This night we (Shlok & I) were at Nidhi’s apartment. We were celebrating their graduation, and the official ceremony was the next day.
A little background – both Nidhi & Shlok had been UConn MBA students. As Shlok was enrolled in both MBA and MS programs, he (God knows how) managed to complete MBA during the first year and MS in the second one. Earning two graduate degrees in two years is no small feat and having known him for a few years now, I know only he could have done it. Nidhi, on the other hand, was among the top students in her batch and had secured a 100% scholarship for her UConn tuition, which is a commendable stuff. I respect both of them for being such an outstanding achievers in their respective academics and careers.
Coming back to this evening/night, everyone got their favorite food and drinks to savor during this get together. We were eight of us from UConn and Nidhi’s roommate Pravin, who was working with Aetna during that time. We were from different parts of India and USA, so you can say it was a mix and fun bunch of people.
The evening started normally with some introductions as I was meeting a couple of them for the first time.
I was happy to meet Kanika after so many days. If you remember, I met her for the first time during the after Diwali party at Nidhi’s apartment, so there were many memories to rejuvenate and many things to catch up on. I met Vishal also after many days. I found both Vishal and Sahana too cute with each other. When I met them for the first time, I didn’t know they were married and Shlok pointed that out after many days. Vishal is one of those people who looks really serious, but is so funny, especially with his on time and witty comments. I got a chance to work with him in my Data Analytics using R class and was really impressed with his business and marketing skills. We couldn’t have derived the business imperatives without his expertise. I met others too this evening and don’t remember what we talked about.
The central theme of this evening was what everyone was going to do and where they were heading. It was kind of a reality check for me as I was about to graduate in a couple months. Though, it was important to have fun, it was more important (for me) to land a job, as I had to take care of everyone back home.
With good food, a few drinks, and a lot of gapshap, the evening turned out to be quite an affair and is a reminder of simpler times.
I think it was after midnight that everyone started taking off as tomorrow we had to be prepared for the graduation ceremony. We also left Nidhi’s place at around 1AM and reached our apartment in a few minutes. You can see in the pictures below my apartment building, and my favorite spot in Hartford Downtown where I used to sip tea during late nights before going to the bed. Though it was downtown, the area was safe and I rarely had an incident there!
Well, this one was one of those random dinners that we went to, just because!
Nidhi and Shlok were graduating in a few days and there was nothing better to do with our lives than spending time with each other, going out to explore some places, and have some delicious food.
For this outing, we decided to have some Indian food and headed to Taste of India (if I remember it correctly). Everyone reached at the restaurant as we had to Uber like in 3 separate cars. I think we were around 8-10 people and chose this spot as West Hartford Downtown was a fun and happening place to be at for casual celebration. As Shlok & Nidhi were about to graduate, it was certainly a big moment for both of them, and for me since they were the two closest people for me at UConn. (Khush, abhi? :-D)
The ambience was good, the food was better, but the people were the best. I had a blast during the dinner and made sure I had enough food, since I was dining out after a long time. These past few weeks had been a little stressful for everyone as the worry of landing a job in the US overshadowed the big achievement of graduating with a master’s degree from the US.
Anyway, we talked, talked, and talked during the dinner and I am having a hard time to remember what I had, but must had been something delicious. I think Doctor Sahab and Kokila were the only ones who were having vegetarian food, so I stayed away from them during the dinner. I know, selfish me! 😛
The dinner was done and we were out waiting for our Ubers. That’s the part I remember most vividly just because we were acting like a bunch of fools outside the restaurant in the middle of the downtown. And by we, I mean, yours truly, in particular. During that time, Instagram had just launched this feature called Boomerang and everyone wanted to try it out. I was no exception. What followed was a flurry of Boomerangs that we shot that night and had some fun doing it.
It was an evening well spent with the lovely people and delicious food. Here are the pictures.
