Beyond Distance !!

Back in 2004 – I had enrolled myself for a Post Graduate Certificate Program from the Pune University. After our first class of Digital Design was over everybody left the classroom hurriedly except me and her. We both continued working on a problem although separately , sitting on different benches. After about 15- 20 minutes, we exchanged a “Hello” and that’s how our conversation started – about analyzing and solving the problem. And that’s how it all started. Our Friendship I mean. From that day we started studying together which involved Solving our assignments, studying for the examinations etc. We were sincere, hardworking and determined. I was then staying as a PG and she was staying with her relatives.

We usually met at Pataleshwar or Chatushringi and studied for hours together. On weekends, our study day started at around 7:30 am in the mornings and we would study until sunset. No gossips, no un-necessary talks. Purely studies. I remember discussing complex concepts of Advanced Digital Subsystem Design / VLSI fundamentals and VHDL / Verilog code snippets with her.

Eventually we both did well in the exams and co-incidentally found jobs in the same company within the same team. And probably that’s when we actually started to bond beyond studies. We shared an apartment. She taught me many things and helped me become a better person, honestly. She ingrained in me the quality of cleanliness – trust me.. ! Every Friday we cleaned our apartment by sweeping and wiping the floors/ arranging the piles of clothes neatly / cleaning the kitchen / washrooms. I used to tell her every Friday – that it’s Friday and we should instead be watching a movie or dine out but no we had to clean the apartment on Fridays. I started maintaining a diary writing in every detail of expenses I made which again I learnt from her. Now don’t get me wrong. My parents had taught me all of that. But I was just too lazy and used to do it as a task because I have been instructed to do that and not willingly. She forced me to wake up early and accompany her for morning walks and watching sunrises. Every night I slept promising her that I would and then every morning would wake up to be the crankiest person and come up with different reasons for not getting up. But she won’t buy any of that and drag me literally out of bed.

At work, we had cubes right besides each other. We learnt the same things at work / had more or less similar assignments and would discuss it back home until midnight. Our Manager started calling us “Changu-Mangu” . I remember M telling me once then – “You know, you and her fall in Varan Bhaat category”. (So there are apparently three categories- Pizza / Pavbhaaji and Sadha varan Bhaat i.e plain Dal and Rice) Yes, and it was true indeed. Eventually S (her hubby) told her “You know what – you and K fall in BaavLat category” (Apparently anybody can fool you category) which also was sadly true. We took Rangoli , yoga and Naturopathy classes together. We also tried taking an unsuccessful Beautician class.

Anyway, with time gradually we started discussing about books / philosophy / yoga and Life! And each one of us started having an enormous amount of influence on the other in every aspect unknowingly. We became each other’s dumping bags (no –not punching bags!). Like venting out our worries / fears / problems / concerns / negativities – and the other would provide an unwavering support , patient ear and comfort no matter what. We were there for each other either mending the broken hearts or spirits.

Time flew. Circumstances changed. The journey continued. Studies brought me here and I left my job. With our busy schedules we did manage to update each other through emails and phone calls. I got her emails before my exams wishing me good luck and I talked to her in all her sleepless nights when she was expecting.

Be it the precious moments of getting married / buying homes / having babies (she has one now  ) we made sure that the other is a part of the process.

She was with me holding my hand (literally) on the toughest day of my life – sharing the silence and the pain. Yesterday, I got an email from her. She had lost someone close – very close to her. I felt bad that I couldn’t be with her physically at this point in life. All I was going to do was offer my condolences over phone. For which I had no words. With shivering hands , watery eyes and a very heavy heart I did manage to call her. And we talked. Knowing that I was struggling for words she did all the talking – answering all my unasked questions , assuring me that she was doing much better now after 15 days.Pouring her heart out . And making me realize that between friends distance doesn’t really matter . What matters is being there !!!

PS : I have disabled comments for this post.

Random Post

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ZNMD – I had not liked the promos at all for some reason. They felt too clichéd. But since M wanted to see it , I went with it. And oh my ! The movie took me by surprise. It’s a wonderful feel good movie. About celebrating life. Liked a Hindi movie after a long time.

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HP7-2 – I wanted to see this no matter what. First for the fact that it’s the last of the Harry Potter  Sigh !! And second ofcourse because I am a fan  And as expected loved the movie. And got this urge to re-read the entire series.

