Its a boy!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shamala gave birth to a baby boy friday, 15 days ahead of the due date! :) totally exciting! Can't believe that she is a mom! Congratulations Shiva and Shamala!

:) I never relealized it was Kachhi_Kali's Bday!! thanks to Sid

..Happy BDay kalis!

Life update: after almost 3 months!
Amazing fun when aai visited. Visited Seattle, Washinton, portland, Florida (for a conference), New York Niagara etc..
Neeraj and aai also visited Las Vegas. It was so cool to come home to a cooked dinner and to not come home to an empty house. Was a whirlwind trip. Lots happening..Daddy is quitting his job and going back, Neeraj switched jobs, I bought a car!! yippppppeee...Bought India tickets for Jan..

Now can't wait to get a license to start driving on my own. The DMV does not have appointments for the next one month in South Bay...how boring can it be!! I wish I had gotten my license in CO..I know ..my bad ;)

Also...fast approaching first wedding anniv!! 29th Dec..no plans as yet..

More detail post soon! got to get some fruit-loops...These weird hour shifts make u hungry! :)

Long Post

I am working on a weekend. Dont expect any calls but I have to be here and not move away from my desk for more than 2 minutes for the next 8 hours.

So what do I do??!!
I have loads of pending work, but I can get to that later. The last thing I want to do right now is work.
This is like a forced relaxation! :) Some of my co-workers think that is a funny phrase. Especially thats what I call some mandatory training for some stuff that we dont need to spend an entire day on..but oh well..it is such a relief!!

So well I am here in the office, it is eerily quiet. Barring a couple of people who stopped by...
Want to call friends..will do that later in the day...Maybe hours might not be enough for all the things I want to do, and once I go back home its a mad rush to get the apartment cleaned before Mom gets here..4 days to go..yippppeeee.

Thought I should get my very (in)famous group on the web!! We are a group of 8 friends from my grad school, Colorado State University, Fort Collins. To the amusement of a lot of people, our group is called Kacchi_kali. There is story behind this name.
Cannot be shared.! :)

There is Atul, Medha, Priti, Ritesh, Rohit, Sachin, Siddharth and of course..I
(This is an alphabetical list)
Atul: The "thinker" of our group. He maintains an awesome blog. Check it out in my "I read" section. He and I have spent a lot of fun times especially during courses that we took together and did projects. We will always share the trials and tribulations that we suffered in CS581. We wanted to do well in that course so badly. And both of us messed it up...we were sooo upset after that..
The only person from Kacchi_kali to attend my wedding.

Medha: Hehe..cant help but smile when I think of this nutcase..she is beyond repair..:D She and I loove shopping and we love making the other buy stuff. We have made countless trips to Walmart and Foothills fashion mall to buy clothes, shoes..Most of the times we landed up buying two of the same design. :) Miss the afternoon coffee, the gym sessions, the gossiping, the crying-ur-heart-out. We hated each other when we met for the first time..Both of us thought that the other was a bit oversmart. I guess we are..but then can;t help it..

Priti (Darling): God, what has Kacchi_kali association done to this girl, this sweet innocent girl..now she uses the language that would make a sailor blush (i love my fair lady). She taught me typical marathi phrases like "ovalele karta" :) The only person I know who used to call Neeraj "tumhi" haha..Had a major ball about it !

Siddarth: Probably the most infuriating, outright shocking, and devil-care attitude..I don't know what fuels this boy..on the second hand...I dont want to know! :p. Great writer..great at dramatics..other KK on my blog. One of the very few people to have come to US with funding in his lap. I think I have had maximum fights with him..he justs keeps on hurting me ..Remember the day you threw that ball in my face...yeah yeah..when I stormed out...:D

Ritesh: The guy from Indore..He is the only non-marathi in this group of pune-mumbai people. He is almost converted to a maharashtrian. He follows marathi quite well..I guess and speak a few sentences if he wants..:) He visited Neeraj and I for a week..It felt like Neeraj;s friend was visiting him rather than mine! He is the quiet guy...or so you would think on first impression. Great cook!!

Rohit: My best son!! hehe..he is the guni bal ..well behaved caring, sweet. The first person to meet Neeraj in person. Neeraj still finds it funny that on introducing Neeraj, Rohit blushed the most. He plans to go back to India for good. :( Will miss u...keep in touch..

Sachin! :D Last but not the least..
So many things we have shared. When he first stepped out of the shamrock shuttle, I was looking around to see this Indian guy who was supposed to be arriving. Then this fair, green eyed guy starts talking in marathi!! We have had a blast since day one! People actually thought we were going around for some time! Then all the navra thing, the diamond thing, the walk in the oval, the fight (we had one..remember ritesh?), india night, his bay area trip, his engagement..that lasted a few minutes :D...so many things...unbelievable...he is the next KK to visit CA this December.

Miss you all...