I made a little progress in week 39. This week, will I be able to get to my goal of 750 miles by the end of week 40? Who knows? Let’s find out.
Day 1 – Sunday, October 04, 2020 – WFH Day 202 What an awesome Sunday!
Even though I could not go out for a run, we managed to enjoy a fun day trip to the Frederick Meijer Garden in Grand Rapids. I wasn’t sure what to expect as it was the first time visiting this place, the different parks inside this garden and the sheer quality and quantity of things that are available to check out, I was stunned by the beauty of this place. I know 2020 has had many low points, but visiting this place certainly lifts your spirits up and for a moment, you forget all the craziness going on in your life and your surrounding.
The bonus part of the visit was the Bonsai Tree Show. It was the first time I was checking out Bonsai Trees from this close and loved every single one of them which were put up on display. Highly recommended place to visit. Here are some pictures.
Day 2 – Monday, October 05, 2020 –WFHDay 203 The awesomeness from Sunday rolled into Monday as well.
This time, it was related to my running efforts. It was one of those Mondays when the lovely Michigan weather was available in abundance and I made sure to take advantage of it as much as I could.
The run came in the early evening when I headed to NHS. There were high school girls practicing their running, so I got a company while running. I could finish a 10K before heading home to refuel.
The second one came in the evening when we headed to NHS one more time. This time, high school students were practicing for the weekend soccer game and I saw some impressive dribbling and passing skills. I could finish the 5K at around 28 minutes which is always a good feeling. By the time I was done with this run, I knew I had managed to pull off almost 10 miles for the day, which is important as I have to run at least 30 miles for this week. 20 more to go!
Day 3 – Tuesday, October 06, 2020 – WFHDay 204 The awesomeness rolled into the third day straight.
Today, I completed Half Marathon Number 12. When I started my running journey this year, I just had three goals in mind – run 1 Half Marathon, run 1 Full Marathon, and run 1 Ultra Marathon. I never imagined that I would be able to run 12 Half Marathons. If someone would have told me in January that I would run 12 Half Marathons in 2020, I would certainly have laughed it off.
This is so unreal. As I have to put some additional efforts during this week, I made sure I run more in the initial phase of the week as I don’t want to hamper my miles due to sluggishness that I experience during the later part of the week. With almost 10 miles yesterday and 13 miles today, I just need 9 more miles to attain the weekly target and get back on track to finish 1,000 miles by the end of this year. Let’s see what’s in store for tomorrow.
Day 4 – Wednesday, October 07, 2020 – WFHDay 205 This week it seems that I am unstoppable. The goal of accomplishing 750 miles of running by the end of this week is propelling me to run more and clinch that running goal. The work was little bit more today, so I couldn’t go out for a run until the end of the day. After I was done at around 4.30PM, we headed to our regular running spot i.e. NHS and I could finish a quick 5K. I didn’t stress much as I wanted to give some relax time to my knees and could finish the 5K run in around 30 minutes, which is always a good time for me.
This 5K was followed by some delicious food and falling asleep earlier than usual.
Day 5 – Thursday, October 08, 2020– WFH Day 206 Today was extremely special. The day started off with pleasant news of Ford extending Work From Home until June 2021. This was extremely good news for me as I love working from home and gives me the flexibility of spending time with the kids and work at the same time.
To celebrate such an awesome news, I did go out for run today after finishing up all the work for the day. I wanted to finish at least a 5K distance so that I get closer to my weekly running goal. Having said that, when I reached NHS to start my run, after finishing a couple rounds on the track, I saw a couple teams walking to the track for the soccer game. As general public is not allowed on the track field when the game is in progress, I exited the field and was looking for some backup plan to finish my run.
That’s when I convinced myself to go for a run on a Hines Drive which I haven’t done in more than a month. It was a risk for me as I was not carrying any water or food supplies and the temperature was 70F. Fortunately, the run went smooth and I could finish the total distance of 8 miles in just under a couple of hours. It was a nice run, filled with so many highlights and trees showing the fall colors. Also, for the first time and in a long time, I wasn’t tired at all for such a long distance run. It was a nice run and Michigan weather played a big role in it.
