For me 2008 was different from others..it was a year away from home...which put us in the midst of new people and culture...it brought in its share of joys and sorrows...Sorrows were deepened by the distance and a sense of helplessness of being so far from everything and everyone.
It was the year we spent with just the two of us ,a year we saw snow fall, bought our first car ,enjoyed the magic of seasons ,learned to play tennis and saw places.
Year which turned my family Internet savvy...it saw my dad browsing, grand mom orkuting ,google talk replacing phone calls.
Then among other things there was a new job for her ,a new project for him and a lot of grumbling from both the sides.
2008 is winding up today adding another year to our credit ,I am hoping it did add some wisdom ,which people say comes free with that.I dont wanna be a year older and none the wiser.
So it is goodbye to 2008 and a hearty welcome to 2009
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
NY trip and a tryst with Lady Liberty
Our flight landed at JFK on the 26Th of November at 11:00 AM. That was the start of our 4 day trip to the Big Apple. We had a list of things to do and see in NY .
Day 1: Statue of liberty ,ground zero ,wall street..
But Day 1 being thanksgiving holiday had no ferries to Island. So we had to move our trip to Staten Island to Day 2.
Day 2: Times Square, downtown shopping trip, Broadway Show…
Day 2.1 : Time square ,Statue of Liberty, Broadway show
Day 2 we reached the Cruise spot around 3, to take the 4 'o clock trip. Waited for around an hour, to find that 3 o clock was the last trip of the day. We cursed our luck and argued with guy at the counter for not informing about the cancellation of the 4o'clock Cruise. We went back to Broadway.The show put everyone in a good mood .Then we made slight adjustment to our 3 rd Day Schedule
Plan Day 3: China Town, Lunch with friends, Ground zero, Wall Street,
Plan Day 3.1: China Town, Friends, Ground Zero, Liberty ….
On Day 3 we decided to take the Ferry to Island. After a long wait at the jetty ,it was our turn to get it in .The guy at the ferry told us they have exceeded the maximum number of people they can allow on the Island and the Ferry will be closed for the day. Foul mood is back again. By this time we are exhausted from 3 days of sight seeing in NY and walking endlessly in Times Square. Still no luck with the lady.
Plan Day 4: The Met, Central Park
Plan Day 4.1: The Met, Central Park, Statue of Liberty …..
The version one of our plan cut short our Met hours drastically.But we had to do what we had to do. From Met we had planned to take the Subway to Staten Island, but for some reason unknown, the trains to our destination was cancelled. So we had to switch trains an umpteen number of times before we got somewhere close to the nearest possible station. Time was ticking away , and did I mention that it was raining and we were all soaked from head to toe .In half an hour our last cruise to Island would leave taking with it our only chance to visit the Lady in this NY trip. We were walking as fast was we could. Half way through a taxi stopped and 4 guys squeezed in and the two of us continued walking and running in the rain and freezing temperature. We barely managed to drag ourselves inside before the doors were closed ..And our trip to see Lady Liberty started….
We saw a lot of NY in those 4 days, we used the subways extensively, at one point we knew the train routes to all the 5 the boroughs ( slightly exaggerated) , Broadway show was a delight,Brooklyn bridge beautiful, we walked the length and breadth of Times Square ,contributed to the Black Friday loot ,bargained and bought the quintessential I LOVE NY T shirts for 3 bucks a piece.
But star of the trip will be our ‘Journey’ to see the Lady. I never know why we took so much trouble to see her .Maybe that was her way of making herself the most special memory of the trip.
Day 1: Statue of liberty ,ground zero ,wall street..
But Day 1 being thanksgiving holiday had no ferries to Island. So we had to move our trip to Staten Island to Day 2.
