Yesterday was my B'day...

Yes, y'day was my 25th b'day which I spent without my family & friends here in US!! would be writing more about it soon...

I always thought that I would celebrate my 25th b'day with a huge celebration. An amazing b'day bash with my family & friends. Afterall, you do not turn 25 everyday (Actually you don't turn any age everyday, but 25 is like silver jubilee... a quarter century, wow!!). But we all know that things dont always turn the way u want them. I was not even in my own place or country at the occassion. I was in middle of USA, in Kansas. Not many friends there and no family atall...

I had planned on caling my parents to US so they could celebrate my b'day with me this time. We would go to some outside place, like Chicago or somewhere and have a unforgettable amazing time. But my parents could not manage to come (they could not get the passport in time). So yeah, things again didnt turn up as I planned and I ended up alone.

I was really sad & disappointed since Aug 31. I spent the night of August 31 with a friend and had some nice pie cae & fun, thanks. It was sweet & nice. Went back home & slept for nothing. I wanted to go out somewhere but couldnt get any friends with me. In the evening, 3 friends showed up with Brownie cake & wine. That was lil fun too. And thats it, it was all over. Not what I had planned or thought for the day.

But anyways, things dont always turn the way you plan. And you should try to make best out of what you have. And still be damn disappointed and hurt sometimes. Afterall sadness is part of life too. Everything is an experience...

That's it for now. Please keep blogging & keep reading my blogs (& COMMENTING as well please). This is RAHUL again saying, Good Bye & Good Luck!!!!!

I did SKYDIVING!!!

(My pics of skydiving:
http://picasaweb.google.com/it.rahul/Skydiving
Small video taken by my camera:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF8BRvZwVVk
P.S. The pics have been uploades and video taken by the skydive-centre would be coming soon :)

Yeahhhhh, I DID SKYDIVING… another one of my accomplishments, lol. I mean it really feels like an achievement when you do it, it feels great. Jumping from a flying airplane at the height of 10000 feet in sky, wow!!! A free fall at the speed of 120 mph (that is approximately 200 Km/hr), wow-wow!!!

Was I scared? Yes I was, when they show you that video stating “This is a dangerous sport where you may get seriously injured or even killed. And no one but you yourself is responsible for any accidents. You do not have any right to any claim or sue anyone”. By the way, who would like an opportunity to die just because they’ll get to sue someone, it hardly happens. But its great fun and great fun comes at a price.

As many of you may know, I love adventure sports. I have never been interested in outdoor sports in general (yeah, I am not a BIG fan of cricket either… and I am not sorry for it). But a rush of adrenaline when you do something crazy, I love that. Adventure sports are my deal. I love going to adventure/fun parks too, I mean rides can be crazy but they are fun. The rides in US are anyways amazing. I have been to Six Flags park, Kings Dominion park and also to the rides in Stratosphere tower in Las Vegas. I have done rafting, rock climbing, skiing, trekking and Scuba Diving too (in Philippines). I want to do these again and many other new adventure sports stuff too, I will.

So, let’s talk a bit about my experience with skydiving. I did skydiving at Butler in Missouri (it’s a state in US, near Kansas). The place is known as SkydiveKC, and it’s good. It is around 1 and ½ hour from Kansas City, my Sonata did the driving. We were 3 friends out of which only 2 were doing it, after all it’s not everyone’s plate of cake. We were supposed to be there at noon and I did manage that (for me being somewhere at noon on a Sunday is almost like impossible, I am actually used to waking-up after noon on weekends). You have to go through a small training. They’ll show you 2 videos, one about all the stuff you need to know and the other about the risks involved that anything may happen to you and no one is responsible. The video is kind of scary, may make you upset.

But believe me it is not as bad in actual. Jumping out of the plane seems the scariest part, I mean jumping out of a plane flying at the height of 10000 feet seems ridiculous. Why would anyone ever do that?? But we humans do lots of crazy stuff just for the feel and zeal of it I guess. Just to prove to ourselves that we can go to extreme and try doing anything possible or maybe impossible in this world. That’s why we are different and that’s why we are superior. Apart from that, no airplane is perfect (no machine is perfect after all). So little bit of experience with jumping form a plane might be helpful, lol. Sorry, no jokes here… but the whole thing is just so great.