Topsy Turvy

Have you ever felt like you life went on a roller-coaster ride and you did not want to get on the ride..and never knew when you got on it..

Its strange how life takes a different course in a matter of a day..You are used to some things..and your life follows a pattern, and there is no un-predicability. And then it something shakes that and there is uncertainty. Uncertainty need not necessarily mean a bad thing..but then its new..

I am not too sure I like it....

U2..

I heard "With or Without you" after a long time..Made me want to go to a U2 concert. Always wanted to hear them live..now maybe we will. Got to watch out for their next concert in the bay area.

Been a crazy week as usual. Highlight is that mom got my papers for visa. She will be applying for her visa soon. I am so excited. I have been dreaming about aai-baba's trip almost everyday. Only thing is strangely, last nights dream, they landed in Boston, where the reached by railway and the railway station uncannyly looked like Pune railway station and it said "New York Railway station" ..it gets weirder..I walk from my office to pick them up. My office is in Sunnyvale, CA. And I have been to Boston once for a few hours.

Anyways, hopefully she will be here for the long weekend. Other nice thing was along and overdue chat with my best friend, Shamala. She is the sweetest person I have known. She makes me want to be a better person. She got married in Dec 2000. I so badly wanted to be there, but I was not funded and simply could not afford to fly back. I met her husband Shiva for the first time for my wedding. Was so thrilled to see her so happy. And she is now expecting a baby in Dec..Dec 20th to be precise (their third wedding anniversary). I am sooo happy for her. We had always planned so much to be together. we even planned to get our kids married and "dosti ko rishtedari mein badal dalenge" .

We used to do the craziest things, we used to love this particular song "WAlking in the rain". I went "I am just walking in the rain, and I missed you once again.." Please please please if you have thing song, send it to me..We both lost it. Anyways, we used to drive back from Camp singing this at full volume, chat in college all day and then call immediately after reaching home. I love her mom's cooking and she loves to cook. I had prayed that I got my Toefl center in Banglore cause Shamala had moved there a year back. I was so happy when I got to go there. In the excitement of meeting her and chatting into the wee hours of the night, I almost forgot to go for the exam..

Anyways, Shamala is going to have a baby...and I am going to pamper my little neice/nephew..YAAY!!

God!! ..some people are sooo ungrateful. Its unbelievable..But then I think its all a part of the job!..

I think I am a disgrace to all the wizard world. I am still on chapter one of the book....waaaaaah..:( But been doing a lot of things lately. Went to Yellowstone, learnt to (well tried to learn to) play basketball and almost broke my finger, clean the apartment: even pigs would refuse to stay there, been driving a bit.

I am okay as long as there is no one behind me. Then I go into a panic mode and make the silliest of mistakes. The worst one I have made till now has been not yeilding to a person but since he was kind of far away, I was okay, but the minute I saw in the rear view that it was a ford explorer, my panic returned, and in that state, my car came to a stand still. I am sure the guy was quite indignant. Since it was a single lane road, all I could do was start the car patiently and go on till he got a chance to cut me.

I have realized that I am not much of a driving fan...Maybe once I get the hang of it, I will love it just the way I loved driving my kinetic pride on the streets of Pune...

HARRY POTTER

I think the vegas post can continue later...

Right now I am totally excited about the new Harry Potter book. I want to be the one of the first ones to get my hands on it..I can't believe that thieves stole a truck full of those covetted books in UK. People!! Stop doing that...
So well..what might happen? Umm..my guesses:

1. There is going to be something about Dumbledore in this book thats more than just the one who tells Harry some unknowns and then sorts out things when they wrong. There will be more of his personal life..I think it was hinted in goblet of fire.
2. More love will be in the air ...
3. Its hinted that Ron will be the best student (something of that order/sort) in all the books. So he has to become a house prefect or something like that.

Thats all I can think of.....Can't wait!

Las Vegas.

We drove to Las Vegas last weekend. I always wanted to visit Vegas ever since I flew over it last year. In the dead of the night flying over this city of lights was quite an experience. We had been planning to go there and then one day about ten days earlier I just went and made hotel reservations. We decided not to fly and save that money and get new tires for our car. We were not too thrilled about the Marriott Suites we got on priceline. Its not on the strip. But then once its done, its done.

The day we were supposed to leave, it was a long day at work, and Neeraj picked me up at 4 pm. By the time we hit the road it was 6 pm. We knew it was a long drive and decided to take all the stuff to make bhel and just eat it on the way. (small pleasures of living in CA :P). Just stopped on the way once to make the bhel and eat it. And then got stuck in nasty traffic. By the time we got out of it, we were all set to stop at one of the bigger towns on the way. But then Vegas was waiting for us.

