Second day of exploring Bangalore with the evergreen Jagre Family.
So, the reason I chose to visit the Visvesvaraya Industrial & Technological Museum for the second time was because of my parents’ love for museums, especially my Dad. My Dad always feels fascinated whenever he is surrounded by the piece of history. If you remember I visited this place a few days back and thought to be a good place to hangout with family and kids.
Again, we had to change a couple of buses and possible a couple auto rides to reach this place. Bangalore traffic, I tell ya!
Once we reached the place, I went ahead to the ticket counter which was empty as it was the middle of the weekday. And, we were inside within a few minutes.
Here’s me with my mom, aunt, and cousins, right across from the dinosaur statue.
Here, you can see my parents with one of the cousins.
And here’s my Mom with the other cousin.
When I tried the optical illusion during my previous visit, I knew, my Mom would loved to try it, so here you go, my Mom trying the same optical illusion that I tried the last time. She looks cute, doesn’t she?
After exploring almost all the things that the museum had to offer, we headed off to the adjacent aquarium. This is one more type of place that my parents liked, my Mom, in particular as she was and still is fascinated by the sea-life. I was glad we could cover this place as I missed it during my previous visit.
Here are my parents posing in front of one of the fishes in the aquarium.
At the end of the day, we bade goodbye to both the museum and the aquarium and it was time to feed our hungry bellies. With many roadside vendors, we were not short of many options, so we tried almost everything that they had to offer. The most amazing “food” that I still like is the COTTON CANDY. I couldn’t resist buying some for everyone and here’s my cousin, Mom, and aunt posing with the famous cotton candy.
Gosh, I miss simpler times.
Anyway, I will be back with one more day of exploration with my beloved family.
This was the first day of the exploration for the entire Jagre Family. I have been waiting for this day for quite some time and have had planned in advance what to do.
Whenever someone visited us in Bangalore, we used to take them to all possible places that Bangalore stands for – Metro, Mall, a Temple, and a lot of traffic jams. 😃 So, with family around, I thought to repeat the same routine for the first day with a few twists here and there.
We started the day starting a little late by having lunch, which was intentional (to save some money 😛). We had to change a couple buses to get to the ORION MALL. Though it was a little difficult to take so many people using buses, as most of the Bangaloreans at work, the buses were quite empty, which we loved and could enjoy the trip to the mall without any hussle.
The impression of the mall for my family was GRAND. So far, they haven’t travelled a big malls like ORION, so it was the first-kind-of-experience for them and could see how their eyes lit up at the first sight of this mall.
When we started exploring this mall, as it always happens, the kids got hungry and soon, they found out the “Doughnut” Shop. In 2016, I hadn’t heard about KRISPY KREME DOUGHNUTS. I thought it was just a “normal” doughnut place and didn’t mind treating my family with it. Turned out, the adults in my family didn’t hold back and ordered some more for themselves too, which I didn’t mind and encouraged them to order more. Little things like this make me happy and I still remember it.
Here’s my Mom clicked with my youngest cousin, Archit.
After the Mall, it was time for the family visit to the ISKCON temple. Being an atheist, I would have opted out going to the temple, but being my family’s only guide, I had to accompany them. I think they had a good time. I was looking forward more to the sweets that they had at their sweet shop on the exit to the temple. When I was in Bangalore and used to visit this temple, the only thing I used to look forward was the “MOTICHOOR LADOO” on my way exiting the temple. Man, these ladoos are so delicious, I still remember the taste now. I remember gulping down at least 2 ladoos during this visit and loved every bite of it.
Here’s my family snapped right before entering the temple. It was supposed to be a candid photograph, but some of us were smart enough to look at the camera. Anyway, I simply loved this picture. Not sure, where Archit was!
After the visit to the temple, the business was usual. We took the Metro to take us home and was relieved that we didn’t need to fight the traffic.
I couldn’t be more excited for this week, with high temperatures coming in Michigan and it is becoming harder to stay indoors.
