Evening at Stanford University....

I have had a truly incredible stay here up till now. Each new thing is a new discovery and each new sight does not fail to amaze me. We visited many stores like Trader Joe’s, Safeway, Fry’s, India Cash and Carry etc. All these stores are so big that one could easily be lost in one of them!!!
This Monday, I took out the bicycle for the first time. Was carrying a map and few dollars for emergency situations, such as, getting lost in the city or something like that. Also wore a helmet (A helmet here is compulsory even when you are on a bicycle.). Initially I was a bit confused….coz here you have to keep to the extreme right, unlike in India where you have to be on the left (Is that so? Naah…In India, you can walk or drive on any side of the road that you feel like…) Went around in circles in nearby locality. Discovered that there is a big soccer field out here and two elementary schools.
The thing here is that parking lots are in abundance and no cars are parked on the roads. People only park where there is permission to do so on the roads…or in parking lots. Parking is sometimes time based….that is, parking in that area can be done only for a fixed period of time, after which you have to pay more to park for a further period of time. This system is called paid parking here. Also, just as car drivers obey signals, even the pedestrians do. Although peds usually have right of way, there are roads where there are pedestrian signals. Only if peds get a ‘white’ light, they can cross. At times there is a button which peds have to push to get the ‘go’ signal. Even otherwise peds cross roads only at zebra crossings.
The other day saw a screening of the marathi movie ‘Valu’ which was organized by the California Arts Association. After seeing the movie we went to see the Stanford university. Stanford University has a large campus and separate buildings…department wise. Stanford university is quite old (100+ years as I was informed by Dr. J….my sister’s hubby). As you enter the University complex, students’ residence is seen on either sides of the road. As you move in deeper, the various department buildings can be seen. After you turn from one of the junctions, a huge lawn space is seen ahead. This is called as the oval. The oval is like a huge park. On the periphery of this oval is the car park. When you stand on the approach stairs of the main university building and the church……the oval and the main approach road can be seen at a slightly lower level. (Can the above layout description be understood? I don’t think so….I ain’t too good at explaining….. The photo above makes it more clear!!!). The church was closed that evening…because the following day was convocation day!!! (Imagine the pride of passing out from such a coveted university!!!) There is a big clock in the same complex which sounds a ‘gong’ every 15 minutes. The mechanism of the clock is displayed in a nice glass enclosure on the ground level. When the gong sounds, you can see the cogs, wheels and the gears moving!!! Its great fun to see it!!! The architecture of the buildings and the walls and arches makes one feel as if the buildings are of historic importance…which they probably are!!!

Hello California.....Hello San Francisco!!!

This post is being written after 24 hours of travel and 48 hours of complete rest. The weather as was announced by the cathay pilot is ‘balmy’ with maximum temperatures at 23 degrees and a minimum of 10 degree Celsius. The sun is out here till 2100 hrs here in California during these days, which is greatly surprising for a person like me who sees the sunlight go off at around 1830 hrs in India.

We checked in early at the Sahar on the day of departure (night of departure?). After passing quickly through the customs and immigration checks, it was a long 3 hour wait in the waiting lounge, before we boarded the plane (The time of departure was 0300 hours and we checked in by 0000 hours!!!). I have never before seen an aircraft and so I was taken aback when I saw the wing of the plane from the window!! It was so huge!! Indeed when I first saw the plane, I wondered whether the thing really flies at all!!! But then the pilot taxied down to the runway and after a moment’s halt on the strip, accelerated the plane to such a high speed that I could feel like I left my stomach behind. And then it took off…..I could feel the power of the engines…..could hear its magnificent whistle and could barely believe the sight, when the lights in mumbai city became smaller and smaller and finally disappeared when the plane leveled out at the desired altitude.