The interstate to Vegas that we thought would be deserted was teeming with people. It is in the middle of death valley and we thought we were the only fools to drive at that time. It was like a carnival. It just kept us going. As we neared Vegas, we got a couple of false alarms with the outlet fashion mall and Nevada Landings (another city). Finally when we reached this city of lights, We were so tired, it was 4:30 in the morning. We barely crossed the strip to reach the hotel (which in fact is in a really nice location). After seeing all the huge hotels and casinos, we were a bit skeptical about this little hotel that seemed so insignificant. As we opened the door to our room, we were pleasantly surprised. It was a beautiful suite with a european touch.

Next day we got up at 2 pm and it was HOT. We were contemplating going out, when we saw the magazine with an ad to fly over the Grand Canyon in a helicopter. It was going to drain us out of all the money we saved by driving was going to be spent on it. We decided what the heck and made the reservation to go ahead with the ride in the starry afternoon at 3 pm.

Then we stepped out in to the Mayanagari. We parked in the parking lot for one of the casinos. And stepped into the Casino. Its an unbelievable. Even at 3 pm in the afternoon, the place was full of people gambling. All we needed was food. We found a little mexican place call Margarita. Nice fajitas.

Then we walked on the strip for some time. It was hot and dry and we came back with a headache. Cesar's palace, Bellagio live up to the expectations. We spent some time walking there. Gambled 4 dollars. :) Not worth it. And we were already broke. We came back for a change and then went back to the strip. We walked around for some time and then dragged ourself back to the room.

More later......

My first 100

I am bad at bowling..its a fact. My highest score for quite some time was 36 :D. As a student in CO that was an expensive hobby, and also not worth going all the way in the snow to get a measly 36. So never really tried it much. Here in CA we go bowling often, and my performance has been slightly better..my maximum was 69. And today I rocked (not exactly :)) but well I made a 75 in the first game and 104 in the second. The second game was a combination of strikes and 8-9's but no 2s or threes. So if I had not gotten so many in the gutter I could have easily made 150 ..hehe..

I am happy!! NOW I am going to buy bowling shoes.....

Frustration.

I am at work..and I need to get the frustration out.

I have spent over 9 hours with a customer trying to get the simplest of the issues to resolve. It is so logical and simple, that I feel like an idiot because I can simply not think of any thing else to do. There is nothing to do. I have tried it here on my machine and it works and it just does not work on the customer;s side.

It is so frustrating when you know you can do it and yet you can;t. I do not want to stop trying but I could not keep the customer for so long.

AAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGH

This is for Radha.

Chicken Biryani

Chicken (cut in cubes) or drumsticks / mutton cubes
curd
ginger-garlic paste
garam masala
turmeric
chilli powder
salt

This is for the marinade. Marinate will in advance, atleast 4 hours.

For the rice,

soak rice in water and drain and keep for about 30 mins. (This will help to avoid making the rice sticky).
Heat some oil (ghee even better). add black pepper (whole), cloves, ilaichi, tej patta (optional), dalchini. To it add ginger garlic paste.
Then add onions and let them fry on low flame till they are done well. Then add tomato.
The onions have to be well done or else on adding tomato, they will no longer get fried, then tend to get soft and cooked.
Let the tomato cook till the oil starts to leave the paste. To this add some kasuri methi and some mint.
Then add garam masala. (if you can get some biryani masala, even better)
Add rice to this and let it mix well in this masala.
Add the chicken with all the curd and mix it well. Then add water and let it cook. (pressure cook if needed).

Other way of doing this.

Heat some ghee and add some pepper, dalchini, ilaichi and tej patta and then put the rice in it. Cook the rice and then add some kesar to the cooked rice.
For the curry, in the cooked onion and tomato paste, add chicken and cook it.
Then make layers of rice and curry and cook it in a pressure cooker.

Quick recipe:

Veggie Pattice

Pepperidge puff pastry sheets
Boiled potato
green peas (frozen is okay too)
ginger garlic paste
jeera (cumin)
oil
Turmeric powder

Heat some oil and add jeera to it and turmeric, then add the ginger-garlic paste. Add the peas. Then add boiled potatoes.

Cut the puff pastry sheets to make 12 equal pieces from one packet. There are two sheets in each packet make 6 from each sheet. Defrost the sheets in the microwave and then this is the trick. Using a polpat-latna (rolling pin) press the sheets and spread them out a bit. Then fill the potato mix and then in a pre-heated oven bake the pattice till they become slightly golden brown.

Always a sure hit! :)

First Day in US

Fort Collins, CO is an extremely charming place that you just fall in love with instantly. When I first came to US, I had the typical Indian student carrying 32 kg suitcases with 15 kg in the hand bag and backpack which was stuffed with things I gathered over the flight(I was in first class, which is another story altogether) MY port of entry was Atlanta. When I left Mumbai, there were people that Delta had to help the girls with their luggage. But after landing in Atlanta, I had a hard time getting the luggage out of the conveyor belt. And lugging the hand bag was no joke. I was extremely tired. The other Indian sudents were helping the girls, but then that was more because everyone was as lost and scared as I was. But then once everyone dispersed, I was the only one going to CO. So after I immigrated, then carrying the luggage and rechecking it in the domestic flight was a task of extreme strength. Once I checked that in, I took the train and reached the terminal and the departure terminal. I was so ready to collapse. I had not realized till then that te flight that seems to be an hour was actually three hours, I didnot realize the time zones. Once I found out that it was a 3 hour flight, I was about to give up. All I wanted to do was go home. "Yeh kaha aa gaye hum" kept playing in my head. To top it all, very smartly I had all the important addresses that I needed once I got to FC and US were stored in a digital diary. Somehow there was nothing in it when I got to US.