With this 8 mile run, I accomplished the goal that I set for myself at the beginning of the week – 750 miles before the end of the week. I am happy and more motivated to go for the remaining 250 miles for the year. Let’s do it.
Day 6 – Friday, October 09, 2020– WFH Day 207 Friday was the first rest day of the week! Work and other engagements kept me busy throughout the day and evening. Plain and simple!
Day 7 – Saturday, October 10, 2020– WFH Day 208 What an awesome Saturday.
I woke up a little late as I needed more time to recover and rest during the week. As soon as I woke, I got ready to head to NHS for a morning run. I wanted to finish a 10K distance, but limited myself to 5K as I was getting late for breakfast. The run was pretty normal, like every other run at NHS and could finish it under 30 minutes.
After the morning run, Michigan weather permitted us to go for a short hike at Lower Huron Metro Park. The fact that it is Fall weather in Michigan buttressed the already beautiful metro park trail. As Monika and Anupam had already been to the paved trail, it was time to check the offroad trail and it turned out to be quite a foliage. There were many cool places on the trail and as it was a short 3-mile hike, we didn’t feel that tired at the end of it. It was the perfect way to end the week on a high note.
Well, it was not an actual farewell, per se. This was a gathering of all UConn buddies after one of the courses, Data Analytics using R, came to an end and we (our professor and students alike) wanted to bid goodbye before heading into Summer 2017.
So, it was the last class of the course Data Analytics using R and our then professor Ram Gopal generously invited everyone to join him at CitySteam Brewery, which was like a few minutes walk from our classrooms. This was something new for me and totally unheard of. Back in India, we didn’t even want to be seen eating breakfast or snacks outside the college campus, especially to our college professors, let alone have drinks with them. This was one of the biggest cultural shocks I got when I moved to the US from India. When the professor asked the students to join him at the brewery, I couldn’t believe at first, but ultimately realized that he was not joking and really wanted to hang out with us.
So, there we were, almost 100 of us, hanging out with our professor, having drinks, talking stuff and doing one thing or another or both at the same time. I got to meet so many UConn buddies during this get together like the Diwali Celebration last year. One thing that I couldn’t do during my time at UConn is to spend more time with other friends at UConn. I had been busy playing cricket and hanging out with cricket buddies almost every evening. Whenever I got a chance I used to hang out with my roommates. But during winter when there was no cricket, I used to spend most of my time either at Nidhi’s place or doing something at my apartment. This didn’t leave me enough time to make more friends at UConn. No regrets, though!
Anyway, getting back to the party. The moment I entered the brewery, I saw everyone gathered around the professor talking about stuff that I didn’t know. I, being the liquor connoisseur back then, headed straight to the bar and ordered something for me. With a drink in my hand, I felt more comfortable among some familiar faces. I remember talking about stuff and future plans with the fellow UConn buddies.
During this time, apart from being a regular UConn student, I was a part-time employee at the South Dining Hall at UConn’s Storrs campus, and a Vice President of the Graduate Finance Club, and a co-Editor of UConn MSBAPM department magazine. As this get together slash party was a happening event in the UConn MSBAPM community, I wanted to capture some pictures and asked many of my fellow huskies to pose for one. At the end, I wanted to click a picture of the group, so I politely requested the professor to pose for the picture and requested everyone else to stand alongside.
If I had to put my UConn experience in one single picture, I would certainly go back to that one and happily crown it as the only picture which captures most of us in one frame celebrating something. It turned out to be great and every once in a while whenever I miss Hartford or UConn, I look at that picture and reminisce some old memories.
What an awesome day! I still remember it quite distinctly.
