. I would be thankful and grateful to them. Over the years I made some wonderful friends. Someone asked will I be missing JVC and colleagues? Well I can say I cannot forget some of the people over there. 

The last day went of in a jiffy. Couldn't say last minute byes to some people but nevertheless they made my last day special. Cheers to the new beginnings. Some really cool gifts. 

Sundown Marathon 2012

There were two first’s in this race. Firstly, it was my first night marathon. Secondly, never before it rained during my official race. And since it was a night marathon I was expecting an easy finish now that I am better trained than my first marathon. But it turned out to be tougher than what I anticipated.

I had finished a half marathon less than a month ago and did couple of 20’s after that, which gave me pretty good confidence. I tried to increase the distance to 30’s but it was difficult because of the absence of good hydration. Nevertheless I expected half marathon to be a reasonable gauge for my full marathon. When I trained for my first full marathon the maximum I did was around 25 KM. So 21 should be good enough I thought. It proved OK physically but mentally was very tough to say the least.

I clocked 10k in 58 min. 20k in 1 hour 59 minutes. It seemed like a breeze. At 23 mark though I was not physically tired, mentally it proved challenging to run at that time. My mind was in the dormant mode ready to enter sleep mode as soon as possible. With much difficulty I pushed myself till 27^th KM mark when it started pouring not drizzling or raining. In Singapore it is unspoken norm not to walk in the open spaces when it rains. So following the norm I took shelter under a roof. To my surprise everyone seemed unperturbed by the rain. I then continued and as the wet drops splashed my face the endorphins suddenly multiplied out of nowhere. But the rain soaked my shoes so much that it became difficult to lift my leg. Gingerly I continued running, avoiding the puddles. At the 33^rd Km my right calf muscle gave up as usual and my mileage further dropped. I wanted to beat my previous best of 4 hour 48 min. But things went from bad to worse and in the end I just kissed the 5hour mark.

Marathon is like a 5 set Tennis match and 10 or half marathon, a 3 setter. You might do well till 21K but beyond that is the real test. If you can overcome the 21 to 35 mark then the marathon is a breeze. Probably my last marathon in Singapore. But one day I would finish the marathon under 4.5 hour mark if not 4 hour. 

HappY Birthday!!

Happy Birthday to me! This birthday is significant. I may not be having the same people around for some time. Getting older and hopefully wiser. It’s the beginning of the end of somethings and cheers for all the new beginnings. This year promises to be exciting and looking forward for the August.

RUN 350

Surprised Myself! That’s how I can sum up my half marathon on the Earth Day apparently running for the Earth. I have been running my weekly runs but nothing suggested that my half marathon would be a breeze. Things didn’t help when I woke up at 4am on the race day. Still groggy from my sleep I pushed myself with much effort to the venue but at the same time equally excited to know how I would finish the race. After what felt like eons the race finally started.

The start was good. No laziness; tick, no spasms; tick, endorphins; tick. Everyone seemed to be rushing. I was covering good distance in good time. I should say I was running at a constant speed. Not strictly constant but clocking 5.5 min for every kilometer. That should do to finish my race in 2 Hours, my target time. As usual I am weary of my calf muscle and after so many races I learnt how to handle it. I reached 10K in 55 min sharp. So far so good. No sign of muscle contraction. Yet I didn’t want to wait until my calf muscle starts giving trouble in which case I can not finish in 2 hours. So I started stretching my calf muscle much in advance, every Km after 12Km. Energy levels are still high and by the 16^th Km mark I have been maintaining my speed. The target is still within the reach. When I reached the 20Km I knew target is just within few minutes.

With a wide grin on my face I crossed the finished line in 01.57.40 knowing how easy it was compared to my previous half marathons. It may the climate, may be route or may be I have just become good. I don’t know but it was a breeze running this half marathon. Off to another challenge. Midnight full marathon. Double excited. Target 4 and half hours. Let’s see how it turns out.

The Wedding

A trip to India will always be short no matter how long I stay there. And when there is a wedding in the family, consider it to be the shortest trip. Well but no regrets with regard to this short trip. This trip can easily top my exciting India trips list. Everything was near perfect. Near because so much to do in so less time. I needed to delete some of my to-do-lists.

Wedding shopping is by far the easiest and also the most difficult thing to do. Easiest when you see the number of clothes you need to purchase. One Suit and One Sherwani. That’s it. No Big deal. But the number of options available will bowl you over. Is this color good? Will I look special? Will it suit me? You keep asking countless questions for yourself for which there are answers right in front of you. Yet the amount of time spent on the perfect clothing is really well worth it. So after a day of checking all the best stores in Hyderabad Vinod, Vivek and I finally got our wedding dresses.

Things were running smooth and normal until the penultimate day. Suddenly it appeared as if all the things conspired to bombard us together. One work after the other kept on coming leaving us little space. Checkboxes got ticked until the last minute. In spite of that some tasks missed our radar resulting in deadlock situations.

Reception was by far the most wonderful event of the entire trip. It was delightful to see all my relatives dance on the stage. I didn’t expect all of them to get involved so much. Loved every moment in that company. Full credit to my little cousins. In fact no one anticipated that the event would shape into this. One thing led to the other and before everyone realized all of them were shaking their feet. Only regret is that I should have involved with more people on the stage and should have taken more pictures with them, especially with my vasavians. Thanks to them who graced the event.

After so much fun and happiness it was difficult to call it a night. It was impossible to catch some sleep and before I realized I need to sleep, it was time to wake up and get ready for the wedding. I can swear that I didn’t sleep that night. And there it was. The moment arrived. The months of planning and efforts finally culminated into this moment. And it happened.

I realized that being with relatives is more fun than what I thought. Some of them may not matter at all but as a group it is irresistible to be in their company. I can trade anything in exchange of those moments. Teasing the cousins, showing extra affection for one sister before the other cousins, buying chocolates for the little kids are few of the joyous moments.

It was a wonderful well deserved two-week break. It might take little more time for all of us to get together. But as it is cannot wait for the next wedding in the family. Hope I can make it to the next wedding event. Happy married life Vinu and Rika. Have amazing life together.

Big India Trip

The most exciting and the biggest event in my family is due soon. Flying to India today and as usual the excitement levels reached the peak well in advance. Last minutes changes in the schedule meant Vinod will be joining us. Waiting for the touch down, full loads of excitement and of course shopping!!

Happy New Year: 2012

Bye bye 2011. You were just OK. Most of the year was filled with my career ambitions and finally it turned out to be productive. On the downside relations took a beating. Here’s to the New Year and new beginnings. Spent my new year with the family filled with laughter and happiness. 2012 will turn out to be very important and turning point for me. More specifically, the first half and the second half of the year. Two big occasions are coming up and I can’t wait for that to happen. I want these two to go as smooth and memorable as they can be.

As always try to be happy and don’t dwell on your past. Earth is not crashing right? ;)