As soon as I started looking for a place to sit, someone walked upto me and asked if I was Ketaki. It was an old school friend, who was studying in GaTech. I had sent an email to him before I left India to ask about the immigration and stuff, and he actually came to meet me at the airport. I was so relieved to see Satyan. He took me to a food court where we had iced tea for 3 bucks a piece, 150 Rs I was calculating at the back of my mind. I almost had half a mind to tell Delta that I simply couldnot travel, and that I would travel the next day!! But just seeing a familiar person eased the tension so much. By the time we got back to the gate, it was extremely crowded, and I just had to sit. Satyan sat on the carpet...I was shocked. Satyan said " This is US..yaha kuch bhi chalta hain" I just couldnot bring myself to sit, (Side note, now when I wait for Neeraj to pick me up from work, I sit on the pavement, when I don't have my leather jacket and when its not raining).

I was so sad to get back on the plane. Once I got on the plane, as I struggled to get my bags into the overhead luggage compartment, some blond guy got up and helped me. I couldnot believe it. I sat in the plane and held the iced tea to my heart. I was not going to throw away 150 Rs. As we landed in Denver, it was almost 8pm. Took another train and came to the baggage terminal. I didnot have to touch a single bag. there were people who helped me.

As I waited for the shuttle to Fort Collins, I wrote down the 5 dollars I had spent to call home from Frankfurt. In the shuttle, parting with 21 dollars wrenched my heart. People were chatting like they were all friends and I dozed off. When I got up, we were in Loveland. I was so scared...I wanted to go to Fort Collins, Did I get on the wrong shuttle??!!! I looked around and saw all blond people. I had always known that this would be tha case in a place like Colorado, but I had never prepared my self to people chatting like they knew each other for life. I remembered the bus trips to Indore to meet my grandparents. You always look at your fellow passengers with suspicion. This was an entirely different experience. And even in the horror of landing in Loveland, I feel asleep. Next I woke up at about 11 pm local time and they had started dropping off people at their homes. He told me I would be the last one to be dropped off as I was going to the other side of the town. Finally it was just me and the shuttle driver in the shuttle and he was like "West Myrtle"??? There is no West Myrtle. I was shocked..He said Myrtle runs north-south. Are you sure???

I kept on thinking this was a dream, and I would wake up in my bed in Pune with my mom sitting outside sipping on her tea as she does everyday. I told him this was the address the Indian student association gave me. Thats when I actually realized that the electronic diary had been wiped off. I was in a state of utter panic. All the emergency contact numbers had been wiped off. All i remembered was the phone number of the girl who was going to be my host and room mate. I gave him that. He called her, she told the address. As we approached the apartment, there was cops all over the place. Apparently there had been a shoot out near the Seven-Eleven and all the roads were blocked. The driver tried different ways of approaching the apartment in vain. He told me he would take me back to Denver International Airport and bring me back the next day.

Next I knew we were in front of the apartment and Shefali, my roomie, was waving at us. I was in such a shock, I dont remember the next few minutes. Shefali;s mom had made hot poli and hbaji for me. As luck would have it, my friend Dhananjay who was in the same university, went to pick me up at the airport as a surprise and his car broke down and he got back at 4 am.

Till this date I remember each and every thing that happened in those few hours vividly....

On the phone!!
the action begins..having been answering a lot of phone calls..and its nice to know there are a whole lot of nice people out there..
Bloopers :

1. Instead of asking the customer if he had the "Downtime" schedule set, I asked, if he had the "Downtown" scheduled...I am sure he got that I was in a party mood. :D
2. I had been calling a lot of customers, and I go "This is Ketaki calling from ..." and when I actually picked up a call that came from a customer, instead of just saying, "This is Ketaki.." I went." This is Ketaki calling..." The customer was like what??!!!
3. I forgot the name of a customer...So I looked at Warren and Warren quickly wrote the customer;s name on the board...

Went to this really cool sale at Sears...Jamba juice is good..sipping on it now!! missed lunch because of the sudden high call volume.

Clarification
:) Had to post this soon..We didnot buy 500 dollar tix, we bought 500 dollars tix for 100 bucks...Thats why we were such outcasts. And I have to apologize for all the typos in the earlier Rahman blog, I was chatting with my mom and my mama, and typing..Should fix the typos, I realized its almost impossible to read it..

Happy Birthday to ME!!!!!

