I fell in love with Rebecca...

Sunday,10:20 a.m.

I have been watching "The Apprentice" Season 4 for the whole yesterday night and today morning.I finished just a few minutes back.Huh, I don't believe that even now I don't feel sleepy.Rather, I am dying to scribble something in here.Reason.This 14 week reality show is so inspiring.18 US talented guys(gals) fight for being "the Apprentice" under Donald Trump.U know what it means? It means unbelievably & awfully something very BIG.

I had watched a few weeks of Season 4 while I was back in India but then yesterday, I completed downloading "Season 4" from BitTorrent and had a ball watching the whole 14 week episodes back by back in a span of 8 hours.It was hell of a night-out!!

I instantly fell in love with Rebecca. A 23 yr old journalist.An intelligent,smart & drop-dead gorgeous beauty.She was an awe to the other 17 contenders.She never bitched around.She played cool and earned immense respect in the eyes of Mr. Trump.And that means a lot.She was unfortunate to break her ankle early in the 14 week fierce battle but then she continued.Not only that, she rose to every occasion and proved she could kick the ass of every other contender even being on crutches.

The stage for the Grand Finale was awaiting her and she made it.Mr trump was so impressed with her and Randal , the two finalists, that it seemed he is gonna choose both of them as his Apprentice. Randal was MIT and Oxford educated.A great leader with charismatic personality.Both of these guys had immense respect for each other.I loved this part.

Mr Trump chose Ronald as his Apprentice and asked him if he wanted Rebecca also to be hired.To everyone's shock, he refused it. He was called selfish while a few minutes back he was a hero and a selfless guy in everyone's eyes. But his decision could have been right also.Otherwise Donald Trump, a 'big opportunist' wouldn't have let Rebecca go so easy. Rebecca could only shake hand with Donald Trump and say, " That's unfortunate". I know baby.U also deserved "The Apprentice".

Hats off to her.A 23 yr old lady making it to so big.She inspires me in many ways.

Have much to do.It's race against time.

A few good movies....

I have been watching a lot of good movies these days - thanks to the following

1.it's summer break and I have no tension of submitting an assignment the next morning
2.my room mates (Lamby,Rajat) already had a Blockbuster rental when I moved in to live with them
3.sites like peekvid.com and movieforumz.com

This is an era of digital revolution.One gets psyched keeping pace with what's happening in the digital word.But pervasiveness of DVD quality movies is one gift of this revolution.

Tom Cruise starer "Risky Business" comes the first in the order - of watching the movie.I remember I had great fun watching this movie.Tome Cruise's fresh teenage look in this movie fits so properly to the whole plot of the movie.It's a movie about a college going kid.His parents go out for a vacation for a few days and hand over the keys of the palatial home to him whom they "TRUST" big time.Poor Parents!! In such a setting starts the "ultimate entertainment" and " the "risky business". I fondly remember the delivery of this dialog( to Tom Cruise from his one friend). It goes like this

"Often say what the fuck.It provides you freedom.Freedom provides you opportunity. Opportunity makes your future."

Second movie I watched was "Blood Diamond". I have a habit of first seeing the IMDb rating of a movie and then watching it. A rating more than 6.5 , I consider , approves a movie to be great. This movie has a rating of 8.0.It stars DiCaprio & Jennifer Connelly in a story which is at times gruesome but overall thrilling and moving. It's based on a real event. It's in the setting of Civil War of 1999 in Sierra Leone.About the illegal mining of conflict diamonds in Sierra Leone and the atrocities met out by the rebel force (RUF) on the locals.DiCaprio (Archer) plays a role of a mercenary and is in hunt of the "Blood Diamond".He cuts out a deal with Solomon who would lead him to this priceless diamond in exchange of the promise that Archer shall find Solomon's son with the help of Maddy( Jennifer),an American Journalist. It's an awesome movie.

"The Cranes are Flying" is the third movie which I liked a lot.It's a Russian movie made in 1957 in the setting of World War II.It's black and white.It's a love story with a cruel ending.War reckons her lover to go to the front and fight against the Germans while she awaits,gets harassed, marries some other guy only to find later how deeply his "brave" boyfriend loved her.It's a touching story.A movie made in 1957 with superb direction.Go for it dude!!

The fourth movie which I shall recommend watching is "The Battle of Algiers". It's a French movie depicting the fight of Algerians against French Rule for their Independence. It reminded me of our Independence movement against the British Rule.The characters and events in the movie look so much real.The battle of extremists group ,National Liberation Front (FLN as in French) against the French rule is one main draw of the movie.The tactics of FLN insurgency is worth watching.In the end we find, as in our Independence movement, a mass uproar only brings freedom to them.

Nice movies they are.I really enjoyed them.With lights switched off,a glass of wine and sound surround system turned on, go and enjoy these movies.

"Indians don't pay tips"

Don't get mistaken my friends.I am just barely 5 months old in this country and too inexperienced to make such a "sweeping remark" about my own race. These are the words of a Yellow Cab driver.It's neither a racist remark. So chill out!

Do U wanna hear the story? I know You do... so let me get started.

It's the story of last weekend.Sunday to be precise.I had went to Austin last friday to meet my undergrad pal, Anshul ,who was here on a short business trip from AMD,India.We had a nice time.We were meeting after 3 years.We did bakkar, ice skated, dined @Java Noodles and California Pizza Kitchen and hanged out with his new Austin friends. Saturday whizzed past in no time and I was about to leave Austin.

