Bye Bye 2013

It's time again to say goodbye to another year. Another year is gone leaving behind memories - some good, some not so good. The year on the whole didn't go as expected and I am not too disappointed that the year is coming to an end.

How the year went
The major theme for me this year was marriage. I had to go through numerous profiles, spoke to some girls, met few of them; but somehow things didn't work out - and I am still single. (I know most of my friends reading this will be disappointed with the outcome but like they say "Everything happens at it's own time").
Professionally the year wasn't anything to talk about - at best it can be described as stagnant. This is certainly an area that needs focus in the coming year.
Personally the year was pretty taxing. Facing family and relatives and friends after each encounter, trying to explain them the reasons, their collective disappointments - everything took a toll. Erratic work schedules added their weight. 
When it comes to friends, there was a lot of difference of opinion. Arguments (more of fights rather than discussions) were pretty much controlling the talks/plans. Even with close friends it wasn't smooth sailing.

But there were some wonderful times as well like stay in Toronto, cousin's marriage, xbox/ps3 times, meeting friends, etc.
And I can't end the post without saying 'Thank You' to friends who made the year it was:

• Manas and Sudhanshu for being around; recent dinners at Murthal and Karim's were icing on the cake
• Saurav and Shilpa for the wonderful times; Saurav's staying overnight and the pasta by Shilpa comes to mind easily
• Office folks for making the office ambiance cool - Raghav, Shuchika, Nikhil, Prasad, Nimisha, Ritu, Vijaya, Sandeep, Vijay, Nitin, et al.
• Football was at a high where in we won few trophies and got a tournament sponsored. Thanks Uttam, Harish, Apoorv, Aaditya, Sailesh, Kunwar, Neeraj, Prashant, Sohan, Param, Gopal, et al for the wonderful moments
• Shubhi, Kunal, Febin and Sahil for some nice times and ... lets call it realizations.
• Minakshi and Seema - it's always nice to talk to you
• Supreet for non-stop bickering about marriage and other good times at chabar; including "murabbe ki sheeshi mein ..." :P

Thanks everyone for making the year a memorable one.

Wishing you all a very happy new year 2014

Thanks Toronto Team

I have spent more than 2 months here and today evening I will be heading back home. I don’t know how the time flew as it always felt I was at home away from home. And I owe a big thanks to my teammates here who not only welcomed me but also made me a part of them. I never felt like an outsider here; and that made the stay wonderful.

Now that I thank all of them I think I should write a line or 2 about everyone, about what I will remember most about them.

I will start with Ankur. He is from the Gurgaon office but we had never met there. And here we became friends. He would persistently encourage me to try/do new things. He made me taste the Raspberry tea in office and he was the one who encouraged me to cook. And he helped me do a lot of shopping as well.

Naveen is someone who comes around as the bully. He will keep bossing most people. But when it comes to work he is the go to person. He has his way of doing things but it was nice working with him. And despite how he comes up, he has a softer side. One night we were in office till late and we ordered dinner. When our order came, the dish I had ordered contained capsicum (my dreaded enemy). And as I was wondering what to do, he exchanged his dish with me.

Rajiv is another teammate of mine who comes across as someone very quiet. He goes about working on what’s need to be done in his own quiet way. He is probably the only person I know who was praised implicitly by a leadership member in front of his teammates.

Andes is one of the most thorough person I have met. He is quiet and doesn’t speak much. But as far as work is concerned he would try all possible ways before coming up to any conclusion. For instance if there are say 10 ways of doing something and an average person will do only 5-6 steps before coming back Andes would do all 10 before reverting.

Evi was the person about whom my impression changed drastically from my initial days to my last days here. I didn’t speak much with her but one day I said something to her – quite bluntly – which I now realize I could have avoided. And she didn’t give an impression that she didn’t like it; so I guess it’s all good J

Abhishek is the PM and has a unique way of going about things. We had our share of manager-developer conversations but they were all in good spirits and there was no arguments (for a change :P).

