A lot of things happened in the past 1 week....

1. I moved to Pittsburgh,PA
2. Started my new job - Corporate world,the perks and the free stuff rocks!!!
3. I got to experience my first snow in the U.S - It was mind blowing! (first day was a charm....Not anymore!)
4. I went to the Pittsbugh venkatachalapathy temple - made famous by manirathnam and sujatha in the movie aayutha ezhuthu! during the weekend (the moment i knew I got a job in pittsburgh, all that came to my mind was the scene from aayutha ezhuthu, where siddarth tells trisha (I am totally lou-struck!...I knowwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!)
5. I got an offer from Cisco yesterday, three days after I joined Network Appliance!

adieu Lafayette!!!

I am leaving a second home....Yes, I am leaving Lafayette for good to start my new job in Pittsburgh,PA. I've been totally busy with my job search and other stuff for the past few weeks and did not find time to write about my interview experiences and about whats happening with me. Would like to come back and write about it once I get settled at PA.
Lastly, thanks everyone at Lafayette for those 2 years of fun and support! Will miss this place so much!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays :)

And enjoy the best Christmas song ever!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=995csL2wmRA

The coolest thing ever!

One of my friends sent me the following link this morning...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=0BdAdRL_2Wo

This is funny as hell and this guy owns!!! I got goosebumps watching this!

Check it out guys.....

Cant get better!

My day-to-day life can never be complete without quoting something from this audio clip! So famous!!!

Listen to it here:

http://www.pixfolder.com/viewmovie.php?file=7025.mp3

Smells and Memories.....

As I gently open the rice cooker lid, I cant seem to get enough of the smell of the freshly cooked rice with the steam.....All of us experience this in our day-to-day lives...But the experience is just so out of the world that I wanted to write a post on it!!!

Smells have this strong power of vividly bringing back memories....of people, places, things and incidents....
Here are a few ones:

Petrichor.....or in Tamil "manvaasanai" - My childhood days when I would be gazing through the window, waiting for the rain to stop to play with my fellow mates....

Smell of photocopies and new notebooks - When I rushed to the nearest shop 2 hrs before the exam to make copies of my classmate's notes.....and the smell of new notebooks when you put on brown covers and labels just 2 days before the school reopens!

Petrol - When I used to ride the scooty and when it stopped half way, would walk to the nearest gas station.....

Crackers - The smell of crackers during Diwali after they are all burnt out with the million pieces of papers lying on the road!

Incense sticks - When appa does pooja at home with the camphor and incense sticks burning and when u prostrate before Him, that is divine!

Rasam with the coriander - The smell of amma's home made rasam with the coriander and curry leaves on a late Sunday Morning.....Wowwww!!! (Can anything ever beat this??)

Smell of coffee @ StarBucks - The million times I've gone to Starbucks, just because I luv the smell of coffee there.....

And many more....

As always, contributions welcome!

Yipeeeeee!I'm graduating today!

Yes, Its a BIGGGGGGGGGGG day! I'm graduating today and I'm no more a student!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Sandyyyyyyyyyyyy.........

Wishing you a fabulous birthday Sandy....Have a fantastic year ahead!

Endrum Natpudan...... - Part III

Sasi : Fondly called as "Bhattar", he's the next Vaali! He writes amazing poems in tamil.....Here's a link to one of those poems which I loved:

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7291/2314/1600/kangal.5.jpg







Subha a.k.a Vaathu a.k.a dubuks: She cooks awesome, has been responsible for us having good food at Lafayette and is an awesome host. Has great taste in choosing the right outfits.....With the little telugu she knows, she's made many of us in the group speak telugu.






Sumi: The fitness-freak of the gumbal....Has a great sense of humor and she's the only one who has the ability to manage people like Chowdhry and pay them back on their own coin.





Sundar: The proud founder of the IHRC - I Hate Raji Club and the ko.pa.se (kolgai parapu seyalaalar) of the club. The club is going great guns only because of him. Talks strictly in long sentences, digs out and analyzes anything to the core before accepting the facts.






Viji: The greatest Rajinikanth Fan I have or without exaggeration, the world has ever seen! Nothing motivates/energizes more than a Rajinikanth song/movie. She's terrifically confident and I just luv the way she carries herself.



And finally!



Me: ??????







The above space is for people (no one knows me better than these folks) to write about me!

Folks, we are an awesome group and lets live endrum natpudan!


(Photo Courtesy: Santhosh)
(Thanks for making this awesome collage Sandy!)

Endrum Natpudan......- Part-II

Karthik: Thalaivaa........He's been our "thalaivar" and will always continue to be! and has awesome driving skills!







Prashanth Parate: Fondly known as "opicer" to all of us, his views on many things in life seems weird or rather unconventional to many of us! Have many a time fallen in love with the way he programs in Java and Oracle.....and he's my birthday buddy!





Prabhu a.k.a PShan: A complete workaholic and a total perfectionist, be it anything. He's an awesome dancer!









Raji: Has the reputation of having the group form a club for her! Her accented Tamil has gained her the name TR.....She's a very level-headed person and has plenty of patience.





