Posts filed under 'General'
Honestly speaking there are few places (amongst the ones that I have visited) that count for ‘romancing’ in my lexicon. Goa cajoles you in her arms the moment you see her. The sun-kissed beaches and the green forests with the flowing rivers & the creeks and the lush mountains make her the most enchanting seductress on this earth. If you aren’t enamored by this showcase of beauty then you mustn’t have been born at all.
I was undertaking this trip after a long time and I have fragile memories of my first visit as a 2 year old. In the midst of this prolonged period I heard accounts from people who had visited this land and how they enjoyed their stay there. I have found friends & relatives escaping the confusion and the noise of the metropolis to the quiet tranquil of Goa and I kept wondering about the magic all the time. The suspense ended when a trip was planned recently to attend the annual Shanta Durga and the Mangeshi festivals. My holiday was however not intruded and I got my fair share of the local sight seeing of Goa and beyond.
Continue Reading February 16th, 2006
Yesterday, at a glittering engagement function at a local hotel in
Vile Parle, my friend Aadesh (a.k.a.
Idizyn) initiated his first steps towards nuptials with Shweta. I was particularly honoured to have been present for this joyous occasion. The Made-for-each-other factor was quite evident while looking at the couple. To be frank, the wedlock season is back with some of my colleagues at the office deciding upon their future lifelong partners :-) Never ever have I seen a rush of weddings all at the same time.
I have known Aadesh since 2002 when he wrote a mail to me congratulating on my old website. We have had our share of ups and mostly ups. Most recently, we also shared our thoughts on women and how it’s difficult to find a perfect partner these days. Thankfully, Idizyn has got his happy ‘Studio’ to be with. May you have the most happiest and prosperous life ahead dude :-)
February 6th, 2006
The title seems like a sequel to the movie
Gone in 60 Seconds but it’s my trip to
Delhi today which I am talking about. I had gone for a meeting with one of our Technology head and I had decided to stay overnight at the capital city. I know that meetings can stretch beyond limits and there’s nothing that we can (sometimes) do. Besides this was a great opportunity for me to get an inside look into
Zope which is an
open source content management system. So here I was packing everything that would required for a longish stay.
Traveling to Delhi means catching an early morning flight - usually Kingfisher which is also my preferred airline for most reasons. Luckily our meeting with the practice head finished early and I was left with an entire day on my hands. I decided to come back to Mumbai and rescheduled my flight ticket for the same evening by Kingfisher, although I had to pay some charges for this I was happy that I will be back in Aamchi Mumbai (Marathi for My Mumbai). After a Mexican lunch at a restaurant called the Rodeo in a downtown Gurgaon mall and some shopping as well, I moved to our wonderful guest house at Oakwood Estate. It’s a colony of some lofty apartment blocks which overlook a tennis court and a swimming pool (which was surprisingly empty). I had to spend few hours here before my scheduled flight at 6:25 to Mumbai but I had to remember the ongoing strike by the airport authority and planned to reach early at the airport. The housekeeper was very kind in arranging transportation for me. The flight and the subsequent journey was peaceful except for a stray incident where the hostess dropped apple juice on herself while serving me :-)
BTW, Kingfisher has a Power Fly Scheme which entitles passengers like me, who travel by the airline twice the same day, for a cash prize of Rs.1K (approximately $ 23). So all’s well, that ends well :-)
February 2nd, 2006
The
Human Factors seminar ended quite nicely today and I admit that it has made a huge difference for me. As I have said earlier when I attended the very first workshop, the first few hours itself were enough to change my mindset completely. Both Hitesh and Neha, our instructors for the
Practical Usability Testing workshop created enough interest and excitement to make the 2 day workshop very absorbing. I am now going back to my sweatshop desiring to put some of the gained knowledge to actual practice. I am also hoping that the management gives a serious thought in constituting a body of usability experts from the industry who can work in tandem with the developers in making usable web and software applications.
After the day ended with some emotional goodbyes and hand shakes and promises of keeping in touch over email, it was time for me and Aadesh to chill out. Being movie buffs, we hopped over to Huma Adlabs at Kanjurmarg and watched the Rohan Sippy directed Bluffmaster starring Abhishek Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra and Nana Patekar amongst others. It’s the story of a deceiver Roy (Abhishek) and Simmi (Priyanka) and their lives. Nana as Chandru, a local don has been amazing throughout the movie.
The movie has been shot wonderfully. I say this because it presents to you some of the most scenic images of Mumbai which have hitherto been unexplored. I personally liked Abhishek’s apartment and the magnificent view of the city from it. There’s no point in narrating the story and spoiling the fun. The least that I can say is please go to the nearest theater and enjoy the movie :-)
January 22nd, 2006
It feels nice to be in the new year for several reasons. There is a new hope from the new year. There is a certain enigma surrounding it as well which makes you expect more out of it. You also do not want to repeat the mistakes which you committed the last year. New year is the time for resolutions and mine are ready to be implemented. I want to focus more on improving upon my drawing skills apart from continuing to pursue my research in Usability engineering. Most of my resolutions are made on my birthday to be implemented till the next one comes. Most importantly, I really wish that 2006 brings joy and prosperity to everyone’s lives :-)
Although it’s a bit late to write about it but I have to mention it anyway. Asha, our very active brand manager at TCS had invited some close colleagues over to her house for the new year’s celebration on the 30th. This was of course the first time that I was visiting her place just like the rest of the team. Her house is FABULOUS with the terrace attached to it. She lives at Lamington Road (Grant Road) which is dwarfed by all the skyscrapers around it. Her house is at least 50 years old and is on the brink of being demolished to allow reconstruction for a tall structure. I only wish it doesn’t happen. It will destroy the beauty of the house not to mention that the terrace will no longer be present in the new house. We all settled nicely on the soft pillows in the terrace, chatting and eating in the chilly December night. In between we received several calls from our other TCSers in the US wishing us for the new years and they would be missing this get together, I am sure. It was the most wonderful time I have had for a long time :-)
Today being the New Year, I am looking forward to my annual dinner treat with my mom :-)
January 1st, 2006
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