How i get to know of MullaPeriyar Dam!!!

Life is full of surprises... You get to deal with the best of them in the most unexpected fashion!

"Where should we head to", was a hot topic of discussion among all from our wedding planning group. Heading back home in Kovai seemed to be the first choice as per democracy, though me and my love were more inclined to stay back in a Resort on the backwaters to make it a little more special. As with most other things on the wedding, me and her eventually decide to go with the tide on the plan to reach Kovai on the same day.

Thanks to Rahukalam, the time established for us to commence our journey from Cherthala was 03:01pm. This was kind of in sync with our schedule, with the total journey time being ~5 hrs. We hit the highway by 03:15pm and i couldn't wait to reach home and unwind myself (the last few days have been really tiring).

I don't realize time fly by sitting in the car with my love right next to me. My dad gets a phone call at about 05:15pm. A few minutes later, Dad reveals that there is a temporary roadblock at the Kerala - Tamil Nadu border. Not willing to devote any attention to anything other than my love, i am least concerned about the proceedings on the roadblock. About an hour later, my dad gets another call and this is when i realize that the roadblock isn't all that temporary.
I am so glad thinking about the recent Cellphone revolution in India. There isn't a 511 Traffic update or internet site that could have given me this information. You will get the full picture of what i mean as you read more.

By now, I can sense the growing tension and ask for an explanation... As a result of the inconclusive talks on issues related to MullaPeriyar Dam, some of the local politicians are causing a stir on the border and not letting vehicles pass by. Of all the 20 odd years of my stay in Kovai, there has never been such an incident or roadblock. As time progresses, it becomes evident that we aren't going to make it. There is a gloominess in the car by now as to why such an unfortunate incident would happen today... I try to cheer up everyone and look at one of the lodging options in the small town we were in<there are no Google Maps>.

We end up staying in a place called Kairali Towers. About 20 hours later, I get to know that the roadblock was still growing and people who had taken a chance being on the road were indefinitely struck in their cars for a good 30 hours and more!!!

An Awesome Wedding!!!

I must admit... Dad n Mom are absolutely fabulous the way they executed everything to perfection!!! I couldn't have asked for more... The beautiful wedding that it was, I wish the wonderful event had never come to an end.

The wedding resort, settings, dais decor and all was nothing but spectacular. It was different, it was creative and it was all i could imagine and want it to be.

Count Down - 3 days to go!!!

This is one good thing about keeping yourself busy... you don't get a chance to realize the enormity of the situation. It took me a few years to get convinced on the idea of getting married and here i am, left with 3 more days for the big day.

The n different tasks to be completed keep me occupied till i board the flight. The excitement of seeing my love gets me thru' with the long boring flight journey and now, the joy of being rite next to her keeps me ignorant of the upcoming big occasion:-)

All's well that ends well (-:) (:-)

It could very well fit in as a scene from an Indian movie... All set to make the trip of my life in a week's time, Life hasn't been more hectic than now. Got to complete important shopping for her, clean and vacate my apartment, wrap up the entire work i have been doing for my client, finish all needed paper work and more!

With so many different things juggling in my thoughts, the accident and the mess from it was another blow to dampen my spirits. Adding onto it was my mistake of not getting a police report filed nor getting a written evidence from other party accepting their fault. Will i be in trouble? What if the other party insurance doesn't agree? What if this isn't resolved in the next 5 days before i board the flight? Though i tried hard not to think of all this, these questions continued to flash by a few times everyday.

Sometimes things just happen as they are destined to happen! How else can i explain as to why the vehicle inspector coming all the way to my doorstep few minutes prior to my leaving for the airport (or) the fat cheque i get for my old car that is ready to be in trash yard?

I am so glad all of this was sorted out prior to my trip. It does feel good to get all things sorted out in time... vacating my apartment, moving stuff to Uday's place, transitioning work at client site, persuading my employer for an extended vacation and all!!!

One Split Second...

