"Committed" to be playful - A Visit to Bangalore

It's a nice feeling to be "committed". The daily talk on phone has now more kick, with lots of pampering and kisses around ;) Remya is just so perfect for me, and she has so much comfort as I perceive, and we are so happy for things going well. I decided, the gap between Nov 16 and Feb 3 seemed like ages. I decided to drop in at Bangalore as it has been quite sometime since I have visited my team members there, and also thought would make use of this trip to have a nice time with Remya talking about our life forward and lots of things.

As my mom and dad wanted to go to Mumbai around the same time, I had planned for a ticket for them to be from Nov 7 - Nov 16 while my own plan was bit more big, in the form of Nov 7 - 17. However, as my Vice President was visiting Hyderabad, and I have to represent my team, had to curtail it as Nov 7 - Nov 12, a very very difficult decision. Anyways, both of us decided to enjoy the time together. Nov 7, I landed around 10 PM, and as my guest house was in the next lane to Remya's PG house, and as she had to work late, she arrived around 11 PM, same time when I reached my guest house and freshed up. We talked for around 15 mts, feeling so happy to have met up finally. We decided to sleep early as the weekend which was going to be very very exciting!!!

I got up at 7 AM (courtesy, the call from Remya, else I sleep till 10 on saturdays :P), and was ready by 8 AM. As per plan, Remya and myself first visited the Pillayar Temple, which she has much reverence and respect. After visiting all the "gods" and thanking them for giving them a meaning to my life, we then headed straight to Forums, the place where we had met first. We decided to slip into PVR Cinemas, and decided to see the movie, "Goal" - How apt, as we have just scored in our lives, isnt it? Movie was bit ok but we had fun and excited. Came out and then moved on to MG Road, Brigade Road, clasping hand in hand, and then sat for a while in Cubbon Park. Then decided to go to Lal Bagh. I had gone once before to Lal Bagh but this one is a special visit!! There was a folk dance festival going on at Lalbagh, and we were just sitting on the slope, green grass below us, sun about to set, bluish orange sky, a perfect setting for ..... some more love talk :P Then we went back to Forums, and then decided to have dinner at Grameen, one of the famous restaurants in that area. We had given our taste buds a treat, and then headed back to our guest house, with lots of dreams.

Sunday morning, got up early with birds chirping, we eagerly waited for day break as the plan was BIG this time. To go to Wonderla, India's Biggest Amusement park around 40 Kms from Bangalore. We quickly had a breakfast and then called up the Call Taxi. We then headed to the amusement park and I was not aware of what was coming!! Having seen the big US amusement parks like Disney, Six Flags, etc., I thought this would be just a normal one. And to my "amusement", this one was even better. It had some rides, which created a chill through the spine, as it was doing a 360 degree turn. However, being a daring and dashing personality :P, both of us, like children, started climbing each of those rides with so much enthusiasm and fun, and Remya was constantly laughing at me, for shouting through my voice whenever it did a 360 turn ;) The laser fountain shows, the water rides, the dry rides and a best companion, - an amazing experience to put in 3 simple words.

We caught up with some food, and covered almost all the attractions of that place before calling up our cab driver to take us back home. We then had some dinner and reached home knowing that the next 3 days though I would be in Bangalore, we might not get more than an hour to speak as both of our work schedules was pretty tight. Having made sure we feel very comfortable with each other, I left Bangalore back to Hyderabad and eagerly waiting for the Big Day of my life, Feb 3 to arrive :P With Lots of dreams and gleams, closing this post!!!!!

Pics: Etched in memory, not for you all :P

November 16 - My Engagement With Remya

Finally, the most beautiful moment of my life, November 16 has arrived. My Engagement with Remya. As planned, we started off early in the day to the Shanti Kalyana Mandapam, where the function was organized. Being Friday, it was auspicious and also we expected all our close relatives to be there. To my surprise, whomever my dad had written postcards and invited them to his only son's engagement ceremony, all turned up and it was such a nice feeling. Remya, with her parents and all relatives too arrived on scheduled time. The ceremony had to start around 12 noon, and hence, once breakfast was over, I was just waiting for an opportunity to meet Remya. As Tamlian customs have lots of dos and dont's, I waited patiently and once the ceremony started, it was such a nice feeling.

