As I stated in previous travel posts, after leaving Cognizant, Bangalore, I decided to join Accure Inc. as a Senior Software Engineer. There were many reasons for the move, one of the most important one related to keeping an eye on the BIG PICTURE – preparing myself for the USA journey.
By this time, I had secured admission in a couple US universities. The first one was UConn and the second one being LSU ( Insider story, for LSU, I had to crack their interview, which was my first every SKYPE INTERVIEW – good old days).
Obviously, I did not tell about these US plans to anyone at Accure. I think, I am coming across a little bit selfish here, but I think, it was necessary for me to stick to my ultimate goal rather than thinking about the short term growth. Because no one knew why I was joining Accure, everyone questioned me about my choices as to why I am leaving a big organization like Cognizant and joining a startup. My apologies to everyone for that.
Now, getting back to the first day. I distinctly remember myself and my group were really excited for this. I was the first one leaving Cognizant from the group, so everyone wanted to see my reaction and feedback. I have had established myself quite nicely at Cognizant , so it was like getting out of my comfort zone to start the process again.
This process seems more fun than it actually is. Well, there are both UPs and DOWNs of this process, so we must respect the process and *hope* for the good end and obviously, work hard enough to gain that good result.
I woke up this day feeling quite refreshed. During this time, my girlfriend and I were in a long distance relationship, so it was hard for both of us to share that bond that we used when we were together. I called her in the morning, did normal chitchat and then continued prepping for the first day. As soon as I was ready, I asked my roommate to click a few pictures of me so that I can keep this in memory.
You can see me below, looking all fresh for the first day at work. I also got many question regarding me joining Accure the very next day. One simple reason for that – MONEY. I wanted to save as much as I can before I head to US. This way, there would have been less burden on my parents, financially.
After this photo session was over, I took either an Ola or an Uber to work. If would have to take the public transport, it meant changing two buses with a considerable walking between two bus stops, which, I wanted to avoid. You know, Bangalore things!
When I arrived at work, it was business as usual for everyone’s first day. I was introduced around the entire company, which was roughly 10-15 people, so I memorized their names sooner than I expected. I got a loner laptop to do some “work” on my first day, which was to read and research about “Apache Kafka”. For people in Big Data world, Kafka acts like a magic and works as a real time message exchange platform.
Technical jargons aside, I think, I got what I wanted on the first day and that was to work in Big Data field. Before I knew it, it was time for lunch, so I tagged along with some of my *new* colleagues and for the first time, I was having lunch on the streets of Bangalore, which was a little weird for me, but I went ahead with that. Every time, I had doubts about me joining Accure, I just reminded myself that I was there for a short time, before I head to US and live my dream life.
I don’t exactly remember how the rest of the day transpired, but I think, it went well, because, I remember talking to my friends and family in a positive tone.
After a couple days, I received my official laptop and was elated. Here’s the selfie from that day.
It’s funny how long I have come in the last five years. Old memories are golden, though!
So many emotions. Many things which cannot be put into words, all those things came to a kind and happy conclusion this day when I said my final goodbye to my first employer, Cognizant Technology Solutions. I was and will be forever grateful to CTS because of all the wonderful things it helped me learn and grow. Because of CTS, I am the kind of Data Professional that I am today and I cannot thank CTS enough for this.
So, before getting started with this day. I would like to quickly discuss my CTS interview.
For those who know my undergraduate institute, it is one of the autonomous institutes in the state of Maharashtra, India. The name of the institute is SGGSIET, you can check their website here. So, I think, Cognizant and SGGS had a corporate-academic relationship so strong that Cognizant let the top 10 students (based on their CGPA) of every branch give interviews without appearing for the aptitude test. This worked in my favor because I was not that good at aptitude and thought preparing for an interview was an easier task in comparison.
Anyway, at the risk of sounding a brag, I was one of the top 10 students from my branch Computer Science and Engineering. I was fortunate enough to appear for the interview directly and was super happy about it.
The day of the interview came and the candidates going before me had a “different” experience than the previous year’s students, our seniors. I think, 2013 was the year, all the service companies were refocusing their data efforts and therefore, all the questions that were being asked were data related questions. I was happy with that because Databases have been one of my favorite subjects and strong areas during my engineering.
The interview started well. I introduced myself and the question came about my favorite subject, to which I replied “Database”. I think the moment the interviewer heard it, he was happy too, so he started asking all the questions about databases. But, the one question because of which I landed the job, I think, was the difference between a view and the table. As soon as I answered that question, the interviewer told me that the interview is over and asked me if I had any questions. I knew at that moment that I got the job and was overjoyed, but never showed my emotions as the interview was still going on.
Anyway, I think I just relieved that moment, getting distracted here.
Getting back to the subject of this blog post, this day started pretty well. I was just happy to get paid more for the “same amount of work” that I was going to do. Many of my friends reached out stating don’t leave the big company and go to the startup. I would be kidding if I said I was not worried, off course I was worried, but it was a much needed step for bigger things in my life.
Many of my friends didn’t know back then that I have already secured my admission in one the US universities and I wanted to earn some more money before I head off to the US. If it meant working more, I was ready for that to earn and save more money so that I can see myself through the US education without any hurdle and as less as possible my parents’ money.
As you can see below, I was being myself, clicking as many selfies as I can to capture this day. The title picture that you see at the start of this post was the cube where I was sitting when I was part of the EIM group working on Big Data projects.
The most amazing person that I still miss today is my then boss Mr. Amit Singh. I have never seen such an amazing person in my life, who knows how to make an impression with his witty remarks. Thank you for everything, Amit (as it is Cognizant’s culture not to address anyone with salutations).
