Wah Taj !

Recently, I visited Agra with my colleagues over the weekend. We hired a Santro and hit the road to Agra at 11 am on Saturday. The first stop was Akbar's Tomb. Next, we visited the marvelous monument of love - The Taj Mahal. The best part was the view of Yamuna flowing behind the fort.

We departed from the Taj at 7 pm and got a hotel booked. We were so tired that we ordered the food in the room, ate and slept. Next morning, we took off for the Agra Fort at 8 am. We had our breakfast at an eatery outside the fort. We hired a guide which actually was a good idea as he helped me to click the good shots of fort and thus I could be the part of the pics.

After about an hour, we left the city and found a water park called Dolphin along the NH-2 highway (just outside the Agra city).We had loads of fun in the water. The slides were amazing, the food was good and photographs have come out fantastic.

Thanks!

Lohri - Rekindle The Holy Fire !

It was January 13 again, the time to see off the winters and welcome the summer by celebrating the holy festival of Lohri. It's a typical North Indian festival with fun and frolic.

We celebrated it outside our house with families of a couple of friends. The holy bonfire was ignited and we showered the mungfli, reowdi, makhaane, khajur in the fire. Then, we started dancing to the music being played in the car stereo and people from neighboring homes joined in. Soon, a dhol wala came in and the masti was at its best.

After the dance session, we sat around the fire for dinner. We baked pappad on the hot coals that remained off the wood used for fire.

Thanks!

Fetch a Sketch !

It was a usual dull Sunday morning and I was thinking of the options to make this day a better one. Voila! My creativity knocked at the doors of my intellect to suggest me of sketching a portrait.

Next question was - Whom I am going to sketch? Again, the decision cam quite easily. The President of the organization where I am currently working was here in India for a short visit (He is based at California, US). Without a second thought, I was ready with pencil, sheet, and the accessories to create his sketch from a photo that I had clicked at the Annual day Celebrations.
It took me around 7 hours to complete the sketch. Whenever I create a sketch or paint something, I always get skeptical of the outcome while I am right in the middle of doing it. So, I have got a solution for this problem of mine - I take a couple of breaks of 15-30 minutes each which refreshes me and gets my mind and body together again.

My President was impressed when I presented it to him and that's all an artist hopes for.

Thanks!

So Shall You Reap !

Hi Friends,

What do you call a day when your happiness is at peak? The answer is "The Annual Party" at my office. Dec 4, 2008 was marked to become one of the memorable days of my life. With a Rewards and Recognition ceremony in the afternoon, and a sizzling Dance Party in the evening, the day could have offered nothing better.

In the awards meet, I was rewarded for my performance in the sleeves of a Project Manager at my organization. I got a sweet soft toy and money!

Later in the evening, we went to Chicane, a popular pub in Spice Mall, Noida (NCR, India). It was the time to raise a toast, grab the smokin' hot servings and shake a leg with the colleagues. As we rocked the party, the delicious food offered respite to our hungry bellies and craving tastebuds.

It was all smoke, music and the tinkling of glasses. At amidst all that, we freaked out like animals showing their gimmicks at the circus. Here's my pic at the party.. I am looking like an awsome dude.. ain't I :-)

Thanks!

My Techie Santa Claus this Christmas

Friends,

Christmas has always been a busy time.. naah.. not for me but the Santa Claus. The fat old man is so occupied with delivering the gifts to the kids that he doesn't pay attention to the needy grown-ups. But hey.. I can't live anymore waiting for the gifts coz my wish-list is multiplying everyday - Plasma TV, Home Theater System, Handycam, another Car, another Cellphone, bla bla bla.

I think Santa Claus would take ages to start fulfilling my wishes. So, I have got a customized Santa Claus - a techie one.. You see the pic?

This is my desk at the workplace. I decorated it myself - the stars, bells, trees, colored paper, snow (made of cotton-wool), and the cap ofcourse on my techie Santa.

Now this "Santa" machine is gonna get me my gifts. How? The more I work on this machine - the more I earn - the more I spend - the closer I get to completing my wish-list. So now you see the logic.. right?

Wishing you a Merry Christmas 2007!

Upside down on Thanksgiving!

Friends,

I spent around 5 minutes of my life either being Upside Down or being tilted towards one side of my body on Thanksgiving day! And the credit for all that goes to the amazing rides we had at the Entertainment City Amusement Park in Noida (New Delhi, India).

We were about 50 colleagues, and had non-stop fun from 3 pm to 7 pm at the venue. I am spell-bound if you ask me to explain how it felt going upside down and bearing the jolts of a quick twists & turns of the rides.

But it was fun.. real fun! We also got to shake our bodies at the beats of the Hip Hop, Hindi and Punjabi music. We were all over the dance floor and you could see the Micheal Jacksons, Elvis Presleys and the Mitun Chakrabortys of today within us.

We freaked out upto the last minute in the amusement park, the last thing being a mini-photo session. Finally, we called it a day and realized that we had exhausted a lot of energies.

But I would say that the day has actually re-charged our batteries, given us a break from the monotonous work routine, and loaded us with a new zeal!

I look forward to Christmas-cum-New Years' Party now! Will keep you posted.

Thanks!

My Favorite Mug is no more!

I am Virgo and not a Sagittarian. But I have been using the Sagittarius Mug for the last 3 years. This Mug has been declared Dead today. I mean, when I was served milk in some other Mug, I was informed that the Sagittarius Mug is leaking now.. Alas!!

God! I am very attached to all my belongings. Though, this mug came as a Gift to my Brother, I started using it for my daily dose of Milk. So, for the past 1100 days (and more), I have been using this Mug. On weekends, I used to get up early in the morning and prepare hot milk for myself. During tea parties at home, while all the guests were served in the regular mugs, I was always served in this mug, and hence it became my identity.

I used to be a keen collector of my old belongings and my mom never liked me storing all the scrap. "It's not vastu-friendly!" she always said. So, now I have tried to change this habit. I no more keep all the broken, torn and faded items of mine, but somewhere in the bottom of my heart, I always wish if I could store all my old things.

Today, at this moment, the mug rests in peace in the trash bin. I pray that I get adapted to my new Mug soon.

Thanks!