Andrea joined the team recently and didn’t have much interaction with her; but she is the first girl I have met who has good knowledge of football and enjoys the game as well. Just that she is Red-Devil makes us rivals of sorts ;)

Don is another PM on the project. He is usually very quiet compared to other PMs. I was most impressed with the things he does when he is not working – interviewing students and skiing. And I still remember the day when he put ‘Worrying’ in his LLP J

Girish is the client CE and at his position I hardly expected to see him in office with the team. But he was involved till the minutest details which was pleasantly surprising. And he was as approachable as any other member of the team which I didn't expect. Moreover he loved to take the team out for beer and always had interesting conversation up his sleeve.

While working with Satish I never felt his seniority. He worked as if he was a friend of yours; getting involved in conversations, listening patiently and helping whenever you ask him for help. And he is probably the only person in the team who can make and keep Naveen quiet (which is a major achievement if you ask any of the people mentioned here :P).

Susan is one of the smartest girls I ever met. She is a very quick-learner. You tell her something once and she remembers it. She can mix and gel with anyone. And she is pretty organized as well. I was amazed at her typing speed. She always brought chocolates for the team. She helped me buy a suitcase. One day she cooked and brought macrones which were great. (She only let me eat 4 which I believe is the max no anyone ate ;)). And the icing on the cake was the Starbucks Coffee mug she gave me J

I have tried to capture the most remembered moments because there’s a lot that can be written. And I wouldn't end without mentioning that the best part of the day was the lunch sessions – usually conducted by Naveen. You have to be there to know and experience how they are.

Bye Bye 2012

Another year comes to an end - 2012. It has been another happening year. The year began with me travelling to Bangalore for the 1^st 2 months of the year. There were frequent trips to Bangalore round the year as my office wanted me to work out of Bangalore office. And the year ended in Toronto, Canada.

I entered the 30 club. Many friends entered the next chapter of life – parenthood. Booked a new flat. Got an Xbox 360. Started playing football again – won the intra company tournament. And despite marriage being heavily on the cards managed to remain single for one more year.

And like always I can’t let the year go by without thanking the friends without whom it wouldn’t have been the year it was.

• I will have to start with Shubhi. With so much time spent in Bangalore it wouldn’t have been possible to have a nice stay there without her. And there were other wonderful moments spent with her.
• The football players Uttam, Umesh, Divraj, Apoorv et al who revived the good old days of playing football.
• Manas for always being around and the PS3 times
• Saurav, Shilpa and Ashish, Nidhi for all the wonderful times
• Kunal and Febin for the movies
• Sahil for the times spent over coffee
• Minakshi for the wonderful conversations
• Seema for her advices and encouragement
• Uma, Gunjan, Vijay, Nimisha et al for making the office hours enjoying
• Yogesh, Shashin and Ankur for making the Toronto stay comfortable

And to all those whose names I haven’t mentioned but were part of my journey of 2012. I wish everyone a wonderful 2013 – Happy New Year

Toronto Diaries – Boxing week shopping

Ever since I landed in Toronto I have been asking people about things to buy from here. Also where to buy from. People told me to wait for the Boxing Day. I did. But finding Toronto quite expensive as compared to India, I had my doubts about Boxing Day sales. Also as the Boxing Day came nearer I didn’t see many flyers or excitement in people around.

My route to and from office everyday includes going through Eaton Centre – the largest mall in downtown Toronto. As the Boxing Day neared discount boards started coming up on stores. I and my roommate Yogesh waited on for Boxing Day expecting increased discounts. While browsing through the banners every day we figured there’s something called a boxing week sales where-in the sales start and end before Christmas. And then there’s sale on Boxing Day again. Also we found that in case of electronic items there is an online sale starting the night of Dec-24. The weekend before Christmas we decided to do some shopping as some of the deals looked good to us.

On 24^th when we talked to our office mates they said that during Boxing Day there are huge lines and that people start queuing up from as early as 2-3 AM. None of the folks we spoke to were actually interested in Boxing Day sales and kind of scared us. We were undecided as to what we should do.

