Food drive

As a part of our performance plans at Dell, we are supposed to support and volunteer for a social cause at least once a quater. I had the opportunity to spend some time at a local food bank today. The concept of a 'Food bank' was alien to me. I spent my first ten minutes there mostly looking all around, amazed by the tons of food around me. I wondered how my working there for three hours was going to help the poor.

After the initial introductions, the manager shared some mind blowing facts and stats about hunger in Texas. The fact that struck me was that 20% of the population in Texas is below the poverty line. Organizations such as this food bank collect food and other surplus supplies from individuals and grocery stores and distribute it to the poor through the church, the schools, the hospices and the old age homes. A program that touched my heart, was the 'Kid's cafe'. Single parents, who handle two to three jobs per day, and still can't feed their children, are eligible for this program. The food bank delivers goodies such as cheesecakes, pastries, cookies, candies along with nutritous meals to such unfortunate homes. Isn't that a wonderful program?

During our stint there, we did various things such as sorting canned food, sorting non food items, weighing and packing beans etc. Though this was not very exciting, the end result was phenomenal. By the end of the three hours, we had contributed to 6000 meals for the poor...that'll feed almost 20 children an entire year!

www.austinfoodbank.org is the official site of the food bank.

This stint showed me how a little effort can go a long way!

Counter motivation

Did anyone notice the counter I put up? Now I can keep checking whether you guys visit my blog often...Increasing the hits is my current motivation for blogging!

The long weekend was undoubtedly crazy. Nobody in office worked on Friday! We were all home by 2, and all of us (four interns and four full timers) started on a camping trip in the evening. The final destination was Mustang Island on the Gulf of Mexico. Simon and Garfunkel, along with a few cops :) kept us company on the long drive.

On our way to the island, a Hooters caught my friends eye, and we had to make an emergency stop! Sorry to say guys, but I was totally let down by the Chicken wings ;) ..People have hyped it a little too much! Anyway, after reaching Mustang Island, putting up the tents in the winds was quite a task. Once the camp was set, we all got down straight to business..Tequila! 5 shots each (at least!) and then, a round of truth or dare! Whatever happened next... stays there ;) - right guys?

The next morning, we left early for a beautiful island, the Bird island. Bird island is a heaven for windsurfing, and is voted one of the top most windsurfing sites in the country. Rob, a fellow intern is a keen surfer, and thanks to him, we got our windsurfing beginner lessons. Once we were in the water and fully equipped, there was nothing stopping us!

Though Rob taught us the basics, it was every man for himself out on the water. Maneuvering the sail with your hands while balancing on a board, holding it at the right angle and pressure to resist the wind, bending just right to hold on to the sail, and keeping an eye on fellow surfers and their speeds was quite a task! After about 5 hours of water coupled with the scorching sun, I was burnt a crisp brown, and that made me stop! However, the exciting experience was entirely worth the tan!

Hang on for the photos..keep visiting!

Tex Mex at Trudys

I was recently introduced to a very spicy and multicultural cuisine called Tex- Mex. Over the past century, Tex -Mex evolved by mixing a lot of Texan meat with north Mexican recipes. One of the many restaurants that serve Tex- Mex in Austin, 'Trudy's', is by far my favorite.

The moment you are seated, they serve baskets full of tortilla chips and tangy salsas. The salsas are mouthwatering for sure, but mind you, extremely spicy! Its so hot, that our very own, Marathi Mirchi cha thecha stands bland in comparison!

The house Margarita is one of the best I've ever had. The right amount of tequila blended with the tangy fruity flavors keeps you asking for more...(you shouldn't! its very potent too ;o) ) Trudys is known for its enchiladas. They serve the yummiest enchilada sauce with the juiciest meat possible. Along with the delicious nonvegetarian fare, (which is always so), the vegetarian fare surely deserves a mention. The portabella and spinach quesadilla are fantastic. The perfect way to end this sumptuous meal is with a 'brownie with ice cream'....tons of calories...but...Irresistible!

