A Trip to the Countryside

After a long week at the end of Fall 06' semester,i finally got some time to chill out for one whole day.This was the Christmas Weekend and Shyam (my ex-roomie who is now working in DC) was here too,so we have someone to drive ur around...:P...so we decided on going to either Montauk (my Idea) or CatSkills (Shyam's Idea).We finally decided on going to Montauk first.We immediately rented a car at JFK and headed on out way to Montauk, the end point of Long Island in New York.

We started our small journey to the other end of Long Island.Though it was just 5:00 PM,it was almost dusk,you know how winters in NY are.Anyways there was heavy traffic untill we crossed the city.Her there is something i forgot mention,while we rented the car,we also rented a GPS unit.Its great.This was the first time we ever rented a GPS unit and man does it reduce the work of the navigator which usually if I.Anyways for those who never used one, it does help you alot.It give you the shortest route,give the estimated time by when you can reach there,tell you when to take a turn and it even speaks out in a girls voice.It also can tell you about the available Motels,Gas stations,Car rentals,movie theatres,amusement parks,diners etc.All in all,its an awesome invention.Anyways enuf about the GPS.We reached Montauk by around 8 PM and we stopped a Gas station to look out for Motels.It so happens that the Gas station is the only one in the whole Town of Montauk.We used the GPS to locate some Motels and we called them(the GPS does give you the Phone no.s too).It was kinda difficult to find a place for the night in Motels as most of them were closed as it was winter.Also the place was kinda deserted,very very few people to be seen around on the roads.We finally could find a place at the "Montauk Motel" (some kind of Co-incidence i guess).The cottage which we got was cool.It was 100 bucks per day and man was it worth it.It had everything. 2 bed rooms, kitchen which i should say is very well equipped,TV,heat, a BBQ unit too.We dumped the stuff which we got in the cottage and headed out for dinner.Thank to GPS again helped us find some places to eat,but it being almost 8:30 and the fact the its Country side most of the places were closed.We finally went to an Italian Restaurant called Village Pizza,which was right in front of the Gas Station where we stopped first.They were almost about to close,but they did welcome us.Thanks to the old lady who was almost about to leave but stayed back to serve us..Had some Pizza and Pasta (which kinda tasted like feet...:(....).After dinner we dint know what to do.Because nothing planned and we wondered if we would have something to do at places like this.But hey, as always we had the GPS for rescue.We searched and found that we have a Bowling Alley 15 miles back on the same road where we came from.We called them and enquired till when they were gonna be open and got to know they would be open for a while.Then we headed towards the Bowling Alley.Had some fun time Bowling.Later after that,i drove a car for the first time in the US,though it was just in the Pakring lot of the Bowling Alley.Hey i missed to tell you,there was a road called the "Old Montauk Highway" which was quite like the roads in California with absolutely zero traffic(for those who dont know what it means......driving on it would be like a Rollercoaster ride).It was fun going on that road.Then after the bowling,having nothin to do we had to return back to the Motel so early at 12 Midnight.I tried to sleep early as we thought of roaming around alot in the morning,but only could manage to sleep at 4:00 AM after chitchatting,watching TV and searching online for the places to be seen in the morning.


The next Morning we wpke up with a great difficulty at around 8:30,got ready and went to the "Montauk Point Light House" the oldest light house in New York city and the fourth oldest running light house in US.This light house was commissioned by President George Washington in the year 1792.We roamed around the light house,on the beach surrounding it,took some pictures and njoyed the scenic beauty of the place.After that we went to have Breakfast at a place called "Mr John's PanCake House" (which again was just beside the Gas Station).I had pan Cakes for the first time in my life.They were great.While having the brekfast i was just observing people in the restaurant interact, i observed how everyone almost knew everyone else.Also i observed something strange, people addressed anything as a singleton, u know like THE postoffice, THE Bank, THE movies, THE Pancake House etc.It felt kinda weird, you know after living in NY for more than an year to know that there are places where you have things only one of a kind.But then i realized it used to be the same way back home in India,people used to know almost everyone in and around the neighbourhood,we used to have only one Bank,One postoffice,One movie theatre,one gas station in the neighbourhood and stuff.Felt kinda nostalgic too.I kinda fell in love with the place.We could not do much there as it was winter and most of the resorts and stuff were closed.If it would have been summer, we could have done fishing,boating, a swim in the beach, scuba diving etc.
Over all it was a great experience to go away from the city for atleast one day if not for long.

