The marriage to attend was scheduled in ghaziabad...on 26th eve...weather was unbearable...coolers and ACs were saving grace...stepping outside was all the more difficult...I was also wary of cold water and drinks...usually in our enthusiasm to combat heat, we tend to forget the impact the changing water temperature will have on throat...so from 26 th onwards I was just striking days out of my calendar...I survived 26th(checked)...so on so forth...the marriage happened with similar hoopla that indian marriages are popular for...everything happened peacefully, it was a good occasion for another reason as well, it gave me an opportunity to meet some of my relatives after a gap of almost 10 years. 4 days passed in a jiffy, Delhi by itself is going in reverse gear...there are townships, industries, rich and powerful but there are very limited trees...builders, governments and people, all seemed callous to the basic law of nature...the basic need of environment to have trees has been avoided completely...there is a constant cloud of smoke hanging in sky...it is visible from any corner of Delhi...but I think people have chosen to ignore it...power condition was good in Delhi but worrisome in Ghaziabad...there was a funny rumor...Ghaziabad's MLA is from BSP while UP govt is from SP so the power condition in Gbad was not good....going by the political situation, this could very well be true. :)...I did a lot of shopping in karawal nagar( one of the corner of Delhi)...took one ride in metro...it was good experience still...on a side note...the incoming stations indication inside the metro has been taken directly from Paris metros...thanks to Mr E srinivasan...delhi metros still looked and felt world class...
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Week 22, India trip..amsterdam, istanbul, delhi
An india trip on 24th may was planned for last two months. This was the first time Puja was not travelling with me. Thanks to her group here that I could go comfortably and she could manage on her own.
Friday,24th, flight was scheduled from amsterdam to istanbul at 12:00 pm, temperature outside was 6 degrees, so i had a light sweater with me. On reaching Schiphol, i came to know that flight was delayed by half an hour. No worries though, my companion was 'Oath of vayuputras' on this trip. So kept on killing my time on the airport. At around 11:45, turkish airlines announced on boarding. By arrangement standards, i found turkish airlines pretty slow and sluggish in its approach. Boarded flight and landed in turkey half an hour late but due to cushion of 3 and half hours in between, i was safe even after loosing half an hour from it. Turkey had temperature running at around 25 degrees so the light sweater was off. Air port was too crowded, and without any seat available, i sat down on floor, and i was not alone...after killing two hours, dozing off and on, i started for the terminal to board delhi flight. On reaching terminal number 215, i realized, airlines are indeed running in a loss as three flights were combined to take passengers together..other ones were canada and air india...after boarding this airbus, i inconveniently found that there wont be support of any screen to watch movie on the way(a thought stuck: is it only applicable for India bound flights? decided to confirm on the way back)...in the flight, i saw a person who seemed remotely familiar..after thinking for long and still failing to recall the name..i decided to take my chances and asked him if his native was Darbhanga...and he politely declined...he had always been in Delhi...i explained to him the context and thought behind my enquiry..on board food was ok ok and after missing television, i had become too arrogant to acknowledge anything good for on board services...6 and half hours later, at 5 am in the Indian time, we landed at Indira gandhi international airport, Delhi...and landed with us, another big craft carrying passengers from Dubai...resulting in a massive queue on immigration check counter..another hour delayed...at around 6:30 am i could collect my luggage and move out of the air port...temperature in delhi was around 38...in one day i had moved from 6 degrees to 38 degrees..welcome to Delhi