Had to get a post for my bday!! i feel like a princess..I have been pampered!!

A R Rahman
Is God. Had a chance to listen to him live in SF in the Cow Palace. We got tickets in the 22nd row in this huge indoor stadium. So we were practically in seats where not only could we see them up close and personal, but I think, they could see us too!! It was a sammelan of Hondas, Toyotas and Mercedes. Never have I seen so many leather jackets in one place. And even in my marriage i didnot wear as much gold as the women wore. Me in my perenial jeans and tee-shirt (it is cold in SF) seemed like and outcast in those 500 dollar seats. As of course, like all desi events, this one also started late. Was to start at 7:30, started at 8:30. But then it was a "be Indian" sort of an event. So I didnt see a single hassled soul because of the delay. Everyone was going about talking, mingling, showing off merrily. There was chai stall, mango lassi, samosa, even posters of bollywood kings and queens. It was like being in the theatres in India.
Rahman started with a bang with SP Balasubramium. Then Sonu Nigam crooned to Sathiya and stole each and every girl (from 16 to 60). I think I am totally mesmerised by the songs of Saathiya. So it was quite a treat to hear him alive. And I have been a fan of Sonu since Sa Re Ga Ma. It is quite short built though...
Neeraj said that last year they sang a lot of tamil-telegu songs that the non-south indian people did not know. So after interval, half the stadium was empty, this time however, they sang almost all hindi songs, and only sang a few lines from each song in tamil/telegu. In fact it was quite enjoyable for everyone.
Lagaan and Saathiya were extremely popular, though humma humma had almost everyone dancing up on their seats.
Shivamani rocked!! His antics had the crowd entertained in the interval. And..hold your breath. Zakhir Hussain was sitting in the audience. He has something about him that just melts your heart. hehe..I am sure neeraj was amused at my fickle heart. Cant help it. Small trivia, Shankar Mahadevan used to work in Oracle(just outside SF) before he decided to quit everything to becaome a musican. Oracle buildings are quite a landmark while going from San Jose to SF. Bollywood, here I come!!!
Sadhana Sargam sang Chupke se to the tee. Missed Chandralekha, since I had heard so much about it from previous shows.
When we got out, it took us some time before the euphoria died down. Absolutely fantastic experience......

BUSY
I have been terribly busy the past few days. There were whole day exams that went on from 10 am to 7:30 pm, there were meetings, presentations. Also, Neeraj's younger sister Anuja was visiting us along with Shashank, her would-be. So we took them to Gilroy, Mystery Spot. And all sorts of places to eat :) We went to Santa Cruz, to this place called Capitola which was a small beach town, which the most charming downtown and awesome seafood...but no more food posts..:D.

Anyways, saw a really good movie "Basic". John Travolta, Samuel L Jackson and a whole bunch of other people. Quite a different movie, with an intelligent plot and a gripping end. It was a movie in which you cannot afford to get distracted for a minute. You just wont be able to follow it. So I was quite irritated by the couple sitting next to us. Leave rest to imagination ;).

But definitely worth seeing once, preferably in a theater, because you have to be engrossed.
Small post, really tired.

Perfumes
I love perfumes..I donot like the sporty perfumes, neither do I like very floral perfumes. I like exotic smelling perfumes. My favorites are Paris (by YSL and my mom has been wearing it for a number of years..love it.), I like Obsession by Calvin Klein, and I simply love Joop!. Its a very different smelling perfume, and believe me, I get complements every single time I wear it. I remember I was in Carl's Jr in school, and this lady stopped to ask me what I was wearing, then as I was leaving my apartment building in CO, another girl asked me, and when I bought in Wal-mart (!!), as I carried the bottle to check out, another woman asked me if they were selling Joop!. So my first pay, I pampered myself to a bottle of Joop!. As I ran out of my earlier bottle last year. Anyways, thrilled...oooh...just smells divine....

These are a few of my favorite things.....

I had two days of training specializing in a particular tool. I had to go at 9 am officially get done at 5 pm. Today, I started at 9:15 am..and was done by 2:30 pm :D. This was such a welcome break! Since that was the only thing expected from us, I took the chance and rushed home. Never been out of my office that that time..It was nice and sunny. I was so thrilled to be home. I docked myself in front of the TV, chatted with aai, slept, chatted with friends, cooked. I have not done this since I joined work. I know people who have been working for a year or more, will think how lazy I am. But I got a break!! :)

So I have been very happy. Such small things make one happy.
1. Getting an unexpected break!
2. Sit in front of the tv, rate of channel change 1 per milli sec
3. Soda with ice-cream
4. Weight loss with no efforts.
5. Getting loads of emails that are not junk.
6. nice new shiny credit cards...no scratches
7. new clothes.
8. new pens and pencils
9. new shoes
10. My hair being manageable
11. Clean, vacuum cleaned carpets
12. Sugar cane juice on a hot sunny afternoon
13. Sleep when u are sleepy.
14. Good music.
15. a good hug
16. warm feet

There are soo many things that make me happy...Helps to not think of the pain and suffering of all the people in the world..as shallow as it sounds.