With all these mouthwatering details, I'm suddenly very hungry....

Want an IPod?

Believe me or not, my friend did get a FREE IPod just by referring a few friends..
go to this link, register yourself, and refer it to 5 more friends..just make sure whichever offer you choose, yo ucancel it before the free trial expires..

Loneliness

Watching the sunset
here I lie
alone
in an empty bed
an empty soul
searching for one more...
to fill up my senses
with warmth and love
with laughter
with life.

Miss you Ameya ....

Mr and Mrs Smith

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt do make an explosive couple. Well, looking at their volatile chemistry, no wonder Jennifer Aniston filed for a divorce!

I can't categorize 'Mr and Mrs Smith' into a particular genre. Lets call it a romantic action comedy! Though the plot of the movie is extremely juvenile, the action scenes where the couple teams up are fabulous. The hilarious dialogues, the comic timing and Angelina Joile's presence bowled me over...oh yes, more than Brad Pitt, Jolie impressed me with her acting, dresses and fights!! (isn't that weird!)

Go have a look guys, its worth a watch....

Home sweet home

the living room


Now that I have my laptop here and cant give any more excuses for not blogging, let me start by giving you guys a nice view of my apartment. This place is a 5 minute walk from Dell and is totally equipped with a gym and a swimming pool (not that I use it often!). It has a movie theater and a bar! My roomie and I share the apt, but its too big for the two of us. All you guys are invited.....please visit me :( !

My smokin' hot lap's here!

Yooohoooo..finally got my 700 m today. its such a relief to be connected again!

Dells going great! Too much to do in the next 10 weeks! Will keep you all posted ...

for now, my laptops getting all my attention!

Party time!

We're all gearing up for one more awesome party...but this time, it's gonna be bugger boy's farewell. Bugga boy got a job with Bosch and is moving to South Carolina. Come this Sunday, Bugger will leave Ann Arbor for good. As much as I'm happy for Bugger, I'm a bit depressed. One more 'departure' from the gang .. right meghna ;) ?? Well, let me tell you the plan for tonite. It's a costume party and China and Monto are insisting that K and I dress up either as cops or twins. Not that K and I are gonna oblige. We'd rather dress up in kinky white tops and black pants... shall put up the pics tomorrow ;) ..and you ask the drinks? theres malibu, jagermeister, stoli, sauza tequila, bacardi and loadssss of beer...somebody's gonna get drunk tonite!!!! keep visiting for updates!!

The grand Regatta...at what cost?

The 'Regatta', a word, an event, an experience....close to many a COEPian hearts. The Regatta strikes a common chord with all COEPians around the world. The boat club and the Regatta have been an integral part of life at COEP. COEP (recently renamed PIET) happens to be the only Engineering college in India which boasts of a boat club. Every year, a boat show (the regatta) is organized by about 200, 20yr olds and the whole of Pune is invited to watch the glorious boats displayed on the beautiful, mighty river, the Mula. The students toil night and day for almost a month to put up the colorful show. Thankfully, the college funds along with Pepsi or Coke take care of the monetory responsibilities.

The only thing amiss in this boat show, is safety. Every year, a few people fall in the river during practice sessions or during the actual show, and people laugh about it and let it go. But, yesterday, nobody laughed. The mighty Mula, gulped down a 20 yr old young man.

She laughed last....and the hardest.....

'Special status'

Most of my dear friends and I belong to the 'special status' group here. To my utter disgust, 'special status' doesn't necessarily mean a privileged class. It simply means an 'F' on your visa! All the employers try and stay away from us. They do empathize (actually pity) and do worry about a 'loss of talent'...but, they hardly care! Who wants to go through the hassle of filing for an 'H' when you can find a perfectly good employee who is already a citizen? I do understand the restrictions imposed upon them by 'you- know- who', but nonetheless, dont we deserve a chance? I'm sick and tired of people not even accepting our resumes. The only ray of hope they ever give me is 'apply on our website'...yeah right! as if they check!