Remya came out in a nicely clad blue saree. First, Kutta gave me the new dress to wear, and then Viji (my sister) gave Remya, a specially selected (ofcourse, it was my selection) Silk Saree (of mango yellow color). Both of us went to seperate rooms and changed our dresses and awaited instructions from elders to come to the main hall. The wait was so "much" for me, I thought I should just come out :P However, waited for my turn and came out after 30 mts. By the time, Remya too was beautifully decorated and I was like singing, "Aaankhon mein teriiiii ajab si ajab sii ada haiiii", hey Remya what did you sing yaar???? :P

So the festivities took for an hour and then a fantastic lunch, nice dinner and head back home. Both sides of the families were very happy about the outcome and also the engagement ceremony itself. Overall, November 16, a date etched in my memory for the rest of my life.

Enjoy the pics uploaded here:

Pics taken by Official Photographer:

http://picasaweb.google.com/sriswami/Engagement_Official_Photos

Pics taken by Manikandan:

http://picasaweb.google.com/sriswami/MyEngagementWithRemya

Love at First Sight

Yes. I landed on Indian Soil from US on September 30, 2007. Headed straight to home with lots of chocolates and more sweet memories of Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe, I quickly got the most awaited coffee made by my mom, and then had dinner and quietly slipped into the bed. As usual, this time too, no JET lag!!!

It's been sometime since my dad and mom have been looking for a suitable match for me, and though I was not very serious to begin with, post US, I thought, lets settle down buddy!!! Lookout for the girl who is made for you!!! and just when thinking about the thought ;) my dad showed me "Remya's" profile sent by her dad. I quickly checked her photograph in Tamil Matrimony website, and I should say, "Love at First Sight" and "fell flat" feeling. The pic attached would tell you the reason ;) She was so much homely and good looking and charming and beautiful and .....lots more!!!! I said, OK!! (shouldnt be showing my happiness straightaway right??) and we fixed up a date of October 28 and place as Bangalore, when both families would meet.

Meanwhile, I wore the "famous" 007 cap, and found out Remya's e-mail ID from the saviour, orkut, and contacted her. With a very favourable reply ;) and a phone number in hand, I made full use of the Oct 1 - Oct 27 time frame, wherein we almost spoke for an hour (to the minimum) per day and made sure we feel so much comfortable with each other that, the visit to bangalore only seemed to be made up for the parents to meet, as we felt we are already psychologically much much compliant to each other. I too felt the warmth and care from her voice that I needed in my better half, and with lots of dreams, was waiting for the day that would change my life.

October 28:

Special Special Day. We landed a day earlier at my best family friend, Maniappan's home and then played around with the kid, Varun. Got up early on October 28 and was ready with my pink shirt (ok, dont let you imaginations run, this one definitely looks much better than the one worn by tamil/telugu actors) ;) and blue trousers. Myself, mom and dad quickly got into an Auto, and the meetingplace was supposed to be "Forum" at Koramangla, which is a shopping center. We reached almost 30 mts early and so had time to take my dad and mom around the escalator (had to catch hold of my mom's hand as she was scary about this) ;) and took my dad to a CD shop who quickly purchased lots of devotional one's like Samavedam, Rudram Chamakam et all.

We then established contact on phone and knowing that Remya's mom and dad are coming, waited at the ground floor and with a gleam in my eye was awaiting my princess's arrival. And you guessed right, I was able to quickly identify Remya's mom and dad (as she had once sent me pics by email) and then there was their cousin-brother. Now, where is Remya??????? I was told she is coming in 5 mts!!! Now, just imagine my position there!! ;) Still, I knew my Remya is coming for me!! and lo, she came, she saw, she conquered! We then thought as there is not much place to sit and talk around, we decided to go to Kutta's place and then have a discussion. With the parents bringing about a decision that the kids (yeah thats us) have already decided much during the course of our 28 day phone chat, it was more of a final approval.

