Jaipur - The Pink City Trip !!!

It seemed that I was on an extended honeymoon, when I landed in the city famously coined as the "Pink City", directly from Maldives. Dipali was quite excited only for obvious reasons of shopping, mingling amongst the traditional artistic jewelery, decor pieces and visiting the rich Indian tradition and finding out more about historical places in this beautiful city of Jaipur.

Just as you land on the airport and come out of the glass doors, a flurry of cab drivers ,some of them wearing the ethnic turbans on their heads, prong your perimeter and urge you to rent their cabs for the entire day. Luckily we just wanted to take a one way ride to a temporary hotel in the middle of the city before my Uncle could send us the car to pick us up and drive us towards the outskirts of the city. But nevertheless, in spite of making strong clear statements that you are not interested in their one-day, one-week deals of cab rentals, the sweet spoken, typical rajasthani-gujju style lingo pops up now and then to urge you to give them a shot at taking you around the city in a single day. Amusingly, they refer to your as maharaja and your better half as maharani, which indicates their marketting talents.

Mind you, if your wife is too much into shopping, cities like Jaipur are definitely not the place to be where every 20 meters you find yet another ethnic showroom with the typical Rajasthani Jaipuri style clothing, art pieces, home decor items are laid as bait to lure your lovely lady into their shops and make your wallet even thinner. Luckily I got a reprieve as my Uncle called just in time, and made us go to Fort Amber for a speically laid out dinner just meant for both of us. We did not realize until we actually got there and witnessed the beauty of the fort and it's surroundings in the night and with the light show.

Fort Amber, situated on top of a hill looked stunning with different strokes of light. The cab driver left us at the bottom of the hill and it was a 20 minute hike up to the top along a steep winding road. There was a light and sound show going on on the other side of the hill due to which the shadows casted upon the entire fort were amazing. The surprise that we had for the evening was when we were taken to the top of the fort in the middle of the palace and were given a tour of the entire historical place. The rooms, the silverware, the walls, carpets, antiques everything had it's own sweet price and it felt as if we were traveling back in time and were amongst the riches of the past. Some of the outstanding displays was the "SheeshMehal (Palace of Mirrors)" and a room filled with 22K gold in entirety.

An even pleasant surprise was the dinner arrangement which was laid out in one of the most private, meant only for two of us, a stand-out section of the fort, a balcony giving us a view of the city of Jaipur below, and surrounded by candles and natural lighting in the form of Diyas (Oil lamps). The entire charisma was quite romantic with sublime peace and no one to bother as we were served the deliciously famous Rajasthani Thaali with approximately 27 (I did literally count them for my knowledge) different dishes. We were flattered at the staff's hospitality and their way of addressing us as someone special and we were even more flattened when we saw the bill at the end lol. Of-course all of this comes at a pretty fine cost but I would definitely recommend it to have a once in a life time experience. (Mind you - Only once in a life time OK !)

The other day we were headed towards the outskirts of the city towards "Chomu Palace", the place famously known for the shooting of the bollywood movie "BhoolBhulaiya". We were in Jaipur to actually attend my cousin's marriage in the first place and for 3 days the Chomu Palace was our fortress for us to reside in. The entire palace had been booked only for our relatives and the guests who would be a part of this marriage and it sounded really exciting when we saw the entire agenda for those 3 days. There was Garba, DJ Party, Mehndi and some other traditional celebrations. The entire arrangements were quite majestic and Dipali had a ball amongst the cousins, especially when they got her to sing during the Antakshari program. For someone like me who loves to be with kids, this was a perfect setup with so many toddlers and kidos around me I had the best time of my life playing with them. Simply adorable kids !!!

We took a tour of the other famous places on the last day of our trip and got a chance to visit the Hawa Mahal, Fort Nahargarh, Jaigarh Fort, the famous market places Johari Bazar and Bapu Bazaar. Of-course we did not forget the famous LMB place (Lakshmi Mishthan Bhandar) to help ourselves to some mouth watering delicacies especially it's famous Onion Kachoris.

An exhausting but a worth trip was well over as we headed back to Ahmedabad and a feeling of sadness slowly crept inside me as the days were coming near when I would have to once again bid my parent good-bye and come back to Uncle Sam's land. This trip had been quite eventful and had a lot of memories tied with it, something to reminisce for a long time.

Click Here for Sorted Pics
(Sorry due to privacy issues cannot upload lot of other pics ... )

Cheers
Samy

A Mid-year Mini-Vacation !!!

I have not been able to keep up with my blog recently, and to be honest, I have ran out of ideas lately or let me put it this way : I have no great updates from my side of the continent. Things have been ridiculously following a strict monotonous routine and Dipali has also now slowly discovered the challenges of doing a full-time job and managing everything else on a daily basis. It amazes me that how much important the Saturdays and Sundays are for people like us who go through so much the entire week.

Well to ease out my stress and give myself a fair amount of relaxation time, I was blessed with a week of shutdown by my company. What does that mean? Well in the world of bad economy it means, companies who want to ensure cost cutting force their employees to take some days off - either paid or unpaid. In my world, it means, totally freak out, hang out in your room, not getting off the bed unless you get a nature's call, delay your baths, watch loads of movies, eat like crazy and the most important : Sleep like you have never ever slept before.

For the past whole week, starting 3rd of July, I have been enjoying a mid-year, mini-vacation of sorts, the first 3 days turning out to be hectic, going places ,being social, but the next 5 days, let me say it again, 5 "working week-days", lol, were just the best in terms of doing only one thing - "NOTHING" !!! I wanted to set all kinds of records, and to be honest, I simply wanted to see how much a lazy ass I can be and I think I lived up to my own expectations. Sleeping, Eating, Movies etc I think I almost set all new records with personal bests.

