Third Week in Sunnyvale/Fremont/Berkeley

The highlight of my third week was that I was able to place my feet on the hallowed turf of "University of California at Berkeley" which probably boasts the highest number of Nobel laureates in a single institution.

Monday, July 9th:
I am thinking that 3 weeks from now on, I would be back at my beloved, not so much really, cubicle in PSPL. As usual we go for the Lunch with the engineering group and then the afternoon session is spent mostly in answering queries from Engineering.
I wish Amit Bhise a very happy birthday, albeit belatedly. Time zones/difference can be killing

Tuesday, July 10th:
You've gottta give me this one, 2+ weeks and not a single statistic from me !! Ameya/Harshu would be nauseated ;) Ok then, here's wishing Sunil Gavaskar a Very Happy 58th Birthday. We are at the fag end of the QH4 cycle and waiting for the handoff the next day.

Wednesday, July 11th:
While on my way to office, I am thinking, one week back I was on my way to SanFrancisco for the I-Day celebrations.Meetings, with Engineering and Bug Triage etc, and the entire morning and early afternoon vrooms by.. We are waiting for the Handoff notification but we receive the same just before 8pm and its way late for us to check its feasibility/stability. Our team in China takes the responsibility and I send a flurry of emails and reach home quite late.Thats two consecutive hectic Wednesdays, one for enjoyment the other for work.

Thursday, July 12th:
I am working from 9am to 11pm most of it very Project Specific. There is the monthly/quarterly meeting at Innopath. I am not a part of it as Company Confidential information is being disbursed. However.., for the disbursed food, I was a front-runner of sorts. But with only one dish each of Chicken and Veg items, there was nothing to be excited about.

Friday, July 13th:
Even though being Friday the 13th, it actually is one of the nicest days I have over here. I have invitations from Ashutosh & Swati, friends from Clemson and on Sunday from the Patwardhan family, family friends for the weekend and I having the nostalgic feeling of those days from Clemson. Work pressure brings me back to reality and I am fighting back the eagerness.
6:30pm -> The best 48-hour period of stay begins with a wait of an hour but the time is spent watching an amazing episode of "Seinfeld", the one with "the BET".
Ashu is here and I treat him to a couple of Baakarwadis. Within a couple of minutes we are in his stylish Nissan-Altima and on the way to Fremont.
Its great to see Swati after a long time. The last image I have of them is them fighting back boredom risen out of countless pictures being taken during their wedding reception. Neither have changed in terms of shape, though Mrs Finance Minister is so-close to being moved from Resident Individual to Institutional Bidder !! And, this time I am real serious.
Mark this: Swati will one day be on the front page of Wall Street Journal.
Ashu's parents are also amazing individuals who are enjoying their post-retirement days at their elder son's beautiful place in Fremont. Faar, faar away from the horrific monsoons of Mumbai. We keep chatting about our Waitressing experiences, the then affairs at Clemson, very few which actually fructified. Dinner consists of very well made Salad, Soup, Cabbage Sabji and poLi (chapaati). In order that kaka-kaku think somewhat highly of me, I avoid to gorge on the food, similar to what I do at Innopath dinners. We chat late into the night about daily stuff and in general, till the upper eye-lid absolutely refuses to leave its twin.

