Onam
The national Festival of Kerala Kerala the place I love and love . They call it the God's own country.
National geographic rated kerala as one of the best 50 places of a Lifetime under Paradise found ,It comes unders the section exotic destinations like Hawai .
Coming back to Onam . This was our first Onam , when we say our first Onam I mean I got married this year . So really that is what I meant and I being a lover of fine food. Onam also means a grand feast with my friends

If you want to know what I mean .. Here take a look at this

well Rajeev , Jej ,Prateek and Priyanki , Gita and Sarit were our first Onam guests
After some nice food it is traditional to have some Onam games

It was a wonderful day . We had lot of fun...

We Won CheckFree

Woo Hoo..
We have won the CheckFree Project , It was a a different experice alltogether working on the Sales sides. The contract was officially signed


later but then that did not stop us from celeberating earlier in the evenign :) with Dom Perignon

End of House Hunt
I have found a house , in Metropark it is bit far from Jersey city nevertheless it is what I needed I think . It is quite a big apartment , 1 bedroom , it is al empty rooms for now , have lot of work to put it to make it a home .. Cable , Internet phone for start and then furniture of course . Lot of things to do . Commute is not much of a problem now but I think it gets scarier in winter .. two or three months for the winter to kick in ..need to take a car before that . Taking a house itself has been a huge drain on coffers..

New Jersey
It has been a strange change two weeks back I had packed my bags wanting to return back to India and now i am in New jersey involved in million dollar deal making in wall street , This mve to East coast from west coast have been a revelation to me in a lot of ways . How much the east coast is like India.May be it is the predominant asian community here that is drawingf me to such a conclusion but is it just that maybe the road rashness the potholes . somehow their states stand apart . The first week in jersey was not very promising . I had a tough time finding a flat and with so much cas and buses and traffic . I was fed up in week one . I did not want to stay here . i neede some calm and quiet . some open spaces . my hunt for my house continues..

Sleepless in Seattle
Months have passed by since I came to Seattle , life has changed a lot , it brought me a new set of friends a new set of people , time just whizzed past .I got a lot of new friends DK , Harish , JK , and many others . I am leaving this place tomorrow to east coast New jersy , I have an early morning flight but I am not able to sleep .. Sleep eludes me for some reason as it has been for the past few days . I never had a problem with sleep before , I always use d to sleep well and infact I used to be envied upon because of this strange trait to be able to sleep in midst of chaos in under 5 minutes .
well things have changed , Two months before I was married to my lady love and i am eagerly awaiting her to come to US . The sleepiness is partly due to her but I think I was stresses that last couple of weeks , I was in the midst of a move uncertainty and unforeseen forces pulling down a card pile.
Heart feels heavy I had got used to Redmond this place and the friends her ehave grown so dear to me .. I will surely miss them . But life it has a strange way of picking you up from the ground into the height and then throw you down but then it will come and take you soaring up again . It will it surely will.
I had gone to attend a Sat sang today by ISKCON , the speaker was a Sanskrit lecturer from the university of Dallas . He ha sbeen to India . Having a person from this land quote our texts made me bit envious and sad that I have not spend sufficient time in understanding an flearning such great texts beyond the story value ..
Guess one is always on a spiritual quest.. seatching for the purpose of ones existece .
work is worship . Anything you do do it in the spirit of bhakti ..
Every colonial rule has lasted a few centuries.. So how long will the American rule last , 5 percent of people of the world 50 percentage of the worlds resources..
Is that wha t powers the American dream , it is mathematically unachievable , is it why they call it the rat race . we are in it very much part of it .Somehow thoughts are in a turmoil ..
Sleep still eludes me .. I have a flight to catch ..
I guess I will lie down now.. Miles to go .. Miles.. To . go..

Abhishek's New blog
when technology is only a part of the whole!looks like my friend has discovered blogging .He was not much of a blogger that i can imagine.. hm.. guess people change a lot .

Diamond Lake

On Diamond lake West Coast Near Craater lake . This was a fun trip . Me, DK , harish and Gaurav






This is one of those memorable Road trips that I had

Dk went home early today .He said he is not well , Ithin whe did not sleep well yesterday .May be i will give him a call

New Friends ,New begining

I got a new friend today . I dont know how i mena she just sent me a mail regarding a post in micronews and then we ended up chatting for like 1 hour in the evening . She sits in the next building I would have probably seen her sometime , but it is curious isn't it . Anyway i get a feeling she is going t become a good friend ..let us wait and see..

Well I gotta leave eraly today , i need to fix one of those DIY tables that i bought , It shoudl take me some 3 or 4 hours ,well I am streaming it over the internet .