The first 3 days were all about going places in the hot California summer, 17-mile Drive, Yosemite Park and Bean Hollow Beach. Links to the pics are on my Facebook and/or Orkut profile ...

The rest of the days went by really quickly with me sticking to a strict routine of catching almost 15 hours of sleep every day. Slept like crazy in the summer afternoons, reminding myself of those wonderful days back in school, where one used to devour the Mangoes and sleep 4-5 hours like a log of wood. I was too lazy to even write something on the blog, and thought that it could be done at any point of time, but this divine time will come once in a life time :P

Boy, the days did go by pretty fast, and with the weekend approaching the heart felt gloomy but yet a bit happy, as for workaholics like us, a few days are still OK to enjoy, but given some more lazy time, the mind gets more crankier than ever, and with nothing to do things tend to get out of their normal course of life. Of-course a zillion ideas pop up when the vacation is about to start, with some bullets on the stick-it notes all over listing down things to do, things not to do etc but I guess we can hardly stick to those as the vacation kicks in ... One feels just too lazy to even bother looking at those stick it notes... :)

Finally, as I opened my Outlook Inbox on a Sunday which felt no different as before, after deleting all the trash emails, I got a shocker to see approximately 80-90 emails which would require at-least a one line response from my keyboard :( Bummer !!! What an end to a vacation and what a start to another work week ahead ...

Having said and done, I did conclude upon 2-3 useful constructive things all through my holidays to work upon for the coming months ... Let's see how those go and one of that is to blog more frequently, with at-least one blog post a week ... Preferably on weekends ... (After all, that would surely help me get my essay composition and construction abilities all roused up for Dipali's GMAT exam to help her out ... Believe me, it is really really HARD to concentrate on a single page filled with black words for more than 10 minutes after a gap of 3 years from the educational front ....)

So after, 10 days of holidays, 3 places with approximately 1000 pics, around 150-180 hours of sleep, 10-15 pounds of food and more food, 14-18 movies, 2 hours of GMAT (hard work), basketball, cricket, helping a friend move to SF, multiple games of Sequence, lying around like a lazy ass, 2-3 constructive ideas, ZERO blog posts, I am finally back in the grind, looking forward to another batch of toiling 4-5 months before I am off to India for my marriage ...

Phew !!! Days really go by fast on my side of the continent ...

Cheers
Samy

Week 4 - Reminiscing the Trip Back Home !!!

... Continued from Week 3.

[PICS: Disclaimer: Sorry, but I removed the links on this post for the pics, so as not to let someone random from the internet world, misuse the pics... It would have been fun to put it here, but hey those of you who are really really interested, why don't you just email me or ping me at samkit.s.shah@gmail.com, or simple enough, just put a comment here (even a blank comment will do), and I would send out the links... I would be more happier and it would be more safe to do that way ... I know, removing the links takes out the real essence of this post, but I think the flavor and the excitement is still there ... So just leave a blank comment or drop a line to my personal email and you would get the links in guaranteed 15 min time - Cheers :) ]

Well, as it's said - All Good Things Has To Come To An End !!! :(
And well I was approaching the end of what I would say - a trip filled with fun, laughter, relations, emotions, anxiety, understanding - in all - a turmoil of different emotions with a pint of random thoughts - thoughts about what next? when next? ...

Anyways, leaving parents, leaving home, has always been a tough part for me (and I bet its the same for most of us), as that is one moment, when words just dont come out of the mouth, one cannot just express what he or she is going through, to be true, one also feels that its enough of the vacation mood, and lets get back to work, and after coming back, that person again yearns for his home and wants to go back ... Basically its always a see-saw battle, when here in the US, one is looking forward and dreaming about India and home, and while there, one is just sailing in the happiness of the surroundings and at the end, wanting to come back to the US, even though with a heavy heart ... Same has been with me year after year, and this time was no different ... Although Dipali was staying back, for 15 days (lucky girl), I wanted to do the same too but I think the economical meltdown, with some bad news about my company laying off people, just did not allow the practical side of me from inside to extend my vacation ... Nevertheless the idea of saving more holidays for another important event to come next year - My Wedding, that too made me finally pack my bags and leave my sweet home, the comfort of my Mom's hugs and Dad's caring hands on my head, and I came back ... But the last week was no different either just like the other 3 weeks and this post will be the final chapter of my entire trip ...

Week 4
1/15/2009 - 1/23/2009

Well after a tiring but fun filled first Uttarayan with Dipali, it was a time for celebrtations :) ... Being the first birthday for Dipali with us, and that too back at home, with mom and dad, it was a something special ... Of-course, I, having missed my last 4 birthdays with my parents, and I dont know how many more will I miss, this was fun to be at home and celebrate Dipali's bday on 16th of January... (I am just waiting for my permanent return back to India once I am done here in the USA, then I would be back to enjoying my bdays with my parents lol) ... My close friends - Jaishal, Bhoomi and Soham, Chirtali were kind enough to grace the celebration at midnight, and I got two cakes (of-course those who know me closely enough, one is meant for "eating" and the other cake is meant only for "hitting" lol) ... To tease this darling of mine, I also got some magic candles to take out the air out of her as she kept on blowing them endlesslely ... Sang a bday song, ate the cake decently enough, and then made all hell break loose on her ... I can bet a 100 bucks here, that looking at the pics one would definitely fall off their seats .. My gorgeous damsel was looking even more cute with cake smeared all over her face, her hair and the best part was - her eyes shaped up in a way just like two small marbles placed on her face lol ... Had some fun moments at midnight ...

