Joy of the first bicycle ride

Do you remember the feeling of your first bicycle ride all by yourself ? Your parents pushed your bicycle from behind, ran with it and then eventually let you go on your own. A moment of fear then a delicate balance, then surge of self confidence and finally the feeling of liberation! Your bicycle sailing on the road. Your first ride.

I was in a park jogging today and I saw a little kid on a bicycle with his father. I saw him ride on his own after a while and I saw his face. That triumphant and jubilant face reminded me of the days when I was learning the bicycle. Though the memories were very hazy, I could still feel it myself after all these years. And although I can't recollect who it was that taught me, I do remember the place. It was in the playground of my uncle's vacation home in the suburbs of Sihor town. It was a very old Atlas cycle of red color with handles bent inward as it was the style in its days. It was a bike almost a generation old at that time. Nevertheless, it did the job!

Recollections: Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits) in Mumbai, March '05

Today I loaded my iPhone with some classic numbers by Dire Straits. And I was listening to them while walking back from school. It was 'Sultans of Swings' - the phenomenally successful song by Dire Straits which reminded me of his Mumbai tour a couple of years ago.

Mark Knopfler- known as voice and guitar of the band Dire Straits, toured India in March, 2005 and I was fortunate enough to go to his Mumbai concert on 5th March. I visited Mumbai just for one day for this purpose and was looked at with some strange stares when I told people about it. Understandable, as Knopfler is not too popular in India.

But the concert was worth every single rupee I spent for the ticket and travel. Knopfler is a legendary artist who has exceptional control and creativity over his guitar. And his impressive husky voice adds to the charm of his songs.

As a man of simplicity he is, he was in his typical outfit of white shirt and black trouser. His spectacles gave him a look more of a professor than a rock artist. Never running around on stage, not trying to woo the audience, no shouting. Absolutely no-nonsense approach towards his music. This is typical of Knopfler. And this is the attitude which commands tremendous respect towards him as an artist.

Lovers holding hands and dancing to the sweet tunes of 'Romeo and Juliet', young enthusiastic teens jumping and feet-thumping on the beats of 'Tunnel of love', sensitive music lovers sitting down on the ground and enjoying the sad and grave notes of 'Brothers in arms', Knopfler had something to offer to everyone in the crowd. And I remember the surge of enthusiasm when he started his good old 'Sultans of Swing' song. The whole crowd was up on its feet, cheering him. Crowd was thin though which was kind of expected as not many people know Dire Straits in India.

An evening to remember it was.

[Image Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photo.cms?msid=1042374]

One Year

Today is a special day. I completed one year in US. It was 28th July last year I had landed in San Francisco.

It's been a long journey. It really doesn't feel like one year. It feels much more. Like eternity. So many varied experiences. So many changes in life. So much learning.

Some memories .... fond or otherwise...

- Staying in the computer lab whole nights for 2 days straight, finishing the project.
- Snow in Tucson
- Struggle for getting funding in the first semester and failing
- First birthday in US
- Completing a project which was supposedly a half-semester project in only 3 days with Karthik
- Christmas with sister and brother in law in Sacramento
- Buying first iPod and Lord of The Rings complete 12 DVD set
- Getting TA in the department
- Giving a presentation to Undergraduate Students in Software Engineering Class
- Reaching last round of interviews at Microsoft for internship and failing
- Getting through Cerner Corp's interviews and first offer of internship
- Visiting NY for the first time for Morgan Stanley's interview. Failure in the end
- A surprise internship offer from Bloomberg, NY
- Spring break at sister's place
- Nominated for Best TA (But not getting it)
- Topping the second mid-term of Compiler subject. A huge surprise
- Summer in NY city in Bloomberg
- Meeting old friends - Nehal, Prachi, Ruchir and Taral
- Visits to Dallas, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Atlantic City, Kansas City, Seattle, San Francisco
- Successful completion of assigned work in Bloomberg. Praise from Manager
- 100+ hours of finance training in Bloomberg
- Daily commuting of three hours in total from New Jersey to New York

It sure was a hell of an eventful year!