Saturday, July 14th:
Kaka is up about 7am, atleast thats when I first wake up but I decide to keep company to the sleeping bag. By about 8:30am, I finally wake up and then chat with the only up person at the table in between reading the Wall Street Journal. After days on end, I have a nice cup of tea to savour. The rest are up gradually after 10 and then its back to reminiscing in the past. The three of us are able to remember a lot of names, and some faces, but find difficulty in correlating them. Again its time for lunch and then after a layover on the couch for an hour we leave for UC, Berkeley.
UC, Berkeley as I have probably mentioned is a premier educational institution. The campus is simply beautiful, extremely thick foliage throughout. The new buildings coming up or have recently come up, have an archaic, arcane look to them. We must have roamed like half of the campus and we saw atleast 3 different libraries, a separate one for UnderGraduate students !!
(The Cooper Library at Clemson was also great too. However, I have really never understood what people do in libraries. I went to Cooper just for scanning pictures to my mom (and that explain my educational woes in short :D .., Back to Berkeley.. )
There was a huge line for some play/rock show at the famed Greek Theatre and hence we missed having a peak at the stage. We also were just late for a ride up to the Clock Tower as well. But we did capture such nice pictures of all the surroundings. I will try to put them up at the earliest.
We then had a very delicious dinner at a Thai restaurant. The Prawns/Chicken/Egg Rice dish was simply too good to resist and nearly sufficient for 2-3 people :D
The concluding part of the day is like the grandest finale of all, a ride above the SanFrancisco Bay Bridge. Instead of recording the Engineering Marvel, I tried to capture it in images, which did not turn up well as the images were all blurred.Back in Fremont after a wondrous day, Ashu's parents leave us to chat early on. We all discuss our jobs and work profiles, and then about the Stocks/Market.

Sunday, July 15th:
I get up late again after sleeping late, but a cup of tea later, I am very refreshed. I am up and working and getting ready for date with the Patwardhans. Dr Satyajit (junior son) and Dr Neelkantharao (senior) come to pick me up. Their Near-Million Dollar home in Fremont is the nicest home owned by our relatives/friends in the US. A nice 2-storeyed, 4BR, single house with a swimming pool. Lunch was also very tasty, Quiche as a starter, and then Idli-Sambar for the main course. The dessert was the icing on the.., no actually it was unlimited ice-cream on GulabJamun.
After spending too good moments in Fremont, I am back in "Homestead". In between moving my clothes from the Bathroom to the Washer and from the Washer to Dryer, I catch up on old friends and have a long talk with Samya, I hit the kitchen. I also catch up on the ex-colleagues settled - married in the USofA.

An Affair to Remember: Coasting Comfortably - Part II

I had no idea how this person looked like nor did she know how freaky I looked. Clean-shaven and nice dressed was quite not Salil-like yet surprisingly no one questioned me which was a relief in itself. I am generally very early at most events or atleast on time and if not then I make sure I intimate the concerned about my later arrival. Here I purposely decided to make a late entrance. I wanted to make really sure that the woman (she wasn't a girl anymore and lady sounds a lot formal) I was about to meet was atleast attractive enough :)
Men can be real jerks sometimes, don't they ?

There in a corner sat a girl (she really looked like one) wearing very decent clothes but did not see her face as she was reading a book or something. Isn't "Hi" one of the nicest words that we have come across ? Not too long, neither too short and conveys the perfect message through your intonation. With my "hi", a slightly course one, (nerves.., nerves.., damn these nerves) she looked up and returned my "hi" with her "hi". The difference was evident, from looks to confidence to voice timber. Boy, was she pretty !! And I know I am undervaluing her greatly !! On a beauty scale of 1 - 10, she was definitely somewhere between 13 and 14, and I am talking exponential scales here. I was very elated but then deep down in my heart I knew that I was not even close to her and that hurt. To be to very true I was so much enamoured by her looks, (ok I was, I lost it, I was indeed hit by the "Thunderbolt") I have absolutely no idea what we spoke for the first 10 odd minutes or so. Thats when I gained my composure, and then I was in my elements. I decided that if this was to be "it" (the final time) I was going to make the most of my opportunity (cannot think of a better word, though I want to)

There was hardly a lull in our conversation nor a single dull moment. We spoke on various topics ranging from Investments/Financials to Software/Careers, Tourist Places to Food likes/dislikes, from Family/Friends to Movies/Plays to Sports/TV. She was an avid fan of tennis and football and had given up on cricket much like I had. She too did not watch the stupid K-serials and followed only a couple of meaningful Marathi serials. She also read a lot, novels, (auto)biographies and stuff, with my schedule the max I read was Newspapers and ohh yes.., a lot of Functional Specifications :(Staying with her grandparents had made her not very religious but definitely spiritual. She knew a lot of a the scriptures as well as she knew about accounting. She had even tried her hand, rather voice for the SaReGaMaPa tryouts but had to fall out in the 2nd last round of eliminations.

