Create the Moments!

Whoa.. its been around a month since I wrote! Life has been crazy busy with work off late.. yeah but I don't know why I never wrote on a weekend.. I don't work on the weekends... May be didn't get any thought worth writing about, maybe was just taking a break from myself.. But here I am back again! :-)


Thought which made me come here today:

Life is about moments... make as many of those as possible..

A friend of mine created an album called "Memories..". I was also a tiny part of that album. Looked at it and that day was like in front my eyes and I was re-living it. It was a rooftop lohri part back in 2010. Brought a smile to my face. And then the thought came to my mind.

It really is true. Relations will happen and they will end. Very few relations will be with you always. But of the other relations also, it is very important to create memories. So that down the line somewhere, when you look back, you smile! And if you do... then it was worth it. If you don't, thank your stars it is over. :-P Jokes apart, the good memories, those small moments, they will always be with you.

A friend of mine used to say - "Chhoti chhoti baaton se kuch nahi hota Nikhil". And I always have and I still do believe exactly the opposite of it. Those teeny tiny small moments are what make something special. Those are the things that will stay with you. Those are the things that will make you smile. Those are the things that will make you go back in time. Well.. that's my perspective towards it.

Anyhow.. life is still busy at work and looks like it is going to be like that for quite some time to come. But I am not complaining. I am getting the break I need.. in a couple of days I am heading to Greece. And that should unwind me. I am so looking forward to it.

More details when I am back. Keep creating moments till then.

Cheers!


P.S. I never wrote cause I didn't have any thoughts?? That doesn't sound possible! Well.. actually I had a million thoughts.. but couldn't get them into words.. at times you just can't!

Oh Dear Sunshine!

Oh dear Sunshine

You mean so much to me

It's always bright with you

And you bring life to me

Whenever you are here

I couldn't be more glad

But now you are not

Enough of you, I never had

On a cold winter dull day

Sitting together, just you and I

I so enjoy your warmth

And I reach a different high

Talking doesn't seem important

And we don't have to say a word

Yet emotions are all in the air

There is so much that can be heard

Oh dear Sunshine

Please never go away

I am so lost without you

And I want you to always stay

Oh dear Sunshine

I miss you so much...

Oh dear Sunshine

I wish I could feel your touch...!

Kismat

My first attempt at Hindi poetry.. please go easy on me :-)

Zindagi aise to hai bahut haseen

Magar lagta hai ki kuch kami si hai

Aise to hansi kabhi thamti nahi meri

Magar rehti aankh mein kuch nami si hai

Chala jaa raha hoon aise raaste par main

Ki jiski manzil kuch ajnabi si hai

Mera humsafar bhi mere saath nahi

Aur dil mein dabi ek betaabi si hai

Agle mod par shayad woh mil jaaye

Dil ne kab se lagayi yeh umeed si hai

Isi ke sahare chala jaa raha tha lekin

Thak kar aayi mujhe ab neend si hai

Umeed ka saath bhi ab chootne laga hai

Jo apna tha woh bhi ab roothne laga hai

Apni kismat ko na de dosh mere dost

Kismat wohi hai jo tune khud banayi si hai...

I just keep going on..

Another amazing weekend.. another one without much sleep.. but I am still not complaining.. :-)

Started earlier than Friday.. on Thursday itself. Well actually said that to put in some praise for myself ;-) cooked rajma on Thursday.. and they tasted amazing! It was like Christmas in my stomach! Feels like I am a natural at cooking :-)

Friday - The start of the weekend was not that good.. went for the movie Ek main aur ek tu.. And trust me.. it takes a lot for the movie to make me walk out on it.. And this one had it all nicely packaged! So I moved out midway.. having a couple of beers sounded so much to be a better idea! :-) And then the night got better.. went out pubbing and then some clubbing.. danced to my heart's content.. And came home in the wee hours of the morning.

Saturday - Had booked tickets to the Rotterdam ATP tour semi-finals.. The agenda was to see Roger Federer play! And did we get a treat... That man is as awesome as awesome can be! It was an honor to see him play. 

And then it was dinner at a friend's place in Rotterdam. And his wife is pregnant too! Looks like its a baby boom out there! :-) They were having a discussion with Sudhakar and wifey about the first ultrasound that confirms the baby.. And it sounded so awesome.. 3 inch is the size.. and you can see the heart beating, the two parts of the brain and everything.. would be the most amazing feeling in the world I am sure! Listening to them talk made me want to have my kid right there and then! But can't do it alone.. ;-) Another place another time..