Matrubhumi jyachi tyala...
Matrubhumi jyachi tyala...
Hot bandishala..
Parvashata paash daive jyanchya gala lagala

YAAAAY weekend.

I must apologize for the incomplete and haphazard post. It was written over a week. Should not do that.

Had the most relaxing weekend. It was raining quite a bit in CA. I got my first pay on friday. Took Vandan, Rahul and Anu out for a treat. Neeraj recommended "The Cheesecake Factory". Awesome food. If gluttony is a sin...I think we are all guilty of it three times over. I started off with virgin Pina colada. Neeraj has same. Then for starters we had buffalo wings, pop corn shrimp and bruscheta. (thats garlic bread with a lot of salsa on it.) Then I had Jamaican black pepper shrimp, Neeraj had Bang Bang Chicken and Shrimp, Anu had Chicken and Cashew, Rahul had Chicken Madeira and Vandan had Miso Salmon. Then to top it off, we had dulce de lycee and caramel cheesecake. It was sinsational :)

Every single one of this had a different taste that was very authentic. Reason for this confidence: I have been to Jamaica, big fan of Jerk Chicken. I know the black bean rice they serve with every meal. It was all there. There was a mango pickle (not the indian pickle, more like mango in vinegar). I know it was authentic. Neeraj's dish was very very authentic far-eastern. Been to Indonesia and Singapore. So I know that those two dishes were authentic. The others were equally yummy. The only thing that was kind of different that did not taste authentic was the buffali wings. The tangy, spicy sauce was just not there. It was dry. Buffalo wings are supposed to make your hands all dripping with the sauce, should make your lips tingle. Strangely that was a letdown. But one not-so-good dish out of all the out-of-this-world dish we had was just very forgivable.

After we got out, we just had to get some exercise just to settle the food in. We decided to go bowling after much debate :). Vandan, Anu and I wanted to play cards at home ( we are lazy :)) and Neeraj and Rahul wanted to go bowling. So as we all believe in democracy, we went bowling ..hehe. Neeraj won the game. I managed to break my all-time career low of 36. :). I score a 49. awesome isnt it? Then we played pool in the alley. And then a round of darts. At about 2 am, when they were about the lock the alley, we left. Saturday was spent much in cleaning the house, watching the most aweful movie, Encounter the Killing. Naseer, Dilip Prabhawalkar caused us to be misled. Then we had guests over for lunch. Made Tandoori chicken tikka, bharli wangi, gawar bhaji, matki usal, kanda-tomato koshimbir, polya. We also has mini samosa (ready-made) for starters. And for sweet dish, we had lychee and falooda icecream.

Then we went to buy some clothes for me...I never seem to have enough clothes. :D Bought myself a leather jacket. I still feel silly wearing a smart jacket..coz I dont feel smart enough to wear it :D
Anyways, really restful weekend full of gluttony. Back to work tomorrow....

A week of work

Today I completed an entire week at work. Its kind of hard to imagine that I started a week by. Days are literally zipping past. Its a plethora of new technologies, new people. Almost everyday I am learning new things, not always technical :) Like how the coffee machine works. It is quite funky. The first couple of days, it was quite hard to stay awake in the afternoons, given my leisurely routine. I needed coffee just to keep my eyes open. So in absolute stupor, I was reading a 1000 page user guide, when Vaughan, an extremely cheerful Australian, stopped by my cube.(There is something about australians ..cheerful and Australians fo hand in hand, except on the criket field:)) He reprimanded Warren, my mentor, for not showing me the most important thing you need to survive first few days of training.Vaughan showed me the coffee station closest to my cube, and gave me a quick demo of how to use the machine. At about 3 pm, when I realized that I had a reached the point when the lines I was reading were converging into each other, I realized I needed coffee. I made Leena tag along with me. This time I kind of grasped how to use it.

Managed to survive the next couple of hours. There are meeting, web meeting, weekly reports, certification exams, HR stuff, taxes...phew!! just too many things. It was so much better in school ;). Even in grad school, you are spoon fed almost every step of they way. Almost all the ladies who work as secretaries in our school are about 45-50 year old, extremely loving, absolutely lovable women. I actually has Carol, our department's acountant call me her Indian daughter. So whenever I had any trouble, all I had to do was rush to them and they were always willing to offer help, or at times even a shoulder to cry on :). As compared to that laid back life of grad school in CO, the fast paced work life in the Sillicon Valley is way too stressful. In CO, you were always a "hun", "sweetheart"..Here you are Ketaki..plain ol' Ketaki

I guess sometimes I miss the warmth In CO. Well I am sure I will get used to this also...After all first few days in CO..I was scared of probably the most loving women I have ever met.....