The landing at Hong Kong airport was another fantastic experience. Hong Kong looks truly fabulous when seen from above during the time of landing. Its covered by sea on what seems to be, from all the directions. The mountains and other landforms can be seen quite clearly. The plane makes a sort of ‘thud’ when it touches down and then vibrates a lot before coming to a halt and then starts taxiing.
There is this one sight, I will probably never forget. A few hours after takeoff, I opened my window flap and looked outside. Behind the wing of the aircraft I could see total darkness and ahead I could see a halo of morning light being filtered through a portion of the clouds!! It was so thrilling a sight that words cannot describe what I saw.
Hong Kong airport was a marvel. There are a total of 70 exit gates, all in single rows on either sides, between which, are the waiting areas and the escalators. (straight escalators). For people who want to save the trouble of walking; there are these…small carts (called ‘shuttle’) which ferry people from one end of the airport to another. 50$ Hong Kong is the fare from one end to the other. People here have a different accent, than either the British or Americans. The whole building has glass panels so that the airport runways and the aircraft parking areas on either sides can be seen. Its rather fun to see, different aircrafts land and takeoff against a backdrop of the Hong Kong city and the China Sea. The second flight was much boring except the takeoff part. I mostly slept during the second journey. After 12 hours we landed at San Francisco airport My sister and her husband were there to pick us up. I pushed the trolley up to her car in the parking lot. There are a lot of good looking cars and bikes out here. I saw a Ford GTI, Lexus Mountaineers, a lot of Mini Coopers and also a snazzy looking Yamaha bike called RTZ and a Harley Davidson. There were a lot of Toyota corollas and camrys as well. I even saw a Hyundai Accent. The roads here are as beautiful as they can be. Signboards are put up everywhere and the network of roads is very complicated. You got to have a map to move around here. Traffic Discipline is maintained and on the first day a car stopped to let me cross the road!!! My sister told me that pedestrians are given the first priority to cross roads!!! It was even surprising to see signals being followed and people braking completely even where there was just a ‘STOP’ sign. My sister’s house is nice and neat. It has a large garage where the cars are parked. My sister owns a 2 door Honda Civic, a very cute looking car. On the first day we visited a grocery store called as Trader Joe’s. My sister showed me the cheese section. There were atleast 100 different types of cheese…..mozarella, cottage, milk, goat, cheese cubes, gowda, Feta etc etc etc etc.
We also went to the Sunnyvale public library. Here again there were several millions of books and several thousands of CDs and DVDs. Also they were all properly categorized and were easily accessible. Any book could be searched for through a search engine on a computer. The library as everything else here was so big….I almost lost myself in the war books section. A lot more programs have been planned out. I might take my sister’s bicycle tomorrow in the morning and go for a small joyride!!!

Destiny and luck

There is an old adage that the destiny of man is decided before he is born on earth. Is that so? Are there people here in this world who make their own destiny? Or would you go with the former statement? Whoever have read author Mario Puzo’s novel ‘Godfather’ might be able to recall a sentence used by the Don Vito Carleone himself……”Every man has but one destiny”. So is destiny of every man a godsend? Does it mean that even if a man does have great capabilities…..he will end up being a beggar if he’s destined to?

Luck is also another fickle element. There are men who would say……”Bad luck follows me wherever I go.” Or “ I have such bad luck that …..if I plant a tree and give it the essentials…..the tree would still die and the weeds would grow.”
So just like destiny are certain people born luckier than others? As per my opinion…..luck is, no doubt, very fickle. Luck is equally distributed to everyone. Its only that some people are luckier in areas where (or times during which) others are not so much. The latter might be luckier in areas where (or times during which) the former aren’t.
What do you think?

I am going on a summer holiday!!!

