Friends sendoff.

It came as a surprise for us. Yes surely it did. Mayur went for his regular India vacation , came back and announced the next day about his Future plans. We were expecting a marriage invitation but no it was not even close. Mayur had decided to wrap up his US stay and head back to India for good.

Before we realised his departure date was already there and we decided to give him a tata party. Booked a vacation house in Poconos and off we were ,  group of 10-15 friends. We had loads of fun. A massive vacation house with 5-6 bedrooms and tons of open space all for us. Like any other vacation house trip , we did the regular cards/drinks/variety of food/hukkah/outdoor hot tub party ! cricket !!! and what not. Good fun trip as usual but there was something different that kind of stuck out for me ( and m guessing for others too). It was a send off trip..and everyone was feeling that warmth. Even though we were introduced to Mayur not that long, he still was a core member of our group here at US.He was the first in the group to take that giant leap and head back to India.

On the second night of our trip, we decided to spend time with Mayur as a celebrity. We arranged a campfire out in the open and then it started. Everyone got a chance to talk about Mayur for a bit , their experiences with him and Mayur recounted his experience with them. We went in a round robin fashion and everyone got a chance to express his / her thoughts. It was such a good time. Far away from family, far away from our relatives, this was the time when people were feeling cozy, talking about each other. We never realised but these little discussions/trips/time spend together kind of shape us as a person. We realise how people can make a difference in each others lives ! Cheers to this group, being there for each other. Proud to have such a great friends circle. We all wished him good luck for his future and indeed had a good time together.

In all those discussions I did notice how little things we see and learn from friends...
- Pushkar:
So Mayur talked about Pushkar and how he learnt something nice from him.
Apparently Pushkar introduced this concept of all rooomis always having dinner together and to Mayur that was a foreign concept but loved it !
- Siva
Siva being our groups superstar of course stood out one more time. Love him for this unique quality.We all talked impromptu about Mayur but Siva, no, he came prepared, He had a nice writeup prepared for him and kind of recounted his experience with Mayur from start - to date. Ofcourse he did manage to do a "Subodh" at times :D , yes he did remember some of date times too :)

-We all
Mayur had a unique way of addressing things.
Our version : Guys lets take a break, bhook lagi hai
Mayur: Hum break lenge kya  ........
our version : Guys lets play cricket
Mayur: Hum Cricket khelenge kya ......
Kudos to him .
-Avni : How avni tied rakhi to mayur/siva/jitesh and celebrated it every year.

These were just couple of topics that I remember right now but as you can tell, this discussion was one of the best discussions we had in the trip.I wish everyone is lucky to have such friends around. Njoying your time and at the same time learning/improving from each other. Lets admire each other for our niceties and njoy our differences. Everyone has their own unique way of looking at things.

Mayur has opened the flood gates, yeah it does seem like we will have to plan many such sendoffs in the near future. Good luck dude.....

Half marathon, an experience in itself

Its amazing how things just work out.
At least 4 years back in time I was working out in our apartment gym when I met this kid. Recent Colg Grad running on treadmill for good 45 mins + . I was super impressed with his dedication, I went up to him and asked him about his run . Till this year, I was always afraid of running long distance. Somehow had this feeling about pain in my shin bone ( between knee - ankle ) .  I guess I was just afraid and never tried to overcome it.

This year however has been a turn around. As I mentioned before couple of my friends took to heart about health and have been acting on it. We had decided to take part in fund raising activities and while doing that work on our health. It all started with a simple 5k run for JPM Chase. It was a simple one and everyone finished pretty conveniently. Later My friend kind of started pushing me for a Newport 10K run !
It was my first try for a long distance, yeah 10K is definitely long distance run for me :)
Facebook link to pictures  It was a fun experience and Cant even begin to tell the feeling I got at the finish line. Somewhere deep down it felt like accomplishing something. It was a great time.

Time past and My friend asked me about Half Marathon !  about 13.1 miles: thats about 21 km !
I was like no ways dude , thats way beyond our capacity. For some odd reason that thought was planted in our heads that may be we will give it a shot. We have been playing racket ball for quiet some time now and did build some stamina , however running a half marathon is a different beast in itself !

