Carsss!!

                                        Yes.. if you are wondering, that word cloud is made out of all the cars i have driven so far in the US.. I never drove a car in India, since i didnt own one.. So when i got to know that i was gonna come over to the US, i thought.. "its time to learn". Hence, without any second thoughts, I enrolled in driving classes at the MDS - Maruti Driving School.. I thought learning in a big car would be fun, I went for the biggest car they had.. which was the Swift Dzire Sedan.. I was wrong, it was tougher to check the road clearance, turn, park.. worst of all was parallel parking... Now with that background, i traveled to the US..

                                      The first outing i went after i landed in the US was with my friend and he had a Nissan Altima.. the moment i got in, i couldnt help but think that the car is real spacious.. Looking at the ease at which he was driving that car (seemed really big to me at that moment).. i couldn't help but be amazed and wondered if i could ever drive that way..

                                     The worst thing about car riding is learning to drive.. I thought i knew how to drive.. (Well, I got certified by MDS).. but i was wrong!. Since i had an Indian license, i was allowed to rent a car.. and there it was.. the first car i ever drove in US, a Hyundai Elantra. With my friend beside me, i drove it around, half of the times getting scolded "Dont you know how to turn!", "Brake mat lagao!", "Tum U - turn kaise lete hon", "Marwawoge kya?" and a few other intense ones which i better avoid mentioning here.

                                      Changing Lanes.. Looking at the rear view mirror, Applying brake, accelerating, putting on the Turn indicator.. doing it all at once.. made me think.. Driving in US is impossible.. I almost thought to myself.. "Enough is enough.. no need to drive".. But then, i realized "Driving is being free in US". If you want to be on your own, you have no other option.

                                      So there i was.. driving another car the next time.. I got used to the Gaali's, but the frequency reduced now, since i started correcting my mistakes.. all it took was some practice. After renting a few more times, i thought.. "Its time.. Got to get my US license.. ". 

                                      Now.. if all this is on one hand.. the actual drive test is on the other.. My plan was to get both the learners and the drivers license on the same day.. The idea was good, but i scheduled my Drive test on a Monday. Now, one thing.. that people around here hate doing is waking up early on a Monday. Until that moment i never drove alone, i always had some one who knew how to drive beside me. So Sunday Night, i was calling all the people i know who had a drivers license to accompany me.. none of them agreed.. some even advised me against going for the drive test. Having no other go, I decided.. I have to go alone.. this time.

                                     I borrowed a GPS from someone and on the D Day, started to the place. Now, that was the first time, i ever drove alone.. and used a GPS.. I said my little Prayer and started.. And, guess what i was driving?.. "A Nissan Altima". Now, all i wanted was a compact car, so that I could do parking and all easily.. but the rental place had none.. so i ended up driving an Altima, which is almost like a full size car.. I was a little worried.. nevertheless i made up my mind.. so didnt look back.. My Ego didn't let me turn back and i went ahead.. Since i never used GPS before i ended up  taking a few wrong turns.. turning earlier than what the GPS indicates.. (It sure does take some time to get used to).

                                   Long Story short.. i ended up clearing the exam and the drive test without any trouble and drove back to office.. taking a few more wrong turns in the process, thanks to the GPS. The days and months that followed, I drove cars of different models, categories.. on different road and climatic conditions in different states in US.. But when i look back.. i cant help but laugh at what all happened and what all i had to go through.. It is a memory.

PS: The list doesnt end there, i look forward to driving a lot more car models and adding to the list.. "Stay Tuned!"

Phoenix Adventures..

Now, that is one day, which is crystal clear in my memory.. Its like a movie running in my head.. Sound effects included..  You will realize why by the time this ends.. Stay Tuned!!

                 Now that I said it resembles a movie, let me use Movie style narration..

Actors
Myself - Navigator - used GPS and Compass App (Yes, we used it. don't trust me? Read through the post!)
Friend 1 - Driver
Friend 2 - Accompanying us - took the backseat

                          That night.. we were returning from Grand Canyon after watching the sunset.. It was a tiring day, considering that we covered Antelope Canyon (Both Upper and Lower), Horse shoe Canyon and Grand Canyon too.. Yes.. it is possible.. Call me if you wanna know how.. :)

                          I turned on the GPS and after a number of turns (Thanks to the route optimization by the GPS).. We reached a point... Now, here, we could only turn left or right.. The GPS indicated left turn.. On the right.. the road was blocked anyway. We turned left.. We didn't see any cars before or behind.. It was 4 miles to the highway.. trusting the GPS, we went ahead..

                          Now, we had some extremely noisy songs on the stereo that evening.. Bollywood Desi style.. and I was trying hard to concentrate and look at the GPS to ensure we don't go out of route, considering its a new place.. It was all fine until the next 2 mins after which, we saw a board, which said something to the effect that the "Road will narrow down". We thought that's fine and drove ahead..

