Nirvana

Is NASA for real or is it being inspired by the Hollwood flick Armageddon? Check this out!

Manhattan over the years.

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Jan 07 1999.

The day I landed in the USA.

Land of Opportunities.

Land of the free and home of the brave.

Six years ago.

Amazing how time flies by.

I can vividly remember the day.

Flying from Mumbai on KLM-Northwest Airlines.

Destination - Charlotte, North Carolina.

Port of Entry - Detroit.

Companions - A white and an Indian on his first visit to Memphis.

Travelling all alone, to an unknown land for the first time.

A sense of adventure and apprehensions fill me.

It was snowing in Detroit - temperatures below zero.

Had to ride a bus to the domestic terminal.

Paid a black 5 bucks to get me through the security check.

that was unnecessary - i could have managed on my own.

Reached Charlotte early hours of the morning.

Priya and Prem at the airport to receive me.

Overjoyed to see them - although I was meeting them for the first time.

Picked up Lakshmi at a local theater.

Drive to Shannon Green Dr, put up temporarily at Gokul's apt.

Gokul on the floor wearing yellow tees sleeping.

Makes me feel at ease.

Freshen up - lakshmi invites me to dinner.

Go over to priya's place - meet everyone.

call up home to let them know that I reached safely.

Lakshmi makes hot, delicious tomato rasam.

I gratefully devour it to quell my hunger.

Mumble goodnite and head to sleep over at Gokul's place.

To be continued ..

In parting, let me add a quick note. Over the years, there have been a few seniors both while in Bangalore or in Charlotte/Allentown who have looked over me and tended to me and helped me in times of need. They have touched my heart with simple gestures and I am forever indebted to them.

I feel happy when I recall those times and it makes me believe in the inherent goodness of mankind. I have lost touch with most of these treasured friends - wherever they may be, I wish them well and I hope our roads cross again someday.

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This is where I live.

This is where I work.

This is the route I drive by everyday to work.

This is the satellite view of the neighborhood.

Yet another reason why Google rocks!

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After a long and a hectic weekend shopping for the big day, visiting friends and relatives, dining out and driving around the city. This was my third trip to Miami - the first occurred when I was in grad school and was visiting a cuz during summer. I had been to Everglades national park, Islands of Adventure in Orlando, south beach and Coconut Grove on that occasion. It was a thoroughly enjoyable funfare, the heat was unbearable making me sweat all over.

The second visit was in 2002 along with S and V during Labor Day weekend. We had been to Key West, south beach, coconut grove and the temple during that stay. This was an exciting and eventful trip - tried jet ski and parasailing at key west, had my first encounter with alcohol - tequila, red wine, beer at south beach, had been to the first disc in the usa.

I had a bitter experience on my way back from Miami to NJ though, probably the worst accident I have ever been in. I still remember manouevring my Jetta around a curve following a black limo that night listening to tamil songs on my car player. A red sports car swung by rapidly on the opposite lane, lost control, careened towards the limo in front of me. The guy behind the wheels tried to avoid the disaster only to hit my car with a brutal impact. The seatbelts and the airbag saved me though, I escaped with no injuries and was shaken up after that close shave.

To make things worse, the guy tried to escape realizing his mistake, the police caught him later I heard. The car was totalled and I lost my prized possession - my Jetta. I am not superstitious but funnily enough I was paranoid yest nite while driving back to Allentown. Images of that accident flashed before my eyes and I was cautious hoping that it had nothing with my visits to Miami.

I visited a million dollar five bedroom house during this visit, was completely overawed by the design, interiors and the layout - study, sportsbar, pool and a personal theater. I had the best chinese food I ever had at south beach - planning to go there again sometime. I went overbudget with my shopping but came back immensely satisfied.

Overall, a good and a worthwhile trip.

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Yet another Sunday evening and yet another weekend has passed by. The mattress was delivered yesterday, assembled the frames and laid it down. The darn thing occupies almost the entire bedroom space and gigantic. It’s very comfy, lied down this afternoon for a siesta, dozed off pretty fast, deriving a small pleasure having the whole mattress for myself for the next few weeks :)I was watching The Godfather on video yesterday (maybe the third time), as exciting and gripping as the first time. I was googling for the phrase ‘Go to the mattresses’(in the movie) much later - a mob slang for ‘Go into hiding’. Watched a part of ‘Vaali’ today - Vivek’s jokes are a riot, especially the ‘history of the accident and geography of the incident’ scene was entertaining to say the least.

‘Blindness’ is moving at a faster pace, what stands out so far is Jose’s distinct style of narration and an imaginative, unique story comprising of intriguing characters adding a touch of realism to the novel. A few incidents could have been straight out of a Jewish Ghetto during Hitler’s reign, except the secluded group in this novel are blind. A full review on this novel when I am done with it.

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Ask any guy which task he despises the most early morning and in all probability, the reply would be shaving. Yes, even narcissists too! ‘King of Shaves’ can ask us to enjoy the ‘art’ of shaving (which is beyond my comprehension), I simply abhor it. So much so that I don’t shave more than twice a week on an average. True, I prefer a clean-cut and a well groomed appearance to an unkempt, itchy, three day stubble but the act of a razor against my sensitive skin everyday with nicks and cuts is more than I can handle.