A couple days ago, I celebrated my birthday at Hartford with my UConn buddies and on the 23rd, I wanted to celebrate it in NYC. During this time, I was enjoying some relaxed time in between the semesters, so there was nothing much to do except applying to jobs and wishing to land one before graduating UConn.
To take my mind off from all this craziness and not to think about jobs and studies, I really needed this getaway and that’s why I booked some cheap bus tickets to spend only a single night at an AirBnb, and also allowing me to spend a couple nights exploring my most favorite city in the world! The plan was solid and I had enough wiggle room to let loose and have a relaxed birthday getaway.
I reached my AirBnb on the night of April 22nd and the host was gracious enough to guide me through the complicated directions. Though it was not my first time in NYC, I found it hard to navigate the metro lines. It took me almost an hour to reach his place, which was near to Central Park, which was the first place I wanted to visit the next day.
After checking in, I stepped outside exploring nearby places and attractions that NYC had to offer, before calling it a night with a slice of pizza and a diet coke (I know!).
The next day was my official birthday – April 23rd. The plan was to check out from the AirBnb explore Central Park the first thing in the morning. I had never visited Central Park, so I wasn’t sure how much time I would spend here. The next stop after Central Park was Coney Island, followed by Times Square, and then finally catching a bus to Hartford in the wee hours of the next day.
When I checked out of my AirBnb, the weather was extremely nice and I couldn’t have been happier soaking in all the Sun and enjoying the celebratory feeling of my 26th birthday. The first thing I did when I stepped out was to buy a cup of coffee. Back then, I wasn’t a coffee guy, so I poured in some sugar and cream in the coffee to make it taste like Chai. The coffee was so sweet and sugary that I took almost 2-3 hours to finish it and carried the coffee cup everywhere I went in the Central Park.
When I arrived at the park, I was completely blown away. The way there was a clear separation between the city limits, marked by the Hotel Amsterdam, and the entrance to the Central Park, I couldn’t imagine that scene before, so when I was actually witnessing it, the only thing I could do was appreciate the beauty of the park and the way people and city officials have managed to keep it from going extinct. As it was the first time I was visiting Central Park, I couldn’t imagine how big it was and ended up spending almost 3-4 hours here. I visited many baseball fields, watching people play and soaking in the Sun at the same time. I saw many people biking in the park, and wished I could have biked as well. I saw many runners and appreciated the cool breeze that the trees in the park had to offer. I saw so many tulips, surrounding the small lakes. People were kayaking and canoeing in those lakes, which was something I couldn’t imagine doing myself, as I didn’t know how to swim.
There were countless things that I saw in the Central Park and wished I had more time to spend there as it was super relaxing and soothing at the same time.
After Central Park, it was time to head to Coney Island. The reason I chose to visit this place is because whenever I visited NYC in the past, I couldn’t visit this place and since it was one of the top 10 must visit places in NYC, I wanted to give it a try. The sunny weather in the morning had turned cloudy by the afternoon and I remember reaching here by 4PM-5PM, which brought some chilly weather with the waves. Though it was cold, I enjoyed spending time here. This place turned out to be a kind of place families loved to visit since there were many joy rides and giant wheels for the kids and family. I didn’t go on any of those rides and just checked out what the place had to offer. After spending some time here, when it was time to head to the Times Square, I got some fish and chips and made sure the seagulls don’t attack me. The food was warm and a little spicy, just the kind of flavor you need during the cloudy weather.
The last place to visit for the day was Times Square. I always get happy whenever I visit this place, so when I got a chance to spend my birthday at NYC, Times Square was the place I wanted to be. When I reached the place, it was jam packed (as it always is). Apart from exploring nearby buildings and places, I didn’t know what else to do. I did do that for almost 3 hours, when I finally got tired of all the walking and exploring. It was after this when I slowly saw people leaving Times Square and how it looks like when it is actually empty. I saw the crowd fading away slowly, sitting on a bench, alone eating my New York style pizza and sipping on some diet coke. Times Square had thousands of people, which reduced to hundreds, and in a matter of an hour, reduced to just a handful of people. I never saw Times Square this empty before and certainly the scene was opposite when I was here on the Christmas Day.
