Ten signs that you are ready to take the plunge

Ten signs that you are ready to say 'I do'

• The default home page on your browser reads Shaadi.com

• Majority of conversations with friends/family allude to the topic of marriage

• Friends start planning India trips and return as "committed" and such events don't go unnoticed by your parents.

• Distant relatives start taking personal interest in your life and recommendations start gushing to your parents.

• You spend most of your time thinking about proposals rather than putting it to creative use.

• You start thinking that life is too boring to live alone.

• Your parents(usually starts that way)/ You (signs of desperation) put up an online profile at one of the gazillion matrimonial sites leaving no stone unturned to glorify your life.

• You start hitting the gym on a regular basis to justify your claimed "athletic" body type.

• Your friends who are anti-marriage proponents start providing some much needed relationship advice.

• Your idea of an ideal vacation starts and ends at beach resorts and you start fantasizing every beautiful girl to be your potential match.

Disclaimer: The ideas or opinions expressed in this post are purely driven by real life experiences. Any resemblance to any person alive is purely a matter of coincidence. Please read and/or get influenced at your own risk

The balance and grace of ice skating

Everyone awaits a long weekend and plans go off for the next one no sooner than one ends .. So what was I planning this Thanksgiving weekend ? Well, it wasnt such a difficult choice this time around .. As luck would have it, three close buddies were making plans of visiting Seattle. I did get a chance to spend time with each of them although the weather was chilly and breezy.
Yesterday evening while strolling through the lit up Seattle centre, we stumbled upon an ice rink and thought it would be fun to do some ice skating. Madam M was gung ho about it and she left no stone unturned to tempt us into it. My initial impression after looking a this modest size rink was that this is going to be a child's play .. well after all there were young kids performing it with effortless ease. Little did I imagine that skating would turn out to be such a daunting task. So I set off all messed up about the correct size for the skates. I tried 11"" and 12"" sizes but nothing seemed to fit the description M seemed to hold. So I boldly entered the rink, holding on to the edges with nervous movements. After all there aint no fun in breaking bones here !! An explicit warning to "skate at your own risk" further corroborated this fact ... I looked around and the grace and ease with which everyone was doing it astounded me ... I found it difficult to move around without holding onto a support. So I did manage a couple of rounds around the rink after some rather discomforting moments. It took its toll on me as we had already done enough of walking around. I realised that I was embarassing myself out there but still decided to carry on. M seemed to gain confidence with every move until the moment of truth arrived and the next thing she woke up too was that she had a heavy fall on her b***. poor thing !! but she continued after that minor hicccup .. G was rather content on circumspect moves and he seemed to do the balancing act rather well ...
Well for me all I can say is that it was not my cup of tea. I have done skiing before and thought that was difficult enough but now I hold an entirely different opinion. I am glad I did not break any bones and came out unscathed ..

Born in the USA

After collecting some demographic data regarding children of parents of Indian origin born in the United States, I have nothing but admiration of the fast growth that they manifest through their growing up phase. If I compare and contrast, my childhood with contemporary kids, I feel there is such a wide chasm in the depth of thoughts and actions that they exhibit. Of course, being here you get exposed to a plethora of activities at a rather raw age .. In a developing country like India, cities are the only places with educational institutions of repute. Although things are a lot different now, than what my parents witnessed we are still a long way away from achieving the standards over here. The burning issue is the lack of infrastructure and the narrow outlook of populace.
Small children who have grown up in this cosmopolitan culture, have no fear in their minds in speaking their minds and in more ways than one, they seem to be logical and correct. How on earth can such a small brain talk so big ?? I cant help myself asking that question. Be it my not-so-long-ago visit to Bitu's place in Bay Area. Rajeev, who is at least a 20 years younger than me, signifies an epitome of this belief. He demonstrated such a spectrum of knowledge about absolutely anything under the sun. I was left gaping in awe with his maturity for a child of his age. I must mention an incident of note that touched me deeply. I was escorting Rajeev and his sister Apurva to school but little did I imagine what Rajeev was upto. After reaching the gates, Rajeev urged me to accompany him to his classroom. Rather innocently, I stepped inside the room and was watching the proceedings when Rajeev stood up and started a warm introduction of his unsuspecting visitor. I was so touched by this gesture. This kid had absolutely no inhibitions about whom he was talking about and he did it in the most graceful manner possible. On my walk back home, I was still pondering on what happened. I was so shy when I was young .. I would hardly speak up in a gathering .. felt so protected .. and in sharp contrast, Rajeev was the complete opposite. Recently, I met Rhea (Nikki's daughter) and the same goes with her too .. These omniscient beings are never shy of an advice and speaking out their minds on serious issues. They have a certain way of thinking and they believe in it... there never seems to be any dilemma in their minds .. Leaves me pondering .. We as adults lead such a complicated life .. sometimes its nice to observe these kids and see how simple life can really be !!