I have had made so many friends and memories while doing this job. Gosh, I am missing everyone right now.
I made so many close friends here. My training batch, my then girlfriend who was a real special person to me, and my project team. I miss you guys all and pray that you are safe and healthy wherever you are.
In the below picture you can see a few of them. To name then, we’ll start from the left to right. Satheesha, Leema, Chaithra, Neha, Prabhakar, and finally Amrita. I couldn’t click picture with many others, but surely I missed everyone that I interacted with. You can see me smiling, which is my usual nature.
As Michael Scott would say – I LIKE TO SMILE, SUE ME. YOU KNOW WHAT, DON’T SUE ME, THAT’S THE OPPOSITE OF THE POINT THAT I WANT TO MAKE!
Gosh, I should watch THE OFFICE sometimes!
Getting distracted again. Here is the people that I spent most of time with during my last few days at Cognizant. We were part of the project supporting our then client. We used to have so much fun during the project time and we were/are still in touch after many years. I learnt a lot, I helped a lot, and most importantly I made a lot of human connections, which is very important in your life.
So, here we are! Setting the clock one more time and busy with our own lives.
Hope everyone is taking care of themselves and doing the best that they can to keep yourselves and others safe during these tumultuous times. If you are reading this from the future, then I am talking about COVID19.
If I had a nickel every time I giggle watching F.R.I.E.N.D.S. and especially Ross, I would be filthy rich by now.
The above line is not mine, may be someone else’s but exactly represents the way I feel when I watch one of my favorite TV shows of all time.
It was very hard to choose the favorite among all six lead characters, but using my Data Analytical skills and partial liking to Ross strengthened the fact that ROSS, in fact, is the most important character in F.R.I.E.N.D.S. Please don’t hate me, this is just the way I feel.
So, here I am, putting together the list of incidents that make me happy even during these difficult times of COVID19. Stay safe, everyone!
We’ll go in the ascending order of liking off course.
Number 7 – Leather Pants
This scene is funny on so many levels. I know it is not right to laugh at someone’s expense but Ross is so cute in this scene that it is very hard for you not to laugh at him. The scene reaches its peak when Ross calls Joey (well, Chandler) for help and things just go downhill from there. Enough with me, you go enjoy the scene.
Number 6 – Spray Tan
Where do I begin with this? Do I find Ross counting 1, 2,..5 as 1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi,.. cuter or the way he believed Chandler when he told he also got the same tan, but showed up just to capture the moment. This story is filled with so many twists for our poor Ross that you don’t help but laugh at his misery, again, not a nice thing to do, but you just can’t help yourself. Enjoy.
Number 5 – I am fine
This is the story of our poor Ross coping with the fact that his two best friends are hooking up without his knowledge. More than that, his best friend, Joey, and his “former” love Rachel. Ross takes it the hardest and thinks it is a good idea for him, Charlie (Joey’s ex and a super smart woman – the kind of girls that I like, FYI), Rachel, and Joey. In the end, it turns out to be a disaster, Ross finishing up entire Margarita and forgetting to put on oven mitts while holding the cast iron pan filled with Mexican Fajita. Writing about the scene cracks me up.
Watch yourselves.
Number 4 – Unagi
This is by the most hilarious episode you can watch with kids at home, and still can laugh your as off. This scene gives you so much insight as to how Ross thinks about everything, including himself, and it is so fun to watch. When he tries to explain what Unagi means to both Rachel and Pheobe, you should see how serious he is, but both Rachel and Pheobe end up making fun of him, which you should expect from your best friends, right?
The way he shouts “DANGER” in the hallway is too fun to miss. In the end, I loved how he get his ass whooped by both Rachel and Pheobe and when he tries to explain them that “UNAGI IS NOT SOMETHING YOU ARE, UNAGI IS SOMETHING YOU HAVE”.
Laugh, Fun, Laughter everywhere.
Number 3 – Pivot
This is the SINGLE WORD which gives you laugh whenever you hear it, and off course if you have seen F.R.I.E.N.D.S. before. This word has given so many T-shirt ideas than I can remember.
For me, the funnier part is in the store when he tries to convince Rachel regarding his choice of the couch and to help to lift it up all the way from the store to his apartment. Also, the scene scales new heights when Chandler joins the gang.
See for yourselves.
Number 2 – My sandwich
Oh man, I loveeeeeeeeeeee this scene. I was a foodie once and I know exactly how Ross must have felt when he learnt someone took and ate his sandwich. I feel for you, Ross. I love his expression when his supervisor tells him that he ate his sandwich and he had to throw most of it away just because it was so big. The expression that Ross gave cracks me up every time I watch the below scene.
Number 1 – You ducked I am being partial here, because S9E2 is my favorite episode just for the fact that Ross and Joey are “fighting” in this scene and Ross ends up getting hurt, *twice*. I won’t talk more about it because I just can’t express this feeling in words.
Hope you guys like the listing. Please let me know if I missed anything.
Day 1 – Sunday, April 05, 2020 – Quarantine Day 20 What a SUNDAY! But, before some good news, the sad news that the number of positive COVID19 cases are on the rise and there is no sign to stop this train. All the statistical models are suggesting April 15th will be the peak day for the most of the states in the US, so by the end of this week, we might get to hear some good news. But, till then it is all depressing here!
To fight this depression and all the negative news, we decided to bike and run, utilizing the entire Sunday.
Let me tell you, Stoney Creek Metro Park gave me one more reason to love Michigan. I know I have already been in love with this place, but this metro park takes the natural beauty and the surrounding to whole different level and I couldn’t be happier to roam around on my bike (well, my friend was kind enough to let me borrow his bike).