I had a bus waiting for me at 2AM to head to Hartford. I made sure my phone was charged and my tummy had some food in it, before jumping on that bus to Hartford. It was a well day spent, the kind of things I like to do on my birthday.
So many memories made and so many things learnt. Certainly, this will not be the last time I celebrate my birthday! Do check out some pictures.
Ah! This day! Lovely people around me and so many beautiful memories!
Ever since I left home, which was back in 2008 for my Junior year of high school (a.k.a. Junior college in India), the excitement around my birthday celebrations diminished over time. I don’t exactly know what triggered it, but, it has been more than a decade now that I don’t enjoy celebrating my birthday.
Having said that, lovely friends and people around me always had other ideas in mind, especially during this birthday celebration when I was in Hartford.
So, my UConn buddies – Shlok, Nidhi, Doctor Sahab, and Kokila, made sure to surprise me with a home made cake and some lovely and thoughtful gifts for this celebration. My “official” birthday is on April 23rd, but as I was about to leave to NYC on 22nd, they decided to celebrate my birthday on the 21st. I wasn’t expecting that, so it was definitely a surprise for me.
The proceedings started off with Kokila gifting me a small plant to commemorate our friendship and asked me to take care of that plant. I knew she would gift me something thoughtful, but, I *was* not the kind of person who could take care of the plant, as I was mostly spending my days and sometimes nights outdoors. So, I, politely requested Doctor Sahab to take care of it. All jokes aside though, I really loved the gift and wish I could have preserved that plant.
Next came Doctor Sahab. In his own style, Doctor Sahab surprised me with a greeting card and a brick of Dairy Milk chocolate. I loved his gesture and I still have that card with me. I changed at least 3 apartments so far, but haven’t lost the sight of that card. More than the gift, I loved the gesture and it was something to cheer for.
After these two gifts, I didn’t know what else to expect (partly due to the fact that I was drunk and was running around my Downtown Hartford apartment). That’s when everyone started gathering up. We had my other UConn buddies and everyone that could come over for a quick birthday celebration.
In the middle of all this though, I can’t forget the care and efforts that Shlok & Nidhi put together to bake/make/prepare (I don’t know what’s the correct word here) the cake at home. First of all, I didn’t expect that Shlok would make a homemade cake just for my birthday celebration. I knew he had an ephemeral liking to cook some delicious food, but before this day, nobody had prepped a cake from scratch for me, so I was over the moon when I found that out. I still remember the joy I had when I saw him putting some finishing touches on that cake. This cake that Shlok & Nidhi made turned out so good, that we finished that one before the store bought cake. Not to steal away the credit from the store bought cake, but the homemade cake was super awesome and we couldn’t resist finishing it first. Imagining that kitchen countertop and our living/kitchen room from that particular day, brought a soothing smile to my face!
It was an awesome day, with awesome people around and there was nothing but love in that apartment. Do check out some pictures!
This was the next day of my Long Island stay with my UConn friends.
After spending yesterday at the Marina and exploring some Downtown area, it was time to head to the beach and enjoy some waters (if the weather permitted).
Back then, I wasn’t aware about how to explore some scenic areas in the US, so I was completely relying on my friends to guide me through this trip. And, I must say, the didn’t disappoint. As it was a Summer Sunday, we did want to take advantage of the weather and head to the nearby beach. I think this was the first time I was visiting a beach, so again, I was clueless what to look forward to. I still remember when we pulled in to the parking lot of the state park, we enjoyed a few lighter moments before heading towards the beach side. It was not a long walk, but, with a bunch of friends and clicking many pictures, we took our time to actually reach the beach. Damn, that rhymes! 😀
As we were on the beach, I remember wearing my then favorite crocks and taking them off for some time before stepping on the sand. Due to the Sun, the sand was too hot for my bare feet. We walked, walked, and walked before we reached waters. As it was mid-April, the water was cold and not hot enough to step in it. I went inside the water just to get a feel of it and experience what it means to enjoy the summer in the United States of America.