Friday,24th, flight was scheduled from amsterdam to istanbul at 12:00 pm, temperature outside was 6 degrees, so i had a light sweater with me. On reaching Schiphol, i came to know that flight was delayed by half an hour. No worries though, my companion was 'Oath of vayuputras' on this trip. So kept on killing my time on the airport. At around 11:45, turkish airlines announced on boarding. By arrangement standards, i found turkish airlines pretty slow and sluggish in its approach. Boarded flight and landed in turkey half an hour late but due to cushion of 3 and half hours in between, i was safe even after loosing half an hour from it. Turkey had temperature running at around 25 degrees so the light sweater was off. Air port was too crowded, and without any seat available, i sat down on floor, and i was not alone...after killing two hours, dozing off and on, i started for the terminal to board delhi flight. On reaching terminal number 215, i realized, airlines are indeed running in a loss as three flights were combined to take passengers together..other ones were canada and air india...after boarding this airbus, i inconveniently found that there wont be support of any screen to watch movie on the way(a thought stuck: is it only applicable for India bound flights? decided to confirm on the way back)...in the flight, i saw a person who seemed remotely familiar..after thinking for long and still failing to recall the name..i decided to take my chances and asked him if his native was Darbhanga...and he politely declined...he had always been in Delhi...i explained to him the context and thought behind my enquiry..on board food was ok ok and after missing television, i had become too arrogant to acknowledge anything good for on board services...6 and half hours later, at 5 am in the Indian time, we landed at Indira gandhi international airport, Delhi...and landed with us, another big craft carrying passengers from Dubai...resulting in a massive queue on immigration check counter..another hour delayed...at around 6:30 am i could collect my luggage and move out of the air port...temperature in delhi was around 38...in one day i had moved from 6 degrees to 38 degrees..welcome to Delhi
Monday, May 20, 2013
Spot fixing IPL, long weekend and my tablet_wk21
This week was roller coaster ride...as mentioned in my last note, i ordered for samsung 10.1 tab2 from amazon and was waiting for it to arrive, it came with its cover(not free!!) on saturday..dot on the date amazon has promised..hence i became owner of samsung P5110 tab2 10.1 tablet, officially:)...it was a long weekend as monday, 20th is the final holiday before christmas this year..its usual lazy day with lots of rain out there...last week, one more thing happened, my decision not to follow cricket became all the more strong, the last time i watched a match was unforgettable ICC world cup final...but good that i am not following IPL and various other tournaments these days...there are much better things to do in this world, o galib, than just sitting and munching popcorn and watching cricket..with due respect to galib saheb..by the way i firmly believe that tournaments like IPL are needed to bolster the prospect of domestic cricket..looking at cricket history where only heroes are remembered and not so popular ones are lost forever...its good that there is a platform away normal playing 11 country team, where people can slug it out and make some money(in legal ways!!) but then things like spot fixing will continue to happen as well, after all its business and some one has to make money, very few people choose to do that in legal ways...meanwhile, our kerala hero sreesanth has been caught here and god knows if he will be forgiven or not...but to assume that its only bad that happens to defaulter is not right...dear readers!!, mohd azharuddin(most successful captain of India till Ganguly arrived on the scene) was caught in match fixing scandal and where is he now..exactly at the right place, parliament..member of our own indian national congress party...heaven to the wretched souls:)...
coming back to where i started, tablet is working good, i have to find a way to read amazon books and to arrange to read 'Harvard business review' subscribed...that is this year's agenda...to start HBR and make efforts to read through the 10 editions of this magazine in the year...rest is good..this week would be hectic and coming week too, there is a marriage at home to attend:)
coming back to where i started, tablet is working good, i have to find a way to read amazon books and to arrange to read 'Harvard business review' subscribed...that is this year's agenda...to start HBR and make efforts to read through the 10 editions of this magazine in the year...rest is good..this week would be hectic and coming week too, there is a marriage at home to attend:)
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Week20_2013