I probably enjoyed the first few shaves at the tender age of sixteen, the primary reason being - Elevation to a status of a ‘ young man’ - more so than the act itself. Who cannot recall his first shave? I remember being in awe of my Dad when I watched him shave over the weekends and holidays (he was up by 4 am on weekdays). A foam brush, a palmolive cream, a savage blade mounted on a razor and some old spice, he would emerge from the bathroom clean shaven and fresh.

I matured quite early in comparison to my classmates, I had a moustache sprouting and a cracked voice (which I naively attributed to a sore throat until enlightened by a girl a year senior to me!) by the age of 15. By sixteen, a stubble was fighting for it’s due space against the prominent acne on my face. I declared myself ready to join the men’s club and coaxed my dad to let me shave. I did quite well for a novice and would proudly let everyone around me know that I shave as often as once a week.

Alas! The merry lasted only a year and the years following that, I would grow a beard for as long a duration as couple of months. My granny was quite unhappy about the whole thing - the mush and the beard. She would constantly remark - “Iyengaraa poranthutu meesai dhaadi vechirukiye”. I would wittily point out that my mama (mom’s bro) being an iyengar had one!! Also, my uncle (dad’s bro) - although he didn’t mind the mush, he would call me a ‘Aatankvaadhi’ when he saw the beard. My uncle was the only one to have a thick moushtache in the family when he was young, curled up at the ends like in the military. Boy, is it impressive!

My granny passed away when I was in my second semester of undergraduate course and I shaved my mush off out of respect for her I tend to believe.. Then followed years of experimentation with cheap plastic twin blades, at all angles as long as I could get the job done. A couple of years ago, after a decade of shaving, I learnt the ‘art’ and ensure that I moisturize and preserve my skin. Funnily, I have never grown a french beard until recently, here’s my first attempt a few weeks ago. Not bad I would say, tolerable. What say you?

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I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes,
Love is all around me, And so the feeling grows..
- “Wet Wet Wet”Number of emails from R today : Eight
Average Number of words per email : 120
Emotions her emails evoke from me : priceless

What’s up with blogger today, had typed quite a long post and it gives me an exception error? Not much happened at work today, most of them did not turn up, it being Good Friday and the Easter weekend. I had invited Deepak over for idlis and sambar in the evening. It was long due and he has been reminding me almost every week. It appears that he enjoyed them, probably the only person who does!!

I had been to the post office today. If you ever want to know what customer service is all about, go to a post office in the usa. The employees are courteous, patient and their conduct is exemplary. Never noticed it? Do so next time.

They stand behind the counters all day long and handle all the questions and tasks cheerfully and efficiently. Even to this day, their professionalism amazes me and it makes me feel at ease and homely. I dont have to worry about any sulking faces or groaning voices when I approach the counter. I commended an employee on their excellent service and I don’t do that often. If only all the organizations would take a leaf out of their book, the world would be a much better place..

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What a dreary morning - chill, windy, covered with clouds, no sight of the sun and drizzling since the early hours of dawn. It makes me want to crawl into bed, cover myself with a blanket and curl up with a good book.

No news today, I could not sleep last night - turning and tossing around with weird thoughts in my mind. Funny, I can vaguely recall them now - had something to do with the workplace, wonder how R crept into it. I woke up with a splitting headache, decided to either take the day off or work from home. logged into work, checked my emails and currently running a couple of jobs to fix some design issues.

R popped by around 11:30, chatted with her a while, 45 more days to go. checked my hotmail - new sister site of buy.com called Yub.com launched today. 1% off of online purchases for non members and 15% off for members (membership fee of $25 for a year).

I was surfing on the net and chanced upon a blogger who describes himself as a geezer being born in 1929. Inquisitive, I was clicking through his archives - enjoyed quite a few posts about the world, life and people around us. It must be the grey hair and wrinkles on his face - nothing surpasses experience. It makes me wonder where would I be in my 60s/70s, will I still be around? would there be any scientific/technological breakthroughs, would there be a armageddon/apocalypse wiping the face off the earth?

“Time discovers truth” - Seneca

what a dreary morning..

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Ran two miles on the treadmill today, took me 21 min and burned 300 calories. Not my best by a long shot .. But at this juncture, I am glad that i have taken the initiative. Inertia is a big thing to reckon with in my life!Was listening to Barenaked Ladies on my new Rio Karma, they rock! One of the Mitsubishi eclipse ads featured their ‘One Week’ song, pretty cool ad too..

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I feel tired these days, I am completely burned and totally devoid of energy when I wake up. I have been crawling to bed late at nite and sleeping in most of the mornings. It’s not the workplace either (although I spend a few nites on conf calls with shangai), i am watching too much tv or spending too much time on the net. I am cutting down the number of hours henceforth, feel the need to get to bed early and wake up early, will feel much better I guess..I am kicking off my fitness routine today after procrastinating for several weeks now. I am no newbie to the gym, I enjoy the workouts immensely. The hassle is in dragging myself to the fitness center which is two levels below my cube. It feels like climbing the Everest at the end of the day, really!

Five days a week, Cardio + weights + healthy food + rest should ramp up my metabolism and burn all the fat. The goal is to trim 2 inches off my waist and add some muscle, I want to feel good, look good and live good by May.

Exactly 52 days for the wedding, the countdown begins

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