New York , New York

As I emerged out from Lincoln tunnel , with bags packed and leaving a bundle of memories behind , what was I thinking ! I was enchanted to see the sun setting behind the skyline , the picture-perfect frame that I loved and carried in my heart for last two years . Bare , yet beautiful ! And I started pondering about what it was that I loved about this crowded-bright alleys and dungeon like apartments . Nothing other than the energy , the feeling that you are in the center of the world , important-all-of-a-sudden , eating late brunches at posh eateries , drinking bountiful quantities of wine and whisky at the east village bars , strolling down the literary walk of centrak park and gaping at all the well dressed people who seem to have emerged from a hollywood movie . And everything !

Before I vacated the city , I made a final trip to Brooklyn bridge , my all time favourite spot there . I could watch the twinkling lights of the city as the 4 train buzzed next to me .Not just the lights but love , food , music , wine , strippers , shopping , jogging all seemed to be mingle equally well here . And I have always cherished the anonymity that the bustling city provides . The sweet guilty feeling that creeps into your mind when you know that you are no longer being monitored . All of a sudden I was free , I could wake up on a Saturday morning and go all around . I could pick up a copy of AM New york at the station and start making plans for a weekend that never arrived . And after repeating that for weeks , resign politely to the game of Angry Birds .

When I look back , I do realize , that over last two years, I became a fan of Apple , I started monitoring news from all over the world , started loving all pages of New York times as a morning ritual , started liking the American breakfast , started loving retro music in rustic pubs and the cheap plays for which my company gave free passes . I learnt that life was meant to be lived , and lived to the moment . I realized that friends come and go and then they come again . I started following the tennis open which came to Flushing Meadows every year . I stopped at random train stations listening to music played out by strangers , thinking twice and thrice before giving them a dollar . And adding to the personal side , I got married and soon I am becoming a dad .

Will I crave for the retro chicken tikka masala sandwiches which I used to devour every other day Will I wish to hop on to the H&M next door to bloomberg office ? Will I want to see the night fade and lights go off in the city from my balcony ? Will I miss the familiar sight of 6 train emerging from the tunnel ? Will I miss the laugh that resonates our floor when the manager in the next row shouts " Its time to prove .. lets go ahead " ..But for sure I will laugh when some one asks me where do I see myself after five years though ;-)
Cheers ,
New Yorker

Life along the number 6 line

I dont know if it would be too early to write on this , but what the heck , I will . I moved recently to an apartment by the no: 6 line ( for non-newyorkers , this is the subway local line that runs all the way through Lexington Ave ) . So my office and apartment are now connected by the 6 train and I am totally in love with the 18 minute commute time . Along with this , came some surprise discoveries . The Srilankan restaurant , one of my favourites in the city also lies along the 6 train line , not to mention Crumbs by the Grand Central . The H&M store from where I buy most of my apparels is also on this line . Also the last station for this train on Manhattan side is Brooklyn Bridge , one of my favourite spots here . And yesterday , I went a few blocks ahead to find out some spots to hang out and ended up spotting a huge grocery store and wine shops( again by the 6 line ) which made me do some serious cooking at night. To make this train more popular , the book and the subsequent movies ( Taking of Pelham 123 ) is all about hijacking the 6 train that left Pelham Bay .. And the amazing truth about this train is that I get to watch a slice of newyork , I mean people from all walks , races , colours in my daily commute . Now when I look for something in the city , the first spot check that I do is ..... to see if it lies along the 6 line ;-) .

I believe a few months down the lane , I would have a lot more to add to the list

An Unusual Sunday Morning

The day started off abruptly , waking up at 4.20 and trying to rush out at 4.40 am still shrugging out the hangover from my system . Had to reach JFK to drop her and in the morning I realize that there is a schedule change for E train .. Hell screw it , will catch something else . Once we got out from the apartment , realized that the big suitcase's handles were broken and that I had to lean all the way to lug it along . Ok , accepted that and moved ahead to reach the station on time . When we reached , realized that we missed the train and had to wait a long time , screw the weekend schedules ! Now next challenge was to catch a cab from WTC to the airport and reach there on time . Once I had dropped Maya , I could still feel the sleepiness in my eyes . So got a coffee and was rethinking about the idea of doing the 4 mile run in Central Park ... But thought that I would push on .

Some background : I love running and I love Central Park , so couldn't resist the combination . I had signed up for this race a month back and had been training for this .

Once I reached the race site , I could feel the excitement in the air .. I was 4 mins late and people were still rushing in to join the crowd . I didn't waste much time to change into running gear and dashed to the starting point . Then I realized one thing , man its freaking cold .. But reassured thinking that my blood would get warmer in the next few minutes . And then I started off with a girl who was also a bit late.

And then things started getting better .

After 0.5 miles , I was feeling warmer and started waving at the volunteers .

After 1 mile , I realized I have covered it in 10 mins and paused to tie my shoe laces . I also started noticing so many people running around , bikers shouting and waving at us and then I decided that from now onwards I am gonna smile and run !

After 2 miles , it just got better and I was feeling good . Now I started enjoying the views , the trees and the lake on the way . Ah , and in between mind started wandering here and there .

Didn't realize that I had reached 3 miles , and on the way I went past 100th st , close to my future home . Now people were cheering all the way yelling 'the last mile..go further' . I thought I would give my best run for the last mile .. Finished that stretch in 6 minutes ( that is still my best ).. Grabbed a banana , an apple and a bagel from the finish line .