I had opted for a ‘Tandem jump’ package where you jump with a professional trained diver/instructor. That’s the only way you can do your first skydive, unless you are in an emergency situation while you are on a flight and you might be asked to jump. Maybe you don’t have to pay for that jump, but I am sure that is not going to be any fun. I am not even sure if they give you any parachutes to jump. They always talk about using that life jacket and I guess they just want you to jump in water, damn!!! Anyways, the Tandem jump comes for $205, plus $95 for video & photos. Another diver jumps with you to take your photos & video too. I’ll share them soon.

After the training, they tell a bit about how to sit in plane & how to get out etc. You should listen carefully and follow it, I did. Then I got suited up in the jump suit and got into the plane. Ride to 10,000 feet is little boring, it takes long and you just have to sit through waiting for jump. But once the doors open at the height, it’s totally different. I could feel the wind striking my face & I could see the height I was at… way above the ground. And I could see that I was about to jump from a plane. Hanging at the door before jump, I felt ‘is it the right thing to do’, lol. However after jumping from the plane there was no scary falling sensation, it’s more like a floating or flying sensation. I was flying in the air. The free fall just lasts for around 30-40 seconds and then the parachute opens up. By the time you realize what happened, it’s over; but still its amazing FUN. I could feel flying in air & I could feel the thrill. I also did a 360 degree spin during free fall, that’s cool. I also did a spin while coming down hanging to parachute, that’s cool too. Then I landed safe & fine, totally excited & happy.

My instructor was John Paul, he was pretty good. His son Chris was the cameraman. They together own the place & do pretty well. I just hope they had better planes and could do more height, would be way more fun. I would surely say that if you want thrill, you should definitely try Skydiving. It’s a great thing. I would love to do it more & maybe even get certified sometime in future. I want to do Scuba certification too (yeah, wanting is easy… so it’s good to want at least). Overall, it was really AWESOME & AMAZING!!!!

SO, that’s pretty much it for right now. I know I am damn slow at writing blogs. That is really bad and I am sorry for it, I am really trying to improve that. The problem is I am really busy these days and writing a blog takes long time for me. I don’t just write it, I think & write and edit & improvise to make it look better for myself and my readers. Thanks for reading it & enjoying my experiences. I still have to write about my great CHICAGO Trip and some new movies I saw (Mummy-3, Tropic Thunder, Death Racer). Would try to pen them down soon.

So please keep blogging & keep reading my blogs (& COMMENTING as well please). This is RAHUL again saying, Good Bye & Good Luck!!!!!

Happy Independence Day & Hapy Rakshabandhan

A Happy Independence day to all My fellow Indians!!

Happy Rakshabandhan to my sweet sister Kavita!!!!!!!

I got my American Driving License!!!

Yesssssssssss, I got my American driving license. Yes, I got it. Someone told me that you need two basic things to survive in US, one is a credit card & other is a driving license. Not sure how true it is, because I survived without both for a long time. But you should have money in some form & cards are always preferred in US of course (try surviving without money anywhere in the world and that’s going to be tough for sure; unless you are rich because then you have to have money... lol). And of course it’s not easy living without a car or at least capability to drive. The places are so far in a place like Kansas & there is no public transport.

About ‘capability to drive’, in US having a license does means you are capable to drive. Not just lawfully but technically as well, because you do need to know how to drive okay if you have to get a license. Unlike in India where many of us didn’t even go to the licensing office to get a license. Yes, it did use to happen long time back, now you do have to go but the only reason is that they take a picture on the spot for your license. But I think there might be a way out of that as well, after all it’s our India (No offense, because I love my India very much. However there are few things where we say,'It happens only in INDIA').

