Vijay's wedding and the short trip to India...

Before I go on to the second part of my first year of engineering, I would like to write about my recent trip to India to attend Vijay's marriage and the fun I had with frenz whom I hadnt met for yrs...

Alright, I had planned and booked for this trip couple of months back, as soon as I came back from my trip home. Vijay was scheduled to get married on the 24th of August and I had planned to meet up with some frenz b4 tht... with much difficulty I could get 5 days off work from the 21st to the 25th of August. So the plan was to fly out from London on 20th night and reach Bangalore on the 21st, take the overnight bus to Coimbatore, spend a day n half in Karunya and reach Karur (where Vijay was getting married) on the Sunday evening to attend his engagement. Be there for his wedding on the 24th and take a train to Bangalore the same night and take a return flight to London on the 25th.

n abt the grp... obviously Vijay cudnt have joined us in Karunya.... so it was left to myself, Santhosh, Jack n Angel, Burr n Doma and Xavier (alias KAKA).... Doma was expecting, which was a real gud news and she wasnt keepin well, which was a really discouraging news; hence Burr had to back off.... KAKA, well wht can u say abt this guy, his plans are just as rigid as the sand on the sea shore... in the end he backed up as well.... so it was myself, Santhosh and Jack n his Jill, I have replaced Jack n Angel with Jack n Jill..... guess it sounds cool and rhyming..... dad said in the end that he will also join....

So, here I was, really excited to go to India on the 20th, left office early, got freshened up and took the cab to Heathrow, I was travelling with Kingfisher, I had paid some extra money to get myself upgraded to business class and I was looking forward for the experience. Well, I checked in and spent some time in the business class lounge, it was well located; I could see the planes landing one by one. The lounge wasnt as gr8 as the BA one, it was just OK. Anyways, I boarded the flight and we took off.... I said Bye bye to London, I get really excited when I go to India and feel really horrible when I come back to london; dont ask me y i m livin in london stil...!!!! prob its just cos of money....

Anyways, the starter which happened to be a soup was horrible, I didnt like it at all.... the air hostesses were ok, just cos u were in business class, they will come n ask u every 10 mins whether u want anythin.... but none beautiful enuf for me to flatter... so i wasnt flirting as well... the main course was from chutney mary which happens to be one of the posh (read expensive as well) indian reaturant from london, food was good, but not gud enuf to satisfy my tongue (thank God I never spend money in this restaurant in london)..... I was havin a severe headache and thanks to the flat bed was looking forward for a good night sleep... i slept continuously for abt 6 hrs which rarely happens to me in a flight (thanks to the business class)... n after sometime I landed in Bangalore.....

The new Bangalore is in some remote area of Bangalore... the immigration and baggage collection was very very quick (thanks to B class again)... n took a Meru cab to Santhosh's home, after my exp with Meru in Mumbai, I just trust Meru blind-foldedly... The driver by name Prasanna was very nice, he didnt knew hindi well,, but he knew Tamil, hence it was manageable for me... he helped me with all the intelligent and stupid questions i had... i liked him and probably thts y i booked him for my return journey as well...

Anyways, we reached Santhosh's home, Santhosh had ordered for lunch which was delivered to the neighbour's place... I had a look at it and immediately my mouth started watering... either Santhosh knows my taste (which I think he doesnt) or he likes Andhra food.... as soon as i saw tht the food is from Andra restaurant, i was like a hungry wolf, with my tongue hanging out... Santhosh had ordered for Chicken Biryani and Prawn Chilly... after refreshing, I had my lunch.... n trust me my tongue, my stomach, my heart, my mind and even my soul was satisfied after having such delicious food... i took a small nap and santhosh returned from office in the eve, it was nice metin him after ages and crackin some jokes n after some gud for nothing chat, we decided that we will go n meet Ashu n Mudita before our bus to Coimbatore...