While I was recovering from the fatigue , I decided to walk the entire length of the park back to catch the train . Before boarding the train , I just felt glad and proud that I was able to do this .. The day was long for me . The uneasiness of waking up early on a Sunday morning just after 3 hours of sleep( heavy ) , the round trip to airport from jersey( long ! ) , but the elation that you get when you realize that you are a part of the 5000 other odd newyorkers who are out there beating all odds ..PRICELESS !

PS : This race was sponsored by Newyork Road Runners and was done for a fundraising for people suffering from AIDS . The website is https://www.glwd.org/race/

Dream of Californication

Pack your stuff, get the sunglasses, apply the sunscreen lotion and get the beachwear…. Coz you are at California, the golden state. The very first thing that I noticed, when I landed at SanFrancisco Airport was this tagline of the car rentals ‘ You did not come to California to sit inside your room ‘.. Well, that sounds like something interesting, right? And it all started from there, the rock and roll roller coaster ride. This is the place that gives you the opportunity to do lots of outdoor activities, and I am getting indulged in all those. There were some ups and downs, but yeah, what’s life without these?Now I have my next 3 goals .. get my body in shape , build a personal website and get a brand new camera.

Sail on over the rough waves

Long and winding the path may be,
Indeed rewarding the view will be...
Give that thrust for the final flow
Gotta endure the rain, to see the rainbow

Harold and Kumar go to office

Sounds like the latest Hollywood blockbuster ? Well yes , it is .. and this post is all about the Indian guy KK ( me , the Kumar ) and his flat mate Mike ( Harold ) . After making my first internship switch from SAP to Qualcomm , I checked into the new apartment given by Qualcomm , with all the enthusiasm in the world , humming a new tune and surprise ... I got a guy from Hong Kong as my roomie . Its always fun to have some one from a different country , but I never thought that it would be so much fun altogether. Day1 @ office , we were the last ones to check in there and when we reached the desk , HR girl , yes that cute one , smiled and said " You two remind me of that movie , the Harold and Kumar " and well , it all started from there . The name became a bit famous among our batch-mates . We were also excited about this ;-)
I have made my roomie listen to Hindi Songs , taste the Indian 'curry ' and now he has started craving for more .. dil maange more .. And I put on a smile when ' Dum Maro Dum ' flows out of his mobile when a call comes.Because of him , I have slowed down a bit , when I am talking ..but he says he has now got used to the Indian English . And he taught me Turkish Checkers ( a board game ) and some American History and culture . If you happen to visit our place , you may also notice that the wireless router is 'Harold and Kumar ' ;-)
San Diego had a lot of things to offer . Sun , Sand , Surf , Sea World and whole lots of out door activities . I did surfing for the first time in my life . Went for kayak in the bay , visited Sea World and Zoo , and whole lots of pristine beaches . I am extending my 3 month tenure here .. till December 2008 . Lets see how it goes.

Transit loungers

The term 'transit loungers' (borrowed from Pico Iyer) refers to the class of people who are entangled between multicultural identities .(My roomies refer to a friend of us as "Cultural Shock " hehe ). Iyer suggested this to denote the set of people who end up spending a lot of time catching international flights , waiting at the transit lounges . They don't have any affinity towards any particular nationality , but feel quite comfortable eating Pizzas and burgers ( or even trying out Chinese dishes with chopsticks ), listening to Bryan Adams , watching Hollywood movies and thinking of English as an international passport. Well , I still believe that I don't belong to one of them.But what made me think about this is the recent conversation that I had with my cousin who is in Indian Airforce .I was talking to him after a long while and he asked a simple question "Are you still a desi ? Or have you embraced the new culture ? ". I replied assertively saying that I am , and will always be a Mallu (hehe , the identity which I love to cherish ).
But afterwards this made me think a bit deep . " Do I have any right to be one ? ".....Like any pravasi Malayalee ( the denizens of Kerala ), I too wear the traditional dress on Onam and Vishu , and still vehemently talk , rather argue about CPI (M) , Malayalam lyrics and the desi mindset and all that . But that doesn't entitle me to be a proper Desi or Mallu .
Dreams and ambitions took me a long way out of the place where I was born and now I think the attachment for my hometown is only because my parents are still there . For me , home is where my mom is .. well thats true . Once when I was in Bangalore , she was hospitalized in Cochin and I rushed to the hospital and stayed with her there for the entire 3 days when she was there . Not because my house was quite far from the hospital , but I felt that is where my home is !!! So if at all my parents come down to this alien country to stay with me , will I lose the touch with God's Own country ? Something that experience should tell me .
My friends over here have now developed this habit of listening to Malayalam poetry online .Thanks to www.nishaunni.com and Vishnu , who introduced us to this website . When I listen to the lyrics of Vyloppilli and Vayalar , I feel that I have lost a lot of things when I embraced Information Technology . Well , technology has its benefits . It has taken us close to the long lost lyrics through these poems now .While I was in Kerala , I never used to listen fully to these lines , but now they sound far far better . May be I am not a transit lounger yet .... I am still at the domestic lounge :-)
PS : The cousin who talked to me , Manoj chettan , is heading to Kashmir now , his next posting . He told me that 'Dahl Lake' would be awesome . He told me that his posting is 11,000 feet above the sea level , and mountains look wonderful from there. He told me that life could be really adventurous there . He told me not to be a transit lounger and come back ....