Santhosh a.k.a Sandy: The epitome of sincerity and orderliness! Is a very mature and helpful person and has many a times played the role of the mentor to a few kids in the group! (what say chowdhry and cheems??)

Endrum Natpudan......- Part-I

There's just been one thing thats been exciting to think about in the past 3-4 days.....It is the feeling that I am going to be seeing my closest circle of friends tomorrow.....Yes, they all are coming to Lafayette for the graduation ceremony on Saturday...
These are folks with whom I've spent most of my time in Lafayette, who've undergone the same experiences I underwent in this place and they have just been my world for the past 2 and half years. I am really looking forward to seeing them and having a great, fun weekend....

I am sure this is a loooooooooong post, but, its worth it and these folks deserve this! There's just too much to write about each and everyone, so I'm writing one line about everyone that flashes on my mind when I think about them.

Here we go, meet the dudes and dudettes!


"Jiljivappu" Aarthi: The name says it all! We've had the funniest times listening to her futile attempts at speaking tamil....A few examples to prove this fact: jiljivappu, rendu eedu thuni.....








Aravind a.k.a D-Ma : Popularly known as "Dma", he and his camera have been responsible for us being able to treasure memories of all our times spent together....





Shrimathi a.k.a Cheems: The youngest in the group and the hyper-active girl! Her enthusiasm is too contagious......




Chowdhry a.k.a Beedi: Calls himself "Mr.Palmanasukaaran" and his acrobatic skills have never failed to impress "many". This guy is a "cheapo" (for obvious reasons) and has been a major source of entertainment to the group.





Gokul a.k.a GD: Nobody can ever beat GD in cracking a joke at the right time. His sense of humor and the "nakkal" dialogues has always kept the group alive!


I'm not able to upload more pics...Check out part-II and part-III.....

The post-India trip

While I went to India, the long 16 hrs flight from Atlanta to Mumbai seemed to pass by in minutes..It was just exactly opposite when I came back to US. It felt like years when I reached Atlanta. I was travelling alone and the loneliness was just killing me.

P and K were there to see me at the Lafayette airport and I felt good seeing them. We reached home and left my baggages at home and was off to dinner with P's and S. The moment I sat inside our fondly called "lachumi", it felt too damn empty.... C and P, memories of you keep flooding when we went to the chinese restaurant last night, in Lafayette itself, in C's home and lachumi feels so empty without u guys man! C and S, we miss u people a lot! Life actually seems to suck so much in Lafayette right now with P also leaving the town tomorrow.

We have decided to make jobs asap and leave this place forever. Can never stay alone in this place at all. and to add on, I have been having total jet lag from the time I came here. I slept at 9 PM on Monday night and got up only at 8 PM last night completing a 24 hour sleep and I have been up all night writing blogs, watching movies and chatting. The thoughts of looking for a job has been haunting too....So, to put it in one line,
"life and loneliness suck right now!"

This is the exact feeling post-India trip!

The awesome India trip!

From the moment I landed in Chennai, until I left, there was not even one single moment where I didnt enjoy. My best bud and my chithi were there at the airport to see me and I felt too damn happy seeing them. Was excited to see the chennai crowd, to listen to those early morning songs in the tea-kadais, to see the pallavan buses, to listen to FM, to see those huge posters,advertisements and boards about new movies, to feel the early-morning breeze which said "sorgame endraalum adhu namma oora pola varumaa" on my face, and to just know you are in a place that totally belongs to you!

Went to my chithi's place where she had steaming idlis,coconut chatni and sambar for breakfast. And after a real heavy breakfast, my friend came and picked me up for my medical checkup the next day. Had a thorough medical checkup done the next day and I was peaceful to know I was completely alright. Spent the next 2 days with my cousin and with her super-cute kid and never missed to have a single heavy meal in the 1 week I spent in India.

And, sudden change of plans, my parents couldnt make it to Chennai and so I had to travel to Kenya to see them. So, booked tickets to Kenya. And tears rolled down my cheeks when I saw my mom at the airport. So, had a wonderful 8 days at Kenya where amma made every possible dish that I liked. Bascially, Kenya-la rest eduthu rest eduthu tired aagiten.

And then, the last 4 days in India were good! I spent a lot of time with my friends at the beach, spencers and watched movies. Did lil bit of shopping too. Finally the day came when I had to leave Chennai which was the worst feeling ever. I never wanted to!

The pre-India trip!!

I am just back from an awesome trip to India...and here I am, blogging after a very long time. After my appy surgery, I lost all hopes of going to India and I was feeling very bad and lonely staying home most of the time watching movies and just whiling away my time doing nothing. And, I had my doctor's appointment for removing the stitches of the surgery on the 16th Nov. I had a wish (to call it precisely "napaasai", in tamil) somewhere in the corner of my heart to go to India and somehow that day I got the guts to ask the doctor if I could travel, at the same time, mentally getting prepared to face the "certainly No" answer he was going to give me because it had only been a week and a half since the surgery got over.