I seem to be goin thru' a realization phase off late...though in a costly and reactive way:-) Another usual day at work, but for the fact that i am leaving on a vacation for the rest of the year exactly one week from today... Looks like my poor Honda Civic wasn't too happy with me going away from him for such a looong time!!!

I get off work at around 05:15 and plan on doing some shopping for my trip later in the evening. I was approaching 92 intersection on 280 when this lady on the right lane decides it's time for her to move onto the left lane...the only issue being she wants to displace me from the same lane and not giving me even few seconds to react. The end result- my honda civic is barely drivable, needs body shop work, needs me to be on the phone and argue with insurance agents, etc etc.

Its kind of demoralizing to see this happen...my car has been so loyal to me during the last 30 odd months while i have driven it all around bay area averaging ~100 miles a day. Not sure what the fate of my car is, it depends on if the lady will change her statement by tomorrow morning when my insurance agent gives her a call!

Looking on the positive side, I was really really lucky...
It was just last saturday that i dropped by my agent to realize that my insurance had actually expired. I am glad this happened this week rather than next week right on the dot when i would have been counting hours to board the flight:-) Had it not been for my good luck, there could have been cars pounding on me from the left and back while i had this incident let me waiting on the middle lane on the freeway! I am hoping that my lucky streak continues and the lady obliges her mistake tomorrow and makes the rest of my job easier...keeping my fingers crossed for now!

R u a Lion or a Deer???

“Every morning in Africa a Deer wakes up and knows that it must run faster than the fastest Lion or it will be killed and eaten.

Also every morning in Africa a Lion wakes up and knows that it must outrun the slowest Deer or it will starve to death.

It doesn't matter whether you are a Lion or Deer, when the sun comes up, you'd better be running.”


The way i c it, as long as the problem is one dimensional and is a question of survival, you give your best shot at it!!! In other words, it isn't the problem that actually ends up reducing your capabilities...It is the Manage, Prioritize and Shuffling act on a multitude of problems that actually gets you eaten!!!

Just jokin:-) The Deer and Lion stay focussed on what it's supposed to do and tat is the key!!!

It takes courage...

"It takes courage to push yourself to places you've never seen before...to test your limits, to break through barriers."

Strangely enough, this quote was rite above my couch hanging on the wall...too bad, i didn't get to notice or read it all these years:-) Yes, this is the same couch that had the distinct pleasure of seating and comforting our lazy gang crew all this while!!!

Change isn't static ne more!!!

You never realize when you are headed for a U turn...
What i considered to be my home ground, mite soon be a far away location!
What i thot to be my work place will soon be alien to me!
When i almost believed that a 2 week vacation is what reality is, i end up taking a 2 month break!!!

Thanksgiving will never be the same again...I mean, it will be an occassion to celebrate for this lifetime!
Life won't be on my own terms ne more... I mean, in a very beautiful positive way:-)
This New Year brings in a nice fresh start... A new life, new home & a lot more!!!

The person i used to be, would have made a big fuss of all these random occurrences of events happening too closely, wondering if i am the culprit of my own desire. The 'Glass Half Full' part in me states there isn't ne th better than the fact that i have accustomed myself to the change factor... or, is it just driven by the truth that the longing to be with your loved one is sooo passionate and strong that it makes you stand by any change?

Oru rail vandi iylae... en kaadhal pogiradhe!!!

I kind of got to know how long 36 hrs can be...It's Diwali time, and my darling like most other people are heading back home for a sweet vacation!!! It's sad to c tat Indian Railways need such a looong time to cover the short distance between aamchi mumbai & kovai. Trying to think wen was the last time there was this long a gap i hadn't spoken to my gal... It sure looks way distant in the past:-) :-)

FFC Experience!!!

Volunteering with Funtopia was a great experience...It was nice to meet Vasant, Satish, Paddu, Vanitha and all the rest of the crew after a long time. There is s'th about this UK gang- the energy level, vibrance, passion and a whole lot more!!!

