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!!

Holidays : the driving force

Vacations and going places is the current driving force in my life here at UTA. I blame it on the American way of living. We all work hard through the week just so that we get those two days free for ourselves.  I survived 2 semesters here all thanks to two big vacations that I got at the end of every semester. The third semester is almost half way though and is going good with the anticipation of another holiday.A trip to India is of course on top of the list and second comes NJ, but even a short trip  nearby has its own charm  This isn't like the perfect thing to do, but it seems perfect to me. 'Be in a position to treat yourself with a nice holiday' has become my current mantra. A long weekend is coming up and I'm totally looking forward to it. As some of you may say, I have Americanized a little! But it isn't bad if it works in a positive way for you!!

Celebrating 25 years of togetherness!! Happy anniversary Aai & Daddy!!

It happens to be my parents 25th anniversary today. As they celebrate this big step, I wish them all the happiness today and forever. I've been there for most times of these 25 years and I couldn't have asked for more. Its truly a blessing to have you. I couldn't have asked for more.

The support and faith that they have shown in me made me the person I am today.  I hope that I live up to their expectations.Be it success or failure, happiness or grief , they have been by my side all the way. Thank you so much. Love u loads. :):)

A journey to remember!!

This is not like how the first post should be, but here it is!! I need to start with something..
Well, 'the journey' is quite a big word to use, I am talking about a 10 day awesome trip to the East coast of USA which started and ended in NYC. It was a much needed vacation for all of us and we all had a time of our lives. So this post happens to be more of a travelogue:
Day 1: On flight to  New York La Guardia airport from DFW
Starting from home at the crack of dawn, we make it way before time for our flight. It wasn't a direct flight and we had around 3 hours layover at Atlanta. The first place that I hit at any airport is the souvenir shop. collecting magnets of places that I visit has been a new found hobby. So there I was, shopping for magnets at the Atlanta souvenir shop :) Later in a few hours we were at the LGA airport. The vastness  and the fast paced life of the city continues to amaze me. A nice night view of the city from the 102nd floor of the Empire state building was a moment worth remembering. And yes it is from this very place that the adventure started. First night in the city and one camera down :(

Outside the NY public library

Day 2: On the way to Niagara
It was impossible to do without a camera and the next day started with our hunt for a nearby ' Best buy' . Nothing comes easy in life and hence after a long search we finally got a camera that we wanted and left for Niagara falls. The travel was fun with Ninad behind the wheel of his dream car the Mazda 3. The adventure part was that we did not have a GPS system with us and it took us around 2 hours to get out of the city. And at this point we developed a sudden love for the Texas freeways. Storms awaited us in Niagara and the night view was not clearly seen as we had thought it to be. But it is beautiful and truly a place to visit. Indian food always remains a treat and it was special to have authentic punjabi food at Niagara. Pachranga aachar at the falls!! Can anything beat that!!



Day 3: Niagara Falls
The Maid of the mist and cave of the mist were amazing and the word 'beautiful' seems too less to explain the beauty of the falls. The Niagara Falls state park is amazing and they have done a great job and maintaining the charm of the  falls. Another lucnch at Maharaja and we were set to go to Corning Museum of Glass. The glass work and masterpieces made our visit there totally worth it!
Day 4: NYC it is!!
Madame Tussauds Wax museum, Times Square, Wall street and traveling by subways made our day!!
Day 5: New Jersey
Cape May, A beach place at the sothermost part of New Jersey! A perfect place for an american vacation on a long weekend. Having said that I don't think I need to say any more. Playing in the water and making sand castles, continues to be fun as always!!
Day 6: NJ and NY
An attempt made to appreciate the work of artists. A visit to the Museum of Modern Art. Fancy as it sounds, it is a huge museum displaying various forms of art from all over the world. My patience ended after seeing about a quarter of the museum. Nice lunch at MoMA followed by a bike ride in central park. Now this was ' the moment' . Riding a bike with mama and mami at central park was something that I had never done before.. It was fun!!
Day 7 : Philadelphia
Day started at 6.30 am in the morning. I actually woke up too see mama off to work! This is a again a rare thing!! since we had to go early that day I was ready to go at around 7.30 am. Watched 2 movies and chilled out at home and left for Atlantic city in the evening. Thats the beauty of our trip. We had all plans ready but it was hardly ever that we followed the plans. It was always an impromptu decision. Atlantic city is a place which probably gets the highest electricity bills!!  The place makes you think that gambling is the way to life.We checked in the hotel (Donald Trump's Taj Mahal Hotel and casino) and I got a short and very useful lesson for Poker from Ninad. Later, we went to the boardwalk. The water was cold but I still couldn't resist the temptation and had to step into the water. Pizza and iced tea at the boardwalk was our dinner. Trust me, cheese pizza never tasted so yummy.So much excitement at the poker table. We had our share of winning and losing moments!!
Day 8:  Atlantic City to Washington DC
We were set for the travel with laptops fully charged and bollywood music playing all the way!!
Visit to the capitol building and a night view of the white house marked the day. Nice dinner at a Biryani place with Ninad's cousin. Biryani that was not too spicy!!
Day 9: Washington DC
The city truly gives the message of being the capital of the country. everything about this place is grand. We enjoyed a nice bus tour around the city. A glimpse of the first couple of the US outside the White house was like the cherry on top.
Day 10: Philadelphia
Visit to the old capital before going back to NJ. Philly is a treat for people who love history or have some knowledge about the American history. All the monuments and places of historic importance are very well preserved. Tap house is a local brewery famous for its beers. A treat for beer lovers. Nice ambiance and nice location.Day ended with Pav bhaji at the Lakshmi road in Edison. It is just like India!!
Day 11:Princeton
Visit to the dentist, Golf course, Lunch at P. F Chang, Shopping with mama ( brought back memories of India), ice cream @ Thomas ice cream and a drink at the Brew House in Princeton Downtown.
A day well spent!!
Day 12: NYC
Statue of liberty and Miss Liberty ride and Chipotle!! Left for the airport at around 12 from Leena tai's place and boarded the flight to DFW, The tour thus ended and we were all back to the grind!

To sum it up, Ameya walked more than he had walked the entire semester..Manasi had a fun time dressing up in all her new attires.. Ninad gave too much work to his brains and his knees hurt, and I was happy that the whole trip happened!!