Sunday, July 31, 2005

A Picture...

that is gone now!

Hmmm... it was very risky to leave that pic in here.. so, i removed it ;) Will upload more pics soon.

The fun continues..

Last friday, I had a champagne party. Saturday, I went out for dinner followed by cards (trump/bridge) session with one of my Modern school friends and his brother's family here at Austin.

Sunday, me and my colleagues here went to another US manager's house on lake Austin. we went boating and i also did tube-surfing.. thats like sitting on a big tube and being pulled by the boat. It was major fun and finally he managed to have me fall into the water :)

Soon it will be time for me to say 'bye bye' to Austin. I will be leaving for India on friday with a stopover at New York. I will be meeting quite a few of my school and college friends there.

And the fun shall continue!!

Monday, July 25, 2005

Images of Butter Chicken! ..cont

So, there I was sitting on the NorthWest Airlines flight from Minneapolis to Austin.. reading the book 'Five Point Someone' by Chetan Anand and reliving my IIT days. In fact, I was so engrossed in the novel that I didnt realize that my flight was still on the tarmac for about 3 hours before it was finally air-borne. During the take-off, I took an intermission from my reading. Only then did I saw how me and everyone around me were sweating the whole time and had been using all the inflight magazines and pamplets in fanning themselves. I was thinking..'So much for the state of technology in the high-tech country'!!

By then (the sun sets pretty late here), it was 10pm local time and I could get a fantastic view of Minneapolis - St. Paul, the twin cities. It was so spectacular a view, with the illuminated images of various regular geometrical objects and the roads and freeways that I was entralled by it. I dont know how, but then, I associated that with butter chicken.

Let me give a disclaimer here: I have not tasted butter chicken. But I have many close friends who were hardcore fans of chicken tikka butter masala at restaurants around IIT Kharagpur. And a couple of friends at Bangalore who have visited the US, were exclaiming in similar exalted tones about the butter chicken here. Thus, my knowledge is only hearsay!

As soon as the images vanished with the gaining altitude, I got back into my reading. And after about an hour or so, the seat-belts sign was turned on and captain announced that we are again in the path of high turbulence and that we should return to our seats and stay there. Soon, I started feeling a slight pain in the ear. I get this during low pressure conditions and I invariably use cotton earplugs on my flight but NWA did not have any :( I had to make-d0 with tissue paper. And I continued reading.

I knew we were in for some trouble, but then I never thought it will be this bad.. The plane was jolting quite a bit and probably I was sitting at the back of the place, hence the impact was more. Anyways, after a point, the plane went on a sudden descent!! The pressure went lower and I had a splitting pain in my ears. I had keep my book aside and hold my ears closed tight. And then, oxygen masks were deployed. Thankfully, a couple of times I had paid attention to the stewardess's demo (rather than herself!) on how to wear the oxygen mask and to pull it so as to start the oxygen flow. I did that but I was not really sure whether there was oxygen in the cylinder ;) The plane was back in control but it was a bit difficult to breathe, but then I didnt think much about anything 'cos I was afraid my eardrums were going to burst anyway. The whole place started getting HOT and there was the captain's voice in the background saying that the air would get very warm 'cos of the oxygen equipment and that it is only to be expected.

This went on for about 20 mins before things were back to normal and we were asked to remove the masks. We were then informed that there was not enough fuel now and the flight had to deviate and land in Denver instead of Austin, but then, nobody was really bothered as long as we could land safely at some place! Such was the relief that people were actually clapping when the airplane touched down!!!

PS: Somebody mentioned that one of the engines had failed.. but then, you just need one engine to take you to your destination (with of course more fuel being consumed)!

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Images of Butter Chicken!

Aloha!

I'm in Texas.. finally reached here yesterday evening after a delay of about 20hrs. It was one hell of a trip!! Battered by the Hurricane (Emily?), oxygen masks on the flight, re-routed through Denver et al.. But then, guys, I have arrived! ;)

Bhaskar
PS: I'll keep adding to this post.. so, you keep checkin' this one!

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It was as good a start as I or anyone could have hoped for. In fact, I was wondering whats with my luck these days!!

On my international flight, I was sitting in between 4 girls :) On one side was a girl from Infosys, Pune and the other side from Wipro, Hyderabad and another girl, I dont know from where, by the side of the first girl ...she didnt speak much and was sleeping the whole time. Infywali was veeery sweet and she accompanied me all the way upto Minneapolis. We got talking from the start and it was fun! Wiprowali was like 'hmm.. I know you guys..' types and I thought she was putting up an airs, but after sometime she also started talking. She got down at Amsterdam.

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Went around Minneapolis and St. Paul with my cousin, his friends and one of my schooltime friends.. watching bikini babes at lake Calhoun ;) shopping at the Mall of America-the biggest mall in the US, riding on the metro/tram to the downtown, lunching at an Indian restaurant - Surabhi etc etc.. was really cool. I also did some rock climbing at the entertainment park within the Mall of America.. It was great and would like to do it again!

They guys have been in the US for close to a year now.. They were introducing me the babes of US in general...
"There are 2 categories - one that doesnt take care of their body and one that does. And in the second category, there is no one who is a direct reject!!"
"There is a lot of skin shows. After a while, one gets tired of them. Indian girls (back in India) are the best. They know how little to show so as to keep the interest going!! ;)"

Well..well.. I say.. thats only 'after a while'. And I'm going to be here only for a while!! ;)

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And then, I was waiting at the Minneapolis airport to board my flight to Austin. One flight was taxing on the runway ready to take off and it grinded to a halt on the runway itself. I was wondering what was happening.. In a few mins, I couldnt see the flight at all. visibility was hardly for some 10-20m. And rains and strong winds started lashing against the glass walls of the airport. It was terrifying.