Sunday - It was carnival time! Woke up early in the morning.. was going to Maastricht Carnival with a friend. Was so goddamn sleepy... until dressed up people started getting on the train.. and then it was all excitement in the air! Reached Maastricht and was in for a surprise.. it was snowing.. I couldn't imagine the weather to change so drastically in 200-odd kms.. And boy was I unprepared for that change.. :-(

But nothing was going to stop me anyhow.. I was there for the carnival and there was no stopping that.. reached the parade street.. went into a pub to get some heat in the system first ;-). And then went out partying in the carnival.. I was amazed by the enthusiasm and the energy in the air.. And it was so so colorful.. I have probably never felt more alive.. the feeling was amazing.. 

Came back home after that.. back to routine. I wish the carnival fever could go on for like forever.. :-)

I am planning on laying low on the coming weekend.. Need some rest... The man is growing old you see. Back to back all fun weekends have tired me out. But I also know the little young man inside me.. and he won't let me lay low.. let's see who wins the fight.

Cheers till then! 

All the world...

Just here with a song..

Correatown - All the world

Time of my life

Just had an amazing weekend. Though I missed sleeping long hours and have been sleepy ever since :-) but I am not complaining at all..!

Started with a "Bollywood" night in a club on the Friday night.. before that actually a lot of beers in the Three Sisters pub.. chatting to random people there.. it was fun.. and then all the dancing.. man I luv dancing. And after all this time, dancing to my own movie songs and punjabi beats... super! So danced and danced and danced. With some JD-cola ofcourse ;-)

Came back home at 5 in the morning and as I reached in my pocket to get the keys, horrible realization - Had left the keys in the apartment. Gave a call to Sudhakar and thankfully he answered! I didn't have high hopes with that but he did. Walked to his place to get the keys and came back. It was dead cold and those 25-30 min of walk to his house and back, man I was almost frozen to death by the time I reached back! But then the next day, had a good laugh about it. And Sudhakar was like - "Had I not answered, headlines today would read like - A young Indian man found dead of cold on a park bench" :-D... seriously, what would I have done! Anyhow.

Then on Saturday, had a friend's stag. And that started at a shooting range. I was so excited about it all week. It was the first time I would be shooting with real pistols and real bullets! And the excitement was worth it! It was some feeling.. though I didn't hit the target too much :-) but it was really an awesomax feeling! The smell of gun powder as you shoot, the recoil from the gun.. Amazing! Three different pistols - .22, .38 and .44! And obviously, the .44 was the best! Followed the shooting with some bowling.. and lots of beer as always.. it was good fun too. Then went for dinner and then for some stuff I can't write about ;-) Come on, it was his stag! :-D

Came back home again in the wee hours and slept off. Woke up to my phone on Sunday and it was an amazingly good news - Arun and Nupur have had a little Arun! :-) I was so happy for him. Didn't know what questions are to be asked in such situations but Arun knows me good enough to understand that. He answered all the questions without me having to ask. :-) The boy came into this world nicely on a Friday evening (10th Feb) to celebrate his first weekend. :-) Smart chap starting his life with a weekend.

Then cooked something to eat and got a call from Sudhakar and he invited for coffee at his place in the evening. I had to go to a friend's place for dinner so I declined. But he persisted that I come before I go there. I didn't understand the persistence but I went anyways in the evening. And another good news - Sudhakar and Shivangi are pregnant! It doesn't get better than this..! Had some cake and snacks at their place, congratulated them and then off for dinner.

Dinner had amazing aloo ki sabzi with plain paranthas.. And some pakode before that. Got super stuffed there, came back home and slept.

Couldn't have asked for more from a weekend. All fun mixed with good food mixed with super news from some of my best friends! Now that's a weekend really well spent... Hoping for many more of such days!

Cheers!

P.S.: There is no more Snow now..! And I have mixed feelings about that.

The After-Effects...

Have not been here for quite some days.. Nothing too much was going on actually... regular routine and hence didn't have much to write. It has been shit cold since the last week here (the feels like temperature was -20^oC yesterday!!). And so my running is also suspended for now :-( 

It snowed here on Friday. Only one day of snow but it was pretty heavy and the town was white..! I was working from home that day and decided to go out to feel the snow. So went out for lunch, walked on the fresh snow.. felt the snow falling on my skin.. it was nice. I like snow. What I don't like is the after-effect. The walkways are so dirty now. Have to take off my shoes before entering the house else it becomes all dirty in the house and things like that. Thankfully its not slippery yet but I guess it will be sometime. The forecast shows better weather in the next week and I should be able to resume my running. Let's see. 