After the biking was over, we headed home and I set out on my running schedule. I had so much fun while running, but during the third mile of the run, I hurt my left knee, making me run with the sore knee. This is where my running experience came handy and I could clock the 12 minutes per mile pace to finish the 5-mile run.
I was happy with my performance and was relieved to finally run outside.
Here’s the highlight of the day.
Day 2 – Monday April 06, 2020 – Quarantine Day 21 New day, more COVID19 positive cases! 😰 Hope we get to see the end by this Saturday, suggested by most of the statistical models around the world.
I am being hopeful, but it takes so much efforts to be positive during these stressful times, both emotionally and financially. So, let us hope for the best and keep our body in shape.
Having said this, today was the third day of consecutive running, and I regretted that. During the second mile of the run, I felt shooting pain in my left knee and I knew it was bad. The best thing that I could do during this run to overcome this pain was to reduce my pace and just focus on next step, instead of looking to finish the 6 mile run sooner than anticipated.
As I reduced the pace quite significantly, I took way more time than I had originally anticipated, but I was okay with that, especially because of the “injury” that I might have sustained during this run.
Apart from this pain, the run was not that bad. From the moment, I was waiting for my finish line and was so relieved to finally finish the run. I was so done with the running for a couple days now. I think I need to keep RUNNING on hold for a couple days for my knee to heal properly and then again attack it with more intensity.
I enjoyed some delicious food after this run and couldn’t thank enough my friends Anupam and Monika.
Day 3 – Tuesday April 07, 2020 – Quarantine Day 22 Today, we saw more than 1,700 COVID19 positive cases, taking the total to more than 18K in the state of Michigan. We are at the third position out of all 50 states in the United States of America and should take more precautions than the rest of the states. Let us where we will go from here.
Give us strength through these tough times.
As I mentioned, due to the shooting pain in my left knee, I had to opt for biking instead of running today. It was wonderful to bike in an awesome Michigan weather and I couldn’t be more grateful.
Day 4 – Wednesday April 08, 2020– Quarantine Day 23 After so many days, the count seems to be reducing now for Michigan. Today, we received the count as 1300 positive COVID19 cases, which is comparatively lower than the usual number we get.
Things are starting to look better now, so we are partially happy, but still feeling for people and families who lost their loved ones to this deadly virus.
The weather was so good today. We had the temperatures in 70s for the first time this year, so we made sure we take advantage of it, spending the entire day outside, doing nothing and just relaxing.
By 4 PM, we all left out for our biking and boy, we had fun. I could do 12 miles without breaking a sweat and enjoyed it thoroughly.
After the biking, we did our usual exercise and thought to push ourselves more since we haven’t done these in last few days.
Day 5 – Thursday April 09, 2020– Quarantine Day 24 More sad news as far as COVID19 is concerned. The numbers are increasing and there is no sign of stopping here. Hope you are being safe and healthy and taking care of yourselves.
The weather for Michigan today was really good and we hit 70s today for the first time. It was really good to get some sunshine two days in a row and we made sure we utilize that correctly by sunbathing and having lunch outside on the deck. It was fun to sit outside and carry on business as usual, keeping the negativities outside.
As my left knee was still in pain, I decided to skip the run today and just focus on my evening at home workout. As I did not do enough physical exercise, I thought I will take my workout to the next level, and boy, I did.
I was so so so sweaty at the end of the workout, it reminded me of CrossFit and made me miss it even more, THE GOOD OLD DAYS!
Man, it was a crushing workout. Here’s the picture.
Day 6 – Friday April 10, 2020– Quarantine Day 25 New day, more bad news for positive COVID19 cases for Michigan. Michigan has now more than 20K positive cases and I don’t think we will stop here. I see the number going at least 30K by the mid of next week. It is harsh reality that we live in these days.
We took Friday as our rest and got done a lot of work, partly because of the sucky weather. It was raining and cloudy and snowy the whole day.
By the evening though, we felt like our body can take more and I, still struggling with my knees, thought it is best to keep the workout lightly and decided to do my favorite movement – BURPEES.
It was a Death By Burpees workout. I ended up doing a 100 BURPEES workout, 10 Burpees each for 10 rounds. It was fun; At the end, I thought I could have gone for more.
Here’s the picture.
Day 7 – Saturday April 11, 2020– Quarantine Day 26 It is so unfortunate that I start the update for each day with a sad news, but these are the strange times that we live and we have to survive taking one day at a time. Hopefully, we will be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel and continue with our lives in a regular/normal way.
So, Saturday is the last day of the week and my knee is *still* not in a good shape, therefore, I decided to skip my run and opted for a 5-mile hike at the Bald Mountain Recreational Area.
When we started the hike, I did not feel that up to it, but as soon as I saw the wonderful trails lushed with trees and lakes, I was immediately sold. This was one of the best places to hike and I would have loved more distance if we had more time. The weather was company and the company was the best, so I couldn’t have enjoyed the hike more. Due to COVID19, all the restrooms were closed, so I had to pee in the woods. 🤪
Here’s how the hike transpired.
And this brought us to the end of the week number 14. I am glad that I could run at least twice during the week, given how bad my knee was throughout the week.
Here’s my running journal giving you the highlight of the week.
Well, if you are a hardcore F.R.I.E.N.D.S. fan, if I tell you the season and episode, you will know what scene I am talking about.
The season is 9 and the episode is 2 – “The one where Emma cries”.
In this episode, we have a scene between Ross and Joey where Ross is so mad that he doesn’t want to deal with Joey; but, Joey really wants Ross to forgive him, so he tries to persuade him and that brings him to the Central Perk.
The scene happens at the Central Perk. Instead of making you read it, here’s the scene that I am talking about.