Day 1 – Sunday, May 03, 2020 – Quarantine Day 48 For the last few days, the count of positive COVID19 cases doesn’t seem to slow down. But, today’s count of 196 has been the lowest I have seen so far, so somewhat good news, I would say.
This gave us a little cheer and we decided to head out for our hiking adventure. This time, we decided to head to the Waterloo State Recreational Area. It has been a blessing to get to explore all these State parks/area during these times. One thing that I have learnt over past 50 odd days to not take anything granted and have been fortunate enough to spend these tough times with friends and family.
So, the hiking started off in great spirits. I loved the spot from where we started our hike and was happy to see the lakes all around us. Unfortunately, this happiness was short lived when we arrived at a dead end and had to return to the spot from where we started.
Since we are used to more distance, this 2.4 mile hike didn’t seem that much, but kids were hungry so we had to take the break and eat some food.
After our lunch, we started off on our second hike, which was again, short lived, as my friend, Monika, started feeling a little bit of pain in her legs, so she decided to take kids with her to the car, leaving myself and Anupam to hike further.
We decided, instead of hiking, let us try Trail Running. We haven’t had a chance to trail run, so this was a perfect opportunity to see if we are upto it, and, boy we had fun! I couldn’t imagine, Trail Running would be this good for my knees and toes. I could feel the start difference between running on a concrete surface as compared to the trail/mud. It is definitely better to run on a trail as compared to the concrete, and, I think, I will run more on trails based on the availability.
I remember being drenched at the end of the run, but was relieved that I survived the 5K distance, though, I could have gone for more. The one interesting discovery that I did during this run was that I hardly paid any attention to my pace and the time I was taking to cover such a short distance. I think this will be the key for running the ultra marathon. So, I will remember this run and my mindset during this.
Now, after all this hiking and running, Sunday would have been incomplete without our Biking. So, after finishing up our dinner, we had some sunlight for an hour or so, so we decided to bike for that time and we had nice time. It was relaxing to end Sunday on this note and loved every minute of it.
Day 2 – Monday May 04, 2020 – Quarantine Day 49 The COVID19 positive have risen to ~400 today. It is a concern with these many cases even after a month, so, we are taking all precautions while going to the market for food and other necessary things. We will get through it.
The weather was not that great, so, I decided to skip the run and opted for a bike ride with my friends. Though 12 miles look a lot, but our bodies are used to this long distance now and we were glad we could come back in time for dinner, before, it started drizzling a little bit. You know, Michigan Weather!
Day 3 – Tuesday May 05, 2020 – Quarantine Day 50 One more day with almost 500 cases reported. Each day feels like a test to me now. After hearing these numbers, we decided how our mood is going to be.
Anyway, we were gonna cook some lovely dinner, so we decided to go for a longer biking route than our regular. Turned out, it was little bit more than our bodies anticipated. We could finish the 18 mile loop in a decent way, but as soon as, I had dinner, I couldn’t stay up to read, as I usually do, and went to bed straightaway. It was a much needed rest, with no running for the last couple of days.
Day 4 – Wednesday May 06, 2020– Quarantine Day 51 Not a good news when it comes to number of positive COVID19 cases. Today, we saw an increase of 200 more than yesterday. A little bit of concerning and hopefully the count will go down soon.
The weather today was excellent. We had Sun for the majority of the day which was enough for me to be happy throughout the day. The work was too much today, so I spent most of the day in front of my laptop and cried over the fact that I could not enjoy the nice and warm sunlight outside.
The moment I shut down my laptop around 5 PM, I was so excited to run outside. I got ready and ate some chips and guacamole before heading out to run. I had so much fun running in such a nice weather that I didn’t need to use my knee cap and CEP compression socks. At the end of the run, I found myself to have preserved enough energy to go for more, but didn’t as it was almost dinner time.
Day 5 – Thursday May 07, 2020– Quarantine Day 52 One more day when we saw the increase in number of positive COVID19 cases. Not a good day, but I think, we have gotten used to the fact that it will be a while before we could see only a couple digits as this number. Hopefully, that day will come sooner than later and we will be able to go back to the normal, whatever that means in these unprecedented times.