Speaking of after-effects.. two more after-effects that I don't like come to mind. After-effects of a heavy night of drinking.. and after-effects of a sour end to a relationship. The first of those is still ok.. as I luv drinking and this one anyhow fades away till the evening is back again. :-) But the second one.. I just hate it. And it stays with you for the lifetime. No matter what happens, the bitterness will always always remain there. Whenever you think back about it, sure you will get happy memories.. but with them will also be the bitter, sour, ugly memories. And you will not be able to smile about the happy ones then. 

Anyhow.. there are some good after-effects. A lot of them actually. The after-effect of a good run and a hot shower... the after-effect of spending sometime trying to cook something and it turning out eatable :-)... the after-effect of spending a vacation back home... the after-effect of achieving something you planned for... the after-effect of a heart-to-heart talk with a dear friend... and many many more. So you see... the good things in life will always outnumber the bad ones... simply go out and live it up! 

 I am on for some real fun this weekend.. I just can't wait.. more on it later.

For now, just a song on how I feel right now.. and I am sure that the weekend will comply. And I am sure that the after-effects will be lovely ;-)

Alan Jackson - Good Time

Cheers to the good moments in life!

Let it be

Might be a little preachy preachy post... but what the heck.. you gotta do what you gotta do. :-)

When you are mad at something / someone, you normally think of one of two things to do - either throw your anger in someone's face.. or swallow it and keep it inside of you.

But there's a third option: "Just let it go!"

And if you choose the third, that's when it really is over. Because that's when you take it out of your system. Shouting at / cursing someone will not take it out of your system. Letting it go will. I know it's not easy to do. But try it sometime... and it works. Like bloody hell it works... And then you are at peace with yourself once again.

As The Beatles once said: "There will be an answer, let it be...":

The Beatles - Let it be

Cheers!

P.S. I am probably one of the most restless and impulsive persons. But preaching aint too difficult... isn't it fella? ;-)

Good Times

After a mixed week, it was one of the perfect weekends.

Started with a super delicious Indian dinner and drinks at a friend's restaurant in Utrecht. The lamb was just amazing there! And accompanied with loads of bakar. Reached back home at around 2 am. Couldn't get sleep so listened to some lovely music. Then had a very nice and long sleep.

Woke up at something like 1 pm... talked at home and prepared egg rolls :-). And they were delicious! Kept appreciating my cooking skills all afternoon ;-)

Then spoke to some friends. Had been quite sometime and did all the catching up and stuff. Went for a run in the evening. Though I am not running a lot until now, but I am happy that I at least gave it a start. And it was dead cold and windy, so further couldn't run too long. But at least kept the momentum going. Came back, took a long hot shower and I was so relaxed after that.

Was thinking on what to cook for the night, and suddenly the phone rang. Got invited at a friend's place for dinner. What more could I want at that moment ! :-)

Went there, had a good long round of beers and poker. Some other friends were also there. All in all, good fun... beer, bakar, poker and food.. there are very few better ways to spend a Saturday evening. Ok, a lazy Saturday evening when you just don't want to go out clubbing, pubbing, casino-ing and stuff. :-)

Sunday again started with a late morning waking up.. then some cleaning of the house... and then just lazying around. Literally doing nothing. And that definitely is my best way of spending a Sunday! There's the complete week ahead... so give it a rest boy. 

A friend came home for dinner. Prepared simple daal chawal for dinner and she had got some home made baingan ka bharta... had it after a couple of drinks. Talked to a friend for a while. And off to the dreamworld again. A nice 10 hour sleep to start a fresh Monday morning. 

So, nothing special happened on the weekend, yet it was perfect. That is the strange part of life. 

Sometimes a lot takes place, but that's not what you want

Sometimes nothing happens, but life feels like in spring

Sometimes you wish things to change, but nothing turns up

Sometimes you just lay still, but life makes you feel like a king...

Ending the post, on an unrelated note, listen to this song:

Hayley Taylor - No more wishing

Cheers!

P.S. The song came out as a result of the marathon music session on late Friday night (or early Saturday morning :-))

Chit Chat

The week was not too good for me. Down with super cold and this is something I just hate. The nose block and the constant headache because of that.. just hate it! But getting better as the weekend is approaching. :-) And thank God for that... nothing sucks more than being sick on a weekend! 

It was a very productive week work-wise. I am really happy that I do have some work to do now. Was getting nuts not having enough on my plate. But this year has been better on that front so far. And this week, got everything done that was on my to-do list for the week. And it's still 3 hours to go for the work week to close.. nice! :-) For the last two days , I have been sitting alone on my desk as all 3 of my team mates here are on vacation! I hate them! :-D But this helped me take things off my plate.. so no complaints. Though I don't like not talking! But it's ok... 