So even if you have a license in India, you may not even know how to move a vehicle (unless you are thinking of just pushing/pulling it, maybe). I was one of those guys too, but I did get my license legally by giving the written exam & everything, just as they never asked me to actually drive a car. Actually I didn’t even have a car; I went on a bike only which they didn’t ask me to drive either. I learned driving a car after getting my license and even the learning didn’t help much, those guys just strip you off 1000 bucks or more for no reason. All you need is some real practice on your vehicle & that’s all you need to learn driving. Not a person sitting besides you with controls under his legs & you just feel as if you are driving, uhh!!

Anyways, getting a license in US is quite a process. For beginners it may feel like getting a green card or citizenship itself. Actually getting a license for the 1st time gives you almost as much pleasure I think, it feels great. It really does, it works as an ID proof (no need to carry your passport all the time), age proof, residence proof and whatever else it may works for. But anyways, let’s get to the story of me getting my license… It starts from the first time I went to DMV in Herndon, Virginia but I’ll share it in another blog. This time let’s get to my success story in Kansas (and that does not mean that Herndon story is a failure story… it just might be one!!!)

So, I tried to read the DMV rule book for Kansas first. Every state has there own huge rule book which you have to study and pass the written exam to get a license. I tried my best to read half of the book and remaining half I read when I was standing in the line, Reading is no fun, not unless I am reading my own blogs (which are not many ofcourse) or the comments by you guys (which you hardly ever do). Anyways, they verified all my documents first; you need to have 2 valid ID proofs, one current residence proof and whatever else they might ask for. My documents were fine, and the vision test was good too so I was forwarded for written test. It’s not really tough but may seem stupid sometimes with the kind of questions they ask. You have to score 80% to pass, so it means you have to get 20 rights out of 25. I attempted 21 questions and got them all correct, yeah!!! The examiner told me that ‘you could have left one more’, lol. So, I was moved for the real tough part, the DRIVING TEST…

The guy who took the test looked like Indian, but he was not… may be a Mexican or someone. He looked very serious like our big uncles, so I was kind of concerned but there was no way out. Her checked my car for the signal lights, horn & stuff to make sure its okay (like I was going to go with a broken car and it would make thing easy for me, huh). I had a rented Chevrolet Cobalt, I got a small 2-door car so I can get license easily. He took me on the drive then, or we should say for the driving test (because first one seems like a date, which would & could never happen… I won’t ever do that for a license). I was totally cautious & alert, driving as smartly as possible. I was chanting in my mind… stop at all STOP signs (I try to do it all the time actually, sometimes just too much that it annoys people with me or at back of my car); always remember ‘right of way’ and yield when required (I know it sounds funny, because in India ‘right of way’ is who ever manages to go first without hitting. If you hit then of course you stop to hit the person. And ‘yield’ is only done by idiots who don’t know how to drive ); be under the speed limit (which I can hardly do in actual scenarios); follow the traffic signals strictly (not mandatory in India mostly so I am not sure how good I am it, and breaking signals is fun sometimes anyways); stop at all the school signs (yeah guys, its mandatory even if its evening/night or holidays/vacations as well… you know kids are stupid as I said last time, so of course they can show up anytime) and wherever you see people/pedestrians ‘STOP’ and make sure they are safe (yeah.. its not India, that if you are walking on road its your fault & be ready to hit anytime by any vehicle owner… huh!!!). Hmmmmm, I followed all these rules. Just as I said, I was just bit too careful on a stop sign almost yielding way even when there was no one to yield to. The guy told me that he could fail me for that as I was being over-cautious which is not good. But he didn’t because I did a good job of driving overall. Thank You John (or whatever your name was). Yessssssssss…. I did a good job of driving overall and I got my American Driving License!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow!!! This was quite a huge blog. I should stop now, I should. My friends are telling me that I am really good at writing these blogs. They are… my manager Ganesh (I know that it may not be the best thing your manager reading your blogs, but if it’s someone as cool as him its fine. And I am not saying this just because he may be reading it right now, lol); my friend Rama & his wife (he told me they both like it and I trust him… as he’s praising me); my friend Sonika (she really praised me very well, I guess girls have that art of praising or lying maybe. But i know she's speaking truth) and few others too (I really don't have any of those few others yet, but doesn’t harms in writing so...). Thanks dear friends, but please put some nice comments as well... all the time on all the blogs (yeah, I know I can never get enough!!!)…

Anyways, I would close for now. Just one big news, which has been pending though. I returned my $200 glasses back and got my money back as well, would tell more next time. I would also try to be more regular by writing more, I’ll try. Until then keep blogging & keep reading my blogs (& COMMENTING as well please). This is RAHUL again saying, Good Bye & Good Luck!!!