Even more wonderful was bein part of the food committee...Pizza, Curd rice, Sambhar saadham, Kesri, Juices for the kids, pakoda, Tea etc were some of the items v were supposed to manage, distribute and sell...and v sure did it with a bang!!!

There is this interestin incident i probably wudn't forget for a while for now...Everyone knows how difficult it is to keep kids away from wat they want and no one could have understood it better than me!!!
The time was around 3'ish and we were almost done with selling lunch packs. Me and Kumar were chattin and watching glimpses of the heavy classical dances performed on stage by a troupe of early teens who don't seem to be leaving the stage even after a few performances...

Here comes a boy, ~6-8 yrs in age, with a gloomy down face looking at the sprite for sale. He asks me if he can have one and i ask him to get a dollar from his parents...15 minutes later, the kid comes back with an even more gloomy face and tells me tat his mom doesn't have any money and stands there as if the whole world is falling apart infront of him!!!

I thot for a second and had this self realization within me... tat this whole event was supposedly to entertain kids, and me sending a kid home disappointed wudn't do justice to the the event itself. I handed over a sprite to the kid and told him not to bother paying for it. He gave me a smile and started walkin towards where his mom was seated... Me and Kumar were watching all of this. As soon as he reached his mom, the kid started jumping with joy displaying the sprite he had won!!! At this point i felt, i had done something worthwhile :-)

This is where the twist sets in...the kid's mom turns back and gives a nice little stare at the food stall and the guy who is aiding all of this tat's happening beyond her control... It takes me 2 seconds to realize after Kumar utters these words "You are goin to get beaten up, buddy" tat this wasn't exactly wat the mom had planned for the kid!!! Adding insult from the well kept drama, kid's mom hands over a dollar to the kid to pay for the sprite... Helplessly, i get the dollar from this kid watching his 32 teeth smile and put it into FFC cash box!!!

~ 26H is HistorY ~

Its official now as of this moment...Inspite of all the hindrance within, with not many options left to explore and the long vacation planned for kalyaanam exactly a month away, had to drop a letter in the mail drop to let apt. guys know tat i am packing my bags... feels strange, feels weird and a whole lot different.

Maybe, its just the rusted and dusted inertia tat has grown over these years tat restrains me from even thinkin of loosin this couch n all. A comfort zone is always a dangerous thing - not only does it gets you addicted to it, but also makes you feel extremely good about it!!!

Not having a comfort zone at all is not s'th v r goin to discuss here as tis blog is intended only for the other way round :-)

Me, thanimai & San Jose nagaram...

I skipped watching SOK when my buddies Ranjit, Siva and Satya made plans on a Friday... Was on my way to drop Sumit at SFO Airport. We did meet later on after the movie for a late night dinner at iHop (tis 'i' has nothin to do with Apple :-)) and i got to relish upon a good custom made Chicken Fajita Omlette with pan cakes!!!

Rahman did a fabulous job with the music of SOK...the only song tat didn't catch my attention was 'Munbe vaa'. Newyork Nagaram is nice...I guess i can relate to this song more than ne other song i can think of in the recent times:-)

Take off's --->--->--->>>

Its farewell time of the year... It all started with my loooong time buddy Siva moving out of 26H...Ranjit and Nikki left back to India after a short sweet stay here in Bay Area. One day later, Uday is going back to India (leaving 26H) to get his stamping and see the love of his life (guess who, its Laasya...just kiddin :-)) and soon 2 weeks from now, my big time dine out buddy MD will move out as well...It will b a dream come true for MD the day Deepali lands here in SFO... and this day will also mark the silent death of a guy who sits 24/7 infront of a mac playing animated games!!!

Balcony side view


Hall and Foosball


Hallway


and i guess, the Final Takeoff is nearing too...Soon, i will bid farewell from being a bachelor. Even sooner, i will be leaving 26H... the single point hub for 3+ years, so many friends, countless roommates and unforgettable memories... I owe it to Stephen for getting us this nice apartment with a great balcony view and for being open minded to tryin s'th other than Villa Serra / Valley Green (tat's an Infy thing).