Next what... my boss is moving back to Germany and I really don't know if that's good or bad for me. But I presume it's not good at least. I don't think it really is a good idea when the boss can't see you work. There are so many little good things that you do which you don't talk about. And with the boss and you sitting in different countries, they just go unnoticed. And then all the communication also reduces. It's one thing to talk face to face and another on the telephone. Let's see how that goes. It's a first for me... so I am skeptical. Anyhow... 

Don't have any major plans for the weekend. Will just take some rest.. do some running (weather permitting.. I have that can't-run-in-the-gym philosophy.. I feel suffocated).. and do some cooking.. Yeah, you heard me right! Till now, have been following both the things I set out to do in 2012.. Take that..! :-) 

What else what else... nothing much.. just chilling out. I am so happy for myself these days.. I luv my life! :-) And I would luv it a little more if one little thing changes about it - if India starts winning test cricket abroad..! Please grant me this one Big Guy! Amen! 

Cheers to the weekend!

Difficult to let go...

It's really difficult to let go of some things in life.. and specially when you have so many memories.

I am in my getting over phase and am doing surprising well. Keeping myself busy in a lot of stuff and not giving my idiotic mind any time to think really. It has been working decently for me till now. But then, as I said, when you have so so many memories, some thing or the other keeps reminding you of that one person you don't want to think about!

I was doing well on the getting-over-and-moving-on thingie.. but then I went to a bar on the weekend and her first memory was slapped right in my face! The song:

Corinne Bailey Rae - Like a star



This song is the first memory I have of her. And it will always remind me of her.. just like so many other things.

And now, I will have to start from scratch once again..! I will.. and I will do well!

Cheers!

I'm moving on

Came across this song. Listen to it.. it is beautiful.

The song describes aptly what I am going through and have gone through in my personal life. And that's probably the reason I luved the song even more. It is my song for now.

I have done mistakes in my past. We all do. I just didn't get forgiven for the one's that I did. I did forgive but I didn't forget the one's that were done against me.

As per the title, the song talks about moving on. It's a very positive song. You can not keep on regretting on your past and the mistakes that you did. You learn from them and move on with your life. You also learn from other's mistakes on the way and don't do them yourselves.

For a long long time, I have been stuck with the past... but now, I am moving on!

My favorite part from the song:

There comes a time in everyone's life

When all you can see is the year's passing by

And I have made up my mind

That those days... are gone!

Give it a try:

Rascal Flatts - I'm moving on

Cheers!

My best days are ahead of me..

Just want to share a song.. not typically a my kind of a song but the lyrics in this song are just too pushing me to post it.. bear with me :-) :

Danny Gokey - My Best days are ahead of me

The Norwegian Experience - missed point

Missed another thing that impressed me on this trip:

While checking-in at the hostel on reaching Oslo, we had the booking for 2 nights there and since we were thinking of going to Bergen on day 2, we wanted to get it changed. We were discussing this amongst ourselves and the guy on the reception goes - "Mushkil nahi hai", in his accent ofcourse. And I was stunned. :-)

He was a Norwegian man and then he said that he can speak Sanskrit also along with 17 other languages..! He was studying diction and this was a part of it. Being able to speak basic things in different languages. He told me that though he couldn't follow our complete conversation, but could make out the outline of it at least. Impressive huh..!

Also a learning: don't make fun of anyone in your own native language... you don't know for sure when they might be understanding.. if you have to do it, do it in a way they can understand, so you are sure :-)

Cheers!

The Norwegian Experience

As promised, this is the travelogue for my trip to Norway.


How it was planned - asked a friend for a long due dinner at her place (being a single bachelor guy, this is like a dream right? I am talking about the food... ;-) Getting good home cooked food. So I absolutely don't shy away from asking anyone for a meal. :-)). Anyhow, so pinged her and she invited me for the Christmas weekend. And then, I randomly asked her to plan some trip for the weekend as I really didn't want to stay at home alone for the 3 day weekend. And we started looking for places close by where we could drive to. Then asked a dutch colleague of mine for some suggestions... and he said go to Oslo. Checked the ticket prices, didn't look too bad. Asked a couple of more friends.. and it was booked. :-) I luv such quick decisions and random plans that come out of nowhere. And remember, this was a Wednesday and we were talking about that same coming weekend.


