Frequency Match!

For almost my entire life I had this huge misconception "I can get along well with only people of my age....". It's sounds weird but it "was" the truth until my final year of engineering. Also until I started working I had never ever been a part of a big group..my max was 3 at the time!! :-D . May be because I am an introvert person But now I have a new "view" on this.

During my final year engineering I started communicating with Abhijith and though there was age difference..it was very simple to be myself...and that was my 1st addition to the list..after that I have had many many pals with whom I am comfortable discussing an assortment of topics not finding age as a barrier...

1. My ex- Mindtree team mates and friends Ambika, Smitha and Megha and ESP team members

2. Few members of footloose gang [ I dont want to mention the names, for my own safety]

3. Srini at Mindtree [May be the oldest of my pals]

4. Few of my freiends at SLK software

5. A couple of people here at LSU desi's and class mates included

I realize it is never the age match, but mind frequency match that is important...as long as you have something is common or something uncommon and you are able to accept the person the way they are you can be friends with anyone! The whole difference lies in the point weather you crib about the persons mistakes, intolerances and indifference or you whole heartedly welcome them knowing that even you are not perfect and can be pain in the A** for others :-)..I have had this revelation and Thank GOD for that..just hope I didn't miss meeting few good people earlier because of my "MISS" conception....

And yeah my definition of friends is not only limited to Friends Friends...but with anyone with whom I share this kind of relationship . Family members, employees, employers, classmates , lecturers...to make it short anyone under the SUN!

Foooooooooodie

I am in a mood to write about foooooooooooood :-). It's kinda serious topic so let me being....

Food plays a very very important role in my life...a few years back I used to think "I am alive to eat"..so you can only IMAGINE how crazy I am about food...ooops I meant "tasty" food :-P....It comes from my family who has great cooks like my Grand mom, mom, aunt and the men are no less right from my grandpa, father, uncle's to my brother. It so happens any inclusion into our family would automatically be converted into a food lover, classical example is my uncle , married to my mom's sister :-D.

Let me talk about just Dosa to keep the blog "short". During the time when my mom and dad were kids, dosa was only made during special occasions because then it was more cumbersome to prepare plus the number of people in a joint family is unimaginable! They usually narrate some episodes of the dosa day's at home. And when I was in high school my mom used to mention it was the same case with our family, only difference is dosa was an expensive affair for us. So she used to limit making it once in a while. As I grew older I never felt the absence of dosa around me (usually home made). Once I started going out with friends to eateries my boundaries expanded to the Sandharshinis, "NEW" Shanthi Sagar, Adigas and after I started working to MTR's , Mayya's, SLV Delites, Vidyarthi Bhavan. So to conclude dosa was always there to satisfy my taste buds until I landed in US in August 2010.

Post August 2010:

1. Have eaten it twice in an Indian Restaurant here and every time I have repented!

2. Then Anusha had prepared it once and that was no where close to been called a dosa since it was not fermented [ appreciate her effort though].

3. Tired the ready made flour sent by pri's aunt and it was a huge disaster!

4. Fortunately or unfortunately don't remember eating dosa's during my visit to California.

But but but....a couple of weeks ago I was conversing with my aunt and just asked her how to make dosa at home. The next day, did the necessary preparations and by the end of 2 days I was feasting on 'AWESOME" dosa's. Yeah I did make dosa's for the 1st time and it was a huge success :-). I ate them for 4 days if I am right!!! Yummmmmmmmmy......So finally my dosa carving thirst was quenched at last....

Anyways, the point is if I look at the different phases I can see :

1. As a kid, I didn't know much on what I was eating so really didn't know the dosa was a costly affair.

2. As a teenager I never appreciated dosa's, since it was at my disposal anytime I wanted.

3. As a working person Dosa was a luxury and I relished on it

4. Now back to been a student in a No-Dosa Land I realize how important these small things are in life and how you link them with your family, your growth and just make sure you always want to be the Dosa person :-D

P.S : Dosa was just an analogy, the same thing applies to every other food I LOVE :-D

1st Sem MBA.....

Completing my 1st Sem MBA feels GREAT!!! But when I look at the past few months, I realize I have changed a lot as a person and my views about things have also changed. I shall just talk about one point of view in this blog.

To begin with, I was wondering doing BE in ECE [IEEE paper published, good reputation at college etc etc] then moving to Software for 3 years [Managed to get a good name in that. Gokul Please don't comment] and now out of nowhere MBA. You cannot even "TRY" connecting the dots :-). I used to say people I am the worst possible combination:-P. Now I feel WOW!!!!!! Really doing ECE at UVCE made me learn to study independently!! This has definitely helped my MBA, because I had to take a few courses I had no inkling and I did manage to fare well in them :-). Next coming to my Software profession, I had never ever done any Software Programming ever and to clear the Mind Tree assessment and finally doing 2 full time projects has just made me mentally and physically prepare for worst case scenarios. I have utilized that to the fullest in my 1Sem MBA with hectic course work, work and other stuffs that came along.