We had practically exhausted the widest of spectrum of all topics and yet I felt that there was still so much to talk about. The question was what she thought. Moreover the real question was "what she thought of me" And I was absolutely stunned by her suggestion of meeting for breakfast the very next day !! The next day we did meet at an even better place than yesterday, not that the place mattered but it helped.
It wasn't exactly "Breakfast at Tiffany's", though we had Audrey at one end there was George Costanza at the other !!
The breakfast was not that great but it just did not matter. The topics were enough food for thought though the platter no longer existed. Breakfast turned into an early lunch and then it was time to part (it would have been difficult to explain my long absence from home).., only to meet two weeks later. Next weekend being my B'Day, S.C. was comfortable with the fact that I would not be able to meet her and instead spend time with family and dear friends.

The pretty long 2 weeks seemed like they would never end, but thankfully they did :)

2nd Week in Sunnyvale/SanFrancisco

Spent the 2nd week in Sunnyvale working and enjoying in SanFrancisco listening to different versions of the "Star Spangled Banner" at multiple locations around the Fisherman's Wharf.

2nd July:
Got to meet the 4 engineers from China who are also on a 4 week schedule to HQ.Meetings as usual and the engineering meeting after lunch. The meeting lasted a little longer for some of us due to various issues involved.

3rd July:
There seems to be a festive atmosphere in the company air. People have their individual plans for the next day. Work drags as usual and I leave just after taking the Carry-Out dinner from work. The fish is awful.., extremely salty and that just spoils the entire dinner.

4th July:
Wake up pretty late at 8:30 and leave for SanFrancisco at about 10am from Homestead. From the Crossman station I take the Light Rail towards Mountain View. It is all a rip-off.., minimum fare is a day-pass for $5.25. Then take the CalTrain from Mountain View towards SanFrancisco and its already past 1 by the time I reach Milbrae. Next is the 3rd change from Milbrae to Powell Street and I am finally in SanFrancisco. Next there is this huge line for the CableCar which takes towards the Fisherman's Wharf, GroundZero for the Fireworks of July 4th. The ride is amazing and you've got to see the videos and photos to realize the thrill of the ride. Foolish people were sitting in the carriage and some idiots standing much like the ones hanging from locals in Mumbai. I had found the best view place, not the most comforting but from where I could shoot a lot of great stuff. The CableCar runs on rails through some of the major streets in this area and the same roads are also shared by other cars, buses etc. Reached Fisherman's Wharf past 2 and I was very hungry. I buy myself a Shrimp Sandwich and buy the ticket to the Golden Gate Ferry also known as the "Red and White Ferry". This is the 2nd rip-off of the day, $21 for an hour long ferry. The ride itself though was very amazing. They take you out towards the Golden Gate bridge and it is frickin cold/chilly/breezy. The suspension bridge is truely an engineering marvel. Built by Huge Steel Ropes with something a meter in diameter and rested on two humongous Girders (is that the correct word ?) The return back is through the other side of Alcatraz but we just glide by it and there is no inside view for me for the famous "The Rock" prison of one time. Next I am out to see the very famous "Crooked Street" which is a part of the Lombard Street. Now SanFrancisco is a very weird town with totally ups and downs and it is a truly a weight-loss regimen for the walkers. The line for the CableCar was huge and I decided to tire my already fatigued legs just a little more. A couple of Chinese girls help me track down the correct way and then I am off on a very Kaustubh-like clicking spree. Now I am at the risk of running down the batteries and missing the fireworks being digitally captured. I next capture about a bare-minimum of required pictures at a Ship-Wrecked Museum. I am just looking at the watch now and checking to see if I could make the last train back home or atleast take me back to some place closer to Homestead. Finally its Dinner time and the lines at all diners are lengthy. I decide not to try something different lest I miss the show ;) Subway the safest bet is chosen as the Last Supper and after serving about another 20 famished customers, I am in-line to place my order. I order a double-Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki (the Clemson favorite) with plenty of South-West sauce with a bottle of Coke to go with it. I then walk for another half-a-mile and perch upon a nice place from where I would have a great view of the evening extravaganza. And then, lo-behold, its begins, the initial display draws a lot of applause, then the next series is most of a repeat of the previous display but with minor changes. This is much like the Chopra-Johar-Advani movies in which the script is same, so are the actors, the locations change. Similarly the fireworks mostly had the same colors, shapes, sizes, just their locations kept on changing :D. I glance at the watch and realize that I am not going to make to the Powell station in time if I don't make the way towards the CableCar. So using my peanut-shaped-sized brain I slowly but surely start breezing towards the exit. The grand finale is something that should not be written about or captured but it something to be seen to believe. As Richie Benaud puts it most of the time "Simply Superb", but that too would have been much of an understatement.4th July 10:15pm:I am probably the 200th person in the line and so-close to missing my first train and thus all the next connecting trains. As I am standing contemplating how it would be to sleep at the SanFrancisco Airport much like the multitudes of Homeless people in this area. They somehow squeeze like 60-70 people in each Car and I am JIT for the ride to Milbrae. (5th July begins) As quite expected there was a lot of WhiteTrash in the cube that I was, and they did give me great company right till the end. At the Milbrae station there were just 4 students on their way back as well. The train was 15 minutes late and I was limping in the cold and trying to suppress yawns. But at 12:35am I am finding that very difficult and just then there is this group of 5 brothers who show up and the entertainment lightens me up, definitely missed Harshu enjoying the bro-sho. I get down at Sunnyvale station and pleasantly find an even more pleasant Sardarji as the driver of a Cab. $13.20 and 10 minutes later I finally enter Homestead. I barely change, brush and lie down to see the clock tick past 2am on July 5th.