Today, I had to skip running as my knee was not 100% for a run, so opted for biking. Biking has been an essential part of our lifestyle now. Having spent some grueling hours in front of the screen, the biking helps to revitalize some energy and acts as a trigger for never say never attitude.
We did somewhat around 15 miles of biking, now a norm. It took a couple hours as we had to take more breaks due to windy weather. In the end, it was a good effort and the dinner followed by biking was so good!
One thing that I forgot to mention is the push-ups and Burpees that we did before biking. I was feeling a little bit pumped up as soon as I closed my laptop screen, so I cranked up 120 push-ups and 50 Burpees before heading out for biking.
Here’s the overview of the day.
Day 6 – Friday May 08, 2020– Quarantine Day 53 A little bit relief for COVID19 positive case numbers. The number have been dropping steadily, so hopefully, we will be able to see the two digit cases in a week or two. Fingers crossed!
Today, the work had been really overwhelming, so I didn’t want to stretch myself with running and opted for biking instead. We covered our usual route and tried to keep things a little light as it was Friday.
Nice effort by the kids too, who were not at all exhausted after this bike ride.
Day 7 – Saturday May 09, 2020– Quarantine Day 54 The COVID19 positive numbers increased today, diminishing whatever hope I had to get away from this. Also, our Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer extended the social distancing protocol till May 28th, and the manufacturing plants to open by May 18th for Big 3 – GM, Ford, and FCA. Good news for the business, not so sure how the cases will fare after May 18th.
So, as far as the running goes, I couldn’t go out for run today. But, we did something which we never did before.
We biked for 34 miles in 4 hours.
I cannot stress this enough how hard it was to actually finish the 34 miles and especially when you are with kids, Aryan and Arnav. But, they are no ordinary kids and know how to push themselves when the odds are stacked against them.
It was a special day for Aryan as he got the new bike and got to try a long distance on the first day itself. Here’s him showing off his new bike.
When we started this bike ride, I was not mentally prepared for such a long distance, but, eventually figured out that my body is in tune with such a strenuous physical activity. With Aryan and Arnav riding alongside, we took, I think, 4 breaks to recharge and were taken at a regular intervals so that they don’t sore their tender bodies.
At the end, I was not at all tired, and could help my friends with dinner preparation. However, by 9PM, I was done and went to bed and fell asleep before I realized. It was an awesome day, which will be remembered for a long time. Next target – 50 miles.
This brings to the end of this week. I have realized I have started biking more than running, partly because of the weather and the wonderful company that I get while biking.
I was born on April 23rd, 1991 and turned 25 years old just three days ago. The 23rd was a big day for me and since my family was going to arrive on the 26th, I decided to celebrate the special day with them.
Growing up around my sisters, cousins, and friends, my parents have always given highest priority to our education. For them, Education was the only way to unleash the true potential of a human being and break the “invisible” shackles that they had to grow up with.
I didn’t realize this fact when I was a small kid and used to wonder why my parents stress more on studies. Now, that I have all grown up and taking care of some of the financials, I understand their thinking and long-term planning behind our education. Sometimes, I wonder, how they could afford to educate four children (3 of us have Masters degree and one has a Bachelor). I am truly humbled to “imagine” the kind of sacrifices they might have made to save money for our education. Hats off to them.
So, even though it is not possible to pay back all their sacrifices, but considering a small drop in an ocean, I decided to fly them from Nagpur to Bangalore for their South India tour during April 2016. I know they were jubilant with at the idea and couldn’t say “No” as it was their first time flying and I wanted them to be together during this time.
I remember leaving my apartment for the airport, without checking the flight status in excitement. Only to realize their flight was delayed as you can see in the below picture.
I was so disappointed to find out their flight was delayed. Unfortunately, I couldn’t do anything except to wait. I cannot recollect now what I did. Maybe I had a sip or two of my favorite drink then – tea. And, back then we did not have that stronger connectivity, so I don’t remember having spent time on the phone too. Good old days, innit?