In installed MOzilla FireFox today and it rocks!, Lot of features that you always wished you had but you never got
Get Firefox

Do you want to commit yourself for a cause , here is how you can do it with just one cilick of a mouse to feed a hungry child , you can click only once per day . set this to your home page so that you dont forget to click a day

The Hunger Site : Give Food for Free to Hungry People in the World

Below is one of the articles i wrote last year while I was in London i dont know if it s an article , I used to call it voltage because we were Elecical engg and Voltage was a cool name So posted below in original ,
Abhi below that is me ... read on

VOLTAGE 4
========

Hi folks

Abhi: So here I am again with another edition of voltage
You :wont this guy ever stop
Abhi : well not yet, I thought you might like to ..
You : What you thought ..
Abhi: I mena I thought oyu might be interested in,..
You : well frankly I am not but.. go ahead if you are particular
ABhi : It's voltage 4 ,So folks intersted read on..

Unlike the the first 3 editions of voltage this voltage is differenet as
there are not many chareters in this like before ,the only charecer that
is i this story is Me and Myself , and another important feature is that this time it is
being published from London ah ! nothing liek an oversees edition

I dont know why I am writing this but I just write ..as I have always written
and the most important thing about what I write is I rarely read them once I have written so folks pease generously forgive all spelling grammer and illegibele words sentences Now that I have taken advance Jamyam . the story begins..

ACT 1
The story begins in a litle library called kishath ,this library is a situated in a pretty
rusky old building whihc was once a palace officials house ,the memnership fee of this library s 3 Rs per month , another important feature of this librabry is the number of afternoon chess players that you will see in the library and on a dusky evning you see

Abhi and Shyam playing chess

Abhi : your move
Shyam : Iknow . ( shyam is pondering .. over how to save his bishop )
Abhi : You know I have to head home it's seven now
Shyam : Nee kurachu advantageous position aanengi ninakkudan veeti ponam ,
I am takig my time
Abhi : oh ok but make it fast ok . I need to get ready for that Math test coming up
Shyam : since when did you start studying for maths tests Holmes
Abhi : Well I have decided to chage no more ozhappal Watson
Shyam : Somebody please pinch me
Abhi : No da I am serious
Shyam : I know and you know that you are the residnet Math whiz of our class
Abhi :Yeah , and you are the physics whiz I suppose. So what was that flaw in the
Einsteins theory of relativity that you found out..
Shyam : There now (moves the rook into position ) now ah
Abhi : Good move.. (thinks over he board )
Shyam : Dont you want to go home now
Abhi : well hang on..
Shyam : Remember the Maths test ..
Abhi : ok ..ok. write the board down .. we will catch up after Math test on thursay
Shyam : ok.. notes down the position and returns the board to the cabinet
Both come out of the library
Abhi : (climbs on the cycle) need a lift home ..
Shyam : Yes .. mind the gutters ok .
Abhi : No one is compelling you .. ah.
Shyam : Hey man have you wondered what will happen to us in future
Abhi : yeah well kind of..but I want to be an engineer you know build dams and stuff
Shyam : I would like to take a PhD in physics
Abhi : Well who know s what life has in store .
Shyam : True but whatever it is going to be I know we wil always be friends..
Abhi : yeah.. I was thinking of that.. math question ..


The cycle and riders fade into the night ..
ACT 2
football ground Zameer is sitting on the half wall near the ground , Abhi comes

Abhi : So had lunch?
Zameer: yeah somehow managed to send it doen my easophagus
Abhi : what ?
Zameer: Food pipe
Abhi : well never was much good at biology though see cant draw much
Zameer: sure, No wonder scince maam caught you with that predrawn picture you traced from

the text book
Abhi : Well I knew how the oicture went but I just was not able to draw it free form
Zameer: But that's cheating
Abhi : well anyway she almost flunk me by giving 42 although I had scored 92 actually she

penalised me 50 marks so this time no A+
Zameer: Its a good lesson for you
Abhi : Anyway I dont need to learn much biology later on thank god to get into engg
Zameer: we will see where life wil take us pal.One thing I think is we will always be

friends
Abhi : What what did I do to deserve that torture ,I protest
Zameer: You can save the protests for later lets put team gotta play atleast 15 over match

today
Abhi : Ok pal but somebidy got to umpire neutral LBW
Zameer: come on. dont crib just becasue you lost the last match with us
Abhi : well that decision of LBW was not correct you knwo
Zameer: oh yeah..
( both gets up and sprints of.. )