Damn, this scene cracks me up everytime.
The genius of this scene is such that even though Ross is so much in pain, still Joey makes sure that he puts his point across and makes Ross understand how to duck when a fist comes at you, which end up hitting Ross again. This makes Gunther smirk like never before, which I loved by the way.
Also, we should not forget the “cute” way in which Joey stops Ross and tells him that he doesn’t know what people are saying when they do airquotes (“”). This was also an amazing revelation for a character which we have seen for 8 seasons already.
Wow! Too many pictures from this trip and too many stories. That’s my sister in the above picture, BTW.
The idea for this trip was incepted when my then-girlfriend moved to Mumbai for her job. It was hard to let go of her, but the career being the first priority at that point in time, felt easier to move than to look for some other job in Bangalore.
So, when she came back to Bangalore to visit “everyone”, we decided to take a trip to nearest tourist destination – “Shivanasamudra Falls”. I am not able to recollect right now who came up with this spot, but I was skeptical. I was not a big traveler back then and thought it will be a waste of time, but went ahead with it for my friends.
As none of knew how to drive a car, we rented a car with a driver, who I assume was aware about all the tourist spots near Shivanasamudra. I think, this is why I had no idea what spots we were about to visit there and what was the names of all the places. I was just happy that I got to spend some time with my girlfriend. Please don’t laugh, I was a different person back then. 😁
So, on our way, naturally, we got hungry and our driver told us a famous restaurant with a delicious breakfast, we immediately agreed to give it a shot. I am huge fan of South Indian food and love Idli, Dosa, and Vada. So, naturally I was craving for it.
I order a combo of Idli and Vada and when I got my plate, I was impressed with the way they wrapped the Idli in the Banana leaf. It was the first time I was seeing Idli being served like this and trust me, it was delicious.
This is how it looked like when I got my plate.
As soon as I opened that leaf, I got a nice juicy view of the Idli that I was craving for an hour at least.
Before we know it, we finished our breakfast and were on our way to the Falls of Shivanasamudra.
The moment we parked our car and stepped outside, we were welcomed with the scorching heat. I was a hater of heat. I know hate is a strong word, but that is just how I was. It took me so many years to finally realize the importance of Summer and how we should enjoy it with our loved ones.
Anyway, enough gyaan! I always sidetrack whenever I want to get to the point. As soon as we reached the spot, we had to wait for a good five minutes to grab a spot with the good view of the Falls. Once we got it, we made sure we click enough pictures there.
That time, Instagram was quite new, so I think, we wanted to post some pictures to Facebook. Good old times!
As I was flipping through the pictures, the below one stood out for me. I couldn’t believe this was me in 2015 and wondered how would some beautiful girl would love me! Man, I was out of shape like a potato.
But, it surely brought a smile to my face and I appreciated the hard word that I am putting right now and because of which I have a couple abs, I guess!
The other good picture that I got from the same spot was the below one. I think it was some kind of dam, details of which I am not able to recollect right now. If you know me, you would definitely know that I like to be in nature’s company and the moment I see greenery I get so happy.
And a found a few friends too!
So, the spot “Shivanasamudra Falls” is famous for the view like this. I loved this picture so so much. I know this is not Niagara Falls but it was a big deal back then and I really loved this place, maybe because I was spending this time with a few of my close friends.
After this spot, our driver suggested that we visit a 100 year old temple. I think, we did not have any choice but to listen to him as he was more aware about this place than all of us combined. One more thing about me, I do like to visit different places, but temple is the last thing that I will visit anywhere, given that I am ATHEIST! Please don’t hate me again!
Anyway, talking about this temple, you can see there was some strengthening work going on to keep the temple from falling since it was so old. I am not able to recollect which GOD’s idol was inside it, must be something special!
And here comes the funny part. There was a famous South Indian river named “Cauvery River” flowing through this area with a “good” beach. This was on our list, probably the last spot before headed home.
There was a small sandy way from this temple to the Cauvery River and that’s when I found this hilarious poster of an eatery. This is a classic definition of murder of English language. I still find it laughable today. Good old times!
And there is always a time for some self love, right? My selfie game was on point even five years ago!
And this was the river and the beach that we were waiting for. Surprisingly, the arrangements near this beach were impeccable. There were changing stations for both males and females, which impressed me the most. Five years ago, it was a rarity to see the beach well maintained and clean, so I felt good.
I am sure you must have enjoyed this view. I did and felt so relived.
After spending an hour in the water, I remember drinking some coconut water and savoring on the cream inside the coconut. I miss those simpler days!
After stopping for a quick bite on our way home, we reached home by midnight. The one thing that I distinctly remember about this drive back home is both myself and my girlfriend were sad that this day was over before we realized. We were both sitting in the back seat, just the two of us, soaking in the moment one minute at a time, hoping the car never reaches its destination and we get just more time together. I remember putting a peck at her forehead, that was my way of showing my love and affection towards someone and I meant it.
We both clicked so many pictures this day and it was really a good time.
Holi! What a wonderful festival of colors. Holi, I think is the second most favorite festivals in India, obviously after Diwali. People prefer Diwali than Holi, but it is safe to say that I prefer Holi more than Diwali. It’s just me, don’t dislike me! 😆😘
So, during this time in my life, I was in Bangalore, sharing a two bedroom apartment with my college buddies and fellow Cognizant colleagues. It was one of the most joyous stays of my life. I had people who cared about me right by my side, who made sure that we have fun and be part of each other’s lives.