When I was waiting for them, they were having some fun just experiencing what it felt like flying for the first time. I remember my first time flying and I have talked about it here. I totally got their excitement and the way you get goosebumps and way your stomach feels when you takeoff and the way you pray while landing.
I remember I was just praying that they land safely and I get to see them sooner than later.
Here’s one of the pictures that my Mom took of my Dad. Even though his expressions don’t give away too much, that smile, tells you many things. The most important one out of those is the immense satisfaction, which I love.
And here’s my Mom, clicking a selfie with her Nokia. I don’t remember the model. The picture quality gives away that it was not a smartphone! I loved this picture. She looking through the window at the amazing scenery which she is getting to experience for the first time in her life. I was happy she could capture this moment.
Once the status of their flight changed from Delayed to Landed. I was relieved. It was a question of when I would get to see them and welcome them to my city. This was their first time visiting Bangalore and I was happy that I was hosting them, thanks to my roommates too who let my family stay with us.
Here’s the mandatory picture you take at the airport. We were happy to see each other and I remember checking if everything was okay with their flight, since, it was delayed for some reason. I had a facepalm moment when my parents told me that they were in the plane but on the ground for quite some time due to some issue and couldn’t figure out whether it was normal or just a special case, since this was their first time flying. I just overlooked that part and we got ready to head home.
This was taken just before jumping on a bus taking us home. I remember the bus being over crowded and we had to struggle a little bit to get on and off for my apartment, but it worked out well in the end.
My uncle and family were jubilant to welcome my parents. I was so happy to see everyone together. The night went on quite smoothly, with my aunt, mom, and sister talking and catching up after many days, whereas I entertained my guests with I don’t know how!
All in all, a good day. Many more exciting days ahead!
15th April, 2016 was my last day at Accure Inc. I, finally, decided to part my ways from Accure for good. This was because of a couple things – I got an admit from a couple universities – Louisiana State University and University of Connecticut. These two admits were enough for me to plan for future. Keeping that in mind, only a few things left – Secure a loan and apply for US Student visa with the i20 from one of these universities.
The future couldn’t look better, so, I decided to do what I haven’t done in my engineering. Invite my parents to see my life and my city – Bangalore. I wanted to spend as much time as I can before I finally headed to the US. That produced the idea of inviting my parents and my youngest uncle and his family to Bangalore for a couple weeks and explore the Southern part of India.
This is what bring us to this day.
April 26th was a big day for Jagre family as everyone descended upon Bangalore the same day and I couldn’t be happier to spend time with my baby sisters and enjoy some family time.
My uncle and family were traveling via “some” train, so I had to go to the railway station to receive them. In Indian culture, it is very important to welcome guests at airports, railway or bus stations. It makes them feel good that you took the time out of your busy schedule and came to receive them. It also helps them to navigate the new city and the buzzing crowd in a big city like Bangalore.
My uncle and his family were about to reach Whitefield railway station, so I made sure I reach there before they do and give them a warm welcome. I was happy to do that, with a lot of free time and was happy to do so.
I remember their tired faces lit up when they saw me as soon as they exited their railway coach. I was happy to see them too.
As soon as we exited the railway station after exchanging the pleasantries, we took the empty 500-D bus to my place. If you have lived in Bangalore and travelled through the 500-D, you know the feeling. I sometimes miss traveling that route and the bus. It was one of the best experiences to travel through this bus and catch up on your sleep.
Below you see my cousin sister and her mom exchanging many stories during their 12 hour journey from their place in Gujrat to Bangalore.
And here are the other cousins. Gosh, they look so young and interesting to see that they were wearing marching colored T-shirt. I am not sure whether it was intentional.
They were also happy to travel through this bus and we talked, talked, and talked during the entire time. I was glad there was no one around, otherwise, they would have get pissed off easier hearing our blabber.
