Wow, there is so much to write about. Something new and interesting has happened everyday. Lets begin with friday. My best friend got a job in california. That is the by far the greatest news I have heard in a very long time. So met him over the weekend after ages. And it was lovely............................Its strange how time isnt a barrier in close relations and you seem to start from where you left.
I had gone out with my groupmates for the first time and that was fun too. We were together from 2 in the afternoon till 9.30 in the night. An american guy, a french guy, a turkish guy and me. And i enjoyed and not once felt like i am bored. I just met the wrong people in my first year I guess.
I am working on a case for my management class, where i had to talk to the HR and Tech manager and ask some questions with another american girl. Its amazing how questions, i never knew i was capable of asking, were coming naturally to me. My friend actually thought i was better than her in techno-managerial aspects and specially when it concerns putting it down on paper using the right professional vocal. Oh....la....la. That was a huge ego boost.
My best friend noticed an improvement in my communication skills too...............teasing me that he might get to learn some english from me. And he is more than sound in his knowledge on that language. Hindi, is another story....and there is lot i can teach him.
I had success at work yesterday after one and a half years, something that had the adrealine rushing immediately and I am geared up to work much more. Its exciting........and finally its fun.
So all in all the recent past has been lovely, present is beautiful and I am looking forward to an enjoyable long weekend with some lovely friends.

Jesica Lynch "The american hero from the war". She insists she is no hero, her duty was in supplies, her gun was jammed and all she ended up doing was closing her eyes and praying to God for help.
But thats the maximum you can do in such a situation. She survived and she is fighting everyday against those injuries and thats what makes her a hero. People look for their loved ones in her, she is a ray of hope for those who are waiting and to the less fortunate ones she gives strength to go on.
It was a nice article in TIME with details about what happened. She doesnt remember anything that happened to her in while she was attacked to the point she was rescued. As if the worst has been wiped out like a dream.
For those who have to live the war, a war thats not really their own, it just ends up being a bad dream in the end!

Negative facts that I have noticed about myself:
I am lazy................and I almost always end up doing things last minute.
I lack motivation............mere sar par dande ki constantly jaroorat hoti hai.
I lack compassion............always trying to judge people instead.
I am arrogant and constantly instructing people whats right and wrong.
I forgive most of the times and never forget.
I think a lot about and for people, even when I know I shouldnt care a damn.
Off late I have become excessively emotional and moody.
Like most people, I love to be liked and loved.

The list is endless, and I am working on a few aspects, while the others I continue to consider them as my strong negative points....................until somebody convinces me otherwise.

I interacted with a lot of strangers yesterday. Was out since noon shopping, studying etc etc. And everywhere I went, I spoke to somebody new for longer than usual.
Bob at the mall was more interested in talking about the missionaries in India, the Gir forests, the different cultures he has interacted with etc etc than selling stuff. Spoke to him for around 30min. Dont know whether it was his marketing skills or mine.................something triggered it either way.
Then at the food court, the girl making the sandwich.......i smiled at her twice and she got talking to me about how long her day had been, how much more she had to do and since when she worked there etc etc. The smile made the difference I guess.
And then at Borders while in line to get coffee, I didnt notice this man in the line and apologized and asked him to go first, after all he had come before me. But he insisted I go first because "Ladies first" and with a smile yet again, I was ahead of him in the line.
Sometimes its a genuinely nice day!

First snowfall of the season. Looks as beautiful as it did two years back from the 10th floor. Or from my room window early sunday morning with a cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows in it. Miss that!!!!! And miss the person who made the hot chocolate for me, anytime and everytime I needed it.

I saw Pinjar this weekend. I really enjoyed it. Its a serious movie about partition, relationships, specially for a girl who first lives a life of complete pampering (most often) at her parents place and then suddenly transforms into a mature and responsible woman.
Bete ko deti hai mahal attariya......beti ko deti pardes ri,
Jag mein janam kyun leti hai beti.......aaye kyun vidaii waali raat re!!!!
What do you do when you realize that the place you called home for 20 years, the people you loved and cared for most.......................everything has changed? Where do you go when you dont belong anywhere? Why do you accept that you cannot be a part of that family, while your brother becomes more integral to it? Why? Why? Why?