                         3 miles.. the GPS was showing.. I thought may be its some sort of a shortcut.. considering there was no one on the road apart from us.. Shortly the concrete road, turned into some sort of a dusty road with small stones scattered all over it.. Now we all got a little concerned.. But satisfied ourselves by joking.. Even US has roads like our villages in India.. After a while, my friend the driver asked "Are we on the right track?" I checked the GPS, wherever there was a bend shown in the GPS, the road bent.. hence, I said confidently "YES" .. trusting my money "150 odd bucks spent on the GPS"

                         After a while, we saw some sort of a fork and the road split into two..Now, we stopped there for a sec to check which direction to go.. Here comes the shocker.. THE GPS DIDNT SHOW THAT FORK! I stopped the noisy music we had on.. But still heard some beat.. It was so close and then I realized it was our hearts thumping fast!! Everyone fell silent.. My friend, who was driving the car broke the silence and said, "lets go straight.."

                     To our relief, we saw a board which showed horse crossing sign after the fork which made us believe that we are on the right track.. after a while, we came across a railway crossing.. a very narrow one.. I couldn't help but wonder what sort of trains go through there.. Now, it was extremely dark and silent around us.. with the exception of the insects making all sorts of weird, scary noises that we hear in the movies.. We crossed the crossing and drove along the road.. the silence still prevailed.. both inside and outside the car..

                    Now, the GPS, when it shows green around the road, it means there is greenery and if it  shows blue, that means, we have some water body around.. It was all green until that point of time.. and suddenly it turned blue, I looked out of the window fearing the worst and there it was.. We had stream of water running on both sides of the road!!. the road being at a higher elevation.. It was Ok, but what concerned us was at that point, the road has gotten so narrow to the point where, we didn't have enough space to turn around.. 2 miles showed the GPS and I told my friend, "lets go, we are close"..

                     Now 2 miles isn't a big distance, but, we were driving slowly, since the road was bad and the last thing we wanted was a punctured tire.. At. this point.. you wouldn't believe, we saw a sort of a crossing, it was like a few metal poles laid below connecting this part of road to the next part. Now my driver friend was saying "We should have turned back... I should've known.. etc".. Here, we didn't anyway have a chance to turn back, since the space was less, I told him drive ahead. I was afraid that those poles might bend or something, but, carefully, my friend crossed them.. It reminded me of the Evil Dead Movie here, where they cross a bridge..

                    We were on the other side of the road.. Less than a mile showed the GPS.. I got some confidence and told them, "once we cross this, we will be on the highway and we can make up for the delay".. little did I know what was in store for us ahead.. Now my friend who was driving said twice during the journey.. "What if the road is blocked?".. I was hoping it wouldn't come true, considering we were already around 4 miles along the road and we had no space to turn around... Things don't always go as planned and indeed 0.7 miles to the destination, we saw it.. A board which said "ROAD BLOCKED".. My heart almost leaped out of place.. I thought what I heard sounded like some Hanuman prayer from the back of the car.. :)

                    To our Luck, We had enough space there to make a 3 point turn with our car.. we turned our car onto a elevated path, which seemed to be fenced and had a gate to it.. we then reversed the car and turned back.. Now, we had around 4 miles to travel back along with same path.. We were all praying inside hoping nothing stops us.. and carefully passed through everything we crossed.. again.. extra careful this time..

                      Now we made our way back, but the GPS was still showing us the same path back.. We shut it... Now I believe internet was not working on any of our phones.. we went to some complex and checked with an old couple there.. they said.. "You gotto head North, that's where the highway is..". You might have seen the Compass app on the iPhone, but never would've used it. I used it.. that night for the first time..  I was checking it and told my friend to turn in the direction where it showed north and after a while, there it was!! The ramp to the highway...

                      Relieved, we turned back the music on.. and drove ahead to our destination..  hoping we had no more adventures for that night.. after all we had our hearts full.. :)
 

The Crazy called Apple..

I cant help but post my agony and bewilderment I faced during my visit to apple store today.. Thanks to my friend who planned to buy an iPod shuffle.. Yes.. the Tiny iPod from Apple in an even Tinier container

              As we entered the store I couldn't help  but notice the crowd.. who were all amused as they watched the gadgets in front of them.. Well.. they all the look the same except for the different shapes and sizes.. the mini's, 4s, 5s etc.. We got lost among the whites, blacks (gadget colors) and the red's (At last the folks who sell at apple get to wear a new color)..

              As we looked around for help, one of the ladies in the red spotted us and came over and said "Do you guys need some help?" We said "Yes" in unison.. Here comes the shocker.. My friend said "I plan to buy an iPod shuffle".. and the lady said "That's it??".. Does that phrase sound familiar? It does to me.. this is what we get if we go to a big super market and buy Gum worth 2 $ or go to a big restaurant and order 'just' French fries.. Now that IPod shuffle cannot be analogous to aforementioned gum or fries.. After all that things worth around "50 BUCKS"...