I met Ashu at Forum, Bangalore... he was still the same old guy with his witty talks... i must admit tht i miss his company big time.... He introduced me to Mudita, myself n Mudita had chatted in orkut b4, btu never met personally... She seemed quite an intelligent and composed person (ppl like myself and Ashu or for tht matter any of my Bombay frenz, need such intelligent partners)... She was into her 8th month and was relaxing at home reading novels... I envied her tht she is relaxin at home, i didnt envy the child bearin part tho...... Ashu was till teh same, which is somethin i liked in him... he was the same mufat (non stop sense n nonsense talks)... we had a gud dinner at KFC, he dropped us to the bus stop... we were discussing various things like future plans, business, etc etc... finally it was time to part ways... i think partin ways is one of the most painful things... nyways we were looking fwd for times when we cud work n live together as frenz... hope tht dream come to life soon....

Anyways we had a gud journey and myself and Santhosh reached Coimbatore the next day... I had booked an innova so that commuting is not a problem, picked up dad and met Jack n Angel... it was the first time I was meeting Angel as well personally... she also seemed to be a nice person with a smiling face in the first look... n then we headed towards Karunya... well on our way, I could recollect the memories of the place, the cbe railways staion, the town hall bus stop, the road tht led to the hills, the shop from where we used to purchase grapes, alandurai, iruttupallam.... also it started rainin on the way, n i told Jack tht boss we are just gonna go n sleep off in karunya in this weather (thts something we did very well in Karunya during rainy season or rather any season)... n finally we entered karunya, the cloud covered moutain tops, waterfalls here n there in the mountains, the lush green forests, the slight drizzle... it was absolutely fantastic.... nothin better cud better describe karunya in a better way... n BTW on 21st Aug we had finished 9 yrs of joining karunya... so all in all it was a beautiful day n experience... brusly joined us at the guest house... it was nice meetin him after ages... n then the usual suspect sathosh was caught and his prestige ripped off.... for every damn thing he was caught startin from his long sleepin hrs, his once a week bathin habbits and once a month brushin habbits... poor guy was caught for everythin... finally we got ready and went to the new audi built next the guest house... it was huuuuuuuuggggggeeeeeeeeee....... some work was goin on there and finally Jack got down to his art of catchin crabs... he caught couple of crab babies as well... it was a job well done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

Post lunch we went to the college, n guess wht on the way we met RK Sir, Sam Paul Sir, Smart Sir as well.... as all mech students, staff also have the craefree attitude.... Smart commented abt my grown up tummy and RK was askin which yr did we pass out.... it was quite tragic to know tht Dabur (David Rathnaraju) is no more in Karunya... i was actually looking fwd to meet him.... we met suthagar sir as well... since santhosh had a doubt in laser ;), tht made the visit even more important... but suthagar sir very politely turned down his request..... but guided us towards the terrace of the computer science (which happens to be the tallest building in Karunya I guess).. so we went there and did some amazing photography....

We met Maniarasan sir as well... his funny way of sayin things made me laught... we took some photographs in the thermal lab as well.... n then the fun n excitin part... we went to all the classes we sat in and sathosh tried to b a professor... we sat and slept in our old places n took pictures... we met Seelan anna and a few lab attendants (without whom we couldnt have passed our labs) as well... Brusly showed us his work as well... we saw Burr's shut down desalination plant as well.... we had our evenin snacks at Karunya canteen (which is a real gud one unlike we had in our times)... n then we went to Bethesda...

Bethesda... this is the place where I used to come everyday very sincerily when I was in college, only during the days when sem exams used to happen... this is one of those things which ppl like me usually do... every sem exam i used to think tht i will study well from next sem... next sem on i will come to bethesda everyday... n things like tht u know... i must admit for a few months i was having a feeling of hollowness inside me.... i knew tht god was with me all the time, but i never felt his presence; i knew tht i was spiritual, but never went to church or prayer consistently; i believed in God but never knelt down b4 him... n in a way tht hollowness was kinda killin me... n my visit to bethesda kinda watered my spiritual plants...

we went out for a stroll after the bethesda visit and my stomach wanted Kalaaaan..... i still dont know wht this thing is made of.... but it used to be my hot favourite in college days... it used to b 5 rs a plate then... so we all went out to have kalaaan... dad also joined with some common frenz n relatives n i had kalaaaan with a big smile on my face..... prices have doubled now... its served for 10 rs now... jack said tht it was not tht good.... but to me who doesnt know the actual taste of kalaan, it was heaven...