Passions,Dreams,Inspirations and Contributions

Yesterday i went to this movie "Invincible",which was a real life story of a Footballer (American Football not Soccer) named Vince Papale(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vince_Papale) who inspite of never playing College ball makes into the Philadelphia Eagles team.From being a normal Bar Attender, he became a legendary NFL player and the whole and sole reason for that is his PASSION for the GAME.This movie was my inspiration to write this blog.

I always felt that every human should have Passion for something or the other,no matter what the passion is.May it be Earning money,may it be getting into an IVY league,may it be becoming Miss World or for someone like me,it could be becoming an Astronaut.Living life without a passion is like eating or rather say drinking a molten icecream.

I dont exactly remember when was the first time when i got the thought of becoming an astronaut into my mind.But as i grew up it became stronger and stronger.And if not steadily but slowly i did work towards it.Firstly getting into one of the Best Universities of the world,then becoming Physically strong(which is still in the process) and now started to work towards my Doctorial degree.Becoming an Astronaut would have been the childhood dream of 1 in every 10 children because of all the fun in floating in space.But becoming an astronaut is not an easy task.It requires alot of both physical,mental and intellectual strength.Luckily i am working very good towards all of them.But as i became older and older(not that i am old, remember i still am young 22 y.o.) a thought used to visit my mind ocassionally.What good would it be to the Humanity if i become an Astronaut?Would it help atleast few people in the world?This has been bugging me like for the past 2-3 years.The only reason i am still perceving this Dream is bcos that is what i wanted to be ever since i could remember myself as a child.

Along with this there are a couple more Passions for me in Life.(a) Winning an Olympic Gold Medal for India in Track Events and (b) a Nobel Prize in which ever field.The path which would lead to the later would definetly be something which would contribute alot to the world.Coming to the former,this may inspire if not many atleast few people in their own fields.Let me give you some examples similar to that of Vince Papale.

Ex (1) - Lance Edward Gunderson (Lance Armstrong) - After being diagnosed as suffering from a Stage three testical cancer which was already spread to his lungs and brain in the year 1996 and with a 3% odds of survival,he went on to recover and win the pretigious Tour de France for a record 7 consecutive times.This is the most inspiring story i have known.
(2) - Brain Charles Lara -

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in my heart)

I was watching this movie "In her Shoes" the other day.It was a decent enuf movie.There is a recitation of this poem by E.E.Cummings in this movie.I loved that peom.I thought may be i would share it with you guys.Its a lovely one.And it goes like this.

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you
here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

Summer in New York

After the long freaking cold winter of NewYork,you would never even notice when did the Spring come and leave and all of a sudden its Summer.The Climate of NewYork is pretty much like that of New Delhi,Extremely cold winters and hot summers with a little shift of the average temperatures to the cold side by say 10 degrees celcius.
Summer is New York is a good experience.Its Dawn by close to 5AM in the morning and you wont be able to see the stars even till 9PM,even on a cloudless night.Though the days are hot,its kind of refreshing after the loooooong winter.You find children playing on the streets late till night,tourists and friend visiting the city,people taking break and going out on vacations,girls in hot and short dresses,summer romance,Occasional and unexpected rain,floods sometimes (surprising but true),even more surprisingly blackouts...:D....,Balls games (Base ball and Football),etc
Its a cool new experience for me to work and go to school even in summer bcos i've spent all my previous summers either at my grandmas place or preparing for some exam or the other.But this one,i get to work on campus,work on my project in my lab the ac of which still gives me the feeling of winter,bcos its so freaking cold.:d.....,playing soccer or cricket during evenings,and ocasional movie in the weekends.....
All in all things have been pretty good in recent days and life is smooth.I hope things are the same with all you guys or even better.
P.S. yeah yeah i accept this is kinda boring blog.....Sorry....:P..I promise the next one would be an interesting one...:)...