I had managed to get ride from College Station to Austin by my college mates but had no one to bring me back from Austin.Walking was not an option:), so finally had to book a ticket on Greyhound to head back to my school.Sunday was ruined.But this is one of those God crafted events. He wants us to realize that how lonely and helpless we are in "US of A" without a Mercedes, read a chaar pahiya gaaree.

Bus for Bryan (neighborhood sister of College Station - CS doesn't believe in possessing a BUS STATION;) ) was scheduled at 12 noon and I had to get my buss pass from the ticket counter an hour before.So basically I had to reach the Austin bus station at 11 a.m. My Sunday had already begun.I had to travel 20 miles from Anshul's house to reach bus station.Woke up at 8:30 although the alarm was set for 7:30.I dunno whether the alarm clock ever tried to wake me up at the "requested" time.Anyways.Performed the daily chores.Called up a Yellow Cab to journey the 20 odd miles.Took breakfast.Bode adieu to Anshul and hopped into the Cab and got going for the short trip to Austin bus station.I started at 10.

Journey was fun.Believe me.The cab driver seemed to be very interested in India and her people.And so right away when we left Anshul's apt complex, he got going.He was very eager to know my opinion about act of "public kissing" in India.He was utterly disturbed at the Indian public's display of anger for recent Richard Gere's kissing of Shilpa Shetty on an AIDS campaigning stage.To my shock and surprise, he was so aware of this news.I know many of you may not be.He had the concern that why are Indians so cynical about kissing in public- even about just kissing on cheeks.He considered it to be kinda greeting.Now it was my turn to put the "act of public kissing" in Indian context.I talked about the differences between Western and our culture.About the difference in their thought processes. Beliefs of our older generations and changing mindset of we the younger generations.It went on for a few minutes and I assured him that 5 years down the line he won't have any such complains with the Indians:) He was satisfied.He seemed to be happy.He had been in the driving business for last 18 years.He was a Nigerian.And he loved passing comments on beautiful women racing with his Yellow Cab in Austin traffic.

The journey wasn't very long and I reached Austin bus station at 10:30.Time to pay the bucks.The fare turned out to be 40.19 dollars. I had 2 notes of $20 and a note of $10 and a dollar in quarters and the Credit card. I had already started deciding upon how much to pay in tip(while he was parking).Just pay $41 or pay by credit card with some $3 tip.I had not even finally decided then pat came the verdict from the Nigerian dude "Indians don't pay tips". I thought what the fkuc. I didn't get challenged. He knew I was a student.I paid $41 and wished him " a great day!".He made it so easier for me.

Ridiculously, I just paid $29 for my trip from Austin to College Station by Greyhound for 5 hours of journey.Cab cost me $41 for 30 minutes.This is the charm of this place.This is USA my friend.

Spring Sem @ TAMU

In a few words, "it was exciting but difficult".

I joined Texas A&M University, College Station in Spring 2007 and have just completed the semester.To start one's graduate studies in Spring Sem is not a great choice and I realized that early in the mid of the semester.And by the end of sem, I was already suffering.

But not everything was so gloomy and depressing.It was an exciting experience to be part of the grad studies at TAMU.It's so much different than what we have in India.Differences emanate from the societal thinking itself.The education system out here is very flexible and practical.Professors are buddies to the students and that makes the journey of a student less painful and horrible.

When I first came here, I was staying with my seniors from Roorkee. They took me around the campus and showed me the important buildings which I would often need to visit.I remember I fell in love with the campus at the first sight. The greenery, the peace, the vastness of the campus,the beautiful gals around , everything about TAMU enthralled me and I knew I was headed for a splendid two years of my life.And I am enjoying my stay!!

In the first month of my stay, I could find an on-campus job with a good monthly salary and that has helped me to live a peaceful and anxiety-free life on campus.Parents were happy to learn about my job and that made me feel even better.

But last four months have been really an uphill journey and I had moments when I would feel very depressed with my failure to manage time.I have always been a VERY BAD time manager.But the bad experience has helped me to refine myself and emerge as a better time manager. I am now more organized and less unpunctual.

Now is the "break time" and the summer semester starts from 29th of May.This semester would surely be a testing time for me and I am looking forward to the impending "Challenge". I am also kicking off my research this summer in my favourite field of research interest - AdHoc Wireless Networks and I hope to do good work.It should be an exciting summer.Summer of '07. What do u say?

Prologue...

The last blog I posted is dated Sunday,Nov 5 2006.A long time indeed before I am back.

Back then I was in India.I was working for CSC as a software engineer. My blogs were reflection of my then state.

Now I am in USA. I am a graduate student at TAMU pursuing MS in Wireless Networking.I came here in January and have just completed Spring Semester.

I call this post as "Prologue" to identify my subsequent blogs as a fresh start.This post is the bridge linking my past archives with the up-coming posts.Blogging is now more convenient and blogger comes with more features, thanks to Google. And so you can see the change in my blog's look. A few of my friends have been inspiration to me when it comes to art of blogging and their blogs can be found under "Their Blogs" section.I would like to make special mention of Anurag's and Nishtha's blogs which are very rich in ideas and thoughts. Sreejan's travelogue is really awesome.

Blogging is as much an art of creativity as it is a pastime. I mean it and intend to stick to this line of thought.

Have a nice time going thru this web-space!!