Mamma Mia, the movie I saw halfway but still enjoyed...

Being used to the Indian movies makes you a fan of 'song & dance routine' in movies. So a musical is never surprising for us. Infact movies without nice song & dance may seem strange to many of us. For me it has been disappointing mostly, when it comes to hollywood musicals, especially Chicago which was terrible or even Moulin Rouge. Why the hell they even speak dialogues by singing them, that's stupid (like singing & dancing around trees with changing clothes & all other ridiculous stuff is so sensible & smart, but we are used to it). Somehow the Hollywood musical doesn't seem to work much to me (The Enchanted and Music & Lyrics were nice though) but this was a clear exception.

The movie looks fresh and interesting, the performances are subtle and keeps you hooked having fun while watching. That's what you expect from a musical. The storyline is well known, (hopefully... it was not well known to me though) a girl searching for her real father out of all 3 men her mom has dated earlier. She plans her marriage and invites all 3 men to figure out who is it. And the story goes through twists & turns and lots of SONGS, coming to a happy ending (sounds like bollywood).

I haven't seen the Broadway show but this film is definitely captivating enough to hold the audience. It was interesting to see Mr Ex James Bond singing and dancing on musical tunes. Others looked good as well. Just one suggestion, if you enjoy the movie then don't leave theater immediately after it ends, there is a nice song and dance routine with the end credits (ABBA songs 'Dancing queen' & 'Waterloo'), so ENJOY the Hollywood's bollywoodization!!!

One more thing, this was one of the very few movies I didnt see from begining, even in the movie theatre... yeah was kind of late. One my friend used to hate watching movies if he missed the initial credits (he called it numbering, 'I cant see movie if I miss numbering'). Even I enjoy the advertisements & trailers before movies ( but not the mandatory government promotional messages for dowry, family planning or stuff like that shown in India still. Those ads have been made 50 years ago and they still show the same boring & embarassing stuff, why!!) . So I felt I didn't watch the whole movie (unlike in India I didn't evn ask the person next to my seat that how much movie has gone & what all happened, always used to do that in India though), so I would be watching it again sometime on DVD. Also would love to see a hindi dubbing and see what they do with it, lol...

Anyways, I'll sign-off for the time being but would come up with lot more movie reviews of mine very soon (Hellboy-II, Hancock, Wanted, Incredible Hulk and Ironman). Until then keep blogging & keep reading my blogs. This is RAHUL again saying, Good Bye & Good Luck!!!

The Dark Knight, Batman movie... I watched it & enjoyed it

Yeah, I saw The Dark Knight yesterday night; the first day, last show of the movie. And the deal is it was awesome, so I want to share it here. There are lots of movies I have seen lately (Hellboy-II, Hancock, Wanted, Incredible Hulk and Ironman). I would share my thoughts about it very soon in coming blogs but here comes what I have to say for this one...

So as I said, it’s really Awesome. I realized while watching Ironman that even superhero movies can be above just fantasy, having decent storyline & impressive concept behind it. And Dark Knight proved it even further. It's not some sci-fi superhero fiction with no sense around it (yeah, like Daredevil or Catwoman... it really sucked. You gotta be really something to make such a stupid big budget super hero movie, CATWOMAN... ewww!!). This is one superhero film which has got an amazing storyline with lots of action, drama, great effects and some superb performances.