Amul's orange flavored milk chocolate and Hot-Wheels cars

It was mention of chocolate which sparked the thought process in my mind about the reminiscences of childhood. And the chocolate which flashed in my mind was Amul's orange flavored milk chocolate. I am not sure if Amul still makes it or not. But when we were kids, my sister and I, we used to have that a lot. Fruit&Nut and Orange. Amul was the best! There are so many things which give you a thrill when you feel them in the present and they never fail to revive your memories when later you remember them and think how special it was to you at that time.

The most exciting were those toy model cars which papa used to buy for me. They were called hot-wheels and believe me, they were really 'hot' at that time! And my fascination for cars was just too intense when I was a kid. Toy cars and guns. They were like a passion for me. And on birthdays, I would always expect that I will get one such! But even without birthdays, my father used to get them for me. In all shapes and colors! Mostly I remember the red ones. The sports type cars. And also those fire trucks! Machine guns and pistols. There was also a yellow colored bus which was my favorite just because it was so big! And once or twice I remember one of my aunts got one red colored racer car for me from US. And that was such an exciting moment for me! I have a pic with that car in my hand and an ebullient wide smile on my face. As if saying, 'look! I have the fastest car within my reach'.

After those days, my liking turned to cricket bat and ball. I wanted a branded cricket bat and papa knew it. One birthday, he took me to a sports good shop and got that bat for me. I think it had 'Power' written on it and in those days, Kapil Dev used to advertise for this brand. It was an amazing feeling. Getting a branded bat and that too from an authentic sports goods shop! And almost every month I used to buy balls. One kind or the other. I have a big collection of different balls at home. They include Tennis balls, Rubber balls, Ping-pong and so on. And ya, my favorite ones where those small rubber balls which were called 'crazy balls' which used to bounce a lot. They were made of hard rubber and were solid. I mean they were not hollow from inside. I was so fond of them. I broke our tv cabinet glass with one such ball one day and incurred wreath from my mom! I was really scared to see the glass shatter!

I was not much for clothing when I was a kid. But one thing I remember is a white shirt which my mom and papa got me. It was this crisp cotton, immaculate white, full sleeves and the Polo symbol on it. It would remain my favorite piece for long time to come.

My first bicycle was also one gem of a thing. I can't remember the name of it but it was pretty much 'in' those days. It was black-green colored stylish thing and so light weight! I remember the first ride on it was so thrilling. As if I were riding a Harley Davidson!

During school days, I think I am talking about secondary schooling days, Saturday afternoons were most awaited! Because we used to get comic books. Papa would buy us lots and lots of comic books and mostly on Saturdays because of weekend. All those Indian super-heroes. If you remember Captain Dhruv, Nagraj, Chacha Chaudhrey and so on! I can't explain how enthusiastically I used to wait for those comics. And would read slowly for the fear of finishing them before quickly!

New school bags, first Milton's water bottle, new note books, plastic covers for books, labels, those starry-jazzy stickers for notebook covers, erasers with fragrance and colors, new wax colors, board games... All these things which sound trivial today were of great importance to me as a kid! And birthday was always a special day when I would anticipate the whole previous day about what I was going to get next day.

And the most recent thrill was getting my first cell phone. LG 3070 with a flap and 65k colors. Silver color and dual color display. I got this when I joined my first job. It was one of the most beautiful phones on earth according to me and I bought it without caring much about the features and functionalities. And it was pretty much costly too. But what mattered to me was it looked dazzlingly pretty! I used it for two years and still it has not lost its charm. I miss it here in US though.

Things have changed quite a lot. I don't know if it is because of maturity or self-reliance or something else. I wasn't excited about my new bike here! It was just a routine thing. More shocking was my total lack of interest in the new phone that I bought. Though this is the phone which used to be one of my dream phones back in India, it is not so exciting anymore. It is 'just another' phone! A 12 dvd Lord of the Rings set is no more exciting than a bunch of diamond comic books. A new laptop is not as charming as the first monophonic tape recorder. Neither is Hershey's chocolate bar as tasty as Amul's orange flavored milk chocolate.

Things in the past always look beautiful. I asked a friend why. The answer was, 'your mind doesn't want to remember the things which are not beautiful'. I couldn't help but agree.

[Image Source: http://www.sandsmuseum.com/cars/elise/merchandise/miniature/hotwheels.jpg]