Time past and its exactly 1.5 weeks before the Run. Couple of us decided to go for a run in the morning. We run for about 5.5 miles and return back home and something just struck.We were not as tired and we had returned just because we ran for 50 mins or so ! Thats it, I came back home and give it a shot to go for the kill. Registered for Newport Half Marathon and bingo :) it was a good decision.

Since we had not trained for it at all, there was always this feeling of hurting your knee/ankle while running this long distance: Runner knee  and I was a little afraid of it. So my maths was simple. I am going to go out there and give my best try. Knowing well that we havent trained for it, I am ready to opt out if things dont work out. My friend Manas Phadnis had the same goal, just try to finish the race: even if it takes 2.5 hours to get there.

Race day : we are super excited, get up early in the morning. Had stuffed myself with loads of carbs the previous night. Drank a whole lot of water and we set sail for the race.

Race Preparation :
- Buying nice headphones
- Running shoes
- energy drinks/bars
- carb sources
- uploading songs on the phone
- and of course the RunKeeper to track race day progress.

We begin the race and its so much fun already. Hundreds of people all excited. Colorful outfits,glaring music, some tensed, some relaxed, it was a sight in itself. For the first couple of miles I was confused and did not know what speed to maintain, yeah guess what had never ran more than 10k before and wasnt even sure if I will ever be able to maintain stamina for that long.In that confused state, I kept running, good songs helped here :)

1 mile Mark : Manas and I just gave each other a high5 for participating in this run :)

3 mile Mark : All that water I had in the morning was now starting to show :) haha, had to literally get off the track and find a gas station to take a restroom break !!! Now that I think of it it sounds funny but at that time every little detail was making a difference. I was scared about the run was too mindful of every little feeling.

6 mile Mark (10k ish)  :  I am thinking to myself, this is the most I have ever run. Beyond this is all new territory. I become even more cautious and slow down a bit.We are still maintaining 6 mile an hour.

8 mile Mark :  Remember I was maintaining a medium speed in the first half of the run due to my fear of completion or not ! Guess what as a result I was in the pack of people who run at 10 miles an hour....The real runners were way ahead. I took a quick break and messaged Vandita about my approx finish time. We are at Liberty state park, Lush green outfield, morning sunlight by the river, Statue of Liberty in the backdrop and everyone panting..photographers/cheerleaders/spectators/ and the runners..it was serene. Glaring Music and this particular song plays {http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSsSM2IR2LY}
Sudden burst of energy ! Songs have that effect no us I guess !
- Paint it red
- Ik junoon !
- Deewangi !
- Sab janjeere tod k
and just to get into that mode, I am playing this very song while I am writing this :) can already feel that rush from the race day !

Thats it ! I shed all my inhibitions and up the ante ! Put the song on repeat and upped the volume ....Things just took a U turn and suddenly I am on 100 m race mode...Sudden rush of emotions/energy...thank god for that song/view :) I finished that last energy bar I had and suit up !!! Suddenly I am overtaking people. What a feeling and it just keept building. I am not sure if I have ever experienced that rush before !
Suddenly I was running

12 Mile mark : Interestingly enough this race is happening right around where we stay. The last mile of the race goes right around our house.The last part was the most fun and as we saw the "FINISH" line approaching, that particular feeling made all the effort totally worth it.By this time I was dead tired but its amazing how a group of people keep inspiring you. If it was not for all the people in the race I could have hardly made it. All these participants are so full of energy and the whole atmosphere is super charged, you just have to do your bit and it all works out ...

FINISH line:  ohh yeah we all made it ! Instead of finishing in 2 hours 30 mins....I clocked 2 hours 4 mins. Took a picture of the finish line timer while running and couldnt believe it ! Finally we were there...Everyone made it ! no injuries....no major pain. It was an accomplishment. Ek junnon ek deewangi , song was still playing.
Finish line pictures

The listserv

We all like to keep updated about well beings of our friends and family !
Talk to them read about them ..and what not.

But this interesting person thought of something beyond regular
he randomly created this website {thelistserve.com}Sorry not too sure if it was random or his genuine idea.
Whatever it is, its interesting.
Of all the people subscribed to this listserve, he randomly chooses one person , and that one person gets to send out an email to rest of the group ! Now neither the sender and nor the receiver has any idea about who are they !  Pretty amusing yeah ?yes it is, I have subscribed to it for a time now and every day I like to read one such random email from one my fellow crazy people out there in this world,

One of those emails was pretty interesting, so thought of sharing it here.