Day 2: Times Square, downtown shopping trip, Broadway Show…
Day 2.1 : Time square ,Statue of Liberty, Broadway show
Day 2 we reached the Cruise spot around 3, to take the 4 'o clock trip. Waited for around an hour, to find that 3 o clock was the last trip of the day. We cursed our luck and argued with guy at the counter for not informing about the cancellation of the 4o'clock Cruise. We went back to Broadway.The show put everyone in a good mood .Then we made slight adjustment to our 3 rd Day Schedule
Plan Day 3: China Town, Lunch with friends, Ground zero, Wall Street,
Plan Day 3.1: China Town, Friends, Ground Zero, Liberty ….
On Day 3 we decided to take the Ferry to Island. After a long wait at the jetty ,it was our turn to get it in .The guy at the ferry told us they have exceeded the maximum number of people they can allow on the Island and the Ferry will be closed for the day. Foul mood is back again. By this time we are exhausted from 3 days of sight seeing in NY and walking endlessly in Times Square. Still no luck with the lady.
Plan Day 4: The Met, Central Park
Plan Day 4.1: The Met, Central Park, Statue of Liberty …..
The version one of our plan cut short our Met hours drastically.But we had to do what we had to do. From Met we had planned to take the Subway to Staten Island, but for some reason unknown, the trains to our destination was cancelled. So we had to switch trains an umpteen number of times before we got somewhere close to the nearest possible station. Time was ticking away , and did I mention that it was raining and we were all soaked from head to toe .In half an hour our last cruise to Island would leave taking with it our only chance to visit the Lady in this NY trip. We were walking as fast was we could. Half way through a taxi stopped and 4 guys squeezed in and the two of us continued walking and running in the rain and freezing temperature. We barely managed to drag ourselves inside before the doors were closed ..And our trip to see Lady Liberty started….
We saw a lot of NY in those 4 days, we used the subways extensively, at one point we knew the train routes to all the 5 the boroughs ( slightly exaggerated) , Broadway show was a delight,Brooklyn bridge beautiful, we walked the length and breadth of Times Square ,contributed to the Black Friday loot ,bargained and bought the quintessential I LOVE NY T shirts for 3 bucks a piece.
But star of the trip will be our ‘Journey’ to see the Lady. I never know why we took so much trouble to see her .Maybe that was her way of making herself the most special memory of the trip.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Colours Of Change
I was huddled up in my cubicle ,typing off with my mittened hands ,when my colleague said 'You look frozen,you don't like this cold,do you ?' and without waiting for a reply he added ,if you don't like the Minnesota weather ,wait for a while ,it will change.
That was last winter,it was my first winter complete with snow and ridiculous sub zero temperatures.
Around March the temperatures rose, snow melted ,grass grew,trees sprouted leaves,rivers and streams flowed ,there was pollen in the air ,more people on the streets and the golf season started.The white curtain ;behind which lay all these beautiful scnenes ,drew open and the Spring was here
Sun continued to shine and rising temperatures gave greener leaves,colorful flowers,lot of fruits and birds on trees.The streets got crowded.There was farmers markets ,street food ,jazz on the side streets ,Summer was here.Fishing ,Canoeing ,kayaking and camping season started and almost every car moved with a canoe or kayak trailing behind it.
Shortly afterwards, the temperature starts dropping ,it becomes a tad cooler and leaves changes colours .One by one each tree picks it colour ,turning it leaves into yellow ,red or orange.Giving itself an amazing make over.Farmers markets and street food vendors wind off , hunting, apple and berry picking seasons starts .
One strong wind here and another there takes of all the leaves from the trees and the winter takes over the beautiful Fall.
After a complete revolution ,I realized that, weather can do wonders to human spirit and senses.It is one thing to have a pleasant constant tropical weather,with no ups and downs ,but another to miss the changing weather and the beauty and unpredicatbilty that comes with it .
It is winter again and first snow brings in a beautiful white fur coat .The skiing ,snow boarding ,ice skating season starts and I plan on hibernating and waiting for a while ...
That was last winter,it was my first winter complete with snow and ridiculous sub zero temperatures.