With just an hour into talking each other's families, already the dates for engagement (as Nov 16), the venue of Engagement (as Shanti Kalyana mandapam), the wedding date of (Feb 3) and venue of Lalith Mahal at Trivandrum was all finalized. As later remarked by Remya, it seemed like a 20-20 match with things getting set so fast and so nicely :) I should thank JP (Jayaprakash) for single handedly making sure the mandapam for engagement was all booked and ready for the Big Nov 16 day.

As far as my first meeting with Remya is concerned, she is the one who talks with her eyes ;) and I did show some of my antics like being outspoken, fearless and jovial, and was happy to see the girl's parents liked me as much as my parents liked the girl. We all had good lunch and then said bye to each other, as we had to head to back to Hyderabad that night, and Remya's parents to Trivandrum. Meanwhile, I made sure I passed on 3 ear-rings which I specially chose for Remya, secretly :) What a good feeling that was ;) ;) :) - Now read more for the Big Day!!!!

Las Vegas - The SIN City!!!!

Glimpses of Las Vegas started few miles before the actual spot. Suddenly, we found in the midst of densely decorated buildings and dazzling lights all around. At a distance, we were able to make up that Las Vegas, the SIN City is arriving. We had a pit stop during which I got time to quickly change my T-Shirt (need to be trendy, isn't it?), quickly purchased a shade (sunglasses) and went into a trendy srini, not known to myself ;)

We missed the Fountain Show by a whisker, though we did see it from a distance. Then we drove through and parked at Rio, very famous for it's dance shows (dont let your imagination fly) ;) However, even that too was over....was bit disappointing and they said next one would be at 11 AM Monday morning. We decided to move on, and on the way saw replicas of Eiffel Tower, Egypt's Pyramids, Statue of Liberty, one overtaking another in sheer beauty and dazzling lighting!!! We had a reservation at Tropicana Hotel, which is one of the good hotels around. Las Vegas in it's entirety is just a street (also called STRIP, dont ask me why it is called so? ;) ) was just tooooooooooo good!!!!! I got the first glimpse of a casino as soon as we entered the hotel room. It was like around 1000s of machines lined up with different games (777s, Dice Games, and many many slot machines). We said, first lets fresh up, throw our luggage in the room, and then just hit the road by walk. After we hit the road, it was pretty clear, everyone had different intentions ;) places of interest. Some wanted to booze while some wanted to party. So we decided to split up and just roam around as if no tomorrow exists for us.

I was sticking with Gaurav, but soon realized I was all alone!!! I was dropping in one hotel after another (as all entrances are free) and was thrilled by each hotel's offerings (i mean, the architectural offering) :P However, one thing that I noted was that, for BIG hotel's entrance to the shows (not sure what they showed as I never made it in), we had to be formally dressed and should have our passport with us. With me, not looking any more than 23 (though was 28) :P, I had more difficult time, believe me!! So I decided to just move on the road and fortunately caught Gaurav on the way. It was good to have a friend around, else not sure where Mr. Hyde would have taken me (for those of you who didnt know Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, better read the story). We decided not to get lost again, as the city had "lots of distractions" :P We then made in, even without a passport to a pub and hit the dance floor. I danced till I felt it was "great" (there were ofcourse lots of ladies interested, but me, nayyyy, you guess what I would have done :P) and finally popped out of the pub.

Then it was time for some purchases like Vegas Dices, Vegas Shirts (lotsss of them) and plenty of memontoes, Calendars, CDs (i mean calendar CDs) :P and so on. BY the time we reached our hotel room, it was 5 AM. I was not surprised that other folks were snoring!!! Thank God for giving me good stamina to enjoy the lights of Las Vegas and almost covered much of the LV Strip.