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Which I will once our Kindle arrives. Yayy !! We finally ordered one :D

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Spent a lovely Saturday with friends from San Diego. They drove to our place. Nothing like a group of girls talking about just everything they could – from movies , shopping , discount in Macy’s, parlor , skin treatments ,food, weight, to relationships, jobs , careers , life , dreams. And these are the people whom I dint even know last year about this time. Strange , isn’t it ?

Of Weighty Issues ...

Weight had never been an issue or concern for the first 24 years of my life. Almost never. Until then, the lack of it surely was one!

This is my third time on being a “weight loss regimen” so far. Purely self-driven and something which has nothing to do with any crash diets or expert advice whatsoever.  

Mind you , am not a complete “ overweight case” yet  so please don’t imagine me as a 200 pounds lady with a bowl popcorn in one hand and coke in another.  Sorry folks ! Right now ,  I weigh about 115 pounds and need to lose about 5 pounds to look good and fit for my height of about 5 feet and 2 n a half inches. (Yes , I do add that half inch – it matters to me :) )

The first time I ever put on the weight was when I got my first job after looking for one for the longest time you can ever imagine of. So with the relaxed state of mind , the body probably indulged in to :) . To add to it , we had a “Sweets Corner” right besides our Office  Building. Well , by the time the panic button was “ON”  , I had already put on a sizable amount of weight. But losing weight then was easy you see. With age being one factor , the metabolism rate was still good. And yes , Maa ke haath ka fresh khaana being the other one. So just cutting on those extra sweets and samosas was good enough. All I did was went to 3 trekking trips with my friends  (Lohagad , Sinhagad and Matheran – for all the curious minds) within a span of about 3 months which actually did the trick.  I lost all the gained weight happily. Happily because , weight loss was never “always” on my mind and  with trips being so much fun accompanied by a bunch of good friends , weight loss came naturally as a  byproduct.

So , I was a happy and healthy 100 pounds when I first landed to the US of A in 2008. During his trip to Chi town, M bought me a big bag full of chocolates and that’s how I got addicted to them leading to my second story. Munching them during classes, in lab, while studying in library – dint realize when winter and the first semester was already over. My friends used to envy my genes and I would smile back proudly completely forgetting my previous encounter with weight gain.  With the super busy schedule, I actually did not realize when I had put on a nice layer of fat under those big sweaters and snow jackets. Sigh!!

So the panic button was “ON” yet again. All the chocolates in the Kitchen shelf were replaced by different flavors of Green Tea. And the entire “vetty” summer (Tamil term – for “khaali junta” as in “jobless people”) was spent in rigorous workouts. Yes, everything. From yoga to jogging to Biking. Bad part was the body was not responding to all of that as quickly as the first time. But the good part was I had a good, dedicated and always motivated team of girls (my roomies) who were also working hard to lose weight. I remember jogging / walking for 5 miles a day at one point. We were crazy then. But amidst all the “No luck” , “Nopes”, “not yet” reactions after spending hours of time in front of mirror …one fine day , I miraculously got into my “benchmark” jeans and Eureka – I had done that. Everybody around me suddenly seemed to realize it and in came the compliments and questions seeking advice.

Two years later – which is NOW :

After all those efforts, who on earth would be careless and lazy enough to put on all of that lost weight plus some more as a bonus? Yes I agree. But unfortunately, I could. And I did put on all of that weight. With wedding, job search  and status issue worries  weight kind of became a non-issue. Somehow.

So, here I am, yet again with the panic button “ON” promising myself that if this time I lose that weight, I will never again let it grow on me – literally.

But this time – the challenge is bigger. With metabolism rate much slower, nobody to accompany for jogs on daily basis, I need a lot higher motivation levels.

So where am I? This is the fifth week of my exercise and monitoring my food intake, I do feel fitter and fresher than what I was before 5 weeks. Am not yet sure whether I have lost any weight or not. But let’s see. Nopes –that benchmark jeans is still a zillion fat layers away. :)

What’s my routine? – Well 3 miles of jogging about 3 to 4 times a week along with 2 days of yoga !!! As I had promised here , this post is an update. And now I need your comments for the motivation :)

And here are the pics of my Jogging Track for you :) 

 

Catalina !!!