To celebrate this wonderful festival, we decided our roof to be the spot for this. Our apartment was at the top floor and it had an attached roof to it, kind of like private root. We made sure we use it thoroughly and have some fun out there. I cherished that roof the most. It gave you a slight opening to the open world and you could feel freedom. Sometimes we take these small things for granted and regret once those are gone. This roof is one of those things that I miss the most now. Having daily chai and biscuit sitting there and gossiping about almost everything with my friends was a special feeling and I will remember for a long time.
Anyway, getting distracted here, so Holi, right?
For people who do not know what Holi is, you can refer to the below text from Google –
Holi is a popular ancient Hindu festival, originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is celebrated predominantly in India, but has also spread to other areas of Asia and parts of the Western world through the diaspora from the Indian subcontinent. – Wikipedia
Basically, we put colors on each other and have some good time. When I say each other, I mean friends, family, and anyone that you interact with, whether you know that person or not!
During this Holi celebration, I was with my then girlfriend, college friends and Cognizant colleagues. Wow, it was so much fun to celebrate Holi with them. I think this was the only time we got to celebrate Holi with each other, which made it much more special, making this the most memorable moment with this fun bunch.
As you can see below, this is what I looked like after celebrating Holi with my friends. Trust me, they went easy on me as I was not feeling 100% during that time. I was glad they just used the dry color on me and not the one which takes time to get off from your body.
Talking about my friends, here is the picture that I could find which was decent enough to post. As you can see, we made sure we tore the undershirt of one of my roommates, just because! Others that you can see in the picture are Vedant, Akash, and Daya.
Good times!
Once we were done celebrating Holi, as bachelors do, we ignored the fact that we had to clean up. We let the color dry, which caused the floor to turn pink. This bothers me still after so many years, but we were a bunch of careless bachelors back then!
Gosh, I thought it would be a long post, but turned out short.
Hope you are taking care of yourselves and your loved ones!
Day 1 – Sunday, March 29, 2020 – Quarantine Day 13 Sunday was a busy day for us. SOCIAL DISTANCING PROTOCOL is still in effect in Michigan, we were very careful with the way we were hanging out and making sure we do not catch the VIRUS from anywhere and spread it among ourselves.
These days are quite depressing, and we did not want our Sunday to go like that, therefore, we decided to take a hike at a beautiful recreational area in Brighton, MI. It sounded like a great idea from the start and that’s why I was so excited to hike this route.
We did a total of 5 miles in around 2 hours and frankly, I did not feel much tired after the hike. I could have gone for so many more miles even after the hike. Thanks to all the workouts and running that I have been doing.
The hike looked as below.
After finishing the hike, me and my friend, Anupam, did 100 push-ups in less than 5 minutes, quite impressive, Eh? 😀
Once we were back at our place, we did our usual workouts. This time, we thought of focusing on our abs and do more core exercises.
You can check out the entire Sunday in the picture shown below.
Day 2 – Monday March 30, 2020 – Quarantine Day 14 Michigan crossed 6,400 positive COVID19 cases today. It is getting serious each passing day. Take care, everyone!
We decided to stay inside the whole day to stay safe and not risk anything. In the evening, after finishing up with all the work (which is plenty these days), I was excited to do our workout.
It was a 10 to 1 repetitions of three different movements and looked as follows.
I remember being drenched in sweat at the end of this workout. Good times!
On a personal note, it was a time to celebrate a *good* news in these tumultuous times. People who are aware about the complicated VISA system here in the US, will know the happiness after securing a lottery in the H1B application process. I had the similar realization when I read the email with the subject “2020 CAP Selection” from my recruiter. I can’t tell you how happy I was and how many things became clear after reading that email.
I shared the news with my close friends and family and glad that they were happy for me!
Day 3 – Tuesday March 31, 2020 – Quarantine Day 15 The number of COVID19 positive cases increased by more than 1,000 today, taking the total Michigan tally to 7,600. Scary times! Never thought we would be affected this much by a virus in China.
Please protect yourselves by keeping tab on your temperature and looking out for symptoms.
We had a rare REST DAY today, we we did nothing. Just entire day work and distressed at the end of the day with some good food and a game or two of Sequence.
Day 4 – Wednesday April 01, 2020– Quarantine Day 16 COVID19 Positive count is increasing in Michigan at a rapid pace, making it the fourth state with the highest number of positive cases in the US.
This is a cause of concern for many people, including myself, therefore, I am barely stepping out and in contact with other people. Glad that we have enough grocery and edibles, which allow us not to go out often.
After a long day at work (meetings from 8 AM till 5 PM), I was ready to stretch out my legs and welcome April (my birthday month) with open arms. As it was the first day of April, I decided to go back to basics and do my regular push-ups, sit-ups and Russian twists.
I cannot tell you how much I miss running. If things get better in a week, I will try to finish my quota of running by running almost daily, at least a 5k per day. Let’s see when I will be able to do that.
Day 5 – Thursday April 02, 2020– Quarantine Day 17 COVID positive cases skyrocketed today, inching towards 10K mark. Everyone is scared here in Michigan. Stay home and safe, everyone! These are scary and unprecedented times, so we must take care of ourselves and our loved ones.
Having said that, we have to take care of our body too. Given the amount of work that we did throughout the day, my mind needed some refreshing break, therefore, we decided to go out for biking. We never knew biking would be so much fun, but when you have so much greenery near you, how can one resist.
As you can see, it is an awesome route that I take whenever I bike and simply love it.
Returning from the biking, we did our usual workout routine.
This time, we went with 10-1 repetitions for 7 movements each. Here’s the rep schema.