Innovation

Slashdot: "Tired of paying for new batteries all the time? Tired of searching for the charger for your rechargeable batteries? Worry not, because these new AA batteries will recharge direct from your USB port! This is such a cool idea, that I cant believe that no one has done it before."

If this takes off, it will be a classic case of innovation that matters !!!

First week at Amazon.com

As I wind up an exciting first week some first impressions about the earth's most customer centric company. Ok, so we have a distinct technology intiative here at Amazon and dont like to be viewed as just an online retailer ... Amazon focusses a lot on self-learning and the wealth of intranet resources bears testimony to that. One thing that I really liked was a neat collection of how-to guides for new hires. The 4 hour long orientation too got off to an unusual start with a trivia about company facts .. We were smartly told that there are coveted prizes for grabs but we knew that it was all in good spirits .. All the teams ended up being winners .. as if that wasnt planned ..

I was received very warmly by my rather young manager .. he treated me to a lunch in PacMed cafe after which we set off for US1 (my office location) .. I got introduced to a whole bunch of young software professionals from the various teams working under Fulfillment Center Systems team .. I was all set with a laptop and a Linux dev desktop at my disposal .. I started perusing the vast amount of online materials that were available for me to get started .. few things that did not meet my expectations ... employee discounts suck bigtime !! why so? If you read our company policy it clearly underlines the fact that frugality is one of our core competencies .. I understand that from a customer perspective but it is rather difficult to digest from an employee perspective .. so I convinced myself not to be disappointed if there was no free food on offer .. We do enjoy free caffeine though .. well it works to increase the productivity of employees after all .. so that they can make us work for long hours .. At Amazon, we believe in raising the bar and hence there is a lot of emphasis on hiring quality resources .. Amazon invests a lot in hiring initiatives and in interviewing candidates .. Conveniently located in the beautiful
Seattle downtown, Amazon does seem to be an exciting place to launch one's career .. there is a lot to learn and gain from the expertise of principal engineers over here .. I realised that I have already spent a lot of hours in the office than usual .. This is just a precursor of things to come .. as I have fully understood that software development is not just about coding .. it involves an SDE to participate write from inception to providing production support.. phew .. only if things could get any easier ..

The beginning or the end

The week gone by was an eventful one in more ways than one. The ensuing war in South lebanon between the Hezbollah and Israeli Defense Forces sees no end in sight and casualties on both sides of the border continue to mount. Sometimes if you think rationally one feels why should there be war in the first place .. Isnt human life too precious to be sacrificed in an insane battle for supremacy ; as if the potential threat posed by natural calamities were non-existent. Unfortunately each mortal doesnt think the same way ... Today there is a threat of suicide terrorists (Jehadis) .. these radical Islamists can sacrifice their lives in the name of religion .. Intelligence forces still have no traces of hunting down Osama Bin Laden... he continues to evade all the intelligence and who knows is plotting the next big attack on his enemies ..

The alleged plot to blow up 10 airplanes mid-air between US and UK was thwarted recently due to some timely action. Apparently, liquid explosives carried in on-board luggage was suspected to be the next weapon of sky terror. One wonders if air travel is still a safe way to commute as unseemingly inocuous objects can assume potentially dangerous proportions...

The world is no longer a safe place to live .. I fail to understand where all this is leading to .. Isnt our generation ever going to feel secured ? As technology improves, so does the threat to society .. There are so many yet undiscovered training camps in Pakistan that are operating secretly ...
Ominous signs of another world war breaking out is not too difficult to perceive .. yet we all continue to survive amidst our insecure existence ..

The end of an enjoyable vacation

As I look back on my not so distant past, I wonder whether these times would come back to me again ... In more ways than one this has been a good summer ... I finished my defense way earlier than I planned and that meant I had enough free time on my hands to truly explore this vast country. I met some friends on the east coast and en route to Seattle which was kinda nice ... I arrived in Seattle on 17th July, three weeks before my starting date at Amazon.com .. In hindsight it looks like it was neatly planned as it provided me enough opportunities to explore the neighbourhood ... If you visit a new city, first thing one must do is pick up a walking map and start roaming to get a sense of the spread of the city which is exactly what I decided ... To accompany me was a very supportive father who I must say made things simpler ... We did some serious apartment hunting together although I made him run around a lot for his age. I feel I know this place really well now ... I am glad that I took an apartment with a view although I had to pay a price for it !!! Living in downtown has a charm of its own. I have been living in peaceful co-existence far away from the hustle and bustle that city life has to offer which was perfect for say a student like me. Now I feel that I should experience urban living and that prompted me to shake off my monetary fears and made me decide on a relatively bold option .

Courtesy corporate housing offered through Amazon.com, I got to reside in an awesome location. "A room with a view"... it truly could not have been better than what I had. In a way, it made me fixated on this idea of how important a view was to my blissful existence. I was willing to pay a price for it and left no stone unturned in checking out every possible view on offer.

