When the future becomes a part of the past!!

My friends who have been following my blog have pointed out that I talk mostly about travling. Well then how can I not write about one of the longest journeys of my life. August  11, 2010 I got down at the DFW airport for the first time.I was amazed by the vastness of the place. The heat wasnt too welcoming but I was glad to see Madhura didi and Manasi. When I was going to Arlington, I had a lot of expectations from this place which I had to make my home for atleast the next two years. After all the apartment hunting, we finally moved into Catalina apartments. It was quite a place and I loved it. But moving closer to the campus was a good thing and the stay in Catalina didn't last long. The Fall semester went by getting used to the system here. I had fun. It wasn't as difficult as I had expected it to be. Come Spring and summer and the weather went from good to bad. Time flew by and there I was at the DFW airport again, waiting fro my flight to Mumbai. One and half years went by and so much happened. I was close to graduation, I had so many new friends and DFW airport now felt like the home airport. It went up the charts and is getting close to the Pune airport. I didn't realise and I feel like I belong to Texas. Life at UTA taught me a lot. I grew up as an individual. Besides academics, it taught me how to deal with people without losing your mind. Dr Kim along with other things taught me how to work well and think hard when the stress level is at its peak. I continued and finally completed my Masters in Biomedical Engineering. Family and friends made it memorable and special.

                                                               My support system

                                                       I made it here because of them

                                                         The reason I survived here

                                             Blessings from grandparents were important!!

                                                          My family away from home
At the end of it all, when its time for me to leave UTA and go, I must say that this place gave me a lot and I am thankful for it. I have had some of the best times in my life here in Arlington. After the visa interview I was all set to follow my dreams and was looking forward to what the future had in store for me. Days,weeks , months and years passed and this place will soon be a part of my past. It has made its place there and will remain close to my heart all my life.

Happy Birthday!!!

Not often do you find people who share the same birthdays, but I've been strangely lucky with it. Today happens to be the birthday of 3 special people in my life. Its rather sad that I can't meet any one of them inspite of being in the same country These people have made a huge difference and continue to be a huge support. 
    One of the first few people I met during my engineering days. something just clicked and we became the best of friends. Can't imagine my life without this bubbly Bengali girl who got me through out in some of the worst times in my life. Today as she turns 25, I wish her all the happiness forever. During the engineering years, we were yelled at all the time for being together and whiling away time. Now its come down to a call over the weekends but the still feels the same. I still continue to take her for granted most of the time and put her in tight situations because of that but I think she's used to getting that from me. She's been a huge support all this time, she believed in me when I didn't believe in myself.

 Wish you a very happy birthday Jyotika. Have a great day!!!

     She's technically my senior here at UTA. She's the daughter every mom dreams of having. Obsessed with cleaning and she cleans up her closets and shelves if she's getting bored. Fun to live  with as you will never enter the house and find things lying around. living with her, she'll make sure u stick so a particular pattern at doing things. A perfectionist , a hard working soul , comes up with fantastic examples to explain things. She will mostly not leave the conversion till u agree with what she's trying to say. Addicted to pepsi and can pretty much live on chicken.

Happy Birthday Deepika. Have a great one!!

     This little one came into our family and me and Isha had to 'grow up' because we weren't the youngest in the family anymore! Naughty and too smart for her age, she leaves us in awe with her remarks! Can't believe that  its the same Urvi, who started talking a few years back, now talks to me in spanish!! Time really flies!! Happy Birthday Urvi. Here's sending a lot of love your way!! Have an amazing birthday!

Happy Birthday Baby!!

It is said that your birthdate has a huge role to play in the person you are today. These three people are so different in so many ways but I'm amazed at their love for pink and all of them can swear by chicken!!I haven't seen Jo and Deepika as kids . But I'm pretty sure they were like Urvi!

And also, Happy birthday Lily!!! You are quite unlike these people and its a treat to having known you. Have a great year ahead!!

(My blog posts are a rare sight these days. This is pretty evident from the worsened language and a very bad way of expressing it too!The reason this post made it to the blog is that I miss all of them so much and I so want to be with them!! )

40 days to life!!!

In around a month after you land on a foreign land, all the excitement of the place wears off. This typically is called the ' Honeymoon phase' where you feel like you are living a dream. But like all the dreams, it is short lived and you soon have all the reasons for not staying in that place. This of course is temporary and continues to change depending on situations. When I landed in Arlington it was a completely different experience. Nothing seemed familiar and people around looked like you know them but didn't really know them. Time flew fast and weeks became months and years. Its been more than a year that I've gone home. Difficult as it sounds there have been times when I felt completely lost in this new home of mine, the kind of feeling you get when you haven't gone home for days.
Now in like the next   40 days, I will be home , living a dream that I've been dreaming of for months.
Finally!!Back to those days where you knew exactly what is happening around you, where people around you are not strangers, where even the most imperfect things seem perfect!
A lot of unfinished tasks to be taken care of before heading home this winter. This Christmas is surely going to be special :) :)