n i was looking fwd to something else as well tht evenin.... goin to burr's restaurant in karunya... i remember when we were in college n we used to go out to have dinner, burr always used to mumble abt the taste, hygiene, etc. so i was expecting some kind of standard in the food that is served in this restaurant.... n tht was the first time i was goin to his restaurant... from outside it seemed to be small considerin some other restaurants that have come up in karunya now, but who cares, as long as the fud is gud, i dont mind eating even in the roadside.... Ebenezer anna who happens to be Burr's business partner, placed the order.... i remember eating barotha, chicken 65, chicken curry, salna, omlette n fried rice.... in short a king's meal..... n i must admit tht the food was simply fabulous.... the standards tht burr used to speak of is maintained n i absolutely fell in love with the food..... it was just yummy.... i remember when i was very young, whenever we went to alangulam, dad used to take me to the small shops next to the bus stand for the barotha, salna n chicken... i had not eaten tht kind of food for about 20 yrs now.... but i could remember the texture of the barotha and the yummyness of the food.... i could find the same taste in the food at Burr's place... it was simply too good..... my heart n soul were satisfied.....

next day dad went early to attend a marriage in Trichur of a family friend's daughter.... n i went to the sunday morning worship with jack n jill to the emmanuel audi... the audi is abt double the size it used to be durin our days... n i sat in the bac with lot of empty chairs in the front.... but to my surprise all them filled up in the next 15 mins...

nyways, here i was, attending the karunya worship, after 5 yrs.... a dryin plant which was watered a day ago, needed some nourishment.... i was just thinking tht its been long tht i have felt the presence of God, I remember the wonderful spiritual life i used to have in karunya n i was hopin tht i could enjoy the presence of God today... the praise n worship session started and it was very dry, i was disappointed, i was thinking tht God has actually left me.... but as time passed, i started feelin better... n tell u frankly i experienced the same things... it feels so gud when you can feel the presence of God... when u know tht hez around.... n my spiritual plants were actualy nourished tht day..... i was a satisfied soul..... i was overjoyed with the exp... i actually wanted to testify, but never got a chance and there was no session for testimony... nyways i was very very happy...

then the painful time started... we had to leave karunya shortly.... the experiences were shortlived... i wanted to spend some more time in karunya... but practicality said tht the roots have been nourished, now u have to water them when u land in drought like situations... we packed up and jill took us to her akka's place... then santhosh had invited us to his home for lunch... aunty had prepared some wonderful mutton biryani n chicken curry..... it was agin fabulous food... it was so nice for aunty to prepare so much of food for good for nothing ppl like me.... i loved the food... santhosh's family is a very spiritual close knit family... specially his dad seems to be a rock solid idealitic person.... but we very know how Santhosh is....

then we were off to karur.... where our big man is getting married... did too much of gossipin on the way... jill must have thought wht kinda moron is he!!!!! n thts y prob she thought tht its better to sit in the last seat... nyhow we reached karur and checked into our hotel... met jackson, jefferson, livingston, selvakumar (dumil mama), burr and kaka..... poor santhosh had to face a physical assault... but i hadnt met the big man yet... n i frisked into his room.... n there he was sitting in a huge sofas with some babies (dont ask me whose babies were they)... with too many lights flashin on him, video shoots goin on and bla bla... as soon as he saw me, he came up and have me a huge hug.... man it was really nice meeting vijay after ages...

then we went for his engagement, i didnt expecttht much of crowd for his engagement... saw his better half, had some gud food... burr left after tht, would have loved if we would have git some more time to chat with each other....... so did brusly, santhosh n the whole gang... then, went to vijay's room n spoke to him for sometime, it had been long since i had sat next to him and spoken to him..... tried to do some freak out plannin to go for a nite ride with frenz n Joice (Vijay's better half), but it didnt work out..... retired for the day after tht...

the wedding day came and i was all excited to see vijay to be a married man.... it was nice wedding,... tho the pastor was blaberring something in tamil which i couldnt understand... i was just happy watchin vijay n Joice together.... it s gr8 feelin to step into a new stage in life... or see a loved one enter a new stage.... again some gud food was waitin for us.... must admit tht Joice's family members had worked well for lunch, specially her bro (guessed it from his face cut which was similar to Joice's) who was running and asking every guest whether they wanted something more.... i think it was extremely high standards of hospitality....