While I whine about this mad job search, my phone buzzes.... an ex-boss calling! suddenly see a ray of hope! :)

'Spring?? Break??!!?'

To begin with, my apologies my dears, for not blogging often. I was waiting for something to 'inspire' me to write a blog all this while, and I guess, still haven't found anything that inspiring. So, might as well crib about my so called 'Spring break'.

The fact that this time of the year is called 'spring' annoys me! Its not spring..isn't spring supposed to be colorful, chirpy, bright and sunny? I've heard Ann Arbor isn't all that till about the end of April. So calling this time of the year 'Spring', is totally unjustified. So lets now call this our mid-winter break.

'Break'? yeah..it was supposed to be one! from the routine. from trampling 6" of snow on your way to and from school. from classes. from school. from studying...oops..no! God alone knows why teachers think the spring break is an excellent time to study and have mid terms right after the break! mine surely does! how i love cursing her for ruining my break! anyways... now that my 'spring break' is almost over, i have to get back to Studying... see you all then!

Still the one!

Looks like we made it

Look how far we've come my baby

We mighta took the long way

We knew we'd get there someday

They said, "I bet they'll never make it"

But just look at us holding on

We're still together still going strong

You're still the one I run to

The one that I belong to

You're still the one I want for life!

..........

A, looking forward to many many many more years of 'us'!

- n

Marriage anyone?

Whats with people? Everyone I know is getting married! It surely isn't wrong, but whats with the season? I personally know 14 couples who tied the knot this December! Congrats all of you..but, take it easy guys..
I think its the 'NRI season' as they call it, when every guy living here goes home just with the intention of getting married. 15 days to find a bride and marry her! How weird is that! How can you choose a life partner in 15 days, that too under pressure? Beats me!

Memoirs of a Geisha

This book, much to Ameya's disgust, accompanied me on my journey. I picked it up without much thought, just as something to scan through during the flight. Unfortunately for Ameya, I was literally hooked on to it! It's not that the book is a classic, but it can surely touch you. In spite of the grammatical errors and poor language, the author does manage a decent job. He opens up a Geisha's world for you and gives you a totally different picture of Japan. It's the story of a very successful Geisha and how she pines for man she loves, but never gets him! The author decribes the details beautifully and you start expecting a good story from him. But of course, it gets boring along the way, and at the end, depresses you even more. The book has many sad undertones to it but in the end, it does give you an insight in the lives of those unfortunate girls. Verdict: Don't bother reading..theres a movie releasing soon anyway!

lazy blogger

Thats what I call myself! A lazy blogger..I have so many things to write about, that I keep putting it away for the weekend, and then homework takes up my entire weekend. Isn't that a pity! But before my friends put up my name in one of the 'Pretend to blog' lists, I decided to post something.
My Greensboro, New York, NJ trip was fabulous. The entire break we ate great food (most of it Indian. thanks to the million Indian restaurants in NJ), heard good music and chilled out with friends. Ofcourse, shopped like maniacs and saw the NYC attractions. What I liked the most about NYC is not the Times square or the skyline..no doubt they're great, but what struck me, was the energy. The sheer energy of the city is intoxicating. The pace of the city is so much like Bombay, that you feel at home. A lot of Indian faces also make you very comfortable. And the crowds and the trains, definitely remind you of Bombay. My suggestion to all you guys: If you ever feel really really homesick, book a flight to NYC. I promise it'll refresh you!

Thank god!

As I write this blog, I can't thank god enough for keeping me and Ameya so safe. I don't even have words to thank the people who helped us come out of the initial trauma. A split second could change your life forever and affect you in millions of ways. People whom you hadn't ever seen in life get connected to you in freaky ways. Suddenly Mitch Albom's book makes a lot of sense.
It just doesn't matter whose fault it was or who did what. All that matters is good wishes, prayers and above all, love, can bail you out of everything. I've realized, every moment like this teaches you a lot and makes you a stronger person....hopefully..