We must have spent at least an hour at this place before calling it a day. As it was Monday the next day, we decided to head to Hartford as our friends would become occupied with their office work.
It was a good couple days spent with the lovely seniors from UConn and certainly we had a blast celebrating life, drinking, smoking, eating delicious food, and what not!
Cheers to the wonderful times together – check out below pictures.
After a relaxed Week 38, it is time to put in some work and get back on track. The target for this week is 726 miles. Let’s see if I can get that.
Day 1 – Sunday, September 27, 2020 – WFH Day 195 Sunday. The last few days of September which only means one thing – gone are the summer days & welcome to the cold Fall before hitting the frosty Michigan Winter. The weather has not been helpful for the last few days and that is not helping my running.
Today, I really wanted to go out for run, but it was raining the whole day. I have never run in the rain, so I didn’t go out for run or did any exercise. I just sat at home and read some books and sipped on my coffee. You can call it a lazy Sunday.
Day 2 – Monday, September 28, 2020 –WFHDay 196 I didn’t imagine what happened on Sunday would repeat today as well.
Today was a work day, so my morning and afternoon was gone before my laptop. When I finally got a chance to close the lid of my laptop, I saw it was raining outside, with forecast of more rain throughout the evening. I was disappointed to miss the run two days in a row. I knew if I need to achieve my weekly target, I would need to go out for a run. Alas, today was not that day!
Day 3 – Tuesday, September 29, 2020 – WFHDay 197 The first run of the week came today.
As usual, the work was busy and I didn’t get a chance to go out for a run until I was done at 4.30 PM.
After work, I had a quick bite before heading out for a quick run with the family at NHS. The run was uneventful. I took my own time for completing this 5K as I didn’t want to stress myself with the pace. The last time I ran at NHS, I complete the 5K just a few seconds above 25 minutes, which injured my knees a little bit, forcing me to take a couple days off. As I am learning from this mistake, I made sure to take the run slowly and pacing myself accordingly. I could finish this 5K just a few seconds more than 30 minutes and was happy with the overall effort.
Day 4 – Wednesday, September 30, 2020– WFHDay 198 I was glad that I took the 5K yesterday slower than my usual effort. As I mentioned, the weather hasn’t been good since the last week, so when I started the run, even though it was gloomy and cold, I didn’t know that rain would interrupt my run before I finish my 5K. I had to cut short my run at 2.1 miles as it started raining heavily and we had to head back home. The only highlight of the run was that the last 0.1 mile was a sprint and I couldn’t have done that if I hadn’t run the first 2 miles at a slower pace.
Day 5 – Thursday, October 01, 2020– WFH Day 199 What an awesome day!
With the weekend almost in sight, I knew I had to work hard to achieve my running goal for the week. As I had set eyes on Saturday, I knew I would need more runs than I initially thought to accomplish my goal.
With that in mind, I could run two 5Ks today. The first 5K came just before the lunch time. The weather was extremely inviting and I couldn’t turn down that opportunity. I ran in my neighborhood looking at the wonderful sky, trees, and people working in their backyard.
The second one was a little bit outside my neighborhood, but familiar territory. I thought my afternoon run was quicker than this one, but I was wrong. The afternoon run was faster than the evening one, which might be the case partially because of the weather.
Anyway, I was happy with the fact that I could get a few miles under my belt. Two more days to go for the week to end.
Day 6 – Friday, October 02, 2020– WFH Day 200 Has it been 200 days already? When we started working from home in March, I didn’t imagine it would last 200 days. Now, today when I looking at this number, I am more than sure it would stretch into the first part of the next year, 2021. Let’s see when this stops (if it does!)