First Day At work

I must look like a lost puppy..It seems to me that I am the only one around here who doesnot know what she is supposed to do..Everyone else is doing their work, and basically look busy..
Well my mentor Warren called in sick today, so I was given some stuff to read by my manager. I read that and now I am supposed to hang on till 5 pm. Well since most of the things are explained by the mentor, and since he is not here, I am at a complete loss of things to do. I have completed everything in that checklist I was given..And its still only 4 pm.
Feel slightly more courageous now, I have installed MSN messenger. Connected me to the outside world. :) Being Neeraj ;). Now I am gaining more and more courage...I am blogging :D
So how is my cube like? Well its slightly bigger than my CSU cube. And a lot more equipped. There is a welcome gift for me, that has a MI cup, glass, card holder. And a big welcome note posted on my cube wall. :) And I have a packet of stationary( heheh..Medha will know why I am sooo excited...I looooooove stationary).
I have helped myself to the free coke..tried to get coffee...couldn't figure how that works...
(reminder to self: learn to use it)
So survived on water. What else??!! I have a pentium 4 machine. It is blazing fast as compared to our machine at home. The monitor seems smaller..
How do I find my way around? There is this absolutely huge stuffed toy from Monster's Inc, right by my cube..That sits on top of the cube walls. You can see it from anywhere. So once I am there..I know my way around.
I also know how to make phone calls out of MI. Went to the HR and guided myself back with reference to the Monster's Inc toy. (Sully??!!) I think thats what that guy is called in the movie.
Blessing, to have Leena (Neeraj's band member Ajay's wife here) I would not have been able to pee if it werent for her. They need an ID to get out. duh??!! Dont want to spend the first day locked in the loo. But the traffic in the loo was pretty heavy. So may be I could have let myself out. But don;t want to risk it and make a fool out of myself.

Hehe..Now to people who pass by my cube..it must seem like I am doing some work..Thank God for blogging. :) Atleast the keyboard is clicking :D.
Another reminder to self: to get one of those mirrors that you can attach to your monitor. This was a problem I faced in CSU too..Since I face the walls, I can not see whoever comes in. A lot of the people here seem to have a generic mirror, maybe I can get it in office supplies or whatever its called :)

All in all, nobody ate me, nobody killed me ..and I think I will survive the next 45 mins...

New Job
I start my job tomorrow..I am excited and nervous. I have been out of a job (well not a job technically, since May 2002. Thats when my funding as a TA ended) And since I have been studying all these years, I have never actually had a job. The only two things I did that put money in my bank account was my little teaching stint in my under-grad school, MIT, in pune. And being a teaching assistant in CSU. So this is my first job ever.

Tomorrow is a big day for me. People with experience in the big bad professional world tell me such varying things. Neeraj quotes the pedro's law...Nobody can go beyond their level of incompetence. :) that sure makes me feel better. I can never go beyond being "my worst". :)
So things I am scared about:
1. Making a sheer fool of myself.
2. Sounding like a child when talking to customers. (I have been told time and again that I sound like a kid on the phone :(. Its genetic. )

Things I am excited about.
1. PAY PAY!!
2. lots of shopping ..
3. Neeraj has to drop me off every morning at 6 am...thats romantic..hehe
4. some more shopping.
5. paying of those credit card debts.
6. just having a job in this market.

So well there is more I am excited about. Makes me feel a wee bit better.
Anyways..I have loads to read..better get back to it!

Cricket and India!!

Come on India dikha do...duniya ko hila ho...thoda sa dil thodasa will le aao....
Most of you won't remember this "energetic" and "inspiring" song that Shankar Mahadevan sang at the top of his voice to encourage the Indian cricket team as the brave players (read warriers) embarked upon bringing home the ICC world cup trophy home. Every Indian was so sure, the magic of the '83 world cup was bound to repeat again. The optimism of Indians is plaudible. It is a cricket crazy nation..almost fanatic. That we never made it even in to the semi-finals is a different story. So what?? Its just a game..

Cricketeers in India are given the status of Gods..they are what every young boy dreams of being..and almost every young girl dreams of marrying :)well maybe I am exaggerating..but just a bit :) 1983, I was just about six years old. Didn't understand much about winning...forget about winning a world cup. But I remember that after we won that historical (and the only) world cup, I stood in our balcony and yelled at the top of the voice.."India won!!" I didnt exactly understand what had happend..but the atmospere was so contagious, that one couldnt help but join in. I remember when Ravi Shastri got the Audi. Audi meant as much to me as did our Premier Padmini. But all the excitement was something that has been etched on my mind.

As the influence of media grew, and with the advent of "cable" television in India, cricket slowly took over a lot of our sensibilities. It has started to rule over the minds of young boys and girls. Boys ape the likes of Sachin, Rahul and Saurav. Its nice to see something apart from academics as an option for kids. But from a country of one billion, only 11 make it to the covetted "Indian Cricket Team". Parents just do not want kids to not go to school and focus on sports, not enough money if you do not make it to the top!