The next day went to Vishala with mom dad, and to treat the food connosieur in me to the best of the delicacies that one can imagine ... In all the birthday celebration was a great treat after a long long time with just mom dad me and Dipali ... Psst: Dipali ate so much, that she was not able to stand up in one piece ... lol ... I am so lucky that she does not read my blog, I can write anything here lol lol ... She was in love with the ambience and the environment of Vishala ... And to add icing on the cake, I had also gifted her diamond earrings !!! So overall I had a expensive birthday celebration - but was worth it :) Sorry I cannot explain what I got in return gift from Dipali lol ... Ssshhhhhhhh ;-)

Well moving on, this being the last week, I wanted to spend as much time possible at home, and somehow I got this laziness into me, that I just didnt budge from my room, my home ... I did not even wanted to go out the door :( I knew I am gonna miss my home so badly this time ... And I still am while writing this post ... I happened to see the bustling Ahmedabad sky line from the 10th floor of my Grand-dad's appartment and also got a glimpse of the upcoming bus services on Nehrunagar road ... The view was quite amazing, and if one has pics from about 5- years back, one can make out a lot of differences to see that Ahmedabad has truly transfromed into a Mega City ... Took some great pictures here ... ;-)

Dipali's very good friend was also getting married in Ahmedabad (Jannie) ... Attended their wedding and for the first time ever, Dipali wore a saree ... Lol ... Sorry but I found it quite funny ... :P Nevertheless, it was a good 30-40 minutes spent by my mom trying to get the prefection in her saree ... That Mother-in-law-Daughter-in-Law scene was quite funny ... :P

All these days, I spent quite some time with Dad too, trying to understand more about our business and the dealings, the working, the methodology, practical aspects and what not ... Also tried to discuss certain future plans and for the first time felt the importance and the weight of responsibility on my shoulders for my dad's business ... That discussion, those talks and those wise words from Dad keeps me go on and makes me a better human being and gives me immense practical experience ... I would say hats off to someone who is running a factory, in India, as Dad rightly says that if you want to sentence a person to life imprisonment, dont go through the courts and jails, just give that person a factory unit to run ... lol .. Ironically true :) ...

With days coming to an end, my trip reaching its final few days, we also got a Snatra Puja done at our factory ... That few hours spent, with mom dad, Dipali, the workers, on the factory soil, in the presence of God, truly transformed my thinking, my intentions, my ambitions, my views, my moments of silence, and gave me the motivation and the aim for something that I want to achieve in my life ... With God's grace, I will work on that, and who knows, the God might just bless me yet again, just as he has been doing so at each and every step of my life ... Those moments were the most refreshing ones and were truly needed at the end of my trip ...

Having said that, the final day dawned, it was time to go back, to leave home yet again, to get out of the hugs and cuddles of mom and dad, to leave the fresh, hot, home cooked delicacies, to leave the comfort of getting your laundry done outside without even moving a muscle, to leave a world of free SMSes, to leave the bustling and hustling noise filled days of ahmedabad, the time to leave the moist soil, the time to bid goodbye to my birthplace, and the time to enter a world of cement, a world of green money, a world of slavery in terms of washing utensils, cooking food, doing laundry, the world of 9 to 6 and yet the axe on your neck, the world of :
Mournful - Mondays
Tolerable - Tuesdays
Waiting for Weekend - Wednesdays
Tolerable - Thursdays
Fun Speculated - Fridays
Sweet - Saturdays
Sleeping - Sundays
LOL ...

Well it aint that bad I know, I am just being a little exaggerate here, but still India is India, Ahmedabad is Ahmedabad, Home is a home, and the comfort of Parents and family is a boon and a blessing for people away from the motherland soil ...

With this, I bid goodbye to India, with tear in my Mom's eyes, with strong-yet-missing-me type emotions in my Dad's hug, with a strong-confident voice from me - and of-course the chubbly bubbly Dipali too being sad ;-) Mom's friend Pala Aunty and Niru uncle were also present to bid my good bye, and I knew for sure, that even though mom dad will miss me, they do have some great people in their surroundings and life has taught them a lot that now they know who is truly keeping them company in times of my absence ... A special thanks to those who know they have been there for my mom dad in my absence, and for me those people held a special value in my heart ... :)

Well that's it from my side to close this trip account ... Hopefully I have taken some of you down memory lane of your own, shared some of my personal feelings, emotions and moments all along this trip ... Hoping to hear back from some of my regular readers, and of-course as I always say, hoping to hear from my silent readers too ..

One thing for sure is, that this trip blog has surely made a couple of unknown silent readers come to front and made me interact with them ... Thanks for stopping by friends ;-) ...

My next stop is the recently made Lake Tahoe Ski Trip on Valentine's Day ... Kindly come back to take a look at some of the out-of-the world experiences as I share them with you in my next post ...

Till then, take care, keep reading, keep commenting, and May God Bless you All !!!

Cheers
Samkit

Week 3 - Reminiscing the Trip Back Home !!!

... Continued from Week 2.

[PICS: Disclaimer: Sorry, but I removed the links on this post for the pics, so as not to let someone random from the internet world, misuse the pics... It would have been fun to put it here, but hey those of you who are really really interested, why don't you just email me or ping me at samkit.s.shah@gmail.com, or simple enough, just put a comment here (even a blank comment will do), and I would send out the links... I would be more happier and it would be more safe to do that way ... I know, removing the links takes out the real essence of this post, but I think the flavor and the excitement is still there ... So just leave a blank comment or drop a line to my personal email and you would get the links in guaranteed 15 min time - Cheers :) ]

Well, well ... I never thought that the trip back home and the events that I experienced, would create so much responses from my readers when I would share it with them. Over the past few weeks, those of you who have dropped by my blog, and in fact requested for the links for the pics, I really am glad for that ... And a special thanks to those who have taken out a few minutes of their busy routine life and commented on my posts...