--------------------------------------------------------

I'm sorry to break this to you, in an e-mail from a random stranger like this, but it needs to be said: Most of your life won't be fantastic. I'm not joking. The adventures you'll tell your children about will be a minuscule part of it. So if you want to avoid the feeling of utter disappointment as you grow older, you need to accept that fact. Sorry.

This leads us to the insight: You should focus more on the non-fantastic parts. The parts where you eat breakfast, walk to the bus, have a boring day at work, eat your ordinary lunch, shop groceries, and brush your teeth. After all, this is the major part of your life, and neglecting it is a wasted opportunity.

Here's the thing: Most of the boring stuff in your life is so dull, that even the tiniest thing can make it seem fun. The tiniest thing. This means the you could make it better with extremely simple means.

What exactly am I talking about here? Little things. Like these:

* Challenges: When brushing your teeth tonight, use your left hand.
* Mind games: When you enter work (or school!), imagine the sound "Kabaaaam!" as you enter, as if your presence changed the whole room.
* Action: Jump down from the side-walk, instead of just stepping down.
* Changes: Buy some fancy tomato sauce tonight, instead of your usual brand.
* More action: Count the number of pink things on your way to work, as if your life depended on it.

See? Easy stuff. I really try to live by this "Everyday Action" idea, and I think it works for making the boring parts of life more fun. Because that's the thing: just because the fantastic moments are few, there's no reason to just sit there, waiting for the next big thing to swipe you off your feet. Have some fun meanwhile, it's easy...



--------------------

This article has struck me and seems like its gonna stay with me..
Hope this strikes a chord for you too. I kind of agree with the the author and would like to follow it for coming days...

Mexico vacation :)

So I am not really a pro vacation kinda guy. Well I should take it back , I love to go on vacations but hate to plan it. Not really a great quality I must say and hopefully I will get better at planning.
Thankfully though marriage does that thing to you, where your other ( better ) half does cover up for your misfires. So yes we ended up planning our mexico trip, it was due for a long time now.

We booked an amazing sea front all inclusive kinda resort at mexico and had a great trip.
The next day after the trip I had to recount the story to my office friends and this chat log below is from the real conversation right there. NO Edits.

Btw I must tell you I have done something like this before too...
here {http://onestepupontheladder.blogspot.com/2009/08/chaddi-pahalwaan.html}
and this one is similar to it in many ways and yet unique !
BTW This time around, its Rater A ! pls be careful haha :)



08:39:17  RUCHI NAIK : Morning!

08:57:22  NIKHIL MUKUND MAHAJAN : Morning all

08:58:11  NIKHIL MUKUND MAHAJAN : Ruchi jd to answer your question, I am so excited to tell a story here !  Similar to the elevator wala super man really

08:58:22  RUCHI NAIK : We're excited too!

08:59:20  RUCHI NAIK : If my memory serves me right, Friday shaam tak u thought you were going to Mexico

08:59:29  RUCHI NAIK : *thursday

09:01:34  NIKHIL MUKUND MAHAJAN : But this time in short : We fly LGA_ > ATlantata -> Mexcio.
We reach thr, mexcio me they let me in, and don't allow vandita to even enter

yes, for some reason they did not like the new card EAD + AP all in together ( its new format ) and wanted to see 10 more documents,

Guess what it was full on movie style for next 4 hours at airport, I cudnt see her/talk to her BY LAW, she was with them in the questioning area , I was escorted out of airport !

All fun

I called in 10 people here to get this sorted, but nothing really was working our way...

In 4 hours , we boarded a flight back to Atlanta yes same day we were back to US !

Guess what flight was at 3 05 and they did not drop her to the gate entrance till 2 50 ! We were sh*t scared as to are we going to get back together on the same flight or not !

09:02:37  NIKHIL MUKUND MAHAJAN : But thankfully they got her in on time...We flew to atlanta !, and literally asked the airlines, where else are they flying tonight from atlanta....

most destinations we had already checked out before, so booked next days travel to Puerto rico ! So thr goes puerto rico one more time heh

09:02:56  RUCHI NAIK : Wow! For about 2 days??