As for some lighter moments, we (dad included) did take a harbor cruise on Elliot Bay and Puget Sound along with my "I-m-still-so-young" aunt, Reshma. The Seattle skyline looked spectacular from a distance. The beauty about a place like Seattle is the vast amount of water bodies it is surrounded by. It really makes for a picturesque drive and I would highly recommend taking a route from downtown Seattle to Bellevue/Redmond for a driver's delight on a warm afternoon. On a clear sunny afternoon, the view of Mt. Rainier breaking the limits of the horizon is indeed unparalleled.

After having had so much fun under the sun, it is time I realise my purpose in life and retire to the mundane 9 to 5 job. I am certainly excited to join Amazon but just cant get myself ready for the first day. From a certain perspective, I feel this time off has done me a world of good .. It has set me up for my challenges ahead in the right frame of mind.

I realise the deficiency of pictures in my posts and it is time to ramp up the collection as they say .. "A picture is worth a thousand words !!!"

Sunny Seattle on a pleasant summer afternoon
















Views of Mt Rainier in background

As good as it gets

The past month has been a hectic one for me but I am not complaining at all. I achieved what I thought was initially impossible but as it turns out it could not have been better. I shot two birds with the same arrow ... Firstly I achieved excellent results out of my co-op assignment and secondly I managed to defend my algorithm as part of my M.S project requirements. Even more satisfying was the fact that my H1-B visa application was selected in a lottery.

My car (Civic 96) has been at the receiving end of my wanderlust. I have put significant miles on my car this summer due to my travel plans. I suddenly feel there is so much happening around me these days ... I love the outdoors ... I recently did some white water rafting in the Adirondacks on the Hudson river. To tackle the rapids was wholesum fun. It never occured to me that there is so much more to New York than merely Niagara Falls and New York city. After having driven 900 something miles in two days, I retired to the blissful comfort of my bed. I have a week or so left on the east coast before I fly out to Seattle.

As I wind up the words of our rafting guide keep ringing " Life is good .. How do we do it? This is how we do it". Our guide was an inspirational character. He had been taming the rapids for over 25 years and he made us feel every bit comfortable on the trip. He was greeting all his peers with infectious enthusiasm chanting out his favorite lines. It made me ponder how one can turn a relatively mundane task into a thrilling activity. For him, this trip must've been a piece of cake yet he lead us through it as though it were his first. He had a perfect vision of the incumbent dangers and ensured our smooth passage without any hassles. To add to his excitement was his witty sense of humor which kept us occupied when the waters had calmed down. It is the attitude that one has in life that determines whether or not one enjoys what he/she is doing. We all at some stage in our lives have cribbed about our monotonous work schedules. I might be comparing apples and oranges over here .. as the software industry demands are radically different from say a rafting guide duty. If you are in love with nature, there is no better job in this world than being a rafter.

Here is a testimony to the fun we had on the waters of the hudson river

A phenomenon called "ORKUT"

You must be living in exile if you have not heard of this phenomenon called "orkut" .. Ok now that was surely an exaggeration .. But seriously, I cannot help admiring the magnitude and proportions a simple idea that when implemented properly can attain. Orkut is designed to be an online community of friends .. a place in the virtual world where you can meet real friends .. some forgotten .. some long lost in their own private lives .. some who you talk to almost every other day over the phone ... just that now you wanted to talk to them through a different medium of communication .. aka orkut ...

I have been recently hooked onto this bandwagon after I got back from my India trip .. I started relatively modestly not knowing whom I could add on to my list but I take great pride in announcing that now this "figure of merit" has reached a century .... I have found some of my friends whom I probably would never have found otherwise .. Isnt it amazing? Now one may ask why the heck would you even care to see what is going on in their lives ... After all, not everything heard or said is true .. There could be fake or clone profiles .. who knows whether you are whom I think you are ... Give it a deep thought ..

I look at it more as a medium for expression of opinions .. to and for the people who make a difference in your lives albeit in the most miniscule manner .. It is a great way of keeping in touch with friends and making new ones ..

Believe it or not .. every familiar face in Binghamton now eats,sleeps and breathes orkut.. Its as if their day starts and ends with it .. Now one may ask why so ? You wouldnt have to scratch your head to get an answer to this question .. popularity .. In fact, one can monitor the daily activities of most orkut lovers by reading the scraps chronologically in ascending order of time .. Now this is stretching it too far .. but seriously I cant help imagining how true it is .. After all, why would you want to disclose publicly about what has been happening in your otherwise ordinary daily routine .. Nevertheless, it is interesting to be a part of this crazy community that never sleeps ..

For good or bad, orkut continues to rise in the popularity charts ... and uniting lives of millions of users all over the world .. Indeed as it is rightly said, " The world is a small place to live in " ...