Week 3
1/8/2009 - 1/14/2009

To continue with the memories, Week 3 was just about going to a lot of places, relatives, friends, socializing, having lunches and dinners with them and spending some quality time - a time which one longs for having stayed in the USA. Such is the aura of the atmosphere back at home, that no one gets spared from the cliche social surroundings and like it or not, someone like me always yearns for that environment. That in fact truly describes how life in two entirely opposite countries are different for a common man - A Sunday evening in the US, is described as "depressing", "gloomy" and "stressful" - with people scurrying home in their beds to think about work or business on Monday - and just the thought of it gives you a low feeling...

On the other side, a Sunday evening in India, in Ahmedabad, is all about hustle and bustle of the frantic people flooding the awesome restaurants, movie halls, shopping malls as if it's a season of celebrations for no reason at all... Mind you, it is not that people are not working on Monday or people dont care about their businesses and Monday mornings, but it is just how we back in our country tend to ease out our stress and enjoy the real meaning of Sunday... In fact a lot of people work on Saturdays and so have only one day to enjoy as compared to the "weekend" notion of USA ... Its just we Indians know how to enjoy better !!! lol.

Well with the Gujarat Govt., spending money wisely and in a disciplined way, Ahmedabad now can boast about a lot of infrstructure developments and re-establishments. One such example being the famous old Kankaria Lake... I really wanted to take a look at it after it's restoration and took Dipali along too... What amazed to me was the fact that, people of Ahmedabad, be it any kind of recession the WORLD over is talking about, these people were ready to shell out 10 Rs. for an entry to the lake, and even further some 25 Rs. for a ride in the train. The train is the center piece of attraction and has been imported from some place(Sorry I dont know a lot of details here)... After you enter such a public place, the first generalized idea you get is - Oh man its gonna be dirty and all, people polluting the surroundings etc...

But mind you if you have not been to Kankaria, then be ready to get surprised - as people from whatsoever background they come are now aware of Public Etiquettes and not 100 % but atleast 60-70 % of the people gathered there for a quiet evening stroll, now make it a point not to spoil the image of Kankaria any more. For that I truly support the Govt., charging people to even enter the park. That is the only way one can maintain a truly beautiful public place ... I went in the night time, and so did not catch a clear glimpse of the water, but in the middle of the lake was a giant advertising screen - that showed how technology is catching up... It was a truly memorable evening and makes you fall more in love with Aapnu Amdavad !!! Pics surprisingly came out well considering it was a bit hazy and was in the night ...

Everytime I used to enter my house, the walk from the gate till my house, made me remember so many fond memories, moments that I had spent for about 21 years before coming to the USA... Each trip, each time, makes me feel so nostalgic about my home - "Champanivas" ... The compound walls, the Badam trees, the smashed window panes of my Uncle's bunglow in the front, the underbridge, the whole bunglow itself, in fact sometimes chokes me up with tears - just fondly remembering those childhood and college days spent there ... Summer time cricket, vacations, fast bicycle moments in the compound, learning my first two-wheeler, my car, flying kites, and what not ...

My cousin grand-mother (I hope that relevance means correct in English - its basically my Dadi-Kaki), had invited us for breakfast this week, and as usual her love was to the brink, when she caught my hand, and made me eat a typical winter delicacy which is good for health... My dad, my mom all are fond of her and now she too is fond of Dipali... If Dipali is not seen for some days, then she would immediately ask mom - "Where is Dipa" lol - yeah, she calls her Dipa !!! Such love, warmth and care, sometimes makes me feel as to what am I doing there back in the States, without all these emotions ... I truly believe that I am an emotional guy to some extent, but the stay in the US, did teach me a lot about being practical - but as one says - basic nature is never forgotten ... I took a lot of pics in and around my home this time with my new D-SLR to bring it back here ... The Great Champanivas ... I too have loads of stories to tell to my kids about this home, just like my Dad has told me all these years... Truly Nostalgic ...

Moving on, days passed by, with as usual the shopping trips, dinners at all the goody restaurants that Ahmedabad can boast of, and the day came when I started hearing familiar shouts of - "Kaipo che, Chal Lapet" (It's some of the words one shouts when you cut someone's kite during Uttarayan Festival) ...It was the 14th of January - The Uttarayan day, and this is one such festival which I really love, or rather time has made me enjoy amidst all that is happening in my life, the sole reason being that we the so called NRIs visit Ahmedabad during the months of Dec-Jan and this is the only festival we have on our platter. The rest of the festivals are in such months, where I can just think of enjoying ... But I have decided that maybe after my marriage next year (again which would be around Dec-Jan), I am gonna visit Ahmedabad in some odd month to enjoy some other festival - Navratri, Diwali, Summer Mangoes - anything but Dec-Jan's Uttarayan !!! lol...

My father rightly says "We, the NRIs are like the birds of Nalsarovar, who fly and come down during the winter in Dec-Jan, and as the season comes to an end, we fly back to wonderland" - How ironically true !!! Well, I wanted to take Dipali to the real show, the place where the night turns up aive, with shouts, music, cars honking their horns, people running around buying kites - Yeah - Its called "Katal ki Raat" (Meaning "The ULTIMATE NIGHT ever") ... To experience this one needs to visit some certain parts of the Walled City, and truly what an amazing festive mood it is on both sides of the road. Had to manage really hard to take some pics, but finally got some... Dipali was stunned looking at the crowd and how people were running around with their kites above their heads, and some getting their threads colored and sharpened for the important battle the next day - the battle of the kites and the threads !!!

Next day, we visited several places to be with friends and family, and of-course enjoy the kite festival ... Met my EC friends for a while, went to Dipali's family place in the afternoon and ultimately like all these years, went to Soham (Sotu's) place late evening - as he has a place inside the walled city - and believe me that is where the real Uttarayan is ... The pics speak for themselves ... Had great fun !!! But it was not over yet, my cousins had got together to fly what they call a "Tukkal" - its basically a cardboard type lantern, inside which you light up a candle and tie it to the thread of the kite and send it up - the one with the most number of such tukkals is the envy of others and people try to cut that with their own kites - so the trick is to send another guard kite for protection ... Amazing isnt it?