n then we headed towards the difficult part of the complete trip... to part ways.... vijay left with joice n their families.... jack who discovered tht his train is at a much earlier time than wht he thought of, packed up.... went to drop jack n jill at the station.... it was again a difficult parting... came back to the hotel and had dinner with dad... n were discussing some general issues.... n again went off to the station... my train arrived and i had to say bye to dad.... n this was the most difficult part... its not easy for me to say ye to mum n dad.... however i fight with them, when it comes to separation, i always wish tht it wud have been gud if i didnt have to go.... but thts life... finally i said bye... n the train left.. i saw dad till he disappeared... (similar to the time when dad left me for the first time in college)...

nyways, i reached bangalore next morning and prasanna was waitin for me... i refreshed myself at santhosh's place and left for the airport.... the journey bac was gud but i was occupied with my thoughts abt the trip.....

in short it was a wonderful trip to catch up with long time frenz, meet mudita, jill n joice... a trip which made me seriously think; is it worth it to stay away from frenz n life for the sake of money!!!!!

Journey towards n thro the first yr of Independence .... Engg first yr......

well i always wanted to be an engineer, no reasons behind it, just cos every tom dick n harry in the town was huntin for an engineerin seat.... well to be honest, i wanted to work in computers from as early as class 4 (just cos i heard somewhere tht it pays u a lot of money and you can happily sit in an AC room).... n was really good in C++ programmin in 11th n 12th.... so i was inclined towards computer science.... the harder bit comes now...

i was very gud in maths and computer science in school, i was totally the opposite in physics and chemistry... hence physics n chemistry acted like the iceberg for my titanic... i hardly passed in those subjects and the only marks tht are counted for an engg seat are physics, chemistry n maths... cudnt score much in the pre engineerin test as well... so i was all set for a Bcom course... had infact bought forms from a local coll as well for Bcom... then one day dad suggested tht we can try thro a friend for a management seat in karunya, coimbatore.... i had been to kaunya b4 as a tourist and liked tht place.... so i said okay... n soon we were in the Jesus Calls office in Chennai sitting opposite to two guy who were allocating departments (one of them was dad's friend)... he asked me which department i wanted, without hesitation i said computer science... he saw my marks and said tht for my marks i wud have to pay 3 lakhs for a computer science seat as it was sellin like hot cakes in 2000... i knew dad couldnt have afforded that much, but still he said tht he will try to get some money from somewhere if i m really interested... i thought for a sec, my marks reflected to those of a looser and i perhaps was low in confidence to confidently say yes to my dad... with a deep sigh, i could see my long time dream slippin from my hands... n finally with a heavy heart i said no... i was also told tht i wont b given a free seat... so my min expenses for a yr wud b a lakh includin everythin... i had no other option and dad was willin to pay tht amt... the only positives i had in my marksheet was that I had fantastic marks in maths and i was from CBSE schoolin background... CBSE students r considered to be sharper than state board students... n my dad's friend finally gave me 2 options.... either electrical & electronics or mechanical... now, never ever in my life can understand these electrical circuits... i dont understand the logic y always current flows from positive to negatove when the electrons flow in the opposite direction... see the base itself wasnt clear, so there was no point in building a career over a week base... also i liked mechanics in my school days... so i finally opted for mechanical...

i was very happy and i promised my parents tht i will do my best and wont let their go waste... so here i was with an engineerin seat, b4 even the counselling started for a lot of my friends who had loads n loads of marks in their marksheet... God was gracious... he was the one who saved me... it was a long wait and finally my date of joinin came as the 21st of august.. .parents helped me in doin a lot of shoppin... n dad came to drop me in college, mum couldnt make it... I left home on the 19th of August '00 and prob tht was the last day in my home, after tht day i was just a visitor....

we reached coimbatore on the 21st and headed straight to karunya, got refreshed at the guest house and headed straight for registration... we were very hungry, so had our lunch, must tell u the lunch was fabulous (this is the way colleges impress parents, by servin them fabulous food when they come to college, but usually 95% of the times Karunya food was good, just used to hate those sticky idlis)... nyways we finiched our lunch and headed towards the registration desks... n there she was!!!!!