In a few days I will be flying to the United States of America for a holiday trip. It will be the first time I am travelling outside my country. I am quite sure it will be a great experience. Ill be staying with my sister who lives there. From a very long time, it was one of my greatest wishes to travel to other countries, be it for work, or for sightseeing. Also, it'll be mah first experience of travelling by an aeroplane.....i havent even been on to domestic flights. These days people have been telling me about how the take off and landing is the most exciting part of a flight and that how you get damn bored sitting on the stupid economy class seat.....that too especially if travel time is more than 15 hours. They tell me that you feel like 'detaching' your ass and keeping it aside. I once teased a friend.....who travelled to delhi in the chair car bogey of the train........the same friend must be laughing it off now.....and i'll have to eat my words. Anyway, about office work, its almost over, have handed it over......I have no reason, to hope, that some people don't suffer because of my leave. Packing is going to be a big issue, reason being that i havent even started yet........same with shopping, underwears being more expensive in USA than they are in India and especially when you have to buy 5 sets of the same. So all in all a fun period of time it is and is hopefully going to be..........

Song playing: We're all going on a summer holiday, no more working for a week or two (Cliff Richards) The song is playing in my mind, in reality, I am writing this post from office where some stupid work is pending!!!

21 years ago.....

21 years ago….
Two small kids, both around 4 yrs of age, both nervous, first day of playschool, first time away from their mothers, both crying their eyes out for mom….see each other crying. One asks the other…..what’s your name? They exchange names between sobs. Something in their little minds tells them that this is the beginning of a new friendship.

20 years ago……..
The same two kids meet at pre primary school. See each other in the prayer assembly line and smile. Recognition dawns on their faces…..they know each other….they’re friends!!!

19 years ago…….
One of the kids does not come to school…..the other one cries for him……

15 years ago…….
One of the kid begs his mom to go to the others house to play with him …..his mom drops him at his friend’s place…They have a great time together, playing games and having fun. The day seems to have run by before it is finally time for the kid to go home.

14 years ago……
One of the kids picks up a fight with another boy. The kid pushes the boy who falls down. In turn the boy pushes the kid. The kid gets up and by this time his friend arrives. Both of them bash up the boy!!!

5 years ago…..
The kids (by now they are boys)….discuss their problems about how tough education is and how they are facing their most torrid times…..and the number of KTs they are having…..one of them looks towards the sky and says…..” I don’t know how I’ll do in life”…..and the next moment both burst off into peals of laughter!!!
3 years ago…..
One of the boys gets a good job…..the other gets into a reputed MBA institute….both are very happy for each other….

1 year ago…..
The boy with a good job gets a raise….the boy in the reputed institute gets a job offer with a good company….

6 months ago….
The boy in the reputed institute tells his friend that he wants to say something to him…..the two have a heartfelt chat for around 2 hours…..

5 days ago…..
Its time for one of the boys to shift to another location….things will probably never be the same again…..they’ll never be able to meet everyday……forget everyday…..maybe not even once a year or twice in ten years…..they snap a photo together with all their close friends……..when its time to go…..they exchange hugs……memories of yesteryears suddenly come poring back to them…………….Will it ever again be the same?

2nd June

Tommorow is not a special day for me……..as it is for some people. Its my birthday. Birthdays are the reason of celebration for many but not for me. I hate being a year older. Of course, as they say, you are only as old as you think you are. Some famous personalities whose birthdate is 2nd June.
Mark and Steve Waugh: Both of them Australian cricketers. Born as twins in the year 1965. Steve Waugh the allrounder who lead Australia to a world cup victory in 1999. Was regarded by many as the greatest captain of all times. Mark Waugh, the flamboyant batsman, who was known for his stylish batting.

Mani Ratnam: Born in 1956, this Indian film director has a degree in commerce from madras university and a MBA from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies. Directed Bollywood films like Roja, Bombay, Dil Se, Yuva and Guru. Directed lot of Tamil films too…..but then I don’t know their names.

RCK: My initials….hope to make it in the above league……(hahahaha!!!)

Apart from this there were many born on 2nd of June……like Illayaraja…..the music composer, Thomas Hardy, a noted English writer, Nikolay Davydenko, a French tennis player, Nikki Cox, an American actress etc. 2nd June is also celebrated as the Italian Republic day.
That was some trivia on 2nd June. That doesn’t make me any happier though……mera bachpan duur jaa raha hai. Booohooooo!!!! Waaaahhhhh!!!