The unknown connection!!!

We had narrowed down the marriage location to my current hometown considering the logistics and feasibility issues involved in inviting all our guests... with the mandapams equation going in a totally different direction, we had to choose one of the two roads ahead - one, change the marriage date to a more feasible later date and the other, go back to our roots -> find a marriage hall in God's own country!!!

My fiancee and me, were in for this one... Surprisingly, it was our parents who weren't all that keen with the second option. After some thots, aunty (my fiancee's mom) agreed to do some research of a place she knew that cud fit in like a 'T' with our requirements in mind. Most of my fiancee's relatives are based in "Chertala". Naturally, this was the next favorite destination to explore for our marriage.
Strangely enough, i seem to have a lot of ties with this city called 'Chertala' alias 'Allepey'... My lovin grandpa used to stay here, my mom is from this place, i was born here (X ray hospital) and now the story continues - My fiancee happens to be from this place and very co-incidentally, she was also born in the same hospital a few years later :-) :-) Just that it took me more than a quarter of a century to realize this unknown connection!!!

It was clear to my in-laws as well as my parents by now that there son wasn't interested in one of the conventional mandapams they have been looking for all along... the place aunty had in mind took care of this. Its called 'Travancore Palace'... I guess, they modeled it on the real palace with this name in Thiruvananthapuram or, just intended to cache in on the fame of this palace.

I was glad i had asked aunty to send me a picture of this place once she saw it...looks awesome, couldn't ask for more!!!

Twists, Turns and Dreams!!!

I have been dreaming of bringing my fiancee to CA for quite sometime now. Out of the blue, her work permit gets approved on 30'th Aug 2006... Needless to say, i am all excited, charged up and what not!

Here comes the Twist - the work permit will have to wait, her current project needs her more than me. She is keen to give a neat closure to things in her hand before moving on, and that makes sense in way too (just not for me :-)). While i deal with this thing, here comes one more - her employer needs more time to get her to work in California. (Read, MM isn't all that lucky as he wanted to be :-))

Now the Turn part, being the logical guy that i always try to be, working towards a solution, i see my choices are limited here... If my fiancee can't make it to where i am, i can try to make it to where she is. So, comes up the plan for another India trip! This trip will mark the Big Day of my life that i was always scared of till sometime back (till i fell for my fiancee)...
To proceed forward with this plan , I need to get my vacation hours sorted out with my employer, see if my parents can find an auspicious day, see if my fiancee can manage to take some days off, and see to it that the timing of my vacation doesn't fall into the window where my client can conveniently chuck me off!!!

After lots of dilly-dally'ing with when the D day shud be with parents, in-laws, fiancee, we finally settle down for an end of week Nov day... right when i started thinking that a logical solution has been arrived at, here comes the next road breaker -> the day we thot and finalized as an auspicious day, happens to be an auspicious day for more number of people than the total number of Mandapams can accommodate in the town where my parents live!!! Never did i imagine that i wud get struck with something like this... Parents, in-laws and all the rest of our well wishers don't see any hope for the D day, unless the date or the day or some other constraint is altered!!!

Quote

We are what we repeatedly do, Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.
-Aristotle

One Beautiful Life!!!

There isn't ne th special i meant to say with the title for this blog... Let's put it this way, Life continues to be wonderful with watsoever Googlies one gets to face in life!!!

My favorite inspirational lines-
You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did.

- Steve Jobs

The early days...

This picture was taken during my first road trip in the US... One long weekend, 30 hours of non stop sleepless driving, 2 drivers (Me and Wali) who can manage to drive and 2 newbie drivers (Siva and Mayank) who can shake every bit of existence and all four lives... :-):-) the end result - 1300 miles in 3 days, starting with San Jose - Oregon - Crater Lake - Mt Shastha - Reno - Lake Tahoe - back home. A memorable trip -> wud have never happened had we planned any of this!!!

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