But I was surprised/shocked at his "defnintely Yes. I dont see any reason why you cannot travel!".....I literally jumped at his answer. I did not even think for a second after he told me so. and then came the question of tickets to India. Thanks to the super-smart Charlie, he had not cancelled my tickets to India after my surgery, rather he had postponed it to the 20th of November. That means, I had 3 more days to pack and leave. 3 days seemed a lot to me. I was just prepared to leave the next day given a chance.

This time, I wasnt developing too much expectations and kept it low until I definitely landed in Chennai. 3 days - I did some shopping, V came over for the weekend and helped me pack stuff..Thanks V!

Watched the awful Borat movie,(totally disgusting movie, please dont watch it for anyone who hasnt seen it yet) and had a nice dinner at the local Indian Restaurant trying to break Charlie's vows and rules he had promised himself. The last 2 days were fun, playing with C's fishes and working on their class project.

Came 20th Nov, 10:00 AM and I was all set to leave. This was one time, I have prayed so much in my life, not to let anything happen to deter the India trip. And, I bid a warm goodbye to C and S,coz I wont be seeing them again. I couldnt express much to them, but the final hugs at the airport before going through the security checkin brought tears....

And, then, took the long 16 hrs flight (which seemed to just pass by in minutes) from Atlanta to Mumbai and when I landed in India, the excitement was just too much, I was literally overpowered by the excitement.
The feeling was awesome!!!!Kudos to me for managing to recover well post-surgery, for having the guts to take a bold decision to travel! It did a world of good to me!

Birthday Wishes!!!

A season of birthday posts.......

So, here's to Amit, Happy Birthday Amitu! Have a blast!

Good things about post-surgery!

1. Incredible care from friends and family

2. World of good,healthy food which you normally feel lazy to cook on your own

3. Loads of sleep and rest at home, which means, lots of time for YOU and only YOU.

4. You get to watch a whole F.R.I.E.N.D.S season a day, lots of online movies, and TV Shows

5. You catch up with a lot of old buddies and relatives whom you havent spoken to in ages, and all of a sudden they seem to be too worried about your health and surgery.

So, yeah, if you think about it, there are good things after a surgery too!

Happy Birthday!!!

Here's to Nov 12th Scorpio Raji.....Happy 25th Birthday! (I am sorry, I let out your age here ;) )

Bye...Bye

Bye...Bye appy! Won't miss ya for sure anymore!!!!

And thanks a million folks...for all the good wishes and incredible help....

BITS Pilani - Need I say more!

Got approval from Graduate School to go ahead and bind my thesis copies today! And, I printed out the copies and got them signed from my thesis committee...So, that "officially" says I have a Masters Degree now and it also says, "No more tests/compres/assignments/seminars"......I dont know if I should feel happy or sad about this....

I started thinking about how I was 6 years back when I stepped into BITS. BITS has truly shaped me into a very strong person, given me love and most importantly the lovely people associated with it! Every memory of that place is just priceless! I guess, everyone has this feeling...whenever you hear some song, you get reminded of a place/people and go back in time and think about the times spent there/with them!.....So, thats what happened with me too....I started listening to "Aaja maahiya" from the movie Fiza....and I could even exactly recall that I'd gone to *Birla Mandir* in Pilani one evening after listening to this song before an *adcal test* and it was the day after *BOSM*! So, that led me to listen to so many other songs from movies that came out during my 4 years of stay at Pilani.....and memories of Pilani came flooding..

People say, "its not the place, its the people who matter!"....But to me, any day, I'd even love to sit alone in the Birla Mandir or Sky lawns or the backside of IC and enjoy a hot chaai or a cold shikanji!

Ok, I guess this is turning out to be a typical senti post which I bet you will definitely find in any BITSIAN's blog! Yet, it gives so much happiness and the very thoughts are so comforting!

The 8 AM common hours, the cold mornings with the damp fog....the wing lachaa and fun,
combined crash, gate calls (and how can I forget the blushes that come along!!!!)
the dance and dialogue exchange that Harini and I do just to irritate Madhu,
the way I irritate Gayathri by saying "aiyo...gayathri thaanga mudila....naaraasamaa iruku!",
"ei....indhaadhi kappa kezhange" (Gugi, miss ya!!!!),
appu and preethi's awesome strawberry cakes for birthdays, the super six gang, the terrific trio,
Standing in long queues at the IPC just to check a mail from "someone" (wink), ghotting sessions in the Refli, nite outs, watching the Birla Mandir view from FD-2,
Senti-sem - heights of vettiness, wing treats, sam chat, chaai, audi movies, "naa indha test soore zuk....(with a totally dismal look on the face)", and laughing over it after 5 seconds throwing it away and going to c'not!

The list goes endless!

I have lost touch with so many people whom I promised to e-mail/write to when I left BITS....
So, whoever is reading this, "Thank you guys! Love ya!!!...Times spent with you were absolutely fun and will always treasure all those moments"....

168, 10080, 604800........

7 x 24 = 168 hours
7 x 24 x 60 = 10080 minutes
7 x 24 x 60 x 60 = 604800 seconds

If you were wondering what do these random numbers on the title and these calculations say! Well, it the hours/minutes/seconds left before I board the flight to India!

In exactly a week from now, I'll be on the flight to India....I'm thrilled...My dear Chennai, Here I come!