ACT 3

Chemistry lab , students busy with different lab excercises in groups of two we see one

girl frantically looking out of the window. Abhi walks in

Anita : Well there you are ? what took you so long, you know we have to find
analyse 3 salts today ,
Abhi : Skip the lecture ,So yo ugot the salts good
Anita : yeah, and I bet you havent ought Match box
Abhi : well yes , How did you guess that ?
Anita : Never Mind (mutters something )
Abhi : You said something
Anita : well I bought an extra match box for you and one more thing dont speak to me
while I am doing these tests ok .
Abhi : ok , just becasue you bring the match box for me.. in lab does not mean you have to
act so pricey ..and.. well that composition that you let me copy.. and..standing by

my side in that Editorial issue
Anita : looks on.. oh.. really ..
Abhi : But hey Hang on, who helps you with your Pascal lab .
Anita : Hang on . I can ask anyone else .ok.
Abhi : Oh , really accidentaly spill some chemical on his hands
Anita : Mind it , damn .wash your hand
Abhi : Ok. cool you know i dont know why I have to go through chemistry to become an

Engineer,
Anita : stupid question , you got chemistry in the entrance
Abhi : yeah but this lab ..
...........
..........
Anita : Well catch you in class ,
Abhi : why dont you help me with this brown ring experiment for nitrates
Anita : Frankly you are getting a violitish shade ring instead of a brown ring if I were you
I would skip this nitrate part and try Iodide test .
Abhi : ( smiles ) Thanks I owe you one
...............
.............


Act 3

House no 70 C wing ,you can see a lake in the picture and there seems to be muffled sounds

oming form a room and in the room is a guy with a guitar and another guy slouched on the

coach

GWTG (Guy With The Guitar ) : you like this song
GOTC (Guy On The Couch ) : too much noise
GWTG : oh yeah this is the Wall
GOTC : oh really well frankly befeor I met you I never knew much english music
GWTG : This is not english music man this is metal
GOTC : whatever
GWTG : Here listen to this part about where you will feeli like helicopters allaround you
GOTC : What of that
GWTG : Thats just guitar and Drums
GOTC : Oh that really smart
GWTG : See yo are geting the hang of rock and roll
GOTC : Wont impress Liz though
GWTG : What ,What did yo say
GOTC : Nothing,
GWTG : No you said somethig ,
GOTC : Oh yeah , what if I did
GWTG : Well say it agian
GOTC : Well I just wanted to say if you want to impress Liz this wont work
GWTG : Who said I wanted to impress Liz
GOTC : Hey man , you claim I am your best frinend and remeber the day you bought those

drawings to class
GWTG : well yeah , what of that
GOTC : When I asked you for a small draing once I remember your lecture on how you are

attached to that drawing and stuff like that and when Liz cams and asked you said

"Sure Liz ... "
GWTG : Well that does not prove a thing
GOTC : oh yeah it does ,at lease it proves that your best friend wont get a drawing but
Liz can
GWTG : Ok but that is circumstantial evidence
GOTC : and in the class party you were dancing with her
GWTG : What of it you were dancing with Anita too
GOTC : oh well that is different you see eveyone knows me and Anita are freinds from day 1
we were friends even before we were friends
GWTG : Ok agreed then liz is also my friend ok
GOTC : Friend my foot , what was this bands name again "Pink panther did you say ?"
GWTG : (throws up his handds ) Pink Floyd !!
GOTC : Whatever i am hungry
GWTG : Well tell me when you are not ?

voices die down..


well time has passed by I have completed the BTech course which in itself is a big journey
most of my friends I have mentioed bfeore got into engineering colleges , Shyam got into CET

, Anita into REC , GWTG into MA , Zameer ino Model , All of them were really really close

friends of mine at some point in time and in engg colleges I have met so many more friends
some of whom are vert dear and near to me . Deepa , Archie , Jayson ,Siad, SPK (Sam Pavana

and Kaks ) , Ani , vineet, shyam ,Harish ,sanoop to name a few but time has slowly widened

the gap between us and today sitting here I was pondering what is that about life that is so

amazing so mystic that it is never prdictable .Inspite of being so close one drifts apart

from them slowly slowly without you yourself tknowing that the drift has come , slowly but

surely you enter into different worlds into diferent realms
Now today sitting here in London I was saying good bye to a freind whom I met Ahamed and

in just 2 months we have become so good friends and while he was saying that " I will miss

you whe you are gone " I sat down and started writing this "what is it that point when a
casual acquaintance becomes a frined and what is friendship anyway ,wha makes you gel with

some but not with the others
" someody once told me friends are people with whom you can sit on a
porch silently all day and them walk out as if you had the best conversation of all "