Christian Bale as both Batman and Bruce Wayne is unmatchable; I don't think any of earlier versions have even been close to him. He seems made for this role, suits the charm & style of Bruce or power & darkness of Batman. He has taken it one step forward in this movie and proved his mettle. Heath Ledger as joker has been really impressive; he may get some villain awards for this. I kind of didn’t like his appearance initially in trailers (I was too stuck on Jack Nicholson’s joker I guess) but he has done such a good job that he seems the perfect choice. He has presented a crazy psychopath villain in the form of Joker. Also Aaron Eckhart as both Harvy Dent & 2-Face has done a great job. Looks both noble man as Harvy & hideous villain as 2-Face. Every other character has been also well drafted & well played.

As for the storyline, I won't reveal much. But just to let know, In Gotham City, Batman has been fighting crime with Gordan. Harvy Dent as the District Attorney is trying to be a true hero by cleaning up the city of all the criminals & thug. But the city is terrorized by crazy killer Joker who just wants to unmask & finish Batman. He terrorizes the whole city by his mad ideas & the other 3 are trying to fight him. But joker does get his way on many occasions accomplishing his targets of destroying both the city & its people (including the heroes). What happens further, you need to watch it friend...

One more thing... you know that feeling when you come out of a great movie which you really-really liked and felt was pretty awesome. And there is this person or bunch of people walking in front of you and says that 'this movie was so boring, it's such a stupidfmovie' or something like that. And you just feel like ripping that person's head off who was not good enough to enjoy such a great movie and is now complaining. That's what happened yesterday, this guy was walking in front of me after the movie and he says,'this movie sucked, it was so bad. I slept all the time'. And I was feeling so angry over him thinking that if this jerk was awake he could have enjoyed the movie. But anyways, people are people and everyone has right to there opinion!!

(I just had one thing at the end of the movie to say though. How many days we have been sitting here and watching the movie. It was kind of long for a hollywood movie but still interesting and captivating enough. Unlike watching some Indian movies like Yaadein or Veer Zara where I felt I have been really sitting 22 years bearing that movie as a punishment, aahhh!!!)

I'll sign-off for the time being but would come up with lot more very soon. Until then keep blogging & keep reading my blogs. This is RAHUL again saying, Good Bye & Good Luck!!!

Five weeks

Yeah friends & all, I completed 5 long weeks in Kansas City. This is coming very late and wanted to write for so long but anyways, now it comes…

These 5 weeks have been nice, better than I expected actually. One of my friends was saying that if you keep low expectations from something, even the least they give will make you happy because you never expected it. Higher expectations are one of the major causes of disappointment in life… very true!! (However, someone also said that high expectations and targets motivate you to push yourself harder and perform better… very true too. These philosophers and people said so many contradictory things which all seems true and they are called smart… if we do the same we are stupid, huh!!!).

Anyways, as I didn’t expect much from Kansas because everyone told me it’s a boring place; it turned out pretty well for me. It’s a nice green place with beautiful landscapes. Weather is kind of unpredictable as I told last time, could be rainy or sunny anytime. And of course bad tornados & stuff; I was told that the place I am in, Overland Park/Kansas City is safe but the places little far away can be terrible. I have not been to a lot of places around, except a few decent parks, movie theatres, malls, downtown etc. May be I’ll plan something in this coming long weekend, let’s see…

When I came here I was staying in Homestead Studio Suites Hotel, the most terrible hotel I have stayed in US. Bugs in the room, AC doesn’t work and staff not very friendly. Had to stay there for 4 weeks, which wasn’t a lot of fun. Now I moved into an apartment with a roommate, which is definitely better. And hey, I got a car (just rented) too. It’s a 2-door Chevrolet Cobalt this time which is okay. As I am not a big driving enthusiast, I can’t say I am having lots of fun driving (I guess I am too used to chauffer driven cars!!), but its okay. I would get some other nice car next time. Gas is very expensive these days, so that’s another not so fun part of it (and I mean Gasoline, i.e. petrol. Americans tend to say everything different than whole world I guess).