It was 25^th – Christmas. We found the roads almost empty. Surprisingly almost all the shops were closed. We were told this is what is going to happen on Christmas; but knowing Christmas is the biggest festival here we expected something. It was a dampener. We had coffee at one of the few opened outlets and came home little disappointed. I started checking online deals. I wanted to buy Xbox 360 and found the Boxing Day in-store deal online. I showed it to Yogesh as well. We browsed the site(s) and found that delivery was within a day or 2. So we decided to order online. As I finished ordering online he changed his mind. He said he would buy it the next day in store.

On Boxing Day Yogesh woke me up at 6 AM. We went to BestBuy and he bought Xbox 360 there. Then we came back home to drop it; and wen t back shopping. There was hardly any crowd and we walked down the road. We were surprised and wondering if this is what queuing up is all about. We went to Eaton Centre and started visiting the stores looking for things we could buy. As noon approached the crowd started increasing. We checked out many stores and Yogesh did most of his shopping; while I didn’t do much. We decided to pack lunch and go home. We would have our lunch at home, drop the packets and come back for more.

When we came back the place was fully crowded. It won’t be wrong to say that this was the biggest crowd I had seen in my entire stay in Toronto; in fact I hadn’t seen half a crowd before in Toronto. Almost all big shops had queues outside. Some of the stores had pretty long queues. We didn’t enter any of those shops, but we saw what Boxing Day sales meant to people here. We did some more shopping – this I did most of the shopping. There was a huge queue for billing as well. It was nice to see people standing in queues patiently waiting for their turn. Almost everyone had some packets containing stuff they had already bought. We were exhausted by then; legs were paining as if refusing to stand or walk. We decided it was enough for today and returned home around 6 PM after having another coffee.

More than 10 hours of shopping totally exhausted us. At Eaton Centre people were sitting on floors, benches, stairs, anywhere they could find a place; everyone having several bags with them. We had our share of bags as well. Overall it was a wonderful experience being part of the Boxing Day shopping. The body is yearning for sleep as tomorrow it is back to office…

Toronto diaries – Trip to the Niagara Falls

The first outing in Toronto outside of Toronto was to Niagara Falls. I guess the name says it all J. It indeed is a wonderful place – amazing sight. More on it later. First the journey.

I, Yogesh, Shashin and Ankur rented a car for the trip. Only Ankur and I had our driving licenses; so Ankur was the designated driver and I was to be a backup if required. We are not used to the left-hand drive and expected some trouble; and trouble it was in the initial part of the journey. It took Ankur some time to get used to the brakes and the seat belts came into good use (yeah me and Yogesh were wearing seat-belts sitting on the back seat). Also he was having trouble deciding which lane to drive in as here it is completely opposite to India. Add to it his confusion in ‘left’ and ‘right’. And to make matters worse he was dealing with 3 side seat drivers. We had one hell of a ride. Although I must say once he got hang of the car and we stopped giving directions he drove pretty well.

Niagara Falls is some 120 kms from Toronto and we reached there in less than 3 hours. The moment we got out of the car we could feel the chill. It was cold and windy. The temperature was touching 0 and it felt like about -3. We parked the car and walked towards the falls. As we reached near the falls came into view. They seemed small compared to what I had heard (and imagined) but never the less they were beautiful. As we reached near the railing I found that they were not the actual falls; the actual falls were a little further. As it came into view all I could do was stare at it (and exclaim WOW). I am sure trying to describe it will be a waste of time. I will let the photos do the talking.

It was freezing out there. We had a coffee spend some more time there and then started back. On our way back we went to a couple of vineyards. One was an unknown entity – a new setup which wasn’t yet in market. The wines were pretty good. Tasted ice-wine for the first time and it was pretty good. The second winery that we visited was a well-known brand – the setup was too commercialized for my liking. On our way back we stopped near Lake Ontario. It was so cold out there that within a couple of minutes I couldn’t feel my ears. Got back in the car and went to an Indian restaurant for dinner. I can’t believe we waited for around 50 mins for vegetarian food (yeah it’s true).

