tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-187733612024-03-14T14:35:30.861+05:30Sinusoidal ScribblesUps and Downs, General Notes on Life;)Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger793125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18773361.post-78264817698820778502023-06-19T21:14:00.003+05:302023-06-19T21:14:34.579+05:30A loss..Today we witnessed the saddest day in our layout's existence. BBMP brought in JCBs and razed some portion of the clubhouse damaging a building that was visionary for the time it was built in (2000 or whereabouts) and stood for 23 years.There are multiple layers to the story but the fault was solely with the residents getting too complacent with political assurances and connections and not taking Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18773361.post-47694355220225295962022-09-06T09:13:00.007+05:302022-09-06T10:29:38.438+05:30Bangalore has received a lot of bad press for the recent spate of rains. Infrastructure, apathy etc.We have a neighboring layout, Ferns Paradise, which is a little higher than our layout - Doddanekkundi has a lot of gentle mounds - our gate is the lowest lying point between the neighboring layouts and apartments. They have been lax in managing their excess storm water and just let everything out Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18773361.post-69896352595300393012022-05-11T13:02:00.009+05:302022-05-11T13:12:44.559+05:30Remembering May 1997It was March 1997. For our batch of students, the most frenzied phase. Entrance examinations, college examinations, board examinations, examinations, applications, admissions. We studied and prepped and we were ready. If only..Starting from the day our Math paper was published on the front page in Deccan Chronicle, the iconic Hyderabad paper, our lives went on a rollercoaster. The entire Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18773361.post-72304740491137531282021-11-24T10:44:00.003+05:302021-11-24T10:44:49.183+05:30Remembering Ma, 10 years after..This Diwali was like any other - but I couldn't shake off the thought of that Diwali 10 years ago, when we had to rush my mother-in-law to emergency at Manipal. On the way there, she kept saying, she might not survive this bout of "Amavasya" hospitalization. Her mom passed away on an Amavasya and she was somehow sure she would too. We came back - very sober, very reluctant to "celebrate". We Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18773361.post-29994197378350422452021-08-10T12:45:00.028+05:302021-08-10T14:38:13.777+05:3020 years Today, it has been 20 years since I first moved out of my parents' home. From a "safe" environment into a totally unknown country and life. I really do miss Madison some days - I never imagined I would get nostalgic about a place that I have not many fond memories of. Those days were always filled with stress over finances, managing my entire life in my hands, uncertainty about the future, Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18773361.post-86186717671185740372020-04-08T19:20:00.004+05:302021-05-29T19:43:47.955+05:3040 - the decade that went by..
I wrote this piece when I turned 30. About the decade that went by. Significant in its own way and very much "sinusoidal".
In the upcoming 30s, I was expecting a lot flatter curve - and it delivered.
I lost my mother-in-law at 31 and gained her back in the form of my younger son at 33. I do believe he is "her come back" as she promised before she left..
Rest has been smooth sailing. Settling Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18773361.post-85651952150078998522020-03-24T20:57:00.001+05:302020-03-24T20:57:08.699+05:30Under lock and key for a further three weeks!
The Prime Minister of India, our beloved Modi-ji, announced lock and key for another three weeks in the interest of the country's well being. A welcome move.
I was going to ring in turning 40 this April with a dinner and a cruise and now all that is out the window. Instead I get another three weeks of guaranteed family time with husband and kids and seniors all compulsorily staying at home. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18773361.post-16691768820179916472020-03-21T19:44:00.001+05:302020-03-23T11:05:57.515+05:30Farewell, Cisco!
In a very eerie coincidence, today, 21-March-2020, I finally formally resigned from Cisco. Should have happened a couple of weeks ago, but thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic - things got pushed to the last minute. And how they landed on this very day!
15 years ago, I was due to join the company of my dreams on Mar-14-2005. After seeing a lot of rejections, 9/11-triggered unemployment and economic Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18773361.post-29387204780343703862019-06-02T17:03:00.002+05:302019-06-02T17:04:09.312+05:30US wants social media details for visa applications!
This is the only thing that could draw me back to my blog I guess :)))
Boss has been on my case to go to the US for at least half a year now.
In fact one of my ex-managers and I had a bet on how much longer I can
put off that trip to the mother-ship when I told him that I had never
returned to the US after I moved back home for good. I "tried" opening a
DS-160 in April, that is to say, I Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18773361.post-29588205143537397842018-03-24T21:15:00.000+05:302018-03-27T21:16:05.577+05:30The BIG ten!
So, it has been ten years since we moved back to India! Time flies!!
Life has never been more content - all those little inconveniences notwithstanding. In fact someone was asking when we recently visited Hyd, about whether we have plans to immigrate and settle abroad. I said we were abroad and we moved back, and were particular about not having kids in the US, and they found that strange :)
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18773361.post-78953579869428781242018-03-21T21:10:00.000+05:302018-03-27T21:10:53.320+05:30Thirteen and going..
Today I finished 13 years @ my corporate Alma Mater - when I joined, I knew it was a long-term relationship so no surprises there!
I nearly forgot the day though. Pathetic! It also means, it's been ten years at the job in India - when we were moving back I was mighty nervous how it would be since I had never worked in India ever before. Boy! Did that turn out well. Of course I learnt a lot of Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18773361.post-9088007077549202832017-03-21T10:32:00.001+05:302017-03-21T10:35:31.267+05:30A dozen!