Few days went by...sometimes i am surprised by the speed of time..just few days back we were struggling with project problems in January and it seems like the matter was discussed ages ago...Life is on the run...today i ordered my first tablet on amazon...samsung won the research war:)...actually there is a tale behind it...i and vivek were investigating and discussing for a good e-reader...the e-reader war is already won by kindle...so after discussing like hours over few weeks, i zeroed in on Kindle fire HD 8.9 and vivek decided on kindle e-reader...between the decision and day of ordering, vivek got other thoughts and decided for kindle fire hd 7...so now we both were on same page...still we were contemplating and debate was in a settling stage..suddenly vivek found that samsung tab 7" was available in 9999 on flipkart...now the scale tilted towards samsung tablet..another round of discussion ensued...somehow we both agreed that its not a good choice and we should stick to kindle one...so came 12-may, we decided to order kindle fire hd...first it was supposed to be ordered for vivek...so we filled the order form etc and reached to the final order page...and guess what!!...kindle fire hd cant be delivered in netherlands:)..we both were pissed off but still decided to give kindle one more chance, and went to international page, hehe...why did we even bother to try..kindle doesn't deliver to netherlands even through international website...hence we left at that and 12th ended with a sad feeling that we were so close to the tab and still were far from it...now another round of research started..i reached on samsung tablet P5110 and vivek reached on the same tablet through his independent research...this was awesome...finally vivek's first tablet was bought yesterday from media markt and i decided to order it from amazon...hence, i am yet to lay my hands on my first tablet...but happy that i have ordered it already now:)...project work is going well, nothing much on that front, SEPA program is another story to be told separately...in the meantime, watched 'Go goa gone' : one time watch...good performances and decent comedy...planning to watch 'shootout at wadala' this weekend...lets see...majak majak main june 13 aa gaya:)
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Week went by_wk18
From 1st may to 7th may, i could not count the days passing by...these days i am going to office on cycle and looking at myself, that is an amazing feat..so evenings are mostly tired ones...last few days went by just like that...busy at work and restless in preparation for exam at home...sunday went in monitoring karnataka elections...only navin chawla could have competed with me on last sunday in monitoring elections...only difference was he has a paid job to do this and i was doing this voluntarily...work place seems more interesting as got a chance to learn something new these days...so i actually look forward to go to office on few days:)..thursday is also a holiday so have to see what can be planned...its a nice weather out there at the moment...looks like sullen trees have come to life, sun is just setting and proper bridge(not wind) is blowing, pleasant cloudy sky...its difficult to wait for sun to set during fast(Puja was fasting today) these days:)..its too late by then...oh by the way, today was extensive research day on tablets...hopefully i will get my tablet soon, but depends on several conditions, will tell you about conditions later...many of the colleagues in office are taking friday off to enjoy extended weekend...but i will work, for reasons unknown to me...no plans as of now to go anywhere but will roam around amsterdam...there is a marine museum which opens only in summer..possibly will go for that...not decided yet...applications have opened for this year...lets see how it goes:)
Friday, May 3, 2013
Iron Man3_added to the list_1st may
After queen's day trip on 30th april, we (with a group of friends) decided to celebrate May day with Iron man..Pathe is a popular theater complex in Amsterdam and we, being loyal customers of Pathe, had only choice of Pathe to go to...so may day, 18:00 hrs, we decided to meet Iron man, finally..movie was good and worthy of Iron man movie type...Robert Downey Jr paid final tribute in this movie...overall, day ended well...though i must say movie was not worthy of another attempt...and 3D part was very limited...this time i understood the meaning of the phrase, 30% of the movie was shot in 3D and 70% non 3D :)....Nothing much to say for last 2 days after 1st, usual work schedule, these days i am learning about data warehouse testing, its interesting in first impression, waiting for the first pitfall in the project for hard landing...that's where the real learning will happen.
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Queen's day_30th april
Queen's day is a very big day of Netherlands..you are free to set up your shops..no shop lets you use the PIN, so cash is mandatory...oh forgot the historical reason!!..it is Queen Beatrix's mother's birthday...but 30th april 2013 is very special for another reason: Queen Beatrix is handing over the reins to her eldest kid(son)...this point is important, because had the eldest kid be a daughter, she would be the next queen...here goes my recount of this day...