Round 1 – 10 each of X-Ups, Mountain Climbers, V-Ups, Russian Twists, Push-ups, Sit-Ups & Burpees Round 2 – 9 each of X-Ups, Mountain Climbers, V-Ups, Russian Twists, Push-ups, Sit-Ups & Burpees Round 3 – 8 each of X-Ups, Mountain Climbers, V-Ups, Russian Twists, Push-ups, Sit-Ups & Burpees Round 4 – 7 each of X-Ups, Mountain Climbers, V-Ups, Russian Twists, Push-ups, Sit-Ups & Burpees Round 5 – 6 each of X-Ups, Mountain Climbers, V-Ups, Russian Twists, Push-ups, Sit-Ups & Burpees Round 6 – 5 each of X-Ups, Mountain Climbers, V-Ups, Russian Twists, Push-ups, Sit-Ups & Burpees Round 7 – 4 each of X-Ups, Mountain Climbers, V-Ups, Russian Twists, Push-ups, Sit-Ups & Burpees Round 8 – 3 each of X-Ups, Mountain Climbers, V-Ups, Russian Twists, Push-ups, Sit-Ups & Burpees Round 9 – 2 each of X-Ups, Mountain Climbers, V-Ups, Russian Twists, Push-ups, Sit-Ups & Burpees Round 10 – 1 each of X-Ups, Mountain Climbers, V-Ups, Russian Twists, Push-ups, Sit-Ups & Burpees
You could see the whole day in the above picture.
Day 6 – Friday April 03, 2020– Quarantine Day 18 Man, the number of Positive COVID19 cases are nowhere to stop and we are seeing almost 2000 cases everyday here in Michigan. The total positive cases so far have surpassed 12K and everyone of us are scared. It is just a matter of time your close one might show symptoms of COVID19, so please take care everyone.
We decided to take things slowly given that I worked almost 12 hours today, so we ended up taking the REST DAY today. I needed some break and thought it would be good just to lay low for the day and enjoy a late night movie. It was awesome!
I MISS RUNNING 😰
Day 7 – Saturday April 04, 2020– Quarantine Day 19 New day, more cases and the total number of positive COVID19 cases are now at almost 15K mark here in Michigan. Everyone, stay safe and take care of yourselves!
I am very happy today. I accomplished so many things today, starting off with RUNNING. I felt so good to finally be able to run. I did not check what my schedule was because I just had to run for a few miles and I ended up doing 5.2 miles. It took almost an hour and I enjoyed every single bit of it. I hardly saw anyone out since it was in the morning and got to think about so many things. I was happy to keep my usual pace too.
When I was at around 3 mile mark, I felt a little bit of pain in both of my knees, so had to reduce my pace a little bit. Otherwise, everything else went according to the plan.
The biggest happiness for me during this run was I completed 200 MILES of running in 2020. It took more than a week to go from 199 to 200, but was glad I could finally do it. Cheers to 200 more miles.
After this run, we went to a 4 mile hike at the Brighton Recreational Area and had some good nature time. It was refreshing to be in the nature’s company with hardly anyone around you. The first 1 mile took longer than expected, but we were able to complete the 4 mile trail in around 2 hours. It was awesome. After so many days, I felt I have something a Michigander should do during this time of the year.
Here’s the short video of the birds chirping while on the trail.
Here’s the STRAVA screenshot of the hike.
Now, after the hike, it was time for our usual workout routine.
Having put my body through a rigorous grind today, I took it slow for the workout and finished only 40-10 sets of three repetitions. I think I was done at the end of this workout.
The workout went like this.
Round 1 – 40 repetitions each of Push-Ups, Sit-Ups & Russian Twists Round 2 – 30 repetitions each of Push-Ups, Sit-Ups & Russian Twists Round 3 – 20 repetitions each of Push-Ups, Sit-Ups & Russian Twists Round 4 – 10 repetitions each of Push-Ups, Sit-Ups & Russian Twists
This is how the day looked like for me.
With this, another week bit the dust and I was happy to end the week on a high. I really missed running and was so happy after running a distance of 5 miles. Still many more things to achieve and many miles to go.
Day 1 – Sunday, March 22, 2020 – Quarantine Day 06 Fighting COVID19 one day at a time. My Marathon preparation is on hold, so it was weird to walk outside without running.
I will be honest that the walk was nice and something different that I have not done in a long time. At the start, I was a little reluctant to walk a long distance of 6 miles, but when we started the walk and all the talks came in, it was so good and didn’t feel like that long at all.
The biggest advantage this day was the weather. I know, we should not take things for granted during these COVID19 times, but I think, as long as we avoid contact with people and take care of all the necessary things, we should be good. Keeping that in mind, we always keep a few pieces of Clorox and wet napkins with us; And, also a bottle of sanitizers, just in case.
Now, since the weather was really good, I, naturally, had to take a selfie in the beautiful weather. So, here I am soaking myself in the rare Michigan sunlight during this time of the year.
I love those shades, belong to one of my ex-roommates!
Now, the walk started quite easily, but as soon as we hit the fourth mile, my legs were ready to give up. So, I had to push myself for the last couple miles. I guess, a lack of constant running has made my legs a little weaker, so it will be a hard for me when I resume my running once the COVID19 pandemic ends, hopefully SOON!
Here’s the picture of the group from the 6-mile walkathon! 🙂
Day 2 – Monday March 23, 2020 – Quarantine Day 07 So, today was the pivotal day for Michigan. Our Governor, Gretchen Whitmer, announced today that starting midnight, we are advised to leave our homes only for health and safety reasons. Except these two reasons, everyone in the state of Michigan is advised to home-quarantined to further limit the spread of COVID19.
I pray for everyone to be safe and healthy. Hopefully, we will be able to get over this soon and everyone will be able to walk around freely.
Having said all these serious things, we had to take care of our health and what’s the best way to do this apart from doing our daily regime.