An Year out of IIT:Graduation and Memories

A couple of weeks ago I went to one of my roomie's Graduation.The atmosphere was awesome.All graduating students dressed up in "The Gown",taking pics with Family,Friends and Professors.The whole scene made me think how I missed my graduation a year ago beacuse of my illness.If someone graduating from a Univ like Poly (not that Poly is a bad school,i'm just comparing it with IIT) is so excited,how much excited one would have been when he/she is receiving a degree from IIT Delhi .....and I missed all that.

During the whole ceremony I could not stop thinking about those wonderful days of IIT.The stupid hostel food, the late night maggie and iced tea at nescafe,Sassi ka Parantha and Chai,the Hockey Field,the 10 slides/min slide shows of Bhim Singh,the last min studies for the minors,"studying" in Reading room and Ex-hall,the Karate,the broken hearts when a girl turns down the request for going to RDX during Rendezvous,drooling eyes while watching the hot DU girls during the same,the House Days,jumping over the back gate when returning from a movie at Priya,the Socials,the NCC during first year,the Wind-T and the list is endless......whenever I think of those days,tears roll down my cheeks.........those were the best days of my life.Though I dint make much of it academically, I really did mature alot as a person and that was very helpful.The bookish knowledge could be obtained anytime,but the real life experience that I had in IIT has been the best.Yeah I definetly do agree that I could not make much of IIT like many of my friends did,but I surely am not in the worst of the cases too.I still remember those last few days at IIT,attending parties daily of the boards or clubs or depts or job treats,roaming around in the campus with friends and yeah not to forget I was also busy doing career and relationship counselling for many of my friends .......man.... I miss those days.......

Those r the days that I can never forget...those r the days that can never come back...those are the days which I made the most of...those are the BEST...

"Can never forget U......IIT........U r the Best"

Dedicated to all those people who were there in the best days of my life.......may be u r a friend or hostel mate or class mate or professor or may be even my butler or dhobi or vendor or coach whatever......no matter who u are....its U who has made those to be my best days....Thanq for being there...... I will always remember you ....

Growing Up in US as compared to that in INDIA

First if all sorry to all those people who have been waiting for my blog since along time.........have been thinking of writing on this topic for a while, but since i never really got time in the past few weeks i couldn't.

"As soon as someone goes to a new place he/she starts comparing it with the old one.And when the New place is a new country all together,man alot of comparisions come thru.I hope most of you who have been to different countries do agree with me.When i came to US the same thing happend.the first comparision comes when u spend alot of money,as in things being really costly here as compared to that in INDIA.Then comes the style of living, dressing, the extent to which people over here(US) are crazy about various things, How fast things are done here.I did all these kind of comparisions too.But one thing which made me think alot is the fact that the difference in how children grow up here as compared to that in INDIA.This thought popped up in my mind when i was tutoring to a bunch of students in a Math class and we were talking about various kinds of jobs( not those white collar jobs or blue collar jobs, by jobs here i mean any job(remember the dignity of labour in USA)).

All this began when i asked one of my students and a very good friend Agustin(he has been working as a waiter since he was 14 and he is 26 now and is in Freshman yr), if he could find a job for me to work for the whole winter.The other people who were around at that time were Pete and Varvara( i know,sounds funny isn't it??) who are also my students.Then they started saying why do you wanna work like a waiter?? why dont you work as a tutor at some coaching institute.Then i told 'em about the INS rules ans stuff and told 'em that i can do any kind of work no matter what.Then each of them started to tell me their experiences when they were working after they passed high school.(oooops i forgot to mention that even Pete and Varvara are both 20 yrs old).From their talks i could make out that the whole reason for them to come back to studeis is the fact they want to and not becos they have to.While at work they had bad experineces bcos they were looked down, ill treated and many more.They realized they they they cannot take this anymore and wanted to come back to college and have higher education.