Yes thats true frieds are indeed a gift ,and I have also known that

" FRIENDSHIPS are different from relationships ,You can be great chums
with your partner, of course, but a relationship is so much more complex.
It is not only about that enrapturing feeling called love, but -
if you are unlucky - also a host of murky emotions like jealousy, resentment,
anger, pain and despair. Friendship is simpler and fills you, mostly, with harmless Type B emotions-kindliness, fondness, warmth and cordiality. With a lover, you
make demands and have expectations. But with a friend, you're cool.
You don't really owe him or her anything, or have to explain much, because,
ultimately, you demand nothing more from each other than pleasant
company and an occasional listening ear"

The older I get the more I value my freinds buy strangely it gets harder and harder for me to maintain them ,In schools you moved in a group and you become close just naturallly but then as you move up into college you are a bit more cautious and when it comes to workplace you are relly scared to make a friend but then some do become close and you never know when they become an integeral part of life one thing could be the same probles or difficult times tat you undergo or helping ewach other out on a rough patch but the fact remains the older you get you will get less and less new freinds you get The most cruellest part of friendship is that it can die ,some through sheer distance ,some through sheer circumstances when somebody moves up in life he or she becomes too busy for you and you dont want to risk rejection by trying to keep in contact with him or her Some you lose when they get married you are not sure if they would still like to be contacted while some simply stop checking mails ,some just gets a new mail id and give it to the list of people they can think on the first shot ,sadly many they miss out unknowingly
such are the cruelties of time

Why I mentioed this is becasue of how my friendship with shyam suddenly died ,we used to talk for long hours in the library under he moonlight when we were walking home ,and we used to call each other and one day he had moved to pandalam and he said he will leave me his new number ,He called me from pandalam once left me his number i wrote it down and that paper got washed in the washing machine and then I waited for his next call for some days he didnt call (whihc was normal) and then some months passed by ( I was a bit alarmed ) and then months became years ( time had pulled the cord on the relation ) and then one day I saw him
we talked for few minutes but we were both rushing off me to office and he to receive somebody but it never felt the same ,I felt awkward stupid,I wished him all the bes t and that was it

Now coming to the present after 2 years of college life I can see thew same thing happen to me with many of my frined slowly but surely I see them drifting apart ,I have not always tried my level best to keep those bonds but surely I have tried one of the reason why I made this mailing list ,I dont know if I will write another voltage I am hoping that I wil but I am starting to feel awkward writing voltage now and presenting to you as the number of people I can assosciate are slowly fading in numbers So waht I would like to say is that please keep in touch with your friends dont lose them even if you have not phoned them up for months its ok ,pick up that phone and call them now . or take a post card and write a letter , and lastly let me quote something that i heard once

" Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by our own wrong decisions and by circumstances and by others. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value. Each one is special in his own way - Don't ever forget it! Never let yesterday's disappointments overshadow tomorrow's dreams. "

I wish you all the very best !!

Valentine weekend.

Most of the restaurant here are pretty full and booked ,one of my friend was trying to get a quie evening with his girl friend and he finally managed a 4 - 5:30 reservation in the 8th restaurant he called.hmm is westerners more addicted to love ?Anyway this year Valentines day is on a Saturday. What a terrible loss, especially for those in college. This is one day i am sure they would love to have it a working day rather than a holiday .



Long before that is even previous to my days in TKM , I never believed in love ( No seriously I considered it a waste of time and one of the most stupidest way to screw up one's own time ) and then i had my own little theories about it

The dictionary meaning of the work according to Merriam Webster is unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another.

Is that true .Is it so . Isn't one being just plain vanilla possessive at times. Is it not ones own self intersst that is ther in love .So is it ok to be possesive and still say you are in love , why do onw fall in love and not rise in love etc..etc.. ,questions questions.. well I had a lot of questions and arguements in my defense but then again I was proved wrong when i fell in love ,and now i know why some people day it is beyond definition.

Why simply because it is beyond definition , the basic human psycology is self interest and selfishness there is nothing wrong or right it in it , it is just the objective mind in oneself trying to sort stuff out in best interests of you , well is that not what Darwin’s origin of species is all about ,"The survival of the fittest" , hmm.. but then it is complicated whn a guy goes ahead and choses the girl next door over Ash ( if you asked Ash who ? Wake up dude !! ). So is that what they call the falling in love ..I wonder .. Is it not against the Survival of the fittest theory when a mother would risk her life over her own child is that not totally selfless . So is that the purest form of love or is that also a degree of possessiveness.. Curious thought



So let me dedicate this one moment to all those hearts in love and who has ever loved simply because

it requires goodness in ones heart to actually Fall in love, and it is good to have loved because it makes you a so much better person and a better human



well I don’t know why I am going on like this with this email , I think I am going on a mental trip again that i normally go on .. well speaking of valentine let me speak about my valentine

well maybe not not now not today
But here is a card i made with me and her

Valentine card

Abhi's Web Logs

Reinstalled google tool bar Google Toolbar Man i hate these popups..