Today I finish twelve years at Cisco. That is three in SJ, and nine in India (already!). I worked very hard to land this job what with 9/11 happening and no hiring and on top of that me being an immigrant student and all that fun stuff! But when I did land the job, what a thrill that was! It was my dream company for the longest time and I was looking forward to finally moving AWAY from WisconsinUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18773361.post-15292212655420598022017-03-12T13:07:00.001+05:302017-03-12T13:07:31.782+05:30Mad town
Last night I dreamed about being in Madison. Not sure why, just like that, out of the blue. Its been ten years since I set sight on the only American town my heart will ever belong to! The scenario was that I was just driving past my old homes and eventually going along E Washington headed towards I-90 (the Mad-Chicago drive).
Why, no idea. But I did end up waking up nostalgic. I have a Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18773361.post-66815783808404202922017-01-23T20:57:00.000+05:302017-01-24T20:58:21.352+05:3014 and counting
Today I finish 14 years of working at a desk! I still remember my first job as a co-op at GE-Lunar in Madison - the first couple of days I was totally freaked out and wondered how I would spend the rest of my working life sitting within the same building for 8 hours straight! If I sat at the desk for more than an hour, I would feel fidgety and start to feel sleepy at the same time. It was a Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18773361.post-61592036389656595132016-11-22T20:48:00.000+05:302017-01-24T20:49:28.507+05:30Athens!
We (me and three other colleagues) won the Puma Urban Stampede National Finale in March 2016 in the corporate women's category which came with a prize of an all expense paid trip to Athens. Since we were going all the way anyway, we decided to extend the trip and check out Athens at leisure.
The run itself was splendid. We all ran the 10K category as individual runners and it was a huge Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18773361.post-31134501101398430862016-08-19T18:55:00.002+05:302016-08-19T19:09:30.875+05:30Small mercies!
Thank you to God for helping me survive the worst day yet in this
year, yesterday. Started with me having a nasty fall at 5 in the
morning. I've been running distance since 15 years and never once did
such a thing happen. One second I was thinking of Ayana's technique,
next second I was wondering why I was flying, and the third I was flat
on a black top road on my right hand. The only Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18773361.post-40303376318379918512016-08-10T21:08:00.002+05:302016-08-10T21:11:43.069+05:30Fifteen already?!
Yesterday was Dad's birthday - which means today was the day I left home to pursue my own path in life! It has been 15 years to date! What surprises me more than the fact that it is 15 years already is that it just seems like yesterday that I wrote that 10-year note - the last five years have gone by in a snap for sure - God knows where! But the point is, I had fun, I had a lot of fun. ExceptUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18773361.post-46053366812229086652016-03-26T15:45:00.001+05:302016-03-26T15:45:10.291+05:30Mr Darcy's Diary
I'm a great fan of Jane Austen sequels - I'm a little picky since I don't want the variation to be too wild in imagination, but once I am convinced, I go right ahead and buy :)
The latest one :
Mr. Darcy's Diary -is a wonderful re-telling of Pride and Prejudice from Mr Darcy's point of view. Its really nice and sweet, just perfect. I read through it in 2 sessions and am now doing a third roundUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18773361.post-2210185706483834372016-03-25T19:33:00.000+05:302016-03-25T19:35:06.449+05:30Cup of joy!
Several months ago, I read this article on Citizen Matters -
http://bangalore.citizenmatters.in/articles/switching-to-sustainable-menstruation
I had heard about menstrual cups about twice by then, but had no idea how they worked - I just assumed they were another thing like Tampons.
After I read this article, I was struck very much by the fact that it is ZERO menstrual waste to landfills. I Unknownnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18773361.post-58903500566411601132016-03-23T15:50:00.001+05:302016-03-23T15:52:59.170+05:308
Eight years ago on this day, we took a flight out of SFO to Bangalore (never to go back - to this day at least!). We were coming back home, for me, after a seven year stint in the US.
I was a little nervous - we heard so much and yet so little. So few people moved back for good. Would we like it? Would we hate it?
Adding to that, I had never worked in India before - my first job and entire Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18773361.post-55883410640955312302016-01-02T00:12:00.000+05:302016-01-02T00:12:12.263+05:30Closing 2015
Every year, we shut down at work for about 10 days, take PTO by force, (although, I would anyway do it) and have a good time. Since Rohan was born, and was old enough, I have been using the shut down time, to explore the city a bit more. We do spend most shut downs in Bangalore, thanks to Subhash being in retail and December not being a very friendly season for him to take off, it being the Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18773361.post-42087049065865489432015-11-24T12:21:00.002+05:302015-11-24T12:21:17.716+05:30The quiet child..
Filed under "Life learns from work and work learns from life"
Recently when trying to explain to one of the execs on how we are not doing so well on recognizing folks who keep the playing field green (no escalations, no defects etc), I explained that it is like when you have many kids and some of them are naturally more naughty than the others. If two of them are howling their heads off and Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18773361.post-19995929096464224052015-11-24T12:10:00.002+05:302015-11-24T12:10:37.606+05:30Four years..
Today its been four years since we lost my mother-in-law. Cannot believe it. at every critical juncture in our lives, we feel the loss. If she were around she would be so happy and what not. But, such is life. We miss her and hope we make her proud wherever she is!
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18773361.post-51396538795896619462015-11-12T22:30:00.001+05:302015-11-12T22:30:27.651+05:30Aksharit
Thanks to Hindi being a totally new language - Rohan's performance in school has us a bit worried. So we bought this board game when we saw it at Shoppers Stop - I must say it is an absolute stunner and regardless of what he learns from it, has a fan in me!
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18773361.post-64857782992024919972015-10-26T23:38:00.000+05:302016-01-01T23:39:23.906+05:30Seeing the world - 2015
So it was time for the annual vacation of 2015 - this time we zeroed in on Europe because Mom had to attend her graduation at London anyway. After a long thought process about what cities to cover, we decided to keep it simple and just do two cities - Paris and London - since with two young kids and three senior citizens, anything beyond that would be far fetched and very strenuous.
It was a 9 Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0