This time, we decided to mix things up and instead of going for the sets of 100 at a stretch, we will distribute those in 5 rounds and try to variate it in “CrossFit” style. So, we decided we will do four movements in 5 rounds with reps style going from 50, 40, 30, 20, and 10.
It was a good workout and we were able to do it with ease. Here’s the screenshot from the workout.
Talking about the workout in details, here goes the five rounds. Round 1 – 50 Push-Ups, 50 Sit-Ups, 50 Russian Twists, 50 Air Squats Round 2 – 40 Push-Ups, 40 Sit-Ups, 40 Russian Twists, 40 Air Squats Round 3 – 30 Push-Ups, 30 Sit-Ups, 30 Russian Twists, 30 Air Squats Round 4 – 20 Push-Ups, 20 Sit-Ups, 20 Russian Twists, 20 Air Squats Round 5 – 10 Push-Ups, 10 Sit-Ups, 10 Russian Twists, 10 Air Squats
Day 3 – Tuesday March 24, 2020 – Quarantine Day 08 What a day! Work had never been busier, so I really needed something to destress after a long day at working from home. Good for me that the weather was really good, and I could go out for a quick 4 mile run.
In Michigan, we are observing the SOCIAL DISTANCING protocol, therefore, I kept a good 6-foot distance from the fellow runner/dog-walkers. It felt good to see some smiling faces after a long time.
The run was good. Nothing too extraordinary, but I felt good to know that I could keep up with my usual pace. I finished the 4 mile run in 50 minutes 41 seconds with 11’54” pace. Here’s the screenshot of the run.
After the run, I got together with my friends to finish the daily regime. We repeated the same scheme like yesterday, following the 50-40-30-20-10 reps of 4 movements each of Push-ups, Sit-ups, Russian Twists, and Air squats. I remember being sweaty at the end of this workout.
Here’s the screenshot of all the activities from this day.
Day 4 – Wednesday March 25, 2020– Quarantine Day 09 New day! New challenges!
As far as the activities go, I maintained my run and fitness regime, and added two miles of walk in between. It was so refreshing to walk after a gap of couple days.
The run was really good, only because of the weather. I could squeeze in 3.6 miles before coming to a stop as we were supposed to go out for a walk. I remember not feeling tired at the end of the run, which is always a good sign. I finished the 3.6 miles of run in 41 minutes 30 seconds at 11’12”, better pace than yesterday.
Here’s the screenshot of the run.
The run was followed by the walk, and it was quite decent one as we had to go to a couple places to complete this walk. My favorite place – Hines Drive was booming with many people, keeping SOCIAL DISTANCE protocol in mind and savoring each moment as long as they are alive.
The walk was followed by the workout. This time we decided to increase the number of reps in each round, while reducing the number of movements. Here goes the workout.
Day 5 – Thursday March 26, 2020– Quarantine Day 10 The weather was not good today, so had to skip my run.
Having said that, I did complete my fitness regime and today’s workout looked like this.
Round 1 – 50 repetitions each of Push-Ups, Sit-Ups, Russian Twists, Air Squats & Jumping Jacks Round 2 – 40 repetitions each of Push-Ups, Sit-Ups, Russian Twists, Air Squats & Jumping Jacks Round 3 – 30 repetitions each of Push-Ups, Sit-Ups, Russian Twists, Air Squats & Jumping Jacks Round 4 – 20 repetitions each of Push-Ups, Sit-Ups, Russian Twists, Air Squats & Jumping Jacks Round 5 – 10 repetitions each of Push-Ups, Sit-Ups, Russian Twists, Air Squats & Jumping Jacks
We added Jumping Jacks to this routine, now.
Here’s the picture of the day.
Day 6 – Friday March 27, 2020– Quarantine Day 11 At last, Friday. Work has been so busy I really need to have some downtime during the weekend! Due to this much work, I really needed to go out for a quick 8 mile bike.
We finished the 8 mile bike in 1 hour and I got to see some beautiful places around my friends’ neighborhood. I never know, I live in such a beautiful place, one more reason that I love Michigan!
After the bike, we continued with our fitness journey and decided to cut down two movements and increase the number of repetitions. The workout was like this.
Round 1 – 60 repetitions each of Push-Ups, Sit-Ups & Russian Twists Round 2 – 50 repetitions each of Push-Ups, Sit-Ups & Russian Twists Round 3 – 40 repetitions each of Push-Ups, Sit-Ups & Russian Twists Round 4 – 30 repetitions each of Push-Ups, Sit-Ups & Russian Twists Round 5 – 20 repetitions each of Push-Ups, Sit-Ups & Russian Twists Round 6 – 10 repetitions each of Push-Ups, Sit-Ups & Russian Twists
The entire day can be summarized in the following picture.
Day 7 – Saturday March 28, 2020– Quarantine Day 12 This brings us to the last day of the week. I stayed till 4 AM on Saturday night, therefore woke up quite tired, so had to switch things during evening workout.
Instead of going for fixed repetitions, I wanted to descend the number of repetitions, keeping the movements the same; Therefore, I decided to skip Push-ups and Sit-ups, starting the workout with BURPEES! I was doing BURPEES for the first time since the COVID19 outbreak. God bless BURPEE creator!
The workout scheme was like this.