Once we reached home, I made sure they were comfortable with the living arrangements as I had a couple roommates back then. I remember them getting refreshed and being really hungry. So, I took them to one of the good restaurants that we had right across the street – A2B restaurant. I was also hungry as I was waiting for them. So, we had a really nice family time at the restaurant and couldn’t be happier to have them there.
Here’s the family – all smiles.
More to come in the next post – where I welcome my parents the same evening!
One more Indian/Marathi Festival and more reasons to celebrate. This time, it was an arrival of Spring – which also marks the MARATHI NEW YEAR people across the world.
The name of the festival is Gudi Padwa and a quick google search confirms what I just stated above, which means, I know at least a couple things about my culture. Yay, I am happy!
During this time in my life, I was surrounded by my sister, Minu Tai, and her roommates and my roommates. It was fun to celebrate this cultural festival in not so cultural way. I, being an atheist, was of no use when it came to decoration. My job was to show up and click some pictures and eat some delicious food, which I was okay doing, as long as I didn’t have to perform any ritual or of that sort.
So, the festivities started off with this beautiful and awesome Rangoli. If you are not familiar with what a Rangoli is, I would strongly recommend googling it as I would put it like it is a cultural thing like you do when you celebrate some festival like you take a white powder and put it in different designs like whatever makes you feel better like you put some powder here and there and then like click some pictures. You got it? Good!
Isn’t it look beautiful? All credits go to my sister and her roommates as they put all the efforts.
Now, comes the actual part of the celebration/ceremony. The setting that you see below is called Gudi. I am sure this is how it is spelled and pronounced as Goo-Dee. So, to construct this, you take a long stick. You wrape/drape a saree at one end of this stick. Remember that this end is going to be the TOP end of the stick. Then you decorate this some flowers, gifts, and what not. You top it off with a steel cup which you can clearly see in the picture below.
Then you take this stick and tie it to some steady object so that it doesn’t fall. And voila, you have your own Goo-Dee. You can thank me later! 🤪
And here’s my sister, Minu Tai, posing with the Gudi. The pose that she is flaunting here is the Namaste pose which is used while greeting each other (in India) and mostly while praying to the deity.
And how can I end the post without posting one of my pictures? Here’s yours truly posing with my huge tummy and off course my glasses, because it was sunny and why to waste a perfect opportunity to flaunt my love for my sunglasses.
Here we go! One more location in Bangalore to explore. I know the timeline of this travel diary is a little messy, but I do recall this trip as I aimlessly roamed the streets of Bangalore with a few of my college buddies. It was a day to remember for sure.
But, before starting with the pleasure trip, I remember sending the below picture to my then girlfriend, who was in outside India back then! Our favorite pastime being shopping and buying new stuff, she jumped at the idea of buying at least a few pairs from here, so that she could have them once she is back India. Good old days!
Anyway, that store was on our way to one of the highly coveted restaurants by some of my friends. I am blanking on the name of the restaurant here, so will just tell you how delicious and weirdly shaped the BHATURA was. I remember my friends telling to taste the particular dish and I had to try it after their never ending tales about this wonderful dish.
I must say, the dish didn’t disappoint. Both the Bhatura and Chole were top notch and the side dish (cucumber and tomato) complimented those better.
After having our tummies and heart filled with the delicious food, the group decided to visit the nearby Visvesvaraya Museum. It was on my bucket list for quite some time, and was glad that I finally got a chance to visit it.
There were many things to look at and plenty of space to relax and “sit”, which most of the museum lack. I do have a small request to museums to INCREASE THE SEATING capacity for those tired knees to give some break.
As you can see, the life-like statue of the dinosaur, which was distinct a few million years ago. The outstanding part about this piece of art/history was it was moving with some audio and video effects. I don’t remember whether they had put the dinosaur smell around this area, but sounds like a cool idea!
After this, it was time to visit the other section of the museum – all phenomena related to air travel. I have always been fascinated with airplanes and it just astounds me how effortlessly they fly in the air, and have lesser probability of an accident as compared to cars. Just fascinating to me.