The week was filled with a lot of nostalgic, excited fun-filled moments, and I could give up anything to experience that again ... Its amazing how these moments are so fresh in my mind, that I can describe them to the tiniest details if asked for ... There are uncountable such outings to malls, restaurants etc which I am not unnecessarily describing here as that would just make me feel so much home sick lol :) ...

Well as always, enjoy this post till I come out with my last week at home - Week 4. As for the pics, you know what to do - just drop in a line at my email - samkit.s.shah@gmail.com OR just drop by a blank comment here on my post even if you dont feel like writing anything to this post.

To make it more interesting for me, I would like to hear about one of THE BEST memories that you would have you would like to put down here in my comments section - a memory from your childhood, a memory from any of your trip to any place, any thing worth remembering ... Do it and read it again - You would truly enjoy it till the end ...

Will be back with Week 4...
Till then - Sayounara ...

Cheers

Samkit

Week 2 - Reminiscing the Trip Back Home !!!

...Continued from Week 1.

[PICS: Disclaimer: Sorry, but I removed the links on this post for the pics, so as not to let someone random from the internet world, misuse the pics... It would have been fun to put it here, but hey those of you who are really really interested, why don't you just email me or ping me at samkit.s.shah@gmail.com, or simple enough, just put a comment here (even a blank comment will do), and I would send out the links... I would be more happier and it would be more safe to do that way ... I know, removing the links takes out the real essence of this post, but I think the flavor and the excitement is still there ... So just leave a blank comment or drop a line to my personal email and you would get the links in guaranteed 15 min time - Cheers :) ]

So as you are still devouring the flavor of Week 1's eventful recipe, let me walk you over to Week 2 of my trip, and unfold the happenings, as we embraced the year 2009 with utmost caution, happiness, feeling nostalgic, and with some anxiousness towards the future. All these mixture of emotions, due to the recent meltdown in the economy and with news pouring from all over the world, about slowdown in the growth and people getting layoffs. If year 2008 had just ended with a downturn in the market and some great names going bankrupt on the financial sector, we just speculated the future of 2009 as we headed into Week 2 ...

Week 2
1/1/2009 - 7/9/2009

As I had rightfully claimed in Year 2008, that none of us on the Cricket team would be spared, none of us in our group shall remain a Bachelor (much to the envy of all the committed people), and come what may, none would be SPARED !!! And it happened so, that almost all of my friends, either got committed, engaged or married... It was GD (Gaurav's) engagement, and at home it looked as if Dipali was getting ready for her own event ... It took her 3 hours just to get out the door and into the car .. Grrr "ladies" !!! Well I don't have a lot of photographs for the first two days of the new year, as most of the day was spent going out for shopping, coming back home to eat Maa's home-cooked hot hot food, and then snore for a while in the mild coldish afternoon ahmedabadi's style nap, and then again go out for shopping ... It was fun, tiring yet amusing to see how the fairer sex can spend loads and loads of time going in and coming out of the shops, and yet purchase nothing, and when asked, have the world-famous answer "It would be better at some other place" - I don't know if that "other" "better" place ever exists for these women ? LOL ... So the tiring part of being engaged and having your fiance's parents not in Ahmedabad, is that you have to take care of the doll all by yourself, and be her chauffer everywhere she wants to go, be her porter by carrying her shopping bags, if anything has been purchased lol ... But it was fun, watching Dipali and taking her around to almost all the small and big places in Aapnu Amdavad - and to guide us with full zeal and vigor was my awesome mom - who has this never say "tired" spirit LOL ... Kudos to mom and Dipali's persistence ... :( grrrrr ... How satirical ...

Anyways, due to my tight schedule on work, and me not making to most of the weddings of all my friends, I was happy to atleast attend one wedding - Ronak's (and Payal's) marriage ... There were quite some events - Mehndi, Bethak, Drinks, Marriage, Reception ... It was fun at his Payal's house for the Mehndi program, with most of us being present there to dance a while .. While couple of my friends were getting tired with the busy schedule they had with all the marriages early in december, for me it was the first one of the season, and so was fun ... The same day as the Mehndi function, I also met my Nirma buddies... The friends from my Undergrad EC (Electronics and Communication) branch, and we met after a long 1 year time ... Meeting old friends, is always fun, especially when you meet after a gap of a year, and brings out a lot of stories, jokes, old memories - again a reminiscing time for me !!! I missed out on two marriages even on that side of my friends list .. But I could not blame anyone, and have no regrets on missing out any of these marraiges, as it was later to come, that my company had done 13 % layoffs, and all that had happened when I was there in India, basking in the glory of my laziness and enjoyment ... That sent down shivers down my spine ... So, in spite of the fact that a lot of my friends were upset and angry for me not making to their Life Changing events lol, they have all my support until I get married next year ... Come what may, the Bahelor pad even though at 50 % operating standards, is still open at Monte Vista in Milpitas here ... If you get thrown out, or get spanked, or are not in a mood to be at home with your worst half, just drop by and we shall have the time of our life lol - "CHEERS" - if that's what you might understand ... (Thank God, Dipali never ever comes down this blogging lane, as she is not fond of reading lol ...)

The 4th of January, marked a day, when another friend of mine, became a Martyr... I hold two minutes of silence here, for the loss of his freedom, for him getting deprived of his independence and for joining me, hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder, to mount upon the band wagon of courtship, and embrace the tag of "Engaged" officially lol ... My heart feels for you Jaishal, and so it was yet another celebration, another day to get dressed up ... The event was fun, as this time I was on the other side of the world, and had complete freedom to harass my buddy as much as I can ... Food was great, Dipali devoured it at ease ... I even tried running away with the ring, which Jaishal's mom had given me to hold, but our Mr. Committed, wanted it so much, and was so desperate to change his status to Mr. Engaged, that he just wanted that ring to be on Bhoomi's (Bhalla) fingers ... Overall a Kodak moment ... Though we are still waiting for the pics from them ... Grrr ...