Yes the past experience might not have any connection to what I am doing. But I never would have been the same person I am today without them and I totally respect them for it. I can and will continue to explore more and more options whether it be in education or in general stuffs. Because I feel I have the "GUTS" to take up new things and do unusual things out of the routine :-). All thanks to my 1SEM MBA.

P.S: Though I boasted about myself, all this wouldn’t be possible without the love, support and trust my near and dear ones have showed me to date J

I miss you more!

Constant complaint we all hear from people living outside India is " I miss Indian Food". That's the same case even with me, been a junk food eater who enjoys food more than anything else. So after I came here all of us do end up in conversations about the good old times where we could eat mouthwatering food from so many places. But soon I realized when we start talking about food, I always associate it with my friends and family! Here is the list -

1. Home Food -> Mom, Grand mom, Aunt and at times dad, bro
2. Shanthi Sagar, Food Camp, Sweet Chariot -> Family
3. Karthi Sweets, Shiv Sagar Commercial Street -> Reema and Sindhu
4. Adigas, Chalukya, road side pani puri -> Asima
5. BBQ, Masala Cafe, Gullus & Chetty's, ISKON Cafe -> Footloose
6. Shiv Sagar, Adigas Banashankari -> Ambia, Megha, Smitha
7. VVP Puram Street, Vidyaranyapura Pani Puri Stalls -> Uday
8. Mindtree Cafes -> ESP team members
9. All possible food outlets in NEW BEL Road -> SLK friends
10. All the junk food treats like samosa's, bajji's on the way from Mindtree to Home -> My cabmates
11. The lavish food at Bombay House, Taste of Rampur, BBQ -> Shehnaz and Divya

and to top this list is Abhijith with whom I have visited most of these places :-). Yes I do miss eating these food items, but I would never do it alone even if I get the opportunity since it would never be as or enjoyable in the absences of my family and friends. So the point is " I miss you guys more than my food" [ That's so sweet of me! Is it not ? ]

P.S : I would update the list as and when I remember. Sorry if I have missed you in the list. My Bad.

Shopping in Dollars with Indians!

It is a know fact that during Thanks Giving holidays, we get super cool discounts for almost anything and everything in US. Most of the Malls have their discounts starting mid night of Black Friday and extending till next day. Apparently most people end up shopping the whole night going from malls to malls and handpicking their choices. But as you all know, how lazy I am and how sleep addictive I am :-D [ In case you didn't you just got to know! Congratulations! ] I choose to go to the mall the following morning with Aashay, Trina & Ayan. Aashay had the whole plan in place, only thing is none got executed other than the fact that the 4 of us made it :-D.
1. We were waiting for the local bus at 7 AM in the morning when it was raining heavily and was freezing cold and somehow got a bus by 8:15 AM ;-)
2. Ideally the shopping was "supposed" to end by 12:30 and we had to broad the bus back home. But our shopping officially ended by 5 PM. This was because all were shopping individually and due to the sad cell phone service we were unable to reach each other inside the mall. I believe we spent more time waiting for each other than for shopping ;-)
3. Best of all, we went to Best Buy [ electronic appliance store] and after a lot of research, discussions etc we 4 bought the same Sony Camera :-)
4. Headed back home all tired!!! But with an experience of a kind ;-)

I managed to get a few body lotions for parents and myself and the camera. That was it!!!. Trina did her own bit of "useful" shopping. Ayan who didn't plan to shop ended up shopping more than us ;-). And last but not the least, Aashay shopped for himself more than for his family [ he is visiting India this December] :-P.

End of it whether you are a Desi / American you are human, and that's the reason I felt the rush here was just like what I see in Lifestyles, Westsides, BigBazaar or for that matter any other store in India, where people gather where there are discount sales.

Potluck "Desi" Style!

PotLuck : A potluck is a gathering of people where each person or group of people contributes a dish of food to be shared among the group.

We (pri and I) were invited for a Bachelorette Party cum a Potluck at Kirans’ and Jaspreets’ house. Both are doing their PhD’s and Jaspreet is getting married in January 2011. So it was a gathering of all desi’s but all of them expect Pri and I were northies. Initially I was not very comfortable, since my know how about the hostesses were just though Pri. And the other guests were also just the “hi-bye” types. But as minutes passed by, I realized I cannot sit quiet and be so passive! So I stared listening to this conversations; basically full time pass jokes!! Commented on a few and ended up laughing for like 4-5 hours! The dinner was awesome with assortment of food delicacies [though I didn’t get to eat any]. It was 1 AM when things came to an end and people bid adieu.

I did realize it really does not matter if you are in the right company or not, you must get comfortable and enjoy it! Hadn’t I done that, I would have never enjoyed the 4-5 hrs I spent there. In fact I would have cribbed about it all the way long:-P. Also credit goes to the people there who welcomed into their group shared stories their stories and experiences [made sure everyone understood and followed Hindi] and pulled everyone’s leg so no one was left “behind”. All in all a nice experience! :-D

Yes it was “Potluck and Bachelorette Party” that I attended for the 1^st time and I am glad it was Desi style ;-)