Round 1 – 10 repetitions each of Burpees, Jumping Squats, Mountain Climbers, X-UPS & Russian Twists Round 2 – 9 repetitions each of Burpees, Jumping Squats, Mountain Climbers, X-UPS & Russian Twists Round 3 – 8 repetitions each of Burpees, Jumping Squats, Mountain Climbers, X-UPS & Russian Twists Round 4 – 7 repetitions each of Burpees, Jumping Squats, Mountain Climbers, X-UPS & Russian Twists Round 5 – 6 repetitions each of Burpees, Jumping Squats, Mountain Climbers, X-UPS & Russian Twists Round 6 – 5 repetitions each of Burpees, Jumping Squats, Mountain Climbers, X-UPS & Russian Twists Round 7 – 4 repetitions each of Burpees, Jumping Squats, Mountain Climbers, X-UPS & Russian Twists Round 8 – 3 repetitions each of Burpees, Jumping Squats, Mountain Climbers, X-UPS & Russian Twists Round 9 – 2 repetitions each of Burpees, Jumping Squats, Mountain Climbers, X-UPS & Russian Twists Round 10 – 1 repetition each of Burpees, Jumping Squats, Mountain Climbers, X-UPS & Russian Twists
And the below picture gives you an idea about the workout. We took only 12 minutes to finish it, but sure felt like more than that. I was drenched in sweat at the end of this workout.
This brings us to the end of the week. COVID19 has affected everyone in this world, and I am no exception. Keeping it light for the run, and focusing more on the mental health is the key to go through these tough times.
Here’s my RUNNING JOURNAL for this week. It pained me to see I fell short of 200 miles just by 3/4th of a mile.
Day 1 – Sunday, March 15, 2020 What a day! The second Half Marathon of 2020 was today and I nailed it.
Also, people are told to be self-quarantined starting tomorrow, so today was the last day people could safely enjoy their lives without risking of catching the germs.
So, I had 11 miles planned in my schedule, but, as always, the Michigan weather helped me tremendously to push myself for more and I could easily finish the Half Marathon distance.
Before starting with the run, I did prepare myself a good and healthy breakfast. I tried to recreate my Saturday brunch dish with a cup of coffee, a side order of sausage and bacon. Two not-so sunny side up eggs and a serving of hash browns. It turned out really good and I loved it.
This was really good fuel for the Half Marathon run.
During the run, I never fell short of breath and could easily finish the Half Marathon. I think the biggest trick that worked for me was to take things lightly and slowly at the start of the run. I told myself to go easy on the run and tried maintaining the same pace throughout the run. I found out that the 11’15” to 11’20” pace works the best for me during this run. With this pace, I observed I could finish the run without any sore muscles and pain, key to my ultramarathon preparation.
Here’s my Apple Watch after the run!
After the run, I had to recover myself and what a better way to do that other than ice bath. This ice bath crushed me as I poured two bags of ice. I stayed in the water till the ice disappeared and it was worth it.
And what a better post run fuel than my usual turkey sandwich and my favorite fruit.
It was a Sunday well spent!
Day 2 – Monday March 16, 2020– Quarantine Day 01 CORONAVIRUS a.k.a. COVID19 made us work from home and self-quarantine ourselves until the further notice. The Governor of Michigan ordered all public places i.e. restaurants, gyms, schools, colleges to be closed, therefore, we could not go to our gym for the bootcamp workout and had to come up with some innovative way to keep our body in shape.
So, I decided to do push-ups, sit-ups, and russian twists daily to keep myself in shape and healthy.
I ended up doing – 100 Push-Ups – 100 Sit-Ups – 100 Russian Twists and really loved doing those.
You can check it out in the video below.
Day 3 – Tuesday March 17, 2020 – Quarantine Day 02 Today was the Day 02 of the quarantine and it was a run day.
Though quarantined, I could go out for a quick 5 mile run. This run was really good, because I realized my comfortable pace for the run and was happy to stick with it. During the second mile of the run, even though, I wanted to go slower, my body couldn’t control it and scored the fastest mile during this 5-mile run.
Here’s the Apple Watch.
It was a good pace of just over 11’.
Apart from the run, I did finish my 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, and 100 russian twists.
Please check out my VLOG for this day below.
Day 4 – Wednesday March 18, 2020– Quarantine Day 03 The third day of quarantine and no CrossFit today. I miss running too! 😰
Keeping myself fit and healthy with some home cooked fresh food and the daily fitness regime. I did 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, and 100 russian twists.
You can check out this day’s vlog below.
Day 5 – Thursday March 19, 2020– Quarantine Day 04 The fourth day of quarantine and the weather doesn’t look good to go out for a run! So, I will have to skip my run today and take care of myself with my daily fitness regime.
I did 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 150 Russian twists today. It was fun doing this workout with my friends Monika and Anupam.
You can check out the vlog from this day below.
Day 6 – Friday March 20, 2020– Quarantine Day 05 The fifth day of the quarantine due to #covid19. It was a rest day in my schedule, but I felt bad missing out on the run yesterday and doing nothing the whole day except to sit home and work. Well, it was Friday, so not that much work, ha?
I made sure I put in some efforts today. The weather was just a little bit better than yesterday, I went out for biking with my friends, Monika and Anupam. It was chilly, but an hour of biking helped us to keep our body warm.
We did around 7 miles of biking in an hour or so, before finishing up our daily 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, and 290 Russian twists. We are getting quite good at it now!
The view was really good at one of the spots during biking.
Day 7 – Saturday March 21, 2020– Quarantine Day 06 Damn, this virus taking over lives now!!! Desperate times called for Desperate measures!
I think, I will have to discontinue my Marathon training for a few weeks now; but, that doesn’t mean I cannot take care of my health and fitness. I have been doing 100 push-ups, sit-ups, and Russian Twists at home, so, this day was no different.
Apart from the 8 Mile bike that I did with friends, I could do 100 push-ups and it was a refreshing feeling to go outside after spending almost entire day at home quarantined!
stochasticity 