" I am surprised to see that "XYZ" found out those articles. I expected you to do that, after all its your work." This is what my boss said to me yesterday and I was depressed after this. I also worked very hard for 2 hours, looking for new information. The problem is I do the work, but I dont bother to search the literature too often, maybe twice a month. And obviously thats not the way things work. I work towards targets to be achieved. Working on my own and setting my own targets is what I have to learn. Otherwise I might never graduate.

Another thing that I dont want to forget with time and would like to put it down now while I remember is the first guy I officially met for an arranged marriage scenario. Mom wanted me to wear a nice formal salwar kameez to meet him. The problem was that this guy was coming straight from work and there was no way I was going to ridicule myself by being over-dressed. So I decided to be myself. It was a very very strange feeling................................finally i decided to enjoy the whole situation one way or the other.
I met the guy at home and then the two of us went out for dinner.............and the most intersting part of the conversation was:
Me: I generally ask people who smoke, why did they start?
He: Is that your way of asking me?
Me: Maybe
He: I started because I thought it was cool.
Me: And now?
He: I am scared of alzimers (i dont know how to spell this right)
He: Do you know what it is?
Me: (innocently) No!
He: Its a disease in which you suffer from memory loss, your brain starts shrinking gradually, to a point where you dont remember how to do the basic things like brush your teeth. I am very scared of this disease. And it is known that smoking reduces the probability of getting it.
Me: But whats the initial probability of getting this disease?
He: I dont know but its increasing and I would rather die of a classier disease like cancer than this.
Me: So then everybody should start smoking to avoid it.
He: Yes, even you should try.
Me: How many cigrattes do you smoke a day?
He: 20 cigarettes a day approximately. People have predicted I will live to be 90. And I dont want to live that long. One cigarette reduces you life by 5 min, so you see I should be smoking that many.
Me: (hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm)
Eventually I decided he wasnt the kind of person I am looking for, but he had a great sense of humor.

Mujhe semiars ya lectures mein baithna bada boring lagta hai. Engg mein I would end up playing with friends or doing something else in nearly all my lectures. But I never slept. Now I sleep like a besharam. Its always the same pattern. First 20 minutes I am very attentive, then i get drowsy and finally I am dozing off. Then comes the break, I wash my face, get a cup of coffee and then I am attentive again, most just when its about to end. So I know the introduction and I know the end, but I miss the important part. I always reason that if it was interesting and important I would have stayed awake. Luckily I dont have to go through the torture of compulsory attendance. Another problem with the seminars was reaching school before 9. I can sleep more now. But I feel guilty sometimes........isnt it madatory in my field to attend talks and take interest in whats happening in the research world. I know it is .................................but i also know that I dont care.

I met somebody interesting on my flight to paris. His name is Jeff. Was sitting in front of me, but we were both busy sleeping in the flight. I struck a converstion with him when we got off the plane. He said my face was very fimilar, he had been to pune and ahmednagar on this trip to India. He is a believer of Meher Baba.......one of the many saints in India, though I havent heard of him. We both were standing in the line waiting to go through security check and there is this gujju auntiji who was travelling for the first time, didnt know english and french dont know english very well either, so she was completely lost. She had to get off in France and she was in the transit passengers line. Since I had time and knew both hindi and english I decided to help her. This man said he would keep my place in the line and told him not to bother. After showing this auntiji where she had to go and what she had to do, i came back and what do I see? This man was waiting for me holding my place and he was thanking me for helping that lady. The 4 hour long wait at the airport didnt seem too long after that..................we were talking for two hours..................majorly philosophy and spiritual.............it was nice listening to him and his experiences over the years.........he is around 60 years old...............how he transformed from an atheist to a believer.............a result of personal experiences that forced him to believe God exists..............and how he is there within us and we need to find the eternity within to be an peace with the world around us. He gave me the address of Meher Baba's address in Myrtle Beach and a photograph of baba. It was a pleasant experience, felt nice after talking to him......................I dont know if there is a bigger meaning to all this and right now I dont care........got loads of other things to take care of..............just a nice person I met, wanted to note it down so that I dont forget him.