Before I tell you that today I didn’t run, let me throw some numbers at you first. This is a result of working from home for the last 200 days. Running – 526 miles Biking – 777 miles Hiking – 201 miles Looking back at these numbers, it would have sounded crazy if someone would have told me that this would be the case in the next 6 months. 😍
Today, I couldn’t go out to run. The work kept me busy throughout the day and in the evening, we had invited a couple friends over for dinner, so had to prep for that. I was meeting friends after more than a year, so it was nice to catch up with them and get to know everything that had been going on in their lives.
It was an evening well spent.
Day 7 – Saturday, October 03, 2020– WFH Day 201 Ah! Last day of the week and I did run outside, just not as much as I wanted to.
I woke up quite late (7.30AM) today (as I slept late yesterday – at 11PM). Waking up late is not a good feeling for me, so I had to quickly get out of bed if I wanted to run a Half Marathon before I head out to take care of some stuff.
I got ready to go out to NHS for a run. When I reached NHS, I found my Apple Watch was missing, my phone was not charged and there were soccer game posters at the Track field. Disappointment, I headed back home to settle the Half Marathon distance to a 10K. When I started the run, the temperature was 41F, so I had to layer up, which didn’t seem enough at the start but as soon as I finished a couple miles, I could feel my body warming up. I tried removing my hand gloves, but put them back on as I was shivering with cold.
The rest of the run was normal, with me watching my heartbeat not exceeding 170BPM. I made sure not to tire myself with this run and could finish the 10K distance in 64 minutes, a good time for me as I was taking things slowly. That reminds me, tomorrow is London Marathon 2020!
By this time in my life and in my UConn journey, I was done with my 2 semesters and was left *only* with one course worth 3 credits to graduate. I was planning to undergo the Capstone Project during the Summer Semester. Completing the Capstone Project in a month’s time will ensure I graduate UConn within a year’s time, which was the ultimate goal for me. To back up a little bit, when I joined UConn, I didn’t pay much attention to all the courses that were available during the Fall (first) semester. I was enrolled only in three courses, but the day I arrived, I had a long discussion with my seniors, who explained how the UConn courses work and I immediately enrolled in a couple more courses. That was the best decision I ever made. Taking up five courses in the first semester itself made sure that I graduate in a year, earlier than most of my fellow huskies, and start working sooner than expected, which had both monetary and mental relief. Thinking about all these things makes me realize how fortunate I was that I was surrounded by my seniors, who gave me proper guidance and patiently answered all the questions.
So, April 2017 – I was having fun with my UConn friends and their friends who graduated a year before them. It felt weird to call them my friends’ friends, because over the last few months, we had grown closer and we had become really good friends.
A couple of my friends from UConn were staying in Long Island, NY and they generously invited us to stay over at their place and enjoy some good time. The plan was to spend a few nights at their place and doing usual things that students and new working professionals do – drinking, smoking, chatting, and making loud noises throughout the night – troubling the neighbors. During this time in my life, I was fortunate to be surrounded by friends like family, spending time with them and making memories.
The highlight of this day was that I got to taste the Long Island Iced Tea at Long Island. It was obvious for me to choose to drink LIT at Long Island, right? That was a no-brainer! Along with the LIT, I had chicken wings which I loved. Back then, my threshold for spicy food was more, so I could handle the hot sauce that went with those chicken wings. The food, the liquor, and the company – everything was absolutely awesome.
After some food scenes, we walked through the marina and enjoyed some cool breeze by the water. It was a cloudy day, so we had to layer up to go out for a walk. The walk wasn’t a long one as we started to feel a little cold. After the marina, the group decided to head to a Bowling Alley. We just wanted a place to spend some time together and have some drinks and the Bowling Alley fit the bill for us. I don’t remember now who won, we paid more attention to chugging beers instead of actually playing the game. After spending an hour at the alley, it was time to head home and enjoy some delicious food. We had this Pakistani Restaurant near our friends’ place, so it was easier and more convenient to order food. Plus, the food was really tasty and we loved it.