Got up in the morning, and we decided on the way back to SFO, there would be 2 pitstops. One at Rio, to see the Dance Show (which we missed last night) and another to the most attracted place in Las Vegas, The Stratosphere. First, the Rio Dance Show. Being there at 11 Am, the crowd was relatively lesser. The speciality of Rio show was that after the end of the show, the chief dancer and others throw Golden Beads to the watching public and whoever, is able to catch up, would sure be blessed with lady luck. With almost $40 dollars lost in my earlier night's gambling exercises, I was determined to make sure I have the lady luck on my side. I took a strategic point and was surprised that the chief dancer pinpointedly picked me up, made me dance few steps (repeating whatever she danced) :P and threw a wonderfully golden laced bead. WoWWWW!!! I made it, while all my other 5 friends were still looking out for them. Santosh, amongst them was luckiest, as he not only got 1 or 2 but 3 different bead chains :)

I immediately tossed another dollar coin into the slot machine, wearing this bead chain, and lo!!! you guessed it right, I made million dollar out of it (ooops, woke up out of that dream) and found my $1 bill too has been nicely gobbled up by the slot machine. That moves up the dollar count to 41. When enquired from others, they said they lost only 2 or 3 dollars!!!! I was however, satisfied that even when I had winning moments, I chose to just enjoy the day than thinking about how much money has been lost or won, and it was such a fun experiencing this!!!!

Stratosphere, the MUST visit in Las Vegas is a 115 storeyed (approx) building. You guessed it wrong (if at all you are a person who guesses what would be the next sentence) :) The lift starts at floor 1, and takes you straight to 112. There's no pit stops in between. We were told by the lift attendee that it travels 3 floors per second, and travels the entire stop in less than 35 seconds. The stop is in 112th floor. When you get out of that lift, you would see the entire Las Vegas, it's hillock boundaries and such a beautiful sight to behold, you believe me.

Now comes the fun part. At that height (112th floor), you have 3 rides. You should have bought tickets right at the ground floor, before you boarded the lift. I chose to play 2 of them as each ride was little costlier. The three rides included, taking you from 112th floor to 115th height level and showing you what gravity drop is :) Nerve racking. Second one was to have you sit on a slanted train like and taking you to the tip of the building and as if it asks, "if I drop you from here, what would happen"? Lungs in our mouth and only could be experienced!!! Last one was a horizontal merrigoround (like sitting on a horse which rotates fast in a circular fashion), except that the entire structure is in free air, means when you see down from whichever angle, you are seeing 112 floors down straight with naked eye. Just imagine, how we would have felt when sitting in those rides. It is such a thrilling experience that if you have to visit Las Vegas, dont go for just the SIN part of it, but go for the SPECIAL STRATOSPHERE effect!!!

Once made sure our entire visit was simply superb, we hit the road and targetted to reach SFO by early morning Tuesday to make ourselves available in the morning. Now, how can I forget the experience while almost we were approaching SFO. In true hollywood style, we saw a police cab vrooom by, and then there was second, and then third, oh my god!!! are we doing something wrong here? Did we miss some traffic rule? To top it, there was a police helicopter right above our vehicle, and we heaved a sigh of relief only when noticing one guy was arrested and was pulled over. The entire freeway (which does not have any traffic signal concept) was stalled for 10 mts in full. Only when we were allowed, did we realize this time, the US experience is simply SUPERB.

All my Las Vegas Photos at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/sriswami/SinCityLV

LA - Universal Studios and road to Vegas...

It was a beautiful Sunday Morning. We immediately freshed up and jumped into the seat for the Universal Studios Experience. As Gaurav's friend, had to cover up some project, he said he wouldnt be able to accompany us. We decided to pack up the luggage and move on, as the plan was to hit the road to Vegas from Universal Studios. As usual, I was the one who had to buy tickets, and got them and went in. With so many nice memories of visiting that place in 2003 with Ravi, Arun R and Arun D, still fresh, I found so amazing that except for few items, things haven't changed A BIT in these 4 years. The shows were still same, the concept was still same, I just thought how things can go unchanged even in a developed country!!!