Other news is that I got my promotion. I am happy for it. Some things give you lot more happiness and pleasure when they happen at a particular expected time; but anyways, better late than never. Thanks to my parent’s blessings, god’s grace and well wishes of all my loved one’s like you…. Thanks a lot!!! (trust me this was a very short speech, i didn't thank my dog, my bus/cab driver, my neigbours, and tons of other people. I am always ready for a long thank you speech like stars, but maybe i'll do it in a seperate blog sometime...)

I thought I had so much to say but can’t think of much right now. So I would stop it for now and would try to be more regular from next time onwards. Until then keep blogging & keep reading my blogs. This is RAHUL again saying, Good Bye & Good Luck!!!

Four Times:

Please don’t be frustrated, I have always kept my content to my topic-headings… so this isn’t going to be vague either. But again it proves how good I am NOT in math. I directly came to fourth, I bet you guys were waiting for third (I bet you were, I am still not sure what do I think myself as a writer or blogger. But it feels good to write like that, hehehe!!). Actually this is not a planned blog (wow!! So people like me are planning blogs now, sounds funny huh...), however something just happened and I had to write…

I was kind of busy today, so I didn’t get time to go out for lunch. I hadn’t eaten anything in breakfast too, as usual (trust me, not eating breakfast & specially lunch in time, makes you feel n sound like you are really busy!!). So I was feeling hungry like anything, very-very hungry. We have a small but nice (hopefully, I haven’t seen it yet.. just assuming) cafeteria in office and I went there. But as luck wanted, it was closed too. 16 hours of not eating anything just feels amazing!!

So I decided to get something from the office vending machine (for the people who may not know by any chance, you have to put money in a vending machine & you can buy some stupid snacks kinda stuff). I thought of buying Trail-Mix (nuts & chocolate) which was for $1. I put the bill in to buy it but the machine didn’t accept it, it was not working. These are the times we realize that we may have as much money as possible but sometimes, it feels useless (trust me, i don't mean useless to me. I am just talking of people in general... I never feel money is less important).

So, I went to another floor’s vending machine to try my luck. I put my money in and it’s accepted, the machine was working!! Then I select code ‘150’ to buy my trail-mix, the line of trail mix in vending machine moves forward and I am waiting for my delicious trail mix packet to drop (I was hungry to eat the vending machine itself this time). And…

Yeah, the news is the packet didn’t drop. Yes, the packet didn’t DROP!!!

The machine took my dollar bill & the packet didn’t drop. But I was not giving up so easily, I thought maybe it got stuck. So this time if I put another dollar in, then 2 packets would drop. And after all I am still very hungry and I haven’t got anything to eat. So I put another dollar bill in machine, line moves forward and the packet drops. But…

Just one packet has dropped, Just ONE!!!

The machine is not giving up my first dollar’s pack, it still seems stuck. I was still hopeful of getting it, so I decided to put one more dollar in. It’s always worth to try thrice, you can’t rely on just trying twice. And anyways, I am hungry so I can eat 2-3 packets. So I put another dollar bill in to get my 2 packets of trail mix, and now…

Only one packet drops again, AGAIN!!!

What the hell is happening in this world? Even machine’s are cheating on us (I guess the time of machines ruling the world like Terminator movies is coming true. Movies are not always fantasy, this is how it starts… on a vending machine). I could clearly see my packet still hanging on the verge, but every time it does not falls somehow. Ohh my God!!! Why are you doing this to me?? These are the times when we remember god and our faith tries to become stronger in him. So I thought of finally trying in the name of god. After all I had just tried twice… the 1st one was not a try, I was just getting my food. Attempts after those were tries, so I still have one more chance. (This is how we try to fool ourselves with stupid reasoning when we want to do something. And all this thought just comes in a split second. Our mind really works fast, specially to fool ourselves)

So I put another dollar bill in, being very positive that god’s not going to let me down. I’ll have 4 trail mix packs, out of which I’ll eat 2 and keep 2 for future when I have similar situation (see a dollar and a trail mix packs are making my future plans now, either it’s the hunger making me mad or this futuristic ruler machine is controlling my mind). This was like the Judgment Day, and guess what…

One packet drops, yeah just one packet. HUH!!!