After a long time, Me and M finally took out a day together to the Catalina Islands. We always wanted to go there but because of our different geographical locations , we dint want to spend time in additional travelling. Well , blame our enthusiasm levels too. 

So , this long weekend we finally boarded on to the ferry to the beautiful Catalina Islands. Honestly , I had imagined the beaches to be magnificent and huge like never seen before. Nevertheless, I was disappointed in that regard. But the disappointmene ended just there.

It’s a very small island but has a feeling of comfort and warmth to it. It boasts of a very good weather all through the year. And it was indeed very pleasant. The setting of the entire place was very bohemian. The people were much laid back and easy going. Nobody was in any sorts of hurry (except yours truly who was paranoid about almost everything –yes even on a vacation! Example? Getting hyper in the queue for getting the perfect seats on the ferry , for all the rides and activities we did etc) People came up proactively and asked if they could take pictures of us whenever they saw us clicking each other. Sweet !

So , as planned , we got up very early and took the first ferry toward the island (Avalon). Reached in about an hour. This journey was quite uneventful , thankfully, unlike I had imagined. No matter how “not a morning person you are”  , the experience of witnessing the darkness of night vanish into the first morning sunrays is always refreshing – a coffee helps too :p .

The first thing we did after landing was took a quick stroll to realize that the island was still waking up. The shopkeepers – all along the ocean side , were cleaning , wiping and waiting for the day’s madness to kick in. We chose a small café at the corner to grab our breakfast. Being a vegetarian I was kind of worried that I might not get anything to eat or could not survive the smell of the sea food – but to my surprise nothing of that sorts happened. We got a sumptuous breakfast that consisted of mashed potatoes , French Toast and freshly squeezed Orange Juice.  Sitting there waiting for our order in itself was so relaxing , somehow. And I could already get a feeling that yes , we were on a far far land – away from all the worldly insanity.

After another walk , surprisingly we both agreed upon what activities to choose from all the available options. The first thing we chose was “Parasailing”. Since it was just 9 am , we dint have to wait for our turn and got the first ride. Well, with M , I had been on a lot of roller coaster and the scary rides before so I wasn’t in particular scared until ofcourse we were hooked to the bar – pushed – away from the boat at the mercy of the parachute and the guy who operated it. All of you who aren’t scared of heights or water should definitely try this once . Heck! You should try it otherwise too. It’s a very calming activity. You go up slowly and come down again equally slowly.  And all the time that you are in the air – you can feel the fresh , cool breeze and enjoy a breathtaking view only ofcourse if you keep your eyes open.  Theres nothing between you and the air outside. It’s a feeling as if you have gotten wings for a while or like you are on one of those very high swings in your backyard. It was a very soothing activity. Okay all said and done , there was a point where I was scared and had some negative thoughts peeped in as in “what ifs.. “ But then whats the fun without that tiny adrenaline rush right ?And after you come down that’s certainly not what you are going to take with you for the rest of your life.

 When you are on the Island you cannot rent any cars or other vehicles except a Golf Gart and drive through the island. We rented one for an hour. The guy handed us a map of what all places to cover in that one hour , where not go and what not to do. Keeping in mind all of that , we headed for a ride on the island. The map was very confusing and we could see everyone with a question mark on their faces looking for the right direction. Since the time was very limted – just one hour – the entire ride kind of became a thrill ride and it was like playing a game of treasure hunt. If you ever happen to visit this place , make sure you rent the it at least for an hour. You can get to see all the interiors of the  island and a panoramic ocean view.

We took a break for lunch – had already walked the beach side 2- 3 times.  For such a small place tgere are a lot of food options. You can find everything – from sea food to  Italian , Mexican , American etc. We chose an Italian Pizzeria and went for a classic Penne Pasta with Garlic Bread.  

We also experienced an unsuccessful attempt of snorkeling (M enjoyed it though) – darn , it required swimming ! Since we were too tired, we decided to get on an earlier ferry than we had planned .  

Watching the kids play in the sand and water , lazing around on the beach  - with or without a book , just sitting together and watching the sea waves , walking around with no particular agenda in mind – was so refreshing than checking the emails every 10-15 min or that Facebook update or browsing your iphone for that matter. You realize that the day has indeed enough hours for us to do so many things. Waiting in the queue for 10 -15 min with sleepy eyes and tired body we took the next ferry and a lot of memories back home. 

Here are some random pics for you  ->