call it love at first sight or lust at first sight (she always said tht it was lust, tho i believed it was love), she was simply fabulous... nyways, i consciously tried to control myself... i told myself again tht i m not goin behind any girl in college, i have come here to study and parents are spendin a lot of money for me here... so i m no more goin behind girls and no more loosing marks.... so i put my head down and waited for my turn, it was even more difficult for me as she was sitting just ahead of me in the queue... then i thought i will look at her for 2 secs n will never look at here again, guess wht, she was like an angel, but then i again controlled myself consciously.... i was bein a good boy then, i thought i am never ever goin to see that girl again cos i was simply loosin control on seein her.... i finished all the procedures and I was told that i have to gives measures for my lab code and then i went down to the tailor... n u can guess wht happened then.... there was this tailor in a room takin measures of this girl and no one else in the room, now i was trapped, i didnt wanna look at her, but how to control myself... finally i decided tht i am not goin to control myself anymore... n I was noticin her all thro the time she was there, but think she didnt even notice me...

nyways, it was confirmed that i m gonna stay in the Sundararaj Block, the block where usually all the first yrs stay, no seniours allowed inside the securely guarded hostel... i got all my daily need stuff from the store inside the hostel, prob this guys was selling everything at 1.5 times the usual rate, but there was no other option as well... so here i was in a 4 seater room, a typical hostel atmosphere, one bed stacked on top of the other, 2 of such beds, making it 4 beds in all, 4 tables, 4 chairs and 4 shelves... met my first roomy Joel Arun from Delhi, was quite surprised tht there were ppl from north india as well, my impression was tht i m gonna forget hindi soon as there will b no north indians... but Joel wasnt goin to stay in the room the first day... so i was all alone, dad did offer me tht he can stay with me if i m afraid, prob tht hit my ego... how can i be afraid!!!! so i turned down his offer... so he left to the guest house.. n was alone in tht 4 seater room... must admit didnt sleep well tht nite.... the windows of my room faced the hills and it was a beautiful sight... next day i woke up early, and came out of my room at abt 5 in the mornin and i saw a guy standin outside, prob he also didnt have proper sleep tht nite... we shook hands and introduced ourselves, he was George (Kollam George) from CSE... when he said CSE, my heart trembled, there he was in my dream department...

nyways, i got ready, had my b'fast and was headin out for my first day in college... when i came out of the hostel, i saw guys were standin in queue, 3 in a row and security guards all around... i was like this is worse than school... but anyways, this also meant tht no senior can dare to rag us... so i as very happy as i had heard nightmares of getting ragged... we were taken to a huge auditorium, parents were also invited at the auditorium for the first day I guess, not sure... n then after tht the regulars, pricipal ka bhashan, director ka bhashan n wht not!!!... bein a christain college, we were given a 10 min sermon each day... n then each day's counselling ended with the college anthem, must admit i liked the college anthem.....

went thro the first day in college and it was cool, came to know tht only the students who came thro the management gateway have joined now, it will take another month for the students who come thro the merit basis... so basically there were only half of the studends and whtever classes used to happen was just a revision of the school portion. the first day i came bac from college and dad was waitin at the hostel, he had to leave the next day and prob wudnt b able to meet me after tht evenin.. he was quite emotional i guess, i certainly was.... after chatting for sometime, he left and i was standing at the gates of the hostel till he disappeared.... was quite a tuf evening for me... i was very emotional and prob wanted to cry, but i didnt... it was the first time in life i was goin to be away from my parents... i was broken but didnt show it out........ all i cud do tht time was to bid goodbye to my dad and promised my parents in my heart tht i will do well and study well and stand first (similar to the dominance i used to have in school till class 7th)... and will never ever be a looser again.....

to be contd....

PS: i cudnt fulfill tht promise, i was never ever first in my engg life... i was always second, but i think tht was much much better than bein a looser.... n guess my parents didnt mind it tht much, they were happy tht i m doin well......

Me n my family...

I think this is the first thing that I should do in this blog... to write abt my family... parents are the only ppl who have observed me, thought abt me, planned for me, worked for me, spent for me, dreamt for me, etc. etc. than I have done for myself...