But now, I was the MOST experienced guy of the batch, having visited this place once, I was showing off places to people. As Gaurav was expecting his sister and bro-in-law, and Sandeep his college friend, we decided to split into groups and just enjoy and with none having mobile phones, it was all out of a decision that we would meet up at a particular spot sharp by 3 PM. I along with Gaurav, revisited most of my favourite spots like the Terminator Bike, Shrek 4D and Mummy experience. Each of them was just adrenalin rushing and fantastic to say the least. As expected, we met almost at 3.30 PM as we were waiting for one or the other person. We knew we were running short of time now. We have to drive a minimum of 4-5 hours and still were confident of reaching Las Vegas right on the showtime :P

Gaurav took the car out and as the GPS "aunty" as we called her, was adamant that she would not help us go to Las Vegas. Multiple attempts to make her speak just failed. What it means is that we have no GPS and were just left in the middle of the road with no inch of how to proceed. My God, in US, life without a GPS is unimaginable. We decided we would call up the Car Rental Agency and find out if we can get a replacement of GPS. Day being Sunday, the only advise they would give (after spending considerable dollars on calls) that come to LA Airport and you could take up the new GPS (thankfully the rent for this cab included GPS fees). We reached the airport, contemplated for a while if we should change the cab and then decided to stick with this machismo as we didnt have better options there, and changed the GPS and hit the road. We definitely lost around 30-45 mts due to this, however, the experience was a "nervous and when will this solve" kind of, a new one to feel :)

Now, leaving back LA as our return trip to SFO was directly from LV, we hit the road to Las Vegas - the SIN CITY!!!!!!!

Pics of our LA trip are at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/sriswami/LA2007

Disney Land - Los Angeles

The people whom I met over week 2 had become close friends by then. Along with Santosh and Sandeep and Gaurav, whom I knew already, I got a chance to catch up with Sameer and Raja. Over a casual talk came the the announcement that week 3 would be a MEGA trip to Los Angeles. People were planning to check if they could fly to LA to avoid the harsh 8 hour drive. However, somehow things didnt go as planned and they finalized that they would drive and instead of just a 2 day (weekend holiday), they would take Monday off and cover Las Vegas as well.

I was skeptical of going on vacation on a Monday after having reached there to do a project. The others were pretty confident that they are going ahead with the plan and made necessary arrangements (like booking a vehicle, booking hotel rooms etc). At 3.15 PM on Friday, I dropped in to my Manager's cabin as we had to chat on a particular action item. During the talk, I told that in another 15 mts, a group of 5 are leaving for LA and LV trip and I do not know what to do this weekend with them gone. He asked why arent you going? I told that we have to take Monday off, and I was not very sure to go with that plan. He gave me a friendly pat, and said you should go and see these places. It's fine if you want a vacation on Monday. As we were talking, I excused myself, immediately called up my friend and asked if an open place was still there for me. With him saying yes (a strong reason could be my good photography skills exhibited as part of Lake Tahoe), I immediately jumped with joy and immediately rushed to the hotel. As obviously I was running against time, I quickly packed up my suitcase and got into the cab just on time. In the hurry, forgot to pack my passport (you would realized how important it would be)...

Gaurav got behind the wheels to begin with, and even when it was bit cramp in space, the company of friends made my backseat the best place (like you were in a BIG limousine and feel like the BOSS). Gaurav right at the beginning, took an Indian Left (instead of turning left on the other side of the road, he drove like Indian signal, and lo, we were facing upcoming traffic, and after controlling ourselves from laughing out of our seats), we managed to turn just on time. We always then made sure we inform Gaurav that take "American Left", :) and had so much fun teasing him on this. Having said that, as we knew that the weather forecast in LA was going to be bit of showers, we expected some rain on the road to LA. Gaurav drove so nicely all the way, all the night that its just cant be said with a thank you. We pulled over a rest area for sometime, before heading straight to LA. It was a drive of less than 8-9 hours, and the first pit stop in LA was to find out Gaurav's college friend whoz working there in LA. We roamed and roamed and roamed and finally figured out. It was around 2 AM.

The plan was that we would spend Saturday and Sunday till noon in LA, and then start off to Las Vegas where we would "dance our heart out on Sunday Night". As per plan, the 5 people had passes to Disney Land which means I have to find a way of funding my $90 bill (those guys got it at half the price due to corporate discount). Anyways, money is not going to stop me from enjoying fully out...and I queued up to pay up $80 (I got a $10 discount due to a torn coupon I got in a magazine) and like a small kid, went into the Disney Land. I have been to LA way back in 2003, but we only had covered Universal Studios, at that time and hence Disney is going to be a fantastic experience. DisneyLand LA, was filled with rides and entertainment quarters that as we moved from 1 place to another to another, it was so much fun. Took most of the rides there and had plenty of fun. In between, there was a slight drizzle (atleast in US, weatherman do know forecast) and we used up that time to grab a bite. I was dying for a mirchi bajji for that kind of weather, but that was too much of an ask, isnt it?