Overall it was a wonderful day and a wonderful visit. Thanks to Ankur for driving all the way despite our comments, and thanks to Yogesh and Shashin for making the trip wonderful. And finally to Niagara Falls for being so breathtaking.

Toronto diaries – the first week

It’s been a week in Toronto and it feels like I have been here quite long. It’s been a strange city so far. Sometimes I feel like going back home and sometimes I feel as if it is a nice place to settle in – yeah settling here has crossed my mind. Haven’t been able to explore much as office has kept me busy. But got some flavor of the place from my colleagues who have been here for some time.

I am staying in a corporate apartment provided by my company. It’s a 2-bedroom apartment which I am sharing with a colleague who has come with me. The apartment is nice and has almost everything. There is a microwave, an oven, burner, washing machine & drier, fridge, dishwasher, utensils, TV, toaster, juicer etc. in short almost all the essentials that you need are provided which makes the stay easier. Thermostat keeps the apartment warm and cozy.

My roommate has brought lots of ready to eats so food isn't a worry as well. Although its nothing compared to home cooked food, it is quite comfortable not having to cook or eating all meals outside. Lunch we are having outside but breakfast and dinner we make in room. A couple of dinner invitations from people already staying here haven’t been bad either. Automatic Washing machine reduces the effort of washing clothes. Dishwasher takes care of the dishes. I guess it has been a comfortable stay thus far.

About Toronto, well it seems a nice place. Our apartment is in downtown, so there are lots of people around. The office is 20 mins walk. The weather is amazing – amazingly cold I should say. The temperature has stated touching 0 and expected to go to -2 next week. Moreover for the past 2 days wind has been blowing continuously making it feel even colder. But I am kind of enjoying it. And I got a glimpse of snow fall although it can hardly be called a snowfall. Can’t wait for the actual snowfall J. Toronto has a nice subway which prevents you from walking outside in the cold; you only have to go few blocks in between in the open. Traffic rules are pretty good. People around seem well as well.

The food here is pretty bland. I won’t be wrong if I say I hardly enjoyed any food so far. There are almost no spices and taste is nowhere compared to India. Even the vegetables seem to lack their own taste. Maybe soon I will have to start cooking, but that might not make much difference :P. Also the place seems to be on the costlier side; at least by Indian standards. Another thing I have seen so far is they don’t seem to have a concept of small. All food items seem to come in large packets/sizes. Plus most of the eatables are towards sweet here I have hardly found anything spicy so far.

I believe that’s it for now. More posts to follow soon.

2011 - Bye Bye

I know I am a little late to say goodbye to the last year but like they say “Better late than never”. The last year was a mixed bag; but I wouldn’t call it a happening year. Trips were far lesser than previous years. More friends got married and others settled into their married life. Many got new members in their family. Office wasn’t too bad. I stayed alone for the first time in my life for quite long – stayed in Bangalore the last two months. And I managed to escape one more year remaining single.

The best thing to happen last year was my trip to Laddakh. It was something I wanted to do for a long time and finally I could make the trip. The place was amazing and it was a dream come true.

I can’t let the year go without thanking friends who really made the year memorable. I can’t mention all the things but I will mention few of the people and moments -

• I will start with Minakshi, without whom the Laddakh trip wouldn’t have been possible. And we shared many memorable moments together.
• Shubhi for making my stay in Bangalore comfortable. I don’t know how I would have survived without her.
• Rupesh, Nitin and Birendra for making the office life enjoyable.
• Seema for helping me with her advices.
• Shubhi and Devadarshan for helping me win the TT and Badminton titles.
• Navdeep for the wonderful time spend playing badminton.
• Febin for all the movies and time spent playing pool.
• Kunal, Febin and Sahil for the great times spent together.
• Manas, Saurav, Ashish and Hina for always being around.

I would like to thank all the people who were part of my last year. And I am hoping for an eventful year - my last year in twenties. So its “ciao 2011” and “here you go 2012”