Same as all the times, only one packet dropped and one packet was still hanging down not ready to fall. It was smiling at me, actually laughing at me. Infact the whole vending machine was laughing at me. You know what, the whole cafeteria was laughing at me!! There is no place for honest people in this world! God doesn’t listens to us poor people, he just listens to ‘I don’t know who’. (I know it's getting crazy, but this how I really felt for that sad moment... no comments on this) Some lucky bastard gonna get 2 pack out of my money and he’ll laugh his way back! He’ll be rich & happy and I am poor & wretched! And suddenly my hunger was disappeared, totally gone. Ohh My God!!!

But, I remember I was hungry… so I decided to eat. Trail mix was good, I ate 2 packs. Kept one for future (I am poor by a dollar, future planning is more important now). My four attempts to get my right, didn’t work. Righteousness doesn’t work. But whatever… this was the story of four times. I can still guess what all might have come in to your mind when I said ‘four times’, but this was it. Only the ones of you who have been through this pain can understand the ache in my heart.

So friends, hoping to write my planned blog soon which should not be such an emotional and heart breaking story. Until then keep blogging & keep reading my blogs. This is RAHUL again saying, Good Bye & Good Luck!!!

(FYI… while I am writing this there is a terrible rain & thunder storm outside. Weather was partly cloudy in the day but it suddenly has become stormy in the evening. My friend just told me that this is how Kansas weather is, unpredicatble at these times. If we hear the danger siren which indicates hurricane/tornado might hit, we should run and hide in bathtub as we do not have basement to hide. Sounds frightening... hopefully we all will be safe and everything should be fine...

And at the same time... I would like to take this opprtunity to express my grief and sorrow for the people and families struck with natural calamities all over the world. Some things are really out of our control and all we can do is to just support each other and try to make this world a happier place to live. God Bless All!!! )

Second Time...

I guess I am just too easy at selecting headings, writing whatever I feel like. Or may be I am too mathematical, first second, third… nth, lol. But my friends who know me well, they know how distant I am from math; it has always been the scariest monster to me unless its math related to the money or the girls (see, sometimes I do speak truth!!).

But what do I mean by second time… It’s the second time I am writing my blog (I mean I am writing my second blog here). But do you know what… there is another important second time for me here. It’s the second time I am in US; I mean I am in US again from May 25, 2008. I just came back from US to India after 1 year in April end, and with in a month I got a call to go back to US. Sounds great eh… not to everyone though.

My parents are not very happy, I think. All the parent’s are like that I guess, they love there kids so much, always. I don’t know from where, but there heart is filled with love and affection for there children. My parents love me a lot, just a lot and of course I love them a lot too. Although I love them most in the whole world, but I can’t ever be sure if I can ever love her as much as they love me. That’s the kind of love parents have. My mom was still getting as sad & emotional at the airport, as she was the first time I left last year. So few things remain the same even the second time it seems (Atlast this paragraph got over; I was feeling like going through a Karan Johar script, too emotional... huh!!!).

Anyways… this time I am in Kansas City, in Kansas. It’s a city/state at the centre of US. Flight to here was very-very long. 9 hrs flight form India to London, then after 4 hrs stay in London Airport 8 hrs flight to Chicago and 3 hour stay at Chicago airport 1.5 hrs flight to Kannas. I was mostly sleeping or watching movies (I saw ‘Bombay to Bangkok’ which was pretty nice & Jumper which was okay). And yeah, the 4 hour wait at London made me poorer with $200, I bought a Ray-Ban sunglasses. My passion with glasses is taking its toll it seems, why do they have these beautiful but expensive ‘duty-free’ shops at the airport… huh!! (trust me, I m not really happy for this purchase of mine… the girl at Sunglass Hut robbed me. Yeah you are right; I also guess it all happened because of that pretty salesgirl... girl math screwed my money math!!!)