09:04:01  NIKHIL MUKUND MAHAJAN : It was interesting all the way !

09:04:38  NIKHIL MUKUND MAHAJAN : Puerto rico me bhi kafi interesting stay tha , waha pe items hue but overall first 2 days were disastrous, but Friday evening 3 pm we were at puerto rico

09:05:37  RUCHI NAIK : I hope the next 3 days made up for the madness, though

09:05:55  RUCHI NAIK : Will you get any money back from the Mexico bookings?

09:08:19  NIKHIL MUKUND MAHAJAN : Money wise this trip was quiet interesting

09:08:44  NIKHIL MUKUND MAHAJAN : Puerto rico me madam ko BEST hotel me rehne ka tha to feel good about the whole fiasco

09:08:53  NIKHIL MUKUND MAHAJAN :  don't blame her

09:09:08  RUCHI NAIK : hehehe

09:09:20  NAUMAN RUPANI : dude u shud have tried priceline

09:09:59  NAUMAN RUPANI : I think it gets very costly in San Juan, near beach & airport

09:10:37  AMOL KOTHARI : Wow NM... kuch na kuch to karke hi aate ho tum log har baar

09:11:01  NAUMAN RUPANI : AK - remember I mentioned abt "haath ko aaya moun na laga" ?

09:11:26  AMOL KOTHARI : Yeah.. NM booking ke paise waapis mile?

09:17:26  NIKHIL MUKUND MAHAJAN : Mexico k logo se deal kar raha hu

09:17:50  NIKHIL MUKUND MAHAJAN : I actually want to tell what happened at Puerto rico hotel though !

09:18:23  NIKHIL MUKUND MAHAJAN : It was a pretty fundu hotel...amazing views and everything ...guess what waha pe miss world k models aaye hue the for press photo shoot and everything !

09:20:53  NIKHIL MUKUND MAHAJAN : But that's not least interesting in front of this next item !

09:21:13  NIKHIL MUKUND MAHAJAN : Hum log room me tv dekh rahe the, gappe maar rahe the and we heard Noises from neighboring room

09:21:16  AMOL KOTHARI : Tum log vacation ke liya jaate ho yeah tension lene

09:21:24  NIKHIL MUKUND MAHAJAN : And by noise I mean NASTY

09:21:34  NIKHIL MUKUND MAHAJAN : If you know what I mean

09:21:40  NIKHIL MUKUND MAHAJAN : Efffff it was creepy

09:21:43  NIKHIL MUKUND MAHAJAN : We ran away from the room

09:21:46  NAUMAN RUPANI : movie shooting types ?

09:21:49  NIKHIL MUKUND MAHAJAN : YES

09:21:53  NIKHIL MUKUND MAHAJAN : I m not kidding

09:22:03  NIKHIL MUKUND MAHAJAN : Effing creepy,

09:22:12  NIKHIL MUKUND MAHAJAN : We ran away...and then complained to the holte

09:22:20  AMOL KOTHARI : Action movie or p*rn movie shooting ?

09:22:27  NIKHIL MUKUND MAHAJAN : The later

09:22:36  AMIT MALANI : hahah

09:22:40  NIKHIL MUKUND MAHAJAN : SICK SICK

09:22:50  NIKHIL MUKUND MAHAJAN : And we came back in an hour

09:22:57  NAUMAN RUPANI : is picture mien drama bhi hai, comedy bhi hai, horor bhi hai, action bhi hai

09:23:02  NIKHIL MUKUND MAHAJAN : Every 2-3 hours this continued, I was so grossed

09:23:04  AMIT MALANI : You got a "side" role in a in a p* movie

09:23:30  NIKHIL MUKUND MAHAJAN : At the peak, raat ko 3 am ko suddenly awaj aai to hum uth gaye...

09:23:50  NAUMAN RUPANI : Nikhil ke bache bolenge .. 25 saal pehle mere daddy bhi kisi kisi picture ke crowd mien khare dikhte hain

09:23:51  NIKHIL MUKUND MAHAJAN : BC< MC raat ko 3 baje bhi ...i lost it by then

09:24:13  AMOL KOTHARI : BC MC.. hindi p*rn movie thi kya?