Unlike in INDIA,children over here donot carryon their education continuously as in first 10th grade,then 12th grade, then engineering/medicine/law/arts or anything.........but they(atleast most of them) take a break after everystep........and it should be that way......as in children shud themsleves realize the importance of doing something and then go ahead and do the same and excel in the same.This is how it should be.And this is the reason why college students in US are almost around 24-25 when they passout.And we Indians laugh at them,thinking that we are well settled by that age.But my friends the joke is really on us.Bcos when u were begging your mom or dad for pocket money,the children who ae of the same age were working hard (either at home or outside) to earn the same.You have always been dependent on your parents or someone,but thats not the case with children here..........past certain age they work to earn their pocket money.

I appreciate the support Parents give to their children in their interests.In India 90% of the careers are only in education.Everyone wants to be an Engineer or Doctor or Lawyer or something like that.Children right from their childhood are moulded in such a way that they feel that if you are weel educated,you will fit for nothin.This should change.Children should know the importance of education but should not have a mindset that education is the only way of being success in life.The main culprits in this reard are the parents and the whole society.Even thou' if a child is good at Sports, parents wont encourage saying he/she wont be able to succeed.This is the reason INDIA gets a mediocre one medal(not to mention no gold till now(in individual event)) at the Olympics even thou' bieng the second most populated country in the world.Parents in US encourage them in doing whatever they are good at and whatever they like to do.But i am glad that things are improving to an extent in India too.I would really love to see a GOLD medal in the medals tally at the Olympics.So lets make next generation Indians into the world leaders not just in Academic areas but in all fields and make India the World Ruler.I fell this responsibility lies on us and i hope u all feel the sameway"

Man i always get alot of ideas when i think of writing ablog on something,but when i start jotting 'em they all die down.Anyways guys and gals...i would really appreciate any kind of criticism on this.
Its time to bid adieu.Bubye and Take Care
Your's Ever Loving

Saran
Aspiring Astronaut

LOVE

"LOVE","PYAAR","ISHQ","PREMA","KADHAL","LIEBE","AMOR""AMOUR","AMORE",愛","爱".....no matter which language you say it in.....it brings the same feeling in anyone's heart.Love - The BASE of any relationship,the base on which the whole universe is formed, its LOVE that keeps everyone and everything going.

People talk about different forms of LOVE.....but i dont see any difference,what i mean is...love can be only of one kind........what i feel is that LOVE is "THE FEELING OF CARING".......how much you care about someone or something is thatmuch you love that person,no matter how is it.....it may be your Parents,Friends,bf/gf or anyone....like HUGH GRANT said in the movie "LOVE ACTUALLY"...... "LOVE is all around" ......its just for you to notice.......

Remember the last time you hear or read about an accident of some stranger on radio or Newspaper and said....poor them...that shows your love for those poeple...who you dont even know...........or remember the last time your parents told you not be out at late nites or take care while you r on a trip or ask you not to get drenched in rain........it shows their love towards you........

Its quite natural for anyone to love anyone..........the whole feeling of hatred too is a result of love.........may be love for something may result in hatred towards something esle...........like say.....the LOVE towards my Mother Nation India makes most of the people hate Pakistan....but if you relax and think of it.....it is someone else's Mother Nation too.......they love it the same way we do our's........but the whole reason of the feeling of hatred is becos of some selfish people who for their own good take advantage of thie feeling of LOVE for bad cause and which results in the wars and stuff.........

I believe that there will be no reason for you to hate something or someone unless and until u r being selfish.....or you love something else or someone else........thats what all it is.......

So my Dear FRIENDS ........what i say is.......LIFETIME is a small period......too short to waste it in conflicts and wars and hatred feelings.....so LOVE all and be good always...if possible help everyone who is in need of it.......

Thats all i have to say guys....hope you all are having a wonderful NEW YEAR.....

Have a Nice Time and Take Care

Saran

"Aspiring Astronaut"