The wonderful day came to an end with us playing some Poker and I ended up losing some money. The more important thing was we had fun and made many memories.
What happened a couple weeks ago, followed this week too.
Going out over the weekends to have some food and make some memories had become a ritual then and I was lucky enough to spend this time with the lovely people surrounding me who really cared about me.
This outing was something like that. The plan was to have some Indian food at the West Hartford Downtown and then walk to the nearby desert place to quench our sweet tooth.
The restaurant that we decided to go to was Taste of India. The restaurant was super clean and a little upscale when I entered. It was nicely kept and was Monica clean. When we reached the restaurant, a couple of my friends were running late, so instead of waiting for them, we went ahead and sat down as most of us (including yours truly) were hungry and really wanted some biryani.
The awesome thing about this outing was that I was surrounded by a close group of people with whom I spent most of my UConn days. They were closer to me than anyone at UConn and hence I felt comfortable spending this lovely evening with them and act like a goofy person that I always do.
Let me introduce you to them.
Shlok – Shlok was my roommate and we shared a bedroom in an apartment together. Shlok was one of the people that showed me how to enjoy life and have some fun while living it. Because of him, I could let down a little and didn’t take life that seriously, which paid quite big in the long run, as I stopped stressing on little things and focusing on the more important stuff. He is an excellent cook and helped me with some of his recipes too.
Nidhi – Nidhi is the second closest people for me at UConn. When Shlok left early after his graduation, we didn’t know what to do, so we started hanging out together and until she met her Prince Charming, we used to spend most of our time together. We explored NYC and Long Island and had a blast living life to the fullest. We made so many memories with countless parties at her apartment. Loved every single minute of it.
Raghav (Doctor Sahab) – Raghav (it feels weird to call him Raghav, I am just gonna call him with his nickname – Doctor Sahab) is a kind-hearted soul for me. Every day I used to wake up early, I used to wait for Doctor Sahab to wake up and greet me with his cute smile. I used to get so happy whenever he used to ask me “Bol Jagre, breakfast me kya khayega?”, man, that used to make my day. When visited Hartford several months after graduating, I made sure I meet Doctor Sahab and see his smiling face again.
Roushan – Roushan has been a really good friend and another wonderful cook as a roommate. Honestly, all my roommates were great cooks and then helped me in many ways that they don’t know to learn cooking. Roushan has been a huge help with both studies and interview preparations and I would remember out time at the apartment.
Suvir – Suvir has been our Punjab Ka puttar. Always smiling and keeping the mood a little light hearted. I used to chugs beers with him, be it apartment or outside in a pub or something. Two ardent beer lovers knew how to live life. I miss those old times.
Kokila – Kokila used to stay in the same apartment building and we used to walk to classes together. During our time at UConn, we became good friends over the time, with a fare share of awesome memories and a couple small fights too. The one thing that I got to know about her is how soft-spoken and kind-hearted she is and never let anyone walk over her. Miss out late night talks, though!
Damn, that was a lot of talking. Getting back to the dinner.
Everyone ordered what they were craving for, which was consumed in no time, due to the fact that the food was super delicious and we were hungry. After the dinner, a couple of us were yearning for some sweet, so we had to go to a nearby dairy restaurant A.C. Petersen Farms Restaurant. At first, I wasn’t sure about going to a dairy shop, but looking at the amazing ice creams and desserts, I got cravings for some chocolate and ended up finishing an entire scoop of vanila (my favorite ice cream flavor). The taste was delicious and loved clicking pictures with a statue of the cow outside the restaurant.
It was an amazing evening and I distinctly remember clicking countless pictures outside the restaurant when we were waiting for our Uber to arrive. Do check out the pictures.
stochasticity 