5th July:
I really want to miss work and spend the day lying the entire day in the bed but alas I am ready as usual by 9 and leave for work. The day is as usual, nothing special except that I get a not-so-ok take-out from a Vietnamese place. The evening eating experience is much more wonderful with an all-Indian cuisine served at the office. I ignore the glares from other colleagues and absolutely gorge on the delicacies on display.

6th July:
In terms of work was slightly different from Thursday and much like Monday with a lot of meetings. I do get a ride back home from Pradeep and then I am looking at a "what-to-do-over-the-weekend" question mark on the door !! I have Chiwda/Ladoo that I have taken from back-home and then I sleep like a baby.

7th July (07:07:07):
This is supposed to be a very auspicious day and a lottt of people were supposed to get married. I do not have any such issues to tackle and hence I am sleeping my "behind" off. I wake up and find Makya's voice on the other side. After a 15 mins talk and a lot of catch-up chat we hang-up. I call-up a lot of friends including the ones in Pune and then I am off and running after cleaning up the dishes. I take a nice little nap and then I go to visit the grocery store. Just before leaving I have made all arrangements for Moong-Daal Khichadi. Just after I am back, its less than 40 mins before I am having my dinner. The taste is good except that as usual the salt is less and it could have been more moist had I shut-down the burner a couple-of-minutes earlier.

8th July:I wake up to the call of, neither a friend nor a family member, but to the call that we just cannot hang-up on. The more you try to put it off the more the pressure it generates. I come back with a very lighter bladder and switch on the TV. King Federer pulls off a stunner in the decider though I had a feeling that Rafa would win if it went to the 5th. Again a string of calls, more like a tete-a-tete with the Answering Machines. I eat the remaining Khichadi and another sandwich after another 30 mins run-plus-walk in the sun. Then its the time for the weekly laundry and in the mid-cycles I am again calling people. I have a 15 mins talk each with Mike Mixon and Jayson Sawyer and it is simply awesome catching up on old friends.

I am just smiling the entire evening and in a great mood, tomorrow's Monday notwithstanding.
With each passing day the urge to get back home gets stronger I guess. Nature and Humans have their own ways, again a strong guess.