09:24:22  NIKHIL MUKUND MAHAJAN : Hahha woh mere words the

09:24:29  AMOL KOTHARI : Tu movie mai kab aaya?

09:24:46  NIKHIL MUKUND MAHAJAN : Mai woh actor tha jo baje k room se knock karta hai

09:24:51  NIKHIL MUKUND MAHAJAN : Excuse me pls bol k

09:24:51  NAUMAN RUPANI : Nikhil was providing "Hindi Subtitles" to the movie

09:25:06  NIKHIL MUKUND MAHAJAN : It was horrible

09:25:12  AMOL KOTHARI : Knock karta hai for "pizza delivery"?

09:25:15  NIKHIL MUKUND MAHAJAN : ))

09:25:36  NIKHIL MUKUND MAHAJAN : Next day morning I basically went nuts on the management...

09:25:40  JITESH DANI : I just went thru the whole chat log!!!

09:25:42  JITESH DANI : Whatttttttttttt the

09:25:50  JITESH DANI : Kya kaar ke aaya tu NM!

09:25:51  JITESH DANI : Continue

09:25:54  NIKHIL MUKUND MAHAJAN : Phir hume upgrade mila...whatever , but I can tell you this was a fun filled vacation

09:26:42  NIKHIL MUKUND MAHAJAN : First 2 days, fiasco with travel !
Next day landing at new destination al together.
Second last day this movie shooting !
Last day no new event

09:26:51  NIKHIL MUKUND MAHAJAN : But all in all , let me say , maja aaya, bahot

09:26:56  JITESH DANI : wow

09:26:56  JITESH DANI :

09:27:00  JITESH DANI : fundoo

09:27:16  NIKHIL MUKUND MAHAJAN : Imagine standing at atlanta airport , asking airlines: where else do you fly in next 10 hours

09:28:51  JITESH DANI : Set hai!

09:29:06  JITESH DANI : bolo bhai, tera plan kidher fly kaar rahela hai..apun ko uther fly karne ka hai

09:29:13  NIKHIL MUKUND MAHAJAN : exactly

09:29:13  JITESH DANI : plane*

09:29:24  NIKHIL MUKUND MAHAJAN : Exciting journey thi

09:31:14  AMOL KOTHARI : Chal bfast

09:32:33  AMOL KOTHARI : gone

Its the little things...

I somehow recollect writing about this long time back.
not sure if I ended up publishing the blog or not but here we go again.

Cities like NYC/singapore/mumbai that have great public transporation probablly go throuhg this a lot
every weekday, you get in the train, meet fellow passengers
and end up meeting lots of friends/train friends/strangers: share a glance or two.
everyone has their own vibes, You meet a positive person and your day starts amazing.
you meet a melodramatic person and your day starts a little gloomy !

Its almost a fashion statement now a days
to say "aah its monday, damn it..."
you ask someone "hey how are you"
Answer : same old dude same old. SSDD : same shit different day !

Why this kolaveri guys ?

Granted we have our own issues and every day you cant be at top of your moods, but at least some days ?
why not a simple good morning with a smile  ?

Anyways, got to write about a lady and uncle whom I really like and yes they do fall on other side of this bridge.

Train conductor..

This conductor who is on the trains on wed-fri, when we reach our last stop , instead of just announcing the stop name, when people are getting down: he does an impromptu ( i guess )
3 min gig
- Thank you all for riding this train today morning
  Its wednesday today, but dont worry friday is coming...:)
  hope you have a great day today , remember to smile and njoy your day..
- Thank you all for riding this train today morning.
  we hope you njoyed your ride. Life is small, lets let it happily.
  Let god worry about your problems, he is there to help you out.
  Stay tight and smile a bit..have a great day

and many such variations.Guess what it does bring a smile on so many faces.
RESPECT, yes lot of respect for this guy.Havent met him yet but I do want to meet him in person
and thank him for this lil gesture.Its the little things...

The Newspapaer lady.