Finally, we came back to Gaurav's friend's room around 11 PM after a fantastic day. We decided to make sure to catch up all sleep as the next night is going to be just AMAZING!!!! Mr. Walt Disney, when are you coming to India????

Pictures speak thousand words. Just see our Disney Experience here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/sriswami/LA2007

Lake Tahoe - Breathtaking Week 2

Yes, bit late if you consider the last post, but just read to my other posts to find out why!!! So, this post is all about the week 2 experience in San Francisco. First, on Saturday, I met up Ashwin, my best friend in US, who was my collegue and he took me to downtown SFO. We caught up an Apple Store, enquired for iPod Touch, which I was very very eager to put my hands on, but as the sales person its coming only on Oct 29, 1 day after I am supposed to leave US shores, and after bit being disappointed, we ended up in an Indian Restaurant and overcame all that, with some fantastic dosa.

When I reached hotel, without being sure how my Sunday would be, (nayyy, I dont like sleepy sunday atleast when I am in US), I met up with couple of friends (Santosh and Sandeep) and Santosh enquired if I am interested to accompany them to Lake Tahoe. Without a doubt, I said yes, because I have heard so much about the lake. All set by 7 AM, and after a hurriedly completed breakfast, I comforted myself in the backseat of the car (now you know why I like chauffer driven cars ;) ;) ) and we said "GOOOOOO". I couldnt miss the experience of my life here. We were going on 101 South towards San Jose, and someone wanted to stop by, for reasons not disclosed ;) We knew it was a freeway with vehicles zoooooming by, and a stop was just impossible. But because we found a spot on the side of the road (which incidentally should be used in case of a breakdown), we halted there. We just felt "good" after couple of minutes, and were posing for some pics (as if we have achieved something great ;) ) and lo, siren siren siren of a police cab. He asked us, "Any Problem Sir???"? We said the reason and he responded with an most amusing look, Sir...you should not stop here! You should drive down 10 miles when you would find the rest area. (He doesnt know the damage is done already" :) We immediately acknowledged the inspector for guiding us ;) and hurried through the road. We had so much of fun over this moment, that that guy was taunted whenever seen ;)

Lake Tahoe's drive is beautiful and scenic. It's a big, i mean VERY BIG lake. It is said, it's water can cover the entire state of california by 3 feet of water. More than it's size, the lake was so crystal clear, that it is said it's base could be seen with naked eye. The plan for us was to head to the south part of the lake, go all the way around, if time permits, jump in at Reno (the junior Las Vegas) and head back. However, when Santosh said he is driving in US for the first time, and also hadnt driven much back home in India, our hearts were almost in our mouth. However, I have to compliment here that he did drive safely and fantastically (it is said US cars are really easy to drive), still a job WELL done!!

Coming back to Lake Tahoe, we just passed through the road adjoining the lake, stopping at every point we found (ourselves as children) and jumped out, and posed pics. I have taken Santosh, so many pics that he would be forever indebted for showing him as a pucca telugu hero :) We then reached some "must-see" shores of the lake, and it was a breathtaking experience. The chillness of the water, the beautiful postcard type images, was just too much for me. It was WOWW like. Also, the mountain which now was not ice-capped, was said to be full of ice when winter sets in. I was just wondering how beautiful that sight would have been and because it was already very late, considering we had plenty of picture poses, we decided to skip Reno and rather target the BIG one (Las Vegas) sometime later, and headed back to hotel.

If you see the pics uploaded here, you would believe, Lake Tahoe is one of the MOST BREATHTAKING lake ever you would see!!!!

Pics uploaded at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/sriswami/LakeTahoe

More adventures (infact BIG one's coming up).....