An Affair to Remember: Benign Beginning - Part I

It all began in the last week of July last year. I finally had some decent savings in my account after my car's down payment had emptied the same. I had posted some questions on an investment site and after a couple of days was pleased to receive a very precise, concise, correct response to the same. I knew it had to be a very old Bawa or an hardcore Chitpavan, either of whom weigh words extremely carefully. I had revealed my identity/email-id when I had posted the questions however the reply was anonymous and the Id did not suggest much. To be true, it did not really matter to me either.

Now being a thorough gentleman, I replied and expressed my sincere thanks and gratitude. What happened next was what I had never thought would occur. I got an email the very same day (though I checked it the next day myself) from the "Financial Advisor". Turns out 'she' was a very pure 'ekaraant' kokanastha girl, born and brought up in the Deccan area.

We then started exchanging emails first once a week, then twice, then daily, then maybe twice daily. I had the cake and was having it to. It was past Mid-September and it were really happier times. The mid-year salary hike was just barely the icing and I am not much of an icing fan. We just connected, e-connected. It seemed like "Magic".

We had known pretty much about each other except that we had not yet met. She had completed her CA in her second attempt, her paternal grandmother had passed away on the morning of one of her papers and she had to skip. S.C. (I think I can use the initials here without revealing her name) had had not such a great childhood, she had lost her father when she was 5. Financially they were quite stable and her grandparents and uncles on both sides had looked after them (S.C., elder sister, mother) very well. Elder sister was married about 3 years back and she was living in Pune with her husband, who for a change did not work in a software firm and was in pure Process Control. Things (Financial, Career wise) were going great for S.C. as she had joined a biotech company as its Chartered Accountant.

It was decided that it was quite some time that we had merely exchanged data over email, and that we take it up a step further. But who would pop the question and finally S.C. asked "Should we meet ? " And so we decided to meet just a week shy of my birthday to meet in a coffee shop. Quite a "sleepless" night/person that was in Pune and seemed a very long one too :)

(more later, till then relax)

First Week in Sunnyvale

1st week in the "Land of the Free and the Land of the Brave"

It is nearly a week since I have landed here and sort of enjoying myself.

Monday 25th June: The first day was full of meetings and one-on-one with most Engineering group. Even attended the Engg weekly progress meeting. Shiva provided me the pick-up and drop-off and showed me the way around I could walk to. Went shopping with him at the Indian grocery store and did some more basic shopping. The Chinese lunch place was also nice though I would prefer a Hunan place next time around. Came back from work to 'Homestead' and had a couple of Methi Parathas. Called home, spoke for about 15 mins or so, and then slept. The journey was Pune to Sunnyvale was quite a long one and very hectic to put it in mild terms.Absolutely No Work done.

Tuesday, 26th June: Power outage in the company and hence work is affected again. Here however it works differently. people were happy and enjoying. We back home get tense as execution is affected. Around here they find it as an excuse to go HOME !!and so more than half the day gone. Work starts at 2:30 or so, try to do my best by 7 and beyond.., most of the office is empty before 6 and you are all by yourself. I returned to 'Homestead' and went for a nice jog. Felt nice running on an Empty Street at 7:30pm and that too in Bright Sunlight.

Wednesday, 27th June: Again a power outage but luckily it is up by 12pm and work starts earlier than the previous day. Finally I am able to get some work going and with an isolated place of work, I am able to pull-up nearly 2 days or work by 7. In between, its Pizza day and I have a sumptuous feast at the table. I mostly limit myself to salad and veg pizza slices (3 of them) and a couple of Chicken Wings. Conference call starts at 8:30 and ends by 9:30 or so. From office to 'Homestead' which is nearly a 20 mins walk I do not see a single car pass on either side of the roads that I take home.

Thursday, 28th June: No Power Outages this day and work as usual, nothing much happens. Shiva was going to come in late so had a coffee break with Pradeep. Now he is one of the most coolest guys I have seen altogether, not just in Innopath. Work is finally taking some shape, speed and size. The "Chinese" food in the company in the evening was really bad and I have a weird feeling in my stomach.