Next day, moving a step ahead in life, and leaving us - the "engaged" people to face the fire alone, one more of my friend now climbed the horse, and started his journey towards getting married ... It was Ronak and Payal's marriage, and to add to the fun, I had invitations from both the sides ... Payal's mom and my Mom are college time friends, while Ronak is my USC friend ... Well for me it was hard to decide which side to be on, but then I thought Trojans come first, and so it had to be Ronak ... Had a gala time, dancing in the barat, doing bhangra type shoulder to shoulder dancing fights with Bhupesh and Jaishal, stealing the Mojdis (footwear), and literally bombarding Ronak with flowers during his rituals .... I too got hit by some, due to a counter attack launched by Ronak himself, while completing his ceremonies... The reception was fun too, and Payal was a bit upset for me being a Trojan and not coming from the girl's side for the marriage ... lol ... Had fun with everyone ...

End of this week was a trip to Ambaji, to take Dipali to get blessings from Mataji, as we believe a lot in Mataji ... It was going to be my first long trip on road with the Indian stlye of driving - and I did not want to miss that chance AT ALL !!! After all, no cops, no tickets, no fear of being pulled over - and the best of all - NO SPEED LIMITS ... An added advantage was the roads, which I must say, Gujarat Government has done a tremendous job of maintaining ... I have a picture of my speedometer, taken when the pointer touched 120 KMs mark ... It was an awesome feeling, now, you must say that 120KMs is what we can drive here too in the USA for the equivalent value in Miles, but still, the feeling one gets of not being chased by anyone is just too much - a part of one of my wishes from the Bucket List post came true lol ... The darshan were great, felt completely satisfied, happy taking the blessings alongside Dipali, Mom and Dad together as a family .... Well the trip was not just about that, Dad took us to Abu for lunch, and that was another great experience ... They used to do that everytime for a couple of times last year, and had talked a lot about this place which serves amazingly mind boggling tasty food .. .And I was like, lets check it out ... The place is called "Mushkil-e-Aasan" (The translation in the literal sense would be - "Worries made Easier" ... Lol... Funny name, but surprisingly awesome, awesome and more awesome food .... Typical Gujju food, and I gobbled it up as if the world was just about to come to an end, and there were only some last minutes left ... Such was the effect of the food, that I literally had to take support of two chairs to get up, my stomach bouncing in front of my eyes ... Also visited the famous Nakki Lake and took a great amount of pictures ... Overall had an amazing drive, superb food and a great one day style picnic alongwith the blessings of Mataji ... Jai Ambe !!!

Well with this we come to an end of the road, but mind you, this is just a turn around the corner and not a dead-end ... Week 2 ended, in style, fashion, food, friends, engagements, marriage, dances, blessings and food again lol ....

I would really love to share the pics, and so am waiting to send it to all who would post a comment or just ping me on my email address ... It won't look good if I send the links to almost everyone on my Gmail account lol ... Believe me, the pics are awesome and I really want to share them ... So message me anytime ... :)

So by the time you come out of Week 2's happenings, I would be back in action with Week 3 ... I promise you even more fun, even more excitement and even more food !!!

Till then - Alvida !!!

Samkit

Week 1 - Reminiscing the Trip back Home !!!

[PICS: Disclaimer: Sorry, but I removed the links on this post for the pics, so as not to let someone random from the internet world, misuse the pics... It would have been fun to put it here, but hey those of you who are really really interested, why don't you just email me or ping me at samkit.s.shah@gmail.com, or simple enough, just put a comment here (even a blank comment will do), and I would send out the links... I would be more happier and it would be more safe to do that way ... I know, removing the links takes out the real essence of this post, but I think the flavor and the excitement is still there ... So just leave a blank comment or drop a line to my personal email and you would get the links in guaranteed 15 min time - Cheers :) ]

Its been a long long time, since I posted something worth reminiscing on my blog. There were some random posts here and there, but nothing substantial for me to sit back and remember later on. Well, well, well ... Now that I am back from a wonderful nostalgic eventful trip from India, from my sweet home, I have tons and tons of things to share, blog, post, describe ...

So overhwelmingly fun was the trip, and so much was the aura and the events surrounding it, that to be true, I find myself bogged down, as to where do I start, and where do I end, and on top of it - I always need to take care that I don't just end up writing a 10-20 page short novel type post. LOL After all its recession time, and there should be some discounts here and there, and savings does matter a lot nowadays, and so to save everyone's time and to save the never ending Google server space, I think I am going to describe my trip very shortly, and let some pics do that talking ... As such my readers are panicking and must be trying to save as much as they can during these crunch times, where every single day you hear about either some company's story being scripted into the pages of history for our children for them to study those stories as case studies, or about people around the world are getting laid... Ironically, its not the literal way where everyone is getting "LAID", but they are being laid from their jobs and being deprived from their daily bread and butter... I can feel that my readers have taken the conservative approach of trying to save their comments to and utilize them in the utmost economical way .. LOL ...

Anyways, coming back to the topic, so, I would surely try to be as much brief as I can in this post about my trip back home, but also hope that you all understand the dilemna I am in, where on one side I find myself all bubbling in excitement to share my experience and some worthy moments, for me to reminisce later ... I don't know how this post would turn out to be, but sometime down the writing lane, if I feel I have already written enough I would just put a "To be Continued ... " sign, and end it there ... Maybe then will follow our Indian Soaps format of writing 500-600 damn episodes ... lol .. No ways !!! I would just split it in some parts if the needs arises, and post it at frequent intervals, maybe just split it week wise ... That way I can descirbe more, and yet not make my readers run away from my Blog ... Lol ... So here we go ...