At the very entrance of our subway statoin, lot of people distribute free daily newspapers.
Everyone is shouting at top of their voices for ads/specials doing thr business , but there is this one lady
who makes my day everyday. Everytime you walk up to her
SMILE : - hello my darling , good morning - : SMILE
SMILE : - honey a very good morning    - : SMILE 
SMILE : - Darling you have a great day   - : SMILE 

and many such varieties.
Guess what that little smile I see on her face, that one liner I get everyday from her ! yes I love it . I am sure she makes at least some hundred people smile every day.

I walked up to her and told her last week,
Me: Hey you do know that your lil smile and one liner does make my day
LADY : BIIIIIIIG SMILEE : nooooooooooooooooooooo honey are you serious
Me: yes I am very very serious, in fact I almost walk up to you everyday to pick that newpaper and almost wait for
your one liner and that smile !
LADY HUGS me and tells the cop standing by us and is rejoiced !
I told her today that I am going to write a blog about her and she just couldnt believe it.
didnt ask her name for privacy concerns. To me she is the Smiling lady with the newspaper..

Guess what, now everyday I go by her , there is a even greater smile and it does make my day very bright.

New year Resolutions :)

So every year, around New years eve, almost everyone we know asks us this question
   - Whats your new year resolution.
http://pittsburgh.about.com/od/holidays/tp/resolutions.htm

Every year we have asked this question to others and at the same time given very interesting answers for the same. I have had various answers over period of time, and guess what if you go to the list I posted above, most of us would be able to relate to it. Yeah statistics does have some value for sure.

So coming back to that question:  what have been my top answers.
Aactually lets not go there. To say the least, yes  I have never kept to them . And every year by the end of Jan 10th, most of us have discussed "Dude its so difficult: actually whats the need to do it, I will do it when time comes".
That Time never came ! PROCRASTINATION.

This year was however different. Well not till Jan 7th evening.
Just like every year I decided to lose weight/ or rather start being HEALTHY.
in 2-3 days I already had drinks/sweets/less gym and there went my goal. Little did a realize that I was not as strong as I thought I was. Come Jan7th. That night at a dinner outing my wife said this to me, yes vandita said this to me : Nikhil you keep saying this every year and then eat / devour at sweets..Go crazy on drinks. if you cant keep up to your word, you should rather not even decide and then feel bad about it later.

At that very moment I literally went berserk, some where deep down she had struck my nerve. I ate even more that night. Guess I did not want someone to point out my own fault or point out so bluntly. We came back home that night and all the while when I was driving, only one thought in my mind "Am I really not that strong: Have I really lost self control "

Fast Forward, 6 months later: I have lost 22 pounds, Feel very energised, have already run in couple of small races and one long 10k race ! and last but not the least plan to run in a marathon next year !

What changed......something did , definitely. This year nn Jan 7th 2012, something changed for me.
I challenged myself to attain some of my self attested goals.I wanted to try myself and I did.
I am glad that I did.So here is a list of things I have attained as per my Resolution
- Get back the healthy routine/fitness/lose weight.
- Read inspirational books ( read at least 6 books this year )
- Spend more time with close family.
Following Goals I have not yet achieved this year.
- Plan about future business ideas
- Get back to dancing/learning a musical instrument.


Some things I learnt over this period which I want to share with all of you
 - Go ahead and challenge yourself, we have much more untried potential in our  mind/body than we can possibly imagine.
- PUSH yourself. Get out of your comfort zone, only Recently I read "The only way to get to the place where we can get is by stepping out of ones comfort zone"
- Give yourself small attainable goals while keeping sight of the end goal.
  This world is about instant gratification. Small achievable goals help us track our own progress and  also help in measuring the effort to success ratio. We need to feed it and I believe its ok
- Constructive criticism : we need people around us who can criticize us in the right way.
   With the right frame of mind, This can only help us grow in the right direction.

Go ahead my friends. PUSH yourself, dont let yourself down by not keeping your OWN resolution.
No one is forcing it on you ..but guess what : once you do it..once you attain your resolution goals, the blissful feeling is also yours.  The credit is all yours and the happiness is all yours to preserve .

When I look back in time, year 2012 will be a turning point in my professional and personal life.
At the end of this year I will proudly feel "Yes I did act on my resolution".
Yes I can still keep my word.



Cheers