The top players in India are minting money. I sometimes think they owe more victories to us, their fans. My 7 year old cousin cries everytime India has lost a match. Such is the passion this game has created among people of India. The team has the so-called best batting side. Yet we seem to collapse almost regularly. Once Sachin is out, nobody even tries to put up a fight. The whole team rests on the shoulders of this one person. Sir Don Bradman, the legendary recluse of Australian cricket, especially invited Sachin for his birthday, which is a huge honor for the little batsman. (I know they called Sunil Gavaskar that name, I plead guilty if I am wrong :)). But then Sachin is sometimes just not "the Master Blaster", and then the whole team is not in form. Its no excuse for the entire team to collapse like a pack of cards.

Anyways, the India - Pakistan match is this Saturday. Its something that is not just a game of sport, its like a game of honor for people from both the country. Even though a part of me warns of the possible "massive" upset if we do not win, I know I will still stay up all night to watch the game and will pray for that miracle of victory that seems to elude us so often.

Valentines day!!
I am in a much sunnier mood today!! After all it is Valentine's Day..well Neeraj and I decided to rebel not making a big deal out of a day..after all if you are in love, any day should be a Valentine's day. And do we nee d a specific day to celebrate love? I guess not..So I decided to look up the significance of this day..how did it all start?

This is what i found on the historychannel website
the Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred. One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men -- his crop of potential soldiers. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death. Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons where they were often beaten and tortured. According to one legend, Valentine actually sent the first 'valentine' greeting himself. While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a young girl -- who may have been his jailor's daughter -- who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed 'From your Valentine,' an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories certainly emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic, and, most importantly, romantic figure. It's no surprise that by the Middle Ages, Valentine was one of the most popular saints in England and France.

So well I am not sure if St. Valentine would have imagined the way it is celebrated now. :) Well the amount of money spent on gift is slowly calibrating the amount of love. I wonder if sending 100 dollars flowers is a way of showing how much you love. Actions usually speak louder than words, but in this case I think words speak a lot louder than actions. Being told genuinely that you are loved is probably more invaluable than flowers. Of course its again a very personal preference, if you cannot be with your loved one, then being thoughtful and sending something that is meaningful is probably a good idea. What I usually like to do when I give gifts is think more personally, usually if I have heard a person saying they want something, then I got and buy that.I like to put more thought in gifts than just the regular flowers, candies.

I remember a few years back when there was a huge protest against Valentine's day being celebrated in Maharashtra, my state in India. There were a couple of points in the protest.
1. Do we really need to embrace alien culture blindly just becase its shown on Cable Network and because it is the hep thing to do?
2. The point I made above, do we need a day to proclaim love?

Lets all keep the spirit of love alive..Love is pure, Love is innocent, Love is understanding......

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So I am back...for those who dont know...(thats everyone..:))I used to maintain a blog earlier.
That was just for a week or so..Its been almost 5 months..I have promised meself to be more regular.

One of the most disturbing sight I ever saw was the anti-abortion pictures I saw in a school campain. One fine day, very sunny and warm day, I was walking from home to my department and as I approached the student center, I saw a whole lot of people flocking around some hoarding..and a number of people still bringing more boards. As I got closer, I could see horrifying pictures, a lot of blood. Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw. It was a campaign against abortion. There were dozens and dozens of pictures of babies, unborn, covered in blooed, severed limbs, heads, young mothers doing drugs. The huge hoardings were almost two storeys high. They drove their point home. After all that was the stark reality they were trying to project. The next day again there was a similar crowd. The student center I knew was always full of kids who were fooling about. That day there was a somber atmosphere, it seemed as if the sunny warm day, had suddenly turned bleak. Irrespective of what you felt about abortion, nobody wants to see pictures, blown up to show each detail. There was a lot of debate about whether such a thing should be allowed in schools. The team that took those pictures said they faced a lot of criticism. The reason i remembered all this was today when I decided to blog again, I mistyped the url. wwwblogger.com, and that seems to be owned by a similar group. I have to be honest, the memory of those pictures made me close the browser even before the entire page loaded. Call me a coward, but being as protected as we are, it is hard to accept such things when they stare at you in your face.

Made me want to type a more serious blog than I would have wanted my first blog to be after such a long time. After all a lot happens in 5 months. But it is something that is a growing problem all over the world. I have an aunt who is a gynaecologist and who tells me stories of the number of young girls who are getting abortion done in India. Girls from so-called "good" families, so-called "cultured" familes. It is all very alien and yet it is happening. So it makes you question the very rights of women, the rights of that unborn child, the mindset of people towards single mothers, the issue of the girl child. There are so many issues that we seem to conviniently ignore, after it does not happen to us? We are afterall educated individuals from "good" families. It just does not happen. Such things donot exist in this Utopia that we live in. Probably that is why those pictures scared the wits out of me...