I have a small family mum, dad and a sis... dad was born n bought in south india, n mum in Bhilai... dad finally had to take a transfer to Bhilai post marriage... the earliest memories I have of them goes back to the times when we used to live in Kohka, bhilai.. next to my maternal granny's house.. b4 tht i was just a kid and dont remember much....

all in all i was a well mannered child... now after parentin my sis my mum says so.... prob when i was a kid, my mum wud have told the neighbour tht i was naughty as well... usually its like tht i guess, second kid is always more naughty than the first... nyways, mum used to teach me all subjects in the beginning... but had to let go maths to dad, as dad was better in tht as i reached higher classes in school... dad used to take maths and sometimes science as well... i used to get a lot of beatings from my mum for not memorising stuff tht she wud have asked me to memorise... i remember mum's statement "Do whtever u want but study well n get good marks"... mum used to have a variety of sticks to beat me, long n small, thick n thin, a stick form the bush nearby n sometimes her own hands were enuf for me.... i have experienced them all... sometimes not hurt at all n sometimes limping... i can recollect tht i was limpin for abt 2 to 3 days cos i had got enuf beatings for not properly memorising maths tables from 2 to 10.... i remember i even had to justify why i even lost half a mark.... mum used to b cool otherwise in all other activities of mine... dad also used to be cool other than the times i used to commit silly mistakes in maths.... overall i never used to get scolding for anythin other than studies....

at the age of 12... one fine evenin... mum n dad were sitting in the drawing hall in our 4D, St 13, Sec 4, house.... i was studying in the bedroom (or atleast pretend to be studyin...)... i remember dad had called me n asked how wud u feel if i had a bro or a sis... i was like i wud b very happy and dad said tht u prob u will have one soon.... most of my frenz in school had siblings and i used to be like the odd man out without any.... so i ws very happy tht i will also have a sibling soon... we soon moved to our new house in Sector 10 where we are curretly put up... n then after 13 yrs I finally had a sister...

i remember i had returned from school and dad came bac form hospital n said tht a baby girl is born n i was very very happy.... i went to the hospital with dad and there she was lyin next to mum.. a priceless new addition in our family... used to like her small hands n legs.... she used to sleep most of the day... cry sometimes... but she was a joy... i remember i used to torture my granny a lot if she cries..... she used to look very very pretty when she used to smile.... she usually didnt like to lie in my lap n never used to like me touching her, prob i used to actually torture her rather than touchin her... but she was very very nice...

whenever i used to tell in school tht i have a sis who is 13 yrs younger to me, ppl used to repeat with a huge sign... theeeeeeeerteeeeeeeeeeeeeen yrssssssss..... !!!!!!!!!!!! but two of my other friends had sisters with the same age difference... abhijit had a sis who was 12 yrs younger to him and raehan had one who was 14 yrs younger to him....

mum now says tht she has become old and havin probs with sister... as my sis is usually very creative in her trouble creatin ideas.... but i guess my parents wud have got literally bored if she hadnt been there.... specially as I am away from home and go visitin only once in a while, they would have certainly got bored....

well... thts a bit abt my family.... the ppl who mean the most in my life...

Why did I ever need a blog....

Have nothing to do at work for the last couple of days, and I bored to hell of doing the same things read the news, look at the markets, look at the new movies releasing this week, etc. etc. hence thought of doin somethin tht i usually dont do.... prob start bloggin for a change....
you will be surprised to know tht i have been havin this blog for more than 2 yrs now... but still never bothered (or planned) to write nything.... u must be surprised on why i needed a blog..

well abt 2.5 yrs bac in March '07, myself and my whole team of colleagues had been to Yelagiri... n wanted to share the pics of our trip with colleagues in the States... our corporate email didnt allow us to attach more than 1 mb of data.... hence the only easy option i could think of was to have a blog (all photo sharing sites were restricted on the official network)...

so thts how i started a 2 yr no-activity blog.... y ashish unicorn..... prob cos my unicorn bike was the first big thing tht i had bought from my salary (down payment was dad's money tho... :D)...

i have now deleted all the pics cos they look funny without any comments on them.... so officially this is my first blog and I will try my best to keep bloggin.... have titled it as "Reliving the past and dreaming of the future" as I wanna pen down max no of the happy moments I had with family n frenz n my own.... a few weird moments and some sad, let down moments..... and few things that i wish to do in life....

hope u wil b readin n pennin down ur comments.....

Cheers
Ashish