Thank god!

Bhajji by the lake!

Michigan weather is very funny. Bloody unpredictable! Today morning when I checked Yahoo weather, it said 'Cloudy with a 30%possibility of rain '..and then..it's been the 30% all day! Today, I started from home in a hurry, trying to eat a yummy Jimmy sandwitch and at the same time saving myself from the water sprayed by the inhumanly fast cars. To my utter disgust, as always, by the time I reached school, my jeans were wet. I so hate cars..well, ..unless I'm in it! So, it was a cold, boring and wet day. Until now. Cause, Parag and China have decided to make yummy, hot, mouth watering, oily bhajis and piping hot, flavored tea...yumm...u think i should help them...nah..I'm just gonna lie back and enjoy it! By the lake!

Bhajji..by the willowtree lake..WOW!!

Choker Bali

Don't Choke her.. I mean, though I positively think Rabindranath's story was shitty, I would surely say, the movie is worth a dekko. The story is about a young Bengali widow during the Bengal partition and Independence era. It is way ahead of it's times, and compels you to think profoundly about issues such as sati, remarriage and independence. All woven into each other! Interesting huh??!
Aishwarya plays the main character, called Binodini. Though she is well educated and extremely pretty, she is rejected by the most eligible bachelor (Mahendra) from her town. She goes on to marry an old man, who dies within a year. Mahendra in the meanwhile marries a naive Ashalata, portrayed perfectly by Raima Sen. For some reason, Mahendra's mom finds Binodini and gets her home. When Binodini realises she's in Mahendra's house (who once rejected her) she burns with vengeance and/or desire! This young, smart widow tries every trick she can and lures Mahendra. Binodini and Mahendra have a thing on and finally his wife, Ashalata finds out. Ashalata leaves him and goes to Benares. Binodini then (for no apparent reason) offers herself to his friend! But since he refuses, carries on her affair with Mahendra. They too go to Benares and in a few months.. lo! behold! she meets a very heavily pregnant Ashalata (very dramatic)..She immediately feels guilty and asks Mahendra to return to his wife. Then, Mahendra's friend proposes marriage to her, and she agrees...Finally you would think she's settling down.but no......let me not give away the ending! Even Rabindranath himself thinks that's the worst ending he could have ever given to the story..
Ghosh does an awesome job directing the movie. Some scenes between Aishwarya and Raima are very poignant and disturbing. Aishwarya must've had to work a lot! She actually emotes! Raima is beautiful and a very apt choice for the role. The other actors are just about alright!
So guys, sorry for the big blog...but worth watching...at least once!

The 5 people you meet..

I actually survived two shitty tales! One-Mitch Albom's , 'The five people you meet in heaven', two, Choker Bali. I don't know how!
Well, for Albom, I had predicted that he couldn't get any worse than 'Tuesdays with Morrie', but .. he proved me wrong! So wrong, that actually I've started liking Morrie! If you've read Albom, you can tell this guy was born to make you cry.. I'm sorry I'm asking for a bashing from all Albom fans, but I really hate reading stories which start with dying..(Love Story is an exception..and Erich Segal rocks!) So this story starts with a guy called Eddie, who dies in the first chapter, meets a person who touched his life in every chapter thereafter, and tries to tell us how all our lives are interconnected, and how we leave imprints on each other's lives without even knowing it! The story keeps going back and forth on Eddie's birthdays and gives us a snapshot of Eddie's life then.The outline is freaky and interesting, but there is no connection at all between the loosely connected parts of the tale. But I guess, a novel doesn't become a best seller for nothing..so I'm sure there are some people there who would still like to grab and read it.. go ahead you guys! For those who aren't, don't worry, you're not missing much!

More on Choke her Bali later..oops I meant Choker Bali!