We planned to start from home at 12:30 pm, and coincidentally we actually started at this hour:) no delays...trams would not be running on the defined route and there would be deviations, i knew that but still boarded the tram for a destination of which i didn't know any thing about...thoda toofani ho jaye kinda...landed in surinamplein..last stop of tram number 5 on queen's day..the couple who were roaming around with us wanted to definitely go to leidsaplein..after browsing through maps and whatever resource we had(we didn't have steve job's support either)...we just started in a direction in which max people were going...any way, roaming around and scourging through streets, we reached leidsaplein..lot of crowd, rather drunk crowd...concerts going on mid roads...it must have been hell of a time for police to maintain the sanity of the country:)...i think you can do yearly census of the country on this day...roaming free on roads, i saw people hugging the police men as well...drunk ladies are allowed to do anything...after passing through the leidsplein area..i insisted on going towards centraal as i expected the fair at the center...but this year, being swearing in ceremony and all..and royal family was out on streets with multiple distinguished guests, fair was missing from centraal...that also meant i managed to skip rides (which i am scared off but not Puja)...while walking for centraal, we were passing through DAM area..and coincidentally, we saw lot of security arrangements..a siren immediately ticked off in the head...some special security arrangement and its queen's day...so definitely queen or someone i could see..with this hope we reached a good point from where we could see the security guards, royal marines, musicians playing army song and saw three sides of the main street cordoned off...that means 4th side would be where the one queen would be coming or going through...i told Puja to stay put for some time...those were the longest waiting hour of yesterday..i stood there, took some pics, here and there, imagined what would security guard be thinking of himself looking at this crowd, counted the number of vehicles moving in and moving out etc...but to no avail..finally after one hour of wait, we left reluctantly..and thus queen lost a chance to see me:)...came to centraal and walked back to surinamplein again..total duration of only walking was 1:15pm to 6:30 pm...its really amazing how comfortable do you feel on getting a chance to sit after such long journeys on foot:)..on the way got a chance to see 3 different african groups dancing on the street...had vegetarian food in a turkish restaurant(ok ok types)....
Day ended with tired eyes and legs screaming for rest and a good sleep..that was 30th april,2013..queen's day special:)
We planned to start from home at 12:30 pm, and coincidentally we actually started at this hour:) no delays...trams would not be running on the defined route and there would be deviations, i knew that but still boarded the tram for a destination of which i didn't know any thing about...thoda toofani ho jaye kinda...landed in surinamplein..last stop of tram number 5 on queen's day..the couple who were roaming around with us wanted to definitely go to leidsaplein..after browsing through maps and whatever resource we had(we didn't have steve job's support either)...we just started in a direction in which max people were going...any way, roaming around and scourging through streets, we reached leidsaplein..lot of crowd, rather drunk crowd...concerts going on mid roads...it must have been hell of a time for police to maintain the sanity of the country:)...i think you can do yearly census of the country on this day...roaming free on roads, i saw people hugging the police men as well...drunk ladies are allowed to do anything...after passing through the leidsplein area..i insisted on going towards centraal as i expected the fair at the center...but this year, being swearing in ceremony and all..and royal family was out on streets with multiple distinguished guests, fair was missing from centraal...that also meant i managed to skip rides (which i am scared off but not Puja)...while walking for centraal, we were passing through DAM area..and coincidentally, we saw lot of security arrangements..a siren immediately ticked off in the head...some special security arrangement and its queen's day...so definitely queen or someone i could see..with this hope we reached a good point from where we could see the security guards, royal marines, musicians playing army song and saw three sides of the main street cordoned off...that means 4th side would be where the one queen would be coming or going through...i told Puja to stay put for some time...those were the longest waiting hour of yesterday..i stood there, took some pics, here and there, imagined what would security guard be thinking of himself looking at this crowd, counted the number of vehicles moving in and moving out etc...but to no avail..finally after one hour of wait, we left reluctantly..and thus queen lost a chance to see me:)...came to centraal and walked back to surinamplein again..total duration of only walking was 1:15pm to 6:30 pm...its really amazing how comfortable do you feel on getting a chance to sit after such long journeys on foot:)..on the way got a chance to see 3 different african groups dancing on the street...had vegetarian food in a turkish restaurant(ok ok types)....