British Airways service is always decent, the food the seats, all seem nice to me; apart from the fact that they have some stupid baggage restrictions (yeah, they were questioning my little big hand-baggage, why should they question when I am carrying my bag in my hand... lol. I mean as long as I can lift it and fit it in the overhead bin they shouldn't be giving me eyes). The experience with Korean Airlines last time was also nice, they have an amazing selection of entertainment where you can select the movies you like and play them when you want; unlike BA where you only have to watch what they play. But the food was terrible, I mean all they were serving was just beef & pork, no other non-veg or veg option… just ridiculous!!

I reached in Kansas City and collected my bags, to find out that TSA (Transport Security Administration of USA) did an open check on both my checked in bags which were transferred to AA from BA in Chicago. I appreciate the security concerns but you are not supposed to damage my baggage or luggage. They tore one of the bags and disarrayed the stuff inside causing damage to my luggage too. I hate that, so irresponsible & stupid (I thought of complaining but haven’t done it yet. You always should). But anyways, I collected my luggage in KC and took a cab to my hotel.

Anyways, this was more like a diary entry… nothing interesting, huh!! Sometimes, the second time may not be as good as first time. So wait for the next time, I’ll try to write more soon (like everyone is just waiting for me to write something, haha!!). Until then keep blogging & keep reading my blogs. This is RAHUL again saying, Good Bye & Good Luck!!!

First Time!!!

Everything for the first time is quite special; first school, first college, first fight, first girlfriend, first love, first marriage and of course first birth & death (ohhh, sorry. that's always first & final!!!). But I am not writing about any of those, for me today it’s about my first blog. Is it special for me... I don't know yet, but it did take me a long time to write one of these. Someone told me long time ago,"Rahul, you should blog". And I asked the usual 'why', that i ask to any advice that is given to me; "Why?". I was told that I am very creative and this is a great form of expressing our creativity. Is it?? (see, I am questioning again. some habits never change!!).

Today morning I was talking to my friend about blogging so I decided to write my blog today. I thought something similar when I had almost no work 2 yrs back (I was on 'Beach' or 'Bench', that’s what IT industry calls it when you don't have work but you are still luckily employed. Just FYI, I am again on beach from 1 week) and I registered to blogspot but never wrote anything. Blogging is for people who have time to waste, not me (like I am such a busy person, who may have nothing to do. doing nothing keeps you really busy!!). I utilized (or wasted) most of that time going through wikipedia and creating wiki posts there. By the way, I love wikipedia a lot!!

Then last year when I was going to US, I decided that this is my time to blog. I was going abroad(you know, I was riding an airplane for the first time in my life and that too directly to US. does not feels anything special though, it’s a tiring 22 hrs flight including halt) for the first time in my life, so if I can't write a diary then I should at least write a blog. (at least?? like I am some Shakespeare or Javed Akhtar or Gulzar that writing is the least I do, huh!!) But again, who has the time to write a blog, it’s good to roam around in a new country or even better to just sit idle but to write a blog. MAN!! I am lazy or what!!! I don’t know how I managed to write a personal diary for 3-4 years (but then I was in school and at that time and its fun to be someone who writes a diary. You tell all your friends that you write a diary and show it to them like a big-big secret. They all are dying to read it and then you show it to some of your real-personal good friends and they are the lucky chosen ones with whom you share your personal diary. Are we all so stupid when we are kids!!). Or how was I the college magazine editor and I used to write almost all the articles my self and then put it on other people's name (After all you can't just have your name spread all around the magazine. Again the childhood game of who's the luck one whose name would be put under the article, like you get a noble prize if your name's in college magazine).

So I never blogged, never till now. But here I am scribing and scraping whatever is coming in my mind. I guess that's blogging. Definitely easier than writing a diary (computers are always better to write than pens after all, "cut-copy-paste-delete & dictionary" I love it!!) or even writing those big articles (some times stealing from other magazines, yeah I did that too). Only difference is you are writing an online diary which you know & want people to read, it’s my stupid & easy definition.

So this was or is my first time blogging. I know what all may come to mind when you say "First Time" (dirty minds, hehehe!!) but this was it. I hope to write more & even more but till then keep blogging & keep reading my blog(s). This is RAHUL saying Good Bye & Good Luck!!!