The Journey back to Home Sweet Home --> Minneapolis to Madras

Phew!!! Finally.. The most anticipated trip of my life.. It was fun cos I got to relive all the excitement of a school boy looking forward towards summer vacation all over again. Only this time, the circumstances was totally different. I was all set for my trip back to India. Packing was done a day in advance and I didnt sleep the night before I left. After my rather depressing journey last time, the return trip was actually a pretty nervous one. I was praying for no snow so that I could get out of Minneapolis as soon as possible. Thank God I managed to get my ass out of Minneapolis cos I heard that there was a huge snow storm after I left. Luckily the weather stayed calm enough for me to get out of Minneapolis. The first leg of the journey was from Minneapolis to Newark. Turned out to be an okay one. I couldnt get much of a snack from Continental cos they didnt have much of a vegetarian option but that was the least of the worries.

Here's a pic of Minneapolis, Bird's eye view that I took from the plane!! The whole damn place is covered with snow!!


After landing in Newark, I managed to find a batch mate from UMN and hung around for some time. Managed to grab some lunch in a useless Mexican place and then got all set to board the plane to Brussels. Newark was a pretty neat place.



But one distinct difference I could observe even before I landed was that the land didnt have any snow watsoever. That was a welcome relief for sure. Thought New York was pretty cold but turned out to be really okay. Managed to grab a bird's eye view shot of NY as well.

Clearly, NY was no way close to MN.

After getting myself through security and managed to get myself to Jet Airways counter, things turned out to be super smooth. I must say that Jet was seriously too good and much much better than any of the other American/Indian air services. The customer service at the desk and the call senter sucked though. Once on board, the flight maintenance was super, the service and care was great and ofcourse, the food was simply fabulous.



After strolling around Brussels airport, I managed to find my gate for boarding where I had to wait for an hour and a bit. The airport was nice but not spectacular. Managed to see some solid Belgium Diamonds and wanted to taste Belgium's chocolates but they were too damn expensice inside the airport and I decided to ditch it for another day. Then I took the flight from Brussels to Chennai. The flight was pretty okay. Once again, Jet Airways' service made it worthwhile. Managed to land in Chennai Airport.

One thing that really pissed me off was the behavior of the immigration officers. They are simply downright rude. They dont greet you, just throw out their hand and you turn in your passport and customs form, they stamp some crap and send you off. It really did piss me for it was no way to welcome someone into your country. It wasnt so much about me but just the impression they were giving to foreigners visiting the country. it really does suck. When I visit the US, the immigration officer often cracks a joke or two and gives a bunch of advice doesnt matter how bad the crowd is, just to make sure that you feel comfortable and secure. And once done with that, I had to wait for an hour and a half to pcik up my baggage. Ofcourse after that, it was coming back to home sweet home. After coming back, the only thing I've been doing is sleep sleep sleep. Managed to meet up with some old friends, some relatives came home as well... But all that is for anotherr post.

For now, its just good to be home!!!!

Oh Krishna!!!

Couldnt help but feel engrossed in one of my all time favorite video shown above. It all started cos my friends used to call me Krishna and when this video came out, they all used to sing this song just to irritate me. But the video is great though. Cant help but think of those glorious days where I did not know the meaning of the word worry, what the word responsibility meant; those glorious days when the backyard cricket with dad was the highlight of my week. And yet, after all these years, I sit somewhere in US typing away with an assignment due and breaking my head, cribbing as ever and multitasking to finish a bunch of stuff. I want to give it all up yet I cant because of "responsibilities". But at the end of it all, I cant wait for the end of next month when I go back home, albeit just on vacation, and surprise my folks and then maybe hug my dad jus like the boy in the video and then say it was worth the wait after all!!! Phew!!!

And when your bullshitting so much that it doesnt make sense and no one reads the crap you write these days, then its time to hit the books!! damn me!!

Hahaha!!! Rocking on.. winter is here :)

Life

Two posts in a day is big for my usual standards!!!

Whats Life!!

Its a battle against the mind.. Conquer it and the world is yours...

A Moment of Happiness

Well... Here I was again. Just finished two assignments in the last 20 hours of continuous work... Getting ready to study for a midterm (all nighter) and then to get started on another assignment on which I've already given hope and was depressed.. Suddenly when all seemed lost, there appeared a mail on my gmail inbox. it was from my mother's childhood friend and her husband.. one of the few people with genuine love and affection... my mom's friend just had an open heart surgery which itself was a huge shock for me.. and when i saw that they had wished me luck in my studies and had conveyed their blessings, somehow, it seemed that with the backing of all these well wishers, all this is worth it... they did not have children of their own and so they always looked at other children as their own.. such was their love and affection.. somehow I have always been longing for such words of encouragement for long now thanks to all the loneliness that one has to undergo when you come to US.. yet it is in moments like these that we do feel special and it is this special feeling which makes life worth living and takes us through troubled times.. Heck!! i know i dont make sense.. but am in a hurry.. :)

A Year at MN and the Joy of Spin

This week August 21 happened to be one year here at MN for me. The past year has been an interesting one. First year at Grad school hasnt been easy but it was never meant to be easy. The confidence was shattered completely in the first few days before it was reshaped and remoulded quietly. The second year should also be a good one as I look forward to this quietly confident.

Watching India beat England in the second ODI was like watching good old quality cricket. Thoroughly enjoyable. Once again, we relied on Sachin to do for us what hez been doing for 18 odd years. Once again, he got us the runs. It wud be an understatement to say that hez unlucky with the decisions that hez getting from the umpires these days. But more than anything, it was wonderful to see Piyush Chawla and Romesh Powar spin a web around England with some good quality flighted spin bowling. Watching Harbhajan bowl in the last year has definately taken the joy out of spin bowling. Hez been bowling it flatter and flatter by the day. Most international spinners arent good flight bowlers. Dan Vettori might be an exception but somehow he seems to be missing the mystery factor for me. But Chawla was a revelation and it was totally enjoyable to watch him bamboozle the English with his leggies, googly and top spinners. Too good. Makes watching cricket worthwhile.

Arbit Post

Choices

Life is all about how we deal with them. I was just wondering how different life would have been had we made different decisions along the way. What if I had not come to the US! What if I had flunked my engineering exams! What if I had stayed back at home and done an MBA! What if I rejected mediocrity from myself like I once did! 12B is a tamil movie which depicts what an alternative life must have been for a hero when he is at crossroads. It portrays his life in 2 halves , one for each of the 2 choices that he makes. I donno why I thought about all this right now but I did it anyway.Whatever it is, you cannot run away from the choices that you made or the ones that you will be making.

The About Me Section

How often do we come across the section "About Me". Evert time I come across one, it sets me thinking. Its pretty much tghe toughest question for me to answer. I mean how many people are really sure of their priorities. After coming to UMN, I have been blessed to meet many such talented people. They seem to know exactly what they want in life. Maybe they all keep it to themselves while posing on the outside in a convincing manner. But still, I havent been able to figure out exactly what I want in life. Sure enough like everyone else, making a lot of money, doing something for the good of mankind and making the life count are the easiest excuses that I can come up with.

An Interesting Saying

I came across this saying recently which I found pretty interesting.
"There must be something in me that makes me, "ME"!"

Nice and simple one I say!!!

Moments of Magic

How often do we exceed our own expectations?

How often do we conjure up something really special?

How often do we dig in deep to do something really dear to us?

How often do we live for the moment?

All those moments of magic are what those keep us going... It is those precise moments in life when one is close to breaking point that the magic unfolds itself to keep us going. Right now, I cant wait for one such moment. But if I could get one just like that, its not magic.