Day ended with tired eyes and legs screaming for rest and a good sleep..that was 30th april,2013..queen's day special:)
Monday, April 29, 2013
Lazy day_29th april_Monday
Hi,
30th April, being Queen's day in Netherlands and a holiday for all, has its own repercussion on the day before...it was a lazy morning with sparing rain and sunshine...i was in two minds, whether to go to office or stay home...finally decided to go to the office:)...overall, office was mostly vacant as many people have not turned up or have taken planned leave today...there was no meeting so finished a couple of pending tasks....called up my former manager after a long time...vivek returned from his holidays, got some time to speak to him as well...by 17:00 hrs, office was mostly empty, started for home at 18:00 hrs...things became slightly more interesting towards the end of the day...when puja informed me that there would be fireworks in Amstelveen, and may be a DJ show...fireworks are good to watch but DJs mostly put me off....so obviously, after some debate and few moments of dilemma, i reluctantly agreed to please the kid of my house:)
In the hindsight, fortunately, i decided to go as it turned out to be a good show indeed..lot of fireworks...free orange drink and small cream filled balls were on offer...a college band(i think) was playing constantly and they were doing well...i could enjoy the music...but again it happened only for a short while...within half an hour, i was gone to my distant land in thoughts...may be the noiseless thoughts come to the fore the most when you are surrounded by noise all over...i think mostly that is the reason that these noises in parties or public get togethers don't hold me for long...any way, fireworks were indeed splendid and reminded me of a typical diwali night in India minus the strict safety and security arrangements. So, thanks to the queen and here is wishing her a very happy b'day.
30th April, being Queen's day in Netherlands and a holiday for all, has its own repercussion on the day before...it was a lazy morning with sparing rain and sunshine...i was in two minds, whether to go to office or stay home...finally decided to go to the office:)...overall, office was mostly vacant as many people have not turned up or have taken planned leave today...there was no meeting so finished a couple of pending tasks....called up my former manager after a long time...vivek returned from his holidays, got some time to speak to him as well...by 17:00 hrs, office was mostly empty, started for home at 18:00 hrs...things became slightly more interesting towards the end of the day...when puja informed me that there would be fireworks in Amstelveen, and may be a DJ show...fireworks are good to watch but DJs mostly put me off....so obviously, after some debate and few moments of dilemma, i reluctantly agreed to please the kid of my house:)
In the hindsight, fortunately, i decided to go as it turned out to be a good show indeed..lot of fireworks...free orange drink and small cream filled balls were on offer...a college band(i think) was playing constantly and they were doing well...i could enjoy the music...but again it happened only for a short while...within half an hour, i was gone to my distant land in thoughts...may be the noiseless thoughts come to the fore the most when you are surrounded by noise all over...i think mostly that is the reason that these noises in parties or public get togethers don't hold me for long...any way, fireworks were indeed splendid and reminded me of a typical diwali night in India minus the strict safety and security arrangements. So, thanks to the queen and here is wishing her a very happy b'day.
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Its a randmthout presentation
Hi,
Sunday,28th....its a lazy morning in amsterdam 8:00 am and i dont know why i woke up so early...may be sleeping for more than 12 hours make you wake up early...usually whenever its a holy day(pun intended) and you wish to sleep...sleep wont come..typical murphy's law in action...any way...roads are quite here..one or two vehicles and few cycles roaming around...lake in-front of the house is also without any ripples:)...leaves are yet to come and trees are yet bloom...its total peace..quiet...humming sound of my computer seems as that of a factory siren...went to a flower show last sunday in haarlem...good show..pasting a pic below:
there were many such models created from flowers..no plans this week, tulips are yet to bloom in the fields so not going to keukehof yet, it was a prolonged winter this year so tulips have not come yet, another week...preparation on!!
Sunday,28th....its a lazy morning in amsterdam 8:00 am and i dont know why i woke up so early...may be sleeping for more than 12 hours make you wake up early...usually whenever its a holy day(pun intended) and you wish to sleep...sleep wont come..typical murphy's law in action...any way...roads are quite here..one or two vehicles and few cycles roaming around...lake in-front of the house is also without any ripples:)...leaves are yet to come and trees are yet bloom...its total peace..quiet...humming sound of my computer seems as that of a factory siren...went to a flower show last sunday in haarlem...good show..pasting a pic below:
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