Friday, 29th June: The food was really not "that" bad. Breakfast includes Bagels, Muffins and Orange juice. For lunch we head to an Indian restaurant called "Shaan". Shiva orders "Tandoori Chicken Breast". If that is supposed to be the size of a Chicken Breast, that chicken must have been as big as a Goat/Sheep. Man was it Huge.., too bad, I did not have my camera with me. I, being the guest, get the extra one to take home for Dinner as well. So far No Cooking done and I am missing it.It is 8:30 and the thing being shown on TV is unbelievable. If kids are watching no doubt they are a messed up lot. I later come to know that there is DishTV and hence "this Entertainment". Parents can breathe a little easy I guess.I am actually counting the number of things I was doing exactly a week back. Godya helping me buy and pack stuff, reducing the increased Kgs. Time Flies.

Saturday, 30th June: The alarm is Off for 2 days and I get up past 12.., with the Blinds closed there is no sense of the time by looking out of the window. It does not help much as it looks to be same from 8am to 9pm. I get up and finish the daily activities. And then, I go for a RUN.., at 12:30. It feels great, liberated almost. Roads are empty other than some Mexicans working/mowing the gardens/lawns in front of the office buildings. I jog past the Innopath building on the other side and then I give up. Walk some more then jog some more. Locate where the Subway is then start my way home through a different side. I lose the orientation for a moment but then am back at "Homestead" in 5 mins. Nice 30-40 mins workout on Saturday morning.My first hand at cooking involves "Maggi Masala" and nothing more. Lunch and then there is an array of great movies, Forrest Gump, Cast Away on one channel, Mission Impossible on another. Basic Instinct 2 is nowhere even Close to the Classic-Prequel. Sharon Stone.. now thats a different story.I talk to relatives/friends for some time and then I fall asleep for a while. When I get up, I am Lethargy Personified. Do not even wish to get off the bed.Then I decide to go to the temple. I know this is as absurd as "Tambe Aarogya Bhuvan and Mutton Pattice". Nah, I did not go there to exactly pray, but I went there for prey. And I do not mean "Single Rich Indian Women" but Food. Its not that I don't want to spend money but there is nothing around to go and spend. Clemson suddenly seems to be so much better than the Bigger Cities. Thats the biggest Irony, when the shops were close by, the wallet did not smile much the. Now the $ are there but the shops aren't to be seen.The temple or so, and the surroundings are not like what we see in India. All Gods are placed in one corner and the rest of the pandal is for people just to sit and listen to a person who was wailing aloud under the pretext of singing a Bhajan. He either was taking momentary breaks or was forgetting the lines while singing. But whatever he was singing probably drove the Gods away rather than bringing them closer. The dinner arrangements were nice but the food, the less said the better. BH people, don't crib, stop abusing the quality of food. Rice, Kaali Daal, Roti and a couple of Sabjis, Jalebis and Rice Kheer was quantity enough but lacking quality. Should not be complaining of free food though and the greatest part was that I did not have to cook for another day.There was this "Aunty" in a cocktail dress, in a temple ??? and Boy was that low-cut. Another inch or so and Mallika Sherawat would have been put to shame. Why did she have to bend low anyways to feed her kid ? Why not keep the kid on a chair or even the table to feed him ? Most Gentlemen were not complaining though their better halves were.

Sunday 1st July : I wake up to the call from home and its dad on the line. After about 15 mins of Parents-Son and Sister-Brother talk I get up to get ready. Have a 15-20 min call with my cousin in Baltimore and then I am off again. Running baby.., run Forrest run. Atul would be glad to know that I ran nearly 2 miles in one go.., nearly though, gave up on the last 200 yards or so. Came back and decided to make some nice stuff. and so here is the Egg Curry

for the afternoon. Luckily the movies being shown were really bad and I could get a lot of things going, including writing all of this stuff.Plan to do some laundry and clean up all the dishes during the evening. Also planning to write some Blogical Nonsense of mine, which I haven't been able to do so lately.

Passing Thoughts:
Summer in California is Not all that Sunny and Warm. Instead it is Chilly, Windy.
Missing Family, Missing Friends, Missing Colleagues, Missing PSPL (including Badminton on Saturdays) and most of all Missing PUNE :((