After about half an hour, everything subsided and we got onto the flight. Our plane started moving and stopped short on the runway. I could see some 6 planes on each side of the runway lined up in front of us. And many more joined behind us. It seems there are some regulations that call for extra distance between flights in such weather conditions... It was some 3 hours wait on the runway before our flight could finally take-off..

I thought we were set finally.. little did i realize that i would end-up in Denver instead of Austin..

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to be added.. !!

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

History and Geography!!

I shouldnt be here.. have loads on my head and so li'l time.. but then how can I resist posting a coool forward with historical facts and stuff.. ;)
Before I go to the history part of it.. let me tell you what the geography is all about... The next time I post, I guess that will be from the American Continent. yeah! I'm flying off to the USofA this friday night. Will be a short 3 weeks' business trip, but then, it will be Fun!!

coming back to History..
Here are some facts about the 1500's: These are interesting...

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odour. Hence, the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married. Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water."

Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Hence the saying "It's raining cats and dogs."There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence. The floor was dirty. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying "dirt poor." The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet , so they spread thresh (straw) on the floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until when you opened the door it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entrance way. Hence the saying a "thresh hold."(Getting quite an education, aren't you?)

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme, "Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old." Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could "bring home the bacon." They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and "chew the fat." Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead-poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous. Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or "upper crust."

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial.They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence, the custom of holding a "wake".

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a"bone-house" and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tieit to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the"graveyard shift") to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be "saved bythe bell" or was considered a " dead ringer."And that's the truth... Now , whoever said that History was boring !
Educate someone...Share these facts with a friend.

Monday, July 04, 2005

Book Tag

Have been stuck by the book worm tag ;)
[Jammy Rammy, unna gavanichikkaraen http://ramanuj.blogspot.com/]

Number of books owned:
unlike the typical engineering guys, I didnt get to buy any (yes.. absolute zero) of the books during my BTech days. We had a very good College library and if, by chance, we couldnt get our books there, we had our hostel libraries as well. And if I couldnt get it even then, then that book didnt deserve to be read and I wouldnt ;)

And then, I was the library secretary of my hostel in my final year and so, I had access to the choicest of books.. non-academic especially.. and anyways I wasnt too academically inclined :P That must have been the best period of my bibliophilism.

But, then management was a different ball-game.. or book-game.. they gave each one of us all the books required 'brand new' compulsorily at the start of the term . Thus, I have a stockpile of
mgmt books.

And then, I have about 20-30 other books.

Last book bought:
"The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown.
I dont think this book needs any introduction or addendum.

Last book read(ing):
"The Five People You Meet in Heaven" by Mitch Albom
Pretty good one.. I'm taking it in slowly.. it is philosophical.

Book in hand:
"Direct From Dell" by Michael Dell
Absolutely simple and common-sensical. Very relevant in this charged-up Computing era. If you want to know how one company, started just a couple of decades ago, has been rocking the world of IBMs and HPs.

My Favorite(s):
sci-fi: "Timeline" by Michael Crichton
humor: "The Inscrutable Americans" by Anurag Mathur
philosophy: "Fountainhead" and "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand
history and politics: "The Great Indian Novel" by Shashi Tharoor
in a class of its own: "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown
marketing: "Positioning" by Al Ries & Jack Trout
finance: "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" by Robert T. Kiyosaki, Sharon L. Lechter
letter-writing: "Letters to the Penthouse" dont remember which series
photography: "Playboy" any issue that you can get your hand to :P

Each of them is a treat to be savored :)

5 books that mean a lot to me:
I dont know if it means a lot or not.. but all the above influenced me in some unique way.. ;)
And apart from them, "The Alchemist", "Tuesdays With Morrie", "Only Love is Real" and last but definitely not the least "Asterix" have made an impact on me.

Books I read as a kid:
Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Chandamama, a li'l bit of Tinkle (I read the entire Asterix and Tintin series only during my engineering!)

Who's next to be eaten by the tag worm:
Every one on Jammy Rammy's frequent-visiting blogs list ;)

Saturday, July 02, 2005

Have Fun Like Hell !!

"Have Fun Like Hell !!
What a phrase..
But then, what the hell..
Have fun anyways!! "

Wow! That is inspiring and thought-provoking.

At times, I just wait for the right things to happen, the right results, the right mood..
to be happy and to have fun.

And at some such moments, I realize that I dont have to. I dont even have to wait for happiness to be happy. I can have fun any which way things are.. any which way I am. And I have been doing that.

See.. what meeting new people, opening up to life, some blog-hopping, checking mails at 4am after a week's backlog, blah blah blah can do. Well, its probably not about anything in particular. But then, it is a cumulative effect..

There is something that has been bothering me at times. And I was in two minds.. whether to blog it or not.. For one, it is my personal matter and nobody has any business with it. Second, I didnt want to hear any of those smart-alecky or sympathetic comments even in your head (yeah.. I can hear that.. in my mind's ears :) And third, I wasnt sure why I wanted to blog it.

But then, what the hell.. I'll go with my first choice.. of blogging it. 'I am taking a divorce. And I am clear that is what I want for myself and the people concerned.'

Two things about it. She is definitely one of the five people who have made a difference in my life. And everything that happens, happens for the best!

Bhaskar
4th of July!

Eternal Life!

Javeda Zindagi  I love this song from the movie, Anwar... just melts my heart every time I hear it. (Courtesy: musicmania from ...