This section highlighted the contribution of the WRIGHT BROTHERS for the aviation industry and we cannot fathom enough how important the first 12 seconds flight was for the airplanes that we see today.
Apart from the airplanes, this section was filled with many scientific activities for the kids, which the 20+ years old grown-ups were reluctant to try, but anyway gave a shot when no one was around.
I distinctly remember the small replica of the old-fashioned wind tunnel. It was an engineering feat, which was just unthinkable in the olden days. Now, most of the European countries, the Netherlands in particular, have adopted to this, and this did wonders for their economy. I simply loved this piece.
Ending the visit to the museum on a high and goofy note. I think the last thing that we tried was this illusion. Though it looks weird, it is so simple. To capture this moment, you have to ask your friend to stand in front of this setup and you go in the back and struggle yourself to stand patiently and look for that perfect angle. It feels like that you have your head on the plate, ready to be served to some monster. Pardon me for my weird imagination.
Hopefully, this will be a good week for my running schedule and we should see some lower number of Covid19 positive cases.
Day 1 – Sunday, April 26, 2020 – Quarantine Day 41 First day of the week! Let us start it with a good news. Today, the COVID19 positive cases dropped to 570. This is a good news for many reasons. I have been waiting for this number to drop below 500 and eventually in double and single digits, making it easier for us to go back to our normal lives.
But, we are nowhere closer to the way people back in India are living under complete lockdown. I cannot even imagine myself living like that, let alone experience it.
Hopefully, we’ll get through this sooner.
Anyway, it was a big day for my Marathon preparation.
I started my Sunday on a high with a 6-mile run. It was a good run after what my knees have been through for the last week. I took special care while attempting this distance and made sure I do not twist anything and cause more injury to already hurt knee.
My friends, Monika and Anupam, were kind enough to gift me the compression socks that I have been craving for a couple months. You can check these out here. These socks feel so good. The moment I put these on, I was giggling like a kid and felt so happy and comfortable. I was dying to try these out.
Unfortunately, these socks do not cover my knee area, so I had to put on my knee cap that I purchased from Meijer. I started my run by putting it on my right knee, which I had to switch to the left one after a couple miles. It looks like I need to buy one more knee cap, just to be safe.
The overall run was very smooth and I didn’t feel tired at all at the end of the run. I wanted to test this pace for my ultramarathon and was glad that I felt comfortable with less than 14’ pace. I think this will be my pace going into the ultra. Let’s see.
The surprising thing about the run was the I didn’t feel thirsty at all during the run, which buttressed the belief in my pace. So far, so good.
After the run, it was time to kill the Sunday Afternoon. Me and my friends decided to bike the afternoon out and it was a good decision. We didn’t even realize the 14 miles distance that we covered during this bike run. It was a good Michigan weather, but too windy. We didn’t mind it. Awesome Sunday well spent.
6 more miles to go for 250 miles of running in 2020.
Day 2 – Monday April 27, 2020 – Quarantine Day 42 Good news, 2nd day in a row. The COVID19 positive count dropped to 432 today. This is the lowest number I have seen in a while for Michigan. Hopefully, the curve will flatten some more and our lives will *hopefully* get back to normal.
Today, it was an awesome weather in Michigan, so I worked from the back deck, soaking in the Sun for a good 3-4 hours. It was an awesome feeling. I felt like summer is just around the corner and I couldn’t be more excited about it.
Anyway, it was a rest day for the running, so we opted for biking instead. It was a good roughly 10 mile route and I was glad that I could finish it in an hour with a few minutes as change.
Day 3 – Tuesday April 28, 2020 – Quarantine Day 43 It was so good and big day for me. I did everything that I like to do and couldn’t be happier about it. Let me talk about each section below.
Running – The run part of the day couldn’t be better. It was so refreshing to get out of the house and do a 9-mile run around my community. If given more time, I would have loved to run more but we wanted to bike after my run, so had to stop at 9 miles. I was happy with my efforts, especially because I wasn’t tired at all after the run. If you are following my journey, you would remember that I used to take ice baths after these “long runs”, but with my better running techniques, CEP compressions socks and proper care, I did not need to take the ice bath and my legs and knees never felt better.