Around March the temperatures rose, snow melted ,grass grew,trees sprouted leaves,rivers and streams flowed ,there was pollen in the air ,more people on the streets and the golf season started.The white curtain ;behind which lay all these beautiful scnenes ,drew open and the Spring was here
Sun continued to shine and rising temperatures gave greener leaves,colorful flowers,lot of fruits and birds on trees.The streets got crowded.There was farmers markets ,street food ,jazz on the side streets ,Summer was here.Fishing ,Canoeing ,kayaking and camping season started and almost every car moved with a canoe or kayak trailing behind it.
Shortly afterwards, the temperature starts dropping ,it becomes a tad cooler and leaves changes colours .One by one each tree picks it colour ,turning it leaves into yellow ,red or orange.Giving itself an amazing make over.Farmers markets and street food vendors wind off , hunting, apple and berry picking seasons starts .
One strong wind here and another there takes of all the leaves from the trees and the winter takes over the beautiful Fall.
After a complete revolution ,I realized that, weather can do wonders to human spirit and senses.It is one thing to have a pleasant constant tropical weather,with no ups and downs ,but another to miss the changing weather and the beauty and unpredicatbilty that comes with it .
It is winter again and first snow brings in a beautiful white fur coat .The skiing ,snow boarding ,ice skating season starts and I plan on hibernating and waiting for a while ...
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Mumbai Bleeds Again
It was just another winter afternoon ,the eve of thanksgiving .I was trying to wind up my day's work .My Colleague from across the aisle tells me..hey there is some gunfire going on in your country .in 'Mombaa' ..I correct him it is "Mumbai" ..and dismiss the whole thing as another police encounter..and continue with my work.I reach home ,turn on the TV and surf through the channels ,to my horror CNN breaking news displays Terrorist take over Mumbai..followed by pictures of burning Taj Mahal hotel ,bleeding men ,a woman running with a baby in her hands..I am numb ..it is a live telecast...terrorist were still inside killing innocent people...I call my friends and relatives in Mumbai ..luckily they are all safe ..I call my dad I ask him about the situation in Mumbai,he says it is pretty bad ,he is worried and angry ..I continued watching the TV ........
I was ashamed of myself ,I didn't even bother to check when my colleague told me about an attack.Has these attacks become a part and parcel of life ? People die in hundreds The Wall street journal says (http://s.wsj.net/article/SB122783260486063039.html) more than 4000 people have died in terrorist attacks in India since 2004 not counting the hundreds who died in Mumbai .More and more people will die and will become numbers like the 119 in Mumbai .I cant imagine the grief and pain the families of each of these innocents might be going through.And now the politicians have started the blame game which will go on till the next attack or bombing ,when a fresh game can begin again.We are living in tough times ,where terrorism is become a world threat,all the countries have beefed up their security measures,Ironically in India where the most number of people are getting killed due to terrorism there are no strong anti terrorism laws .There is no sense of security in the country .Being oceans away from the family and friends leaves me with an aching heart ,if it happened today in Mumbai ,it can happen tomorrow anywhere anytime.I hope not.
I was ashamed of myself ,I didn't even bother to check when my colleague told me about an attack.Has these attacks become a part and parcel of life ? People die in hundreds The Wall street journal says (http://s.wsj.net/article/SB122783260486063039.html) more than 4000 people have died in terrorist attacks in India since 2004 not counting the hundreds who died in Mumbai .More and more people will die and will become numbers like the 119 in Mumbai .I cant imagine the grief and pain the families of each of these innocents might be going through.And now the politicians have started the blame game which will go on till the next attack or bombing ,when a fresh game can begin again.We are living in tough times ,where terrorism is become a world threat,all the countries have beefed up their security measures,Ironically in India where the most number of people are getting killed due to terrorism there are no strong anti terrorism laws .There is no sense of security in the country .Being oceans away from the family and friends leaves me with an aching heart ,if it happened today in Mumbai ,it can happen tomorrow anywhere anytime.I hope not.
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