WEEK 1
12/25/2008 - 12/31/2008

Well it was Christmas day and I left with Dipali for a trip, a trip which would have a different dimension this time around, with me being engaged now. Uptil now, it was a careless, carefree, independent soul travelling everytime to India, but now, not only the load of the bags was more for me to carry (4 bags of 23 Kgs, 2 hand bags, 2 laptop bags grrr, and our Madam Dipali just walking as if she is the Queen of England - Lol ... ) ... Well Jet Airways was excellent, great food, awesome entertainment ... But then, we were in for a surprise ... Because our flight took of late from SFO, we were left stranded on Bombay airport for 6 hours and that is really agonizing once you are just 500 KMS away from your home :( ... Ofcourse we stuffed ourselves with the first indian style Paav Bhaaji at Jet Airways Lounge in Bombay, but then our feet were just restless to land in Ahmedabad ... The pics describe the happy and the sad moments and some glimpses of Ahmedabad from up above including the famous Narmada Canal from from up above ...

Dipali, was visiting my place for the first time, and so this made it even more special, and to make us feel all the more special, my lovely mom had decorated the house with her warmth and love to welcome her daughter-in-law (Bahuraani) lol ... Not only me, but Dipali too was surprised, but very happy to such a welcome ... The pics would speak for themselves ... Mom and Dad's close friends, Niru Uncle, Pala Aunty and Devi (who is surely gonna comment here I know ;-) ), were present to receive us too and due to the delay in the flight, they had get together in the afternoon, and so had to take lunch without my presence... My friend Sotu (again another person who would be commenting here) was also present with her wife Chitrali ... Overall it felt great to be back home, back within the comfort, the warmth and the protective surrounding of parents and Ahmedabad ...

The day I landed, I decided to put my brand new Digital SLR to use ... After all its gonna be a great trip and wanted to capture as much moments as I could to remember later ... So I started organizing all the pictures till the end, in a date wise format and ended up having about 4000-5000 total pics ... Ofcourse all of them are not uploaded, and have sorted just the clear and imp ones lol ... It was going to be the marriage season this time in my group, and on a head count about 11-13 of my friends were getting married ... There was this party from my friend Aditya Modi, and that was the one and only party that I enjoyed this time in Ahmedabad ... Had a great time and as I had the freedome to gulp down only two drinks from my better half, I had to put that freedom to utmost use ... And hell yeah I enjoyed a lot !!! The DJ was awesome, and the drinks even more better ... The best was the flaming shot which the bartender gave - to describe that, its a shot of rum, and there is fire on the bar top, the bartender passes the shot glass through the flame, and gets a small flame on the rim of the glass ... He then climbs the bar top, takes your mouth, wide open, pours down the rum from the glass through the flame.. It feels a little warm, but the kick that one gets is just mind boggling ... Also it was fun dancing with Sotu (After all we had a lot of DJ moments here in the bay area before he left for India) ... Overall the vacation just as I had thought had a kick start with friends, family and ofcourse Ahmedabad style dancing and music ...

As I had got engaged in San Jose, I and Dipali were supposed to meet all our family members from both sides in Ahmedabad ... And so we had planned just a small informal get-together type party at Kalhar Bunglows ... Just my mom and dad's family members, friends and Dipali's family... None of my friends were invited as this was strictly informal and restricted to only families ... (Ofcourse a couple of my friend's parents were invited based on my mom and dad's relations, but I felt so oldish sitting there amongst everyone who was atleast 5 years older to me...lol) We made a visit to the venue, and I showed Dipali the Ahmedabad style of living in a Bunglow scheme which takes an American type community kind of feeling ... As on one side we were planning the party, the other side, Dipali's shopping instincts were rising and so were the frequent trips to the Designers and almost all the top of the line branded/unbranded designer shops and boutiques ... For once I felt like changing my career to a full time designer ... Who would have the faintest idea, that by the end of my trip, I would have all the ranges, prices and contact information of about 20 different designer studios, and fashion people in Ahmedabad by heart ... Well I guess that is the price one has to pay of being engaged lol .. But it was fun, and for once I felt, that Ahmedabadis are surely upto the hype of fashion ...

Stores to go : Satya Paul, Shyamal Bhumika, Anuraag, Anuroop, Gamthi, Deepkala, Asopalav, Radhika, Purvi Doshi's Opium, Elaan, Sanskruti, Bandhej, Ethnicity, Bijouri, Kanisha, Utsav etc ... There are a lot many, but I seem to now have forgotten all those ... And mind you none of these, with the exception of Shyamal Bhumika, were something of my interest ...Grrr but it was fun lol ;-)

As I said above, 30th Dec was the day of my party, and co-incidentally it was also Aditya's marriage on the same day, and further to add to the band-wagon of co-incidences, it was to be held in Kalhar, and that too just 3 plots away from my venue ... Lol .. Some of my guests, by mistake entered Aditya's marriage, and were shocked to see a big party, and thought that Samkit was getting married or what ??? lol ... But it was fun to meet all my family members, cousins, elders, new borns ... Dipali was having a hard time remembering the relations and the names to tag with them ... lol .. The food from Gwalia Caterers was awesome, the decoration done by my Kaki from Bombay was just simply decent ... Overall had a great time to see myself at home, in Ahmedabad, with my family, with my parents, and get a feeling of "completeness" ... Totally Bliss !!! Ofcourse there were a couple of glitches too, the lights went off just 1 hour before the party, Dipali's dress was not ready a day before and a lot of things ... But at the end all was well !!!