Biking – After the run, I took a quick shower before heading out again for the quick bike ride. The Michigan Weather has never been better and could squeeze in a 10-mile ride before ending the day. The bike ride was soothing, relaxing, and works like a meditation to my legs and I am fortunate to live this kind of lifestyle.
Grateful – One highlight of this day was the 25-miles bike ride done by both Aryan and Arnav. I am so proud of both of them and couldn’t be happier regarding their achievements. Here’s the picture of the three of us together.
Day 4 – Wednesday April 29, 2020– Quarantine Day 44 One more day for the bike ride. This time it was a 13-mile strenuous activity. I enjoyed it, but my legs didn’t. Anyway, being the rest day for my Marathon preparation, I thought, it was okay to stress my legs a little bit to keep them warm and fresh.
It was a good day!
Day 5 – Thursday April 30, 2020– Quarantine Day 45 It was not a good weather day here at Michigan, so, we could not go outside for either biking or running. The best way to keep myself fit during this time was to do *MY FAVORITE EXERCISE* – BURPEES. Many people don’t like to do Burpees and even I used to detest those, but all these changed when I started doing workout with burpees. As soon as I did that, I immediately developed the liking for them and never looked back. Now, I cannot imagine my workouts without them and can drop 100 burpees on queue without breaking a sweat.
For this workout, we decided to mix Burpees with Russian Twists. My friends, Monika and Anupam accompanied me for this workout and we decided to split the reps in 10 burpees each to go sequentially. The technique worked for us and we felt not that tired at the end of the workout.
You’re welcome, my abs!
Day 6 – Friday May 01, 2020– Quarantine Day 46 What a day! I did so many outdoor activities today, I cannot express how happy I am.
The below picture captures the reason of my happiness. Isn’t is beautiful?
Looking at the scene above makes me immensely happy and inspires me to push harder.
When I started my outdoor run, I didn’t pay much attention to my pace, but as soon as I finished my first mile, my Apple Watch notified my performance and just by looking at it, I was simply amazed to see that I clocked in 9’15” for my first mile. I was so pumped up, I told myself to keep the same pace throughout and I was lucky and glad to keep the pace just above 9. I clocked in the fastest mile during the second mile of the run. Boy, I was elated and excited. By the time, I reached the third mile and the end of my run, I pushed myself for the last time and could see my eyes getting drenched with the sweat coming from my forehead. It was the result of my labor. I couldn’t be happier with the result.
As the day progressed, so did the weather and before going out for the biking, I got a narrow window of 30 minutes, which was enough to run 2 more miles.
And what do I say about biking? We stretched ourselves more during this bike ride and I was happy to finish the bike ride at 18 miles. It was a good effort, but my legs almost gave up at the end of the day with all the running and biking.
It was an awesome day!
Day 7 – Saturday May 02, 2020– Quarantine Day 47 Today was a special day as we were celebrating my friend, Anupam’s, birthday today. So, we planted the WEEPING CHERRY sapling in the backyard. This is how it looked like.
After planting the tree and getting enough rest, I took myself outdoors for a little bit to get some Sun in and have a good time, without caring much about my pace. It was a wonderful feeling.
This brings us to the end of the week and I couldn’t be happier the way things have transpired during this week. I could run 20 miles in total and countless miles biking. I am happy with this performance and hopefully, I will be able to continue doing so.
2016 has been a year of major events for me. The biggest event was leaving India and moving to the country of dreams – The United States of America. But, I will talk more about it in a separate post. The reason I am talking about the changes, is, because 2016 started out with a bang for me and I was so happy I was part of this wonderful and awesome opportunity.
For those of you who personally know me, you know that I like to spread my knowledge and conduct classes, so, when Mr. Shamshad Ansari, the President and CEO of Accure Inc. discussed this opportunity with my team, I was really thrilled. It felt like a dream to share my team’s work with 50+ college graduates and faculty members.