A breath of fresh air to our suffocating souls

A roadtrip always is full of adventure. Highlights of our Colorado roadtrip were that there was not much planning and brooding done over it,  seven heads just sat together and came up with this wonderful plan. We had a GPS with us this time and missed out on some fun at the roads. But its comparatively less difficult to get lost on Texas highways. After all the confusion we finally left UTA on friday orning and thus began my first ever roadtrip. Well equipped with food, music collection and camping supplies we had fun traveling across Texas. We could feel the vastness of the state as we traveled, the state is apt for the 'Texan size', its huge. We cut through New Mexico and reached Colordado at night. New Mexico is quite beautiful, its just that only a few of us could appreciate the beauty of this mostly barren land. Last minute shopping at Walmart(yes, I can proudly say that I go to Walmart even when I am on vacations) and we were all set for camping. The tent was finally set. the sky never looked so beautiful. Its that night that I came to know the peace and calm when everything around you is calm and quiet.
After that day I made my mind that I will never disturb Deependra when he asks for some quiet time. This resolution didn't last long and I still continue to trouble him. Next day began at the crack of dawn and we left for rafting. White water rafting at the Arkansas was thrilling and made most of us value our lives even more! Pike's peak, Rocky mountain , all these places have the nature at its best.

Royal gorge suspension bridge is the highest suspension bridge in the world built by a rich man who had a lot of money to spend. The gorge has abundant store of precious stones. Rafting in the Arkansas river reminded me of the movie Mackenna's gold. People still come to the banks of the river to look for gold.It felt awesome to go from 37C in Texas to 37F at Pike's peak. Located at 14000ft above the sea level this place is famous for its road to the peak. There is also a train that takes passengers to the peak.

Madhumita was my buddy in shopping and we got 'stones'  and magnets from all these places. Beautiful, thrilling ,fun, adventure are thus the key words of our trip all well captured in the camera by our very  own camera man:Harish. All and all the trip was a success.  I  thus strongly believe that like minded people should do like minded things and that quite explains the series of events that followed...

"Hurting" knees of Mr. Einstein

Ever since I was a kid, my mom always said that I do not listen to her much but I would rather listen to a few other people. She said, I develop a trust in those people and tend to agree with what they have to say. There have been people like these around me all the time. Hardly ever I've seen myself getting convinced by what other people say. But it works quite the opposite sometimes.  And I'm glad to have such thinking heads around me.. Life is much easier with having you guys around.
As you must know I don't really notice people around me.. but there are some brains that intrigue me. Mr. Einstein is one such person. Having a redundancy for brains in the knees helps to think in a direction which normally other people wouldn't think of. This scientist brain has a new dimension of looking at things.Whenever one feels a little low and depressed about things, and need a little reality check,this is the place to go. Having his own beliefs about things, he is one person who believes in work over luck!! This Einstein has stood by me in my worst times, like a pied piper he turned me around when needed. 
Whatever said and done, kudos to you, Mr. Einstein! Here's wishing you all the success as you are set to follow your heart . Cheers!!

Silence isn't always golden

In today's times there is a need to rephrase the saying 'Silence is golden'. In most of the places all you need to do is speak, speak out till people get irritated with you. Act like the world is a stage and you are the lead performer, then you will be noticed and your work will be appreciated. Go gaga about the silliest things that you do and the response that you get is beyond you. Incomprehensible is life and its ways. The age old customs of living a simple and subdued life have gone for a toss. In this glam age there is no place for people who keep doing their work and  never speak  about it.There has to be a grandeur in everything that you do. If you are doing something talk about it, let others know what you are up to. Self publicity is the best possible form of publicity that works these days. Its such a sorry state but that is how it is. So put on the best of your attitude and go show the world, that's the way it is!

Everthing comes with a price tag!

Its been almost an year since I left everything to follow my heart. I stepped out of the protective shelter of my parents to follow what my heart wanted for a long time. Full of confidence and curiosity I boarded that Jet airways flight to begin yet another journey as a student. It was a big step and I was surprised that I actually took it. It would not have been possible without the endless support of my family and friends who showed immense faith in me. It felt like I was going on a vacation, but when the plane took off at the Mumbai airport the reality struck me like a lightening. For somebody who had not stayed away from home for a day, an year seemed like an eon. the long flight ended and there I was at the Newark International airport; mama was so happy to see me and so was I. 4-5 days at mama's place made me think that life's good! When mami came to drop me at the airport, I got another reality check.Spending another few days at Madhura didi's place, I finally landed in Arlington. The few good things that happened in the initial days here are that I made very good friends here. A month or so in the semester and everything seemed to be working out fine. Semester after semester passed and I've almost completed a year here. things have changed and people have changed. Being homesick has kind of become a habit now and I have finally got my reality check. Back home friends and cousins are getting married and I missed it all. Isha's almost half way through her Bachelors and I've missed being a part of it. I missed out on their birthdays, anniversaries and so on.
Visit to the Independence bell in Philadelphia  did ring a bell in my mind. Being independent and responsible was one of the few things that the country  gave me. Before leaving I was fully convinced about coming here. But after almost an year I think was it all worth for the price that we all pay for it? As the Coldplay song goes, 'when u get what u want but not what you need'...
The faith that I saw in my family's eyes as I crossed the gates keeps me going.
Today, I move on with the hope and and reassurance that I will return someday with a few dreams achieved and a few more to be achieved  and  be content with the fact that I gave it a shot! Cheers!!