Had to leave on Saturday morning. Went out with some colleagues for some pub hopping on Friday night. The clear aim on that night was to come back home by 9 or so, get good sleep, and go to Norway. What happened was - reached home at around 1, didn't get good sleep, and went to Norway. :-)


Reached Oslo, checked-in to the hostel, and went out for a long walk across the city. That's the best way to see / feel a city. The city had a good feel to it but couldn't create a perception in my mind coz being Christmas, the entire city was shut down.. so it really was not going too well. A pub was thankfully open.. so went there in the night.. and it turned out to be a good pub...! Met some people there who were very fond of India and one of the guys had worked in India for 3 years..! So good fun there. Though it was fucking expensive...! Over a cigarette, asked a barman as to why is the city so expensive and the response - "We are rich people and we don't mind paying!".. you got to be kidding me.. :-)


Then had one of the most delicious kebabs I have ever tasted... shish kebab! So good food also. It was decided that the next day morning, we will drive to Bergen as there is anyways nothing to do in the city. It was some 8 hour drive from Oslo.


Next day morning, picked up a car from the airport (again.. freakingly expensive... I mean some 500 euros for a Skoda for 2 days... ! But had no other choice so took it.) And started the drive. Kept on driving and driving and saw that Norway is truly stunningly beautiful! The fjords, snow, beautiful roads... amazing drive. This is what we were driving through:


The Drive - Oslo to Bergen

A frozen fjord.. picture perfect:

It was an amazing experience. And then the nirvana moment happened for me... and all the money that I spent in the expensive Norway, every penny was feeling worth it after that! I had no complaints.


Reached Bergen, could not find any hotel there! :-) A pub was open till 2:30 am... so the plan was to sit in there and sip on the beers till it is open, rest for a while in the car... and start the journey back early in the morning to make it for the flights in the evening. Yes.. we were getting adventurous.. :-)


Did exactly that.. slept in the car for a couple of hours... and started our journey back. Roads got closed due to heavy snow fall and storm. So had to take a detour.. and it was freakingly long... and the flight was under threat.. :-) it was a race against time and due to the black ice on the roads, you couldn't even go too fast. And in all this struggle, we take a turn... and there's a mini-van coming sliding at us horizontally and we can do nothing about it. It crashed into our car... and that is how the pursuit for the flight ended.. :-) thankfully, none got injured.


The pickup truck came, insurance papers filled in, took us to another alternate rental car and we started our journey again. The entire process was some experience. From the initial shock to the final sinking in. But the next three hours that I drove, were painful... because of the black ice.. and super slippery roads. But it's fine.


The Painful Iced-up Drive

Then to the Oslo airport, rebookings done, arranged the stay for the night at the same hostel, went out to eat something. Went to HRC (missed out before since it was closed). So kind of a blessing in disguise as I did want to go there... Couldn't take the tshirt as the rockshop was closed but at least had a beer at the HRC. This is the second missed tshirt now after London. Anyhow.


The next day, took the flight and no more adventures then. Reached home in the afternoon. That's how the trip ended. Very expensive trip (more so because of the rebookings) but the experiences that this trip gave me, I think it really was worth it. And I promise another date with Norway sometime. It is just too beautiful to stop me from going there..!


Cheers to the gorgeous Norway!


P.S. As you might have realized, we were driving on most part of the trip, and the road conditions really didn't let us make too many stops. So I don't have many pictures from the trip.

It's a new day, It's a new start..

The start to the year was good and I hope it continues the same.

New year's eve was amazing.. super firework display and the most amazing part was that it was all uncoordinated effort. I just couldn't really believe that it was uncoordinated coz it was so crazily synched up somehow. Or, as I was told, maybe I was too high.. :-D

But whatever it was, it was really some nice firework display (Anyone in Amsterdam for the new year's eve ever, I recommend you go to the Nieuwmarkt square). And then mixed with lots of beer and some dancing.. all in all, it was a good night. And almost an all-nighter. I thought I have become old and can't pull an all-nighter now but I did.. and it's a good feeling..

And then the first day of the year... the first half of the day was spent doing my favorite activity - sleeping :-). And the second half, cooked "aloo-gobhi". Well, might not be a big deal for most of you, but for me it is. I don't cook! And this was actually the first time I cooked some sabzi other than the regular daal. And it turned out to be not too bad. So basically, it's a new day, it's a new start.

I don't believe in the whole new year resolution thingie since I have never seen anyone really keep their resolutions. So, I generally don't take that path. But this year, I have to start doing some things.. let's see how much I do succeed. The top two priority activities that I have to do:

1. Start cooking more often and in more variety. Nothing exotic, but at aleast the basic dishes. I am bored out of eating daal-chawal or anda-bhurji. So need this change..!

2. Start running! I need to bloody get my lazy ass out and run...

Hoping that I succeed... All the luck to me.. :-)

Adios to the year that went by and welcome 2012!

Cheers..!