I have always been passionate about data and analytics, so, I didn’t want to let go off this opportunity as it was a unique blend to talk about my work and at the same time teach a huge crowd of more than 50 people. I was so happy about this and remember myself preparing for this weeks in advance. I think, by this time, I had a good experience of classroom and online teaching, so when I told my teammates about various things we can try and help the students and teachers in many ways, so they were surprised with my knowledge in this field. Unfortunately, I could not tell them about my side hustle, to avoid further conflicts with my teammates.
You see below our beloved CEO Mr. Shamshad Ansari on the podium with the Directory and the Head of the of the HKBK college. I loved working with him during my time at Accure. Shamshad has a unique good mastery on the technical details that goes behind the scenes while developing a product, hence, I had no difficulty explaining the technical roadblocks we were facing while developing the products, made my job a lot easier.
The entire week went by pretty fast and we didn’t have to a chance to retrospect all things we did during the week. But, at the end of the workshop, we were surprised with a small felicitation ceremony of the entire Accure team. The most amazing part of this ceremony was the way they introduced us. I was blown away with my introduction. I never knew I had done so many things in my short career, and felt happy to hear those from “others”.
At the end of the introduction, we were presented with the trophy that you see below. It was a nice memento and will cherish it forever. Thanks, both Accure and HKBK.
One more trip to the lovely HOME. This time, it was Diwali Celebrations.
Now, that I am looking back at all the trips that I took, I have realized that I have visited home more often that I thought. When I came to the US, I felt like I should have spent more time home, but now that I am going through all these moments and pictures, I realized enough is not enough when it comes to Family and Home.
Anyway, it was Diwali or Dipawali, whichever you prefer. This is the single biggest festival Hindu people celebrate back in India, and these throughout the world. By this time, we have spread across the globe and there is hardly an untouched territory where we (Indians) haven’t stepped our foot yet.
So, We have to celebrate Diwali at two separate occasions. This is because my Dad owns a grocery store and being the shop owner, he prefers to keep these celebrations discrete. We celebrate the Diwali at home on the day of the Diwali, also known as LaxmiPoojan, and the Diwali at the store five days later – a.k.a. Panchami. You can read more about it here.
This usually is the setup at our home. My MOM puts extra efforts to make sure everything looks perfect and presentable. I remember, her taking more time to setup this, which I really loved (even though being an atheist myself).
In the past, when we were kids, we used to shop a lot for Diwali celebrations, which gradually faded over as we grew older. This year, I remember, shopping nothing for this, as I knew, I was supposed to take off for the US and was trying to save some money by not buying anything for myself. I felt so grown up now that I think about it.
I wore an old traditional kurta, couple with a cheap Nehru jacket and the black jeans to with it. I don’t know what was I thinking! Good old times.
Here, I am with my two sisters – Shubhu Tai and Dikshu Tai.
We clicked so many pictures that day (knowing that it might be the last Diwali I celebrate at home for foreseeable future). Here, you can see me *barely* smiling in the picture when I was praying the deity for the well-being of my parents, sisters, and family.
I usually make this face when I am forcefully smiling. Anyway, good old memories.
And here are my producers! 🤪 I loved my Mom’s stud that she is wearing in her nose in the picture below. In my mother tongue, it is called NATHANI (नथणी). And, I think, it is customary to wear the hat/cap that my Dad is wearing. Even, I wore it one time during the Pooja ceremony.
After the Pooja and other proceedings were done, we had a lovely dinner, with everyone together. It was refreshing to spend time with each other instead of gluing ourselves to out phones, which our parents hate. (everyone’s parents hate, I guess).
In summary, it was a good trip and I have preserved it as the last Diwali with family at Home. I don’t know when I will get to travel home again and experience the same energy and love that I used to while celebrating it with my family. So, if you are staying with your parents and hating it, please don’t, you will miss these moments later and then there won’t be any way to get/earn those moments back.
stochasticity 