             Here comes the next one.. The lady pointed to a section in the store and said "over there".. I wondered what's over there.. We swam through the sea of people all engrossed in the world of apple.. moving their fingers to the left, right, up, down.. on the screens all amused..   and we finally reached that area.. It was marked "Express something..".. We had to stand in line.. and the person in front of us asks.. "Do you have an IPhone 5 in white?".. The store guy there says with a hint of arrogance.. "IPhone 5 black, 16 GB only".. This guy goes "Give it to me".. This seemed to me like the guy was so desperate that.. even if the store guy said.. "IPhone 5 Green, 1 GB" also, the guy would have said.. "Give me"..

             Then all of the other guys took IPad's, IPad mini's and the conversation was like..
The Other Guy: "I want an IPad"
The Store Guy: "What Color"
The Other Guy: "White"
The Store Guy: "What capacity"
The Other Guy: "16 Gig"
and that was about it.. he puts that box into a cover with a half eaten apple on it.. and "swooshhhh.." goes the card through a weird looking reader connected to the iPhone.. That's all it took for a transaction worth 500 $.. It seemed to me like purchase of vegetables.. "Kya chahiye?".. "Adha kilo aalo.. " and the dukaanwala.. Puts the aaloo in a cover and that's it..

            Then it was our turn.. I couldn't help but notice the table on which all these boxes in different sizes were stacked.. Just like vegetables in the market.. The smaller the value of the item, the more the number.. I could see the IPod's all arranged in rows of different colors and sizes...

"3 Ipod shuffle!!" My friend said.. Much to my shock.. I thought he was gonna buy one..
"Which Color" Store Guy said..
"Two in Silver, one in black".. and the next thing we know.. "Swooshhhhh... " Goes the card.. stripping my friend of around 150 bucks..

            Then we went around to stores we planned and didn't plan until our legs were tired and throats dry.. and we resorted to "Starbucks".. Yes the "bucks" you pay there reach the "stars".... Took a drink and sat near a fountain beside the Apple store.. and we watched as people went in and came out.. with covers having half eaten apple on them.. with boxes of different shapes in them.. all happy and satisfied.. Even after all that time.. the crowd remained the same.. as if it was some sort of a planned mission.. "Two people went out.. send two people in!!!"..

            I felt this is the Crazy..  'called Apple'..
 

Its not easy

The last time i posted, i resolved myself, that i will make atleast one post every week, but it isnt easy... I was so busy that i even forgot about the blog completely.. Was busy... Busy doing Nothing really... Nothing is what lot of us do... and spend a lot of time on... Depends on what you feel something is... Confused?? Well try to resolve that, until i make my next post... :)

Am back!!!!

Hello All,

Am posting nearly after around 2 years.... Things have changed a lot.... Recently my friend reminded me regarding the blog and here i am... back to it... There are lotsa things, i want to share... Lets start with one thing... After my last post... which is nearly 2 years back... Mission Possible is finally a success... I lost nearly 15 Kgs... Reduced waist by nearly 6 inches...

Tips needed? :)

Lotsa other changes and all the Gyaan... Dont Miss it... All this and more in the next few posts :)

Morning Saga....

Morning Saga.... Sounds familiar... Morning Raga.. Great Movie.. Great Music... Then whats this morning Saga??

One of the meanings of Saga according to Dictionary.com is any narrative or legend of heroic exploits. Here this is a narration about me... And my efforts to shed weight....

In the above Picture u can see a green land... Full of greenery everywhere... Pleasant right?? It is a perfect place for some outing... But thats the place where my mission starts.... Mission possible... Shedding weight might look pretty easy but i personally feel its the most difficult thing to do... Never look forward to this... I see people walking like hell... Models walk on Ramp and these people who not exactly are models... Walk around the Ground... This is once place no matter how fat you are, you would find like people... Not like minded... like Bodied... :D

Busy being Not Busy....

Sounds Weird, aint it? Well i am in such a weird state presently..... Even though i was the first one to be placed in our college... I am almost the last one to join the company.... And so, i had the previlige of a lot of free time to myself... And right from the minute i wake up, Whenever i see a familiar face, the only question most of them ask is...
"Did u get ur joining date" "What are u doing in your Holidays"
So what have i been doing for all these months of freee time... I wondered one day and tried to recollect all that i have been doing..... Firstly as u have seen in the previous post, I aimed at watching 100 movies in the holidays... So started watching movies ... Lots of em.... And finally got tired of em one day... Then started reading Books... Again Lots of em... I mean i read like one book every 2 days.... Then there came the saturation point.... Then i began honing my Photoshop skills... I began laying my hands on whatever i could find.... and edited it... Then one day... I shifted my focus to editing Music.... Mixing and mashing Music.... And now.... Bloggging...... Who says i am not Busy
" I am Busy being Not Busy"
And donno what i shall do next.... This is Jack.. Jack of All Trades for you...... But hey i dont think its wrong to try everything.... Like the famous dialogue of Abhishek in Blufff Master(Atleast i consider that a good one...) tat In childhood when his friends were asked what they would like to become, some said doctor, Some said lawyers and some said engineers... He said he wanted to become everything... (Interesting,..... right) I plan to be something like that.... I am working on it... Still got a Lot to travel....... Still got a lot of work to do.......