The last day of the year, a year which had been full of events, on a personal front, on an emotional front, that on the morning of the 31st, I thought of writing a post, of certain events that touched me personally, and also to remember certain happenings that moved the world, terrorism, recessions, bankruptcies, cricket wins etc etc ... But changed my mind, as I was in no mood to sit down and write something while enjoying in Ahmedabad ... Just felt too lazyyyyy ... Well, it had been a great rocking year for me, in all aspects, Dipali, Job, Family, Friends, Job etc.. Since there were no good DJ parties this time around in Ahmedabad, me and my couple of friends just got together for a dinner at TGB, and then I went home to have a drink and welcome the new year with my parents by my side ... Somehow, for the past couple of years, I have been in Ahmedabad during 31st whenever I have made trips back home, and so I always felt that its more better to welcome the new year with Mom and Dad, instead of going to a Dance Party, as the fun is always there in the US, but mom dad are not to be during such times ... Add to it, I was also given an icing on the cake.. Dipali had permitted me to unlimited drinks on 31st, and what a perfect liquor I had instored for me - My favourite - VODKA !!! (It was a Beleverde Citrus Vodka) ... It was a great time enjoying with Dad, with mom and Dipali both looking with strange eyes at our drinks (Dad - hi-fi lol ;-) ) ...

Phew ... I just previewed this post of mine, and I thought that there are sooooo many things that I have not mentioned here, and yet this post is long enough to bore my readers down ... Well but then, there are some who would go to the extent of reading between the lines, and more interested to take a look at the pics ... Well you guys have a treat of both the aspects so sit back and enjoy !!!
This is the end of Week 1, and with it also the end of a Mesmerizing Year 2008 for me !!!

I would be back with Week 2 in some time ...
Till then Adios !!!

Cheers

Samkit

Apology Letter to the Blogging World !!!

To
Me, Myself and My Readers,

This apology letter comes from me, to myself and everyone, for not being up-to-the mark, in terms of getting into a long delay for the posts.
But given the fact, that I am enjoying and basking in the warm sun on my soil, my birth place, makes it even more interesting for me to come back and write stories about this trip of mine to India, and that too with my sweetheart fiance who just turned 24 today.

Well my hands are itching, to start writing long posts about this eventful trip of mine from day one, but I still have about a week to go, a week before I go back to a land which ironically for me is the land of labor, and where I often tell my friends, that we are all servants working in a foreign country, and just as our servants at our home in Ahmedabad, once a year go back to their villages (desh ma javanu), the same way, we too make yearly trips to our "Desh" ... Lol ...

Anyways, not to spoil my mood any further, this letter is just to indicate that I am still hale and hearty, and am alive in my senses, lol, and this long absence from the blogging world is only because I am having a GREAT BALL here at my home, with my parents, my fiance, and all my relatives and friends ... More stories to come in subsequent posts, once I leave the warmth of my abode and embark upon the flight back to Uncle Sam's land ...

Till then, adios, alvida, aavjo and buh-byeeeee !!!

Cheers

Samkit

Summer Vacations and Mangoes

Come April, Come May, Come June ... As soon as the summer season starts kicking in, some things that instantly would pop up in your mind, especially as a teenager (which I was some years back) are - Summer Vacations, No Schools, Only Sports - Cricket, Swimming, Sports Club, Ellisbridge Gymkhana, Karnavati Club, Lots of Movies and of-course the King of Fruits - Mangoes !!!

With the summer season going on back in India in Ahmedabad, the mangoes have already started making the rounds, with prices shooting up or going down(which is rarely seen), imports and exports increasing, be it a 7 year old child or a 70 year old elder, everyone is digging their teeth and treating themselves to the mangoes, in all sorts, mango shakes, mango rolls, mango pieces and the best of all - apdo "Keri noh Ras" ...

Click "READ MORE" to read the entire post ...

As a child, I used to devour upon these mangoes all day long in the summers. Mom would specially take out more "Ras" for me so that even after lunch I can take it as a desert later in the afternoon. I remember I used to hate the threads (resa) which used to accompany the sweet ras, but still couldnt help holding back and would gobble it up. "Alphonso" the best of the best in Mangoes, and it would be almost everyone's "noor of the eye" ...

Most of us, are also fond of sucking to the mangoes, with its skin on, then creating a hole on the top and just keep on enjoying the taste of the sweetness flowing from that fruit. Then comes the turn of the big seed called "gotla" ... Gotlas were favorites for cooking with oil and some spices to be eaten as a snack. Some small kids would also get a treat of a roll called "Keri noh papad" which is made by spreading the ras on a flat pan and letting it dry in the sun.

Its been almost 4 years now since I have tasted mangoes, and its other forms. Of-course one would get the same here in the US, but no fun like sitting in a patio, on a swing, in shorts, on a warm summer afternoon, having 2-3 mangoes by your side, swinging in the warm breeze, and eating and sucking those mangoes to the fullest...NOTHING CAN BEAT IT FRIENDS !!!!

My best memory during these summer vacations would be, having Keri noh Ras, Rice, Ghee, Sunth all mixed up and eating it with Papads....And then turning the fan on at 3-4 points, letting a cool breeze flow, cover the windows with drapes, turn the TV on, lay back and just drift away in a splendid summer afternoon nap snoring away feeling satisfied as if on the Top of the World !!!

Of-course then comes the fun part in the evening, just constantly tirelessly keep on playing cricket hitting the ball all over the ground, visiting friends, going for movies, especially Drive-In, enjoying to the fullest and then come back and have pieces of mangoes again at night along with some mango thick shakes ...

Phew ! What a Life it was and What Summers Were Those !!!
Alphonso, Cricket, Ratnagiri, Tennis, Devgadh, Swimming, Kesar, Movies, Langdo, Picnics, Payri, Afternoon naps.....

I know most of you would have experienced something of the same intensity and happiness and the lucky ones are still able to do so back home.. So feel free to share your best experiences from the Summers and the Mangoes season...

Cheers

Samkit