A letter to 20 year old me

Rainy day, coffee mug and a book, well not exactly, instead of reading, I am writing.

Journey so far

Congratulations on making it this far and I am sure you have experienced many highs and few lows. Build friendships that's gonna last a lifetime and which will be vital in your future endeavors. not sugar coating anything further, last twenty years have been nowhere close to what you will be going through in the next 10 or rather next 5 years.

Mid-life crisis does exist and it can kick in as early as at 23 to as late as 28-29. It can last for a couple of months to a couple of years. Well, I can't say what is exactly going to happen, since it all depends on how you change yourself. But I am going to give some advice on different aspects of life which can make your life easy or at least prepare yourself to face what's gonna come your way.

Dreams - I wish you had dreamt really big because Believe IT that dreams do come true, no matter how small or big. What this implies is that you widen your perspective and start dreaming BIG.
Take Away - DREAM BIG

Health and Sports - Nothing in life is permanent - this is good as well as bad. You have been suffering from minor cold/cough every now and then. Simple solution, start making conscious changes in your lifestyle. You never participated in sports citing health reasons. the truth is sports is the only thing which will make you fit, help you make new friends and give you the power to eat ice-creams whenever and wherever you want.
Take Away - Nothing is permanent and start exercising

Relationships/Friends - You need to make big changes in your attitude and behavior to make lots of friends or continue the way you are and you will end with few but TRUE friends. Some old friends will vanish off and many new friends will join in.
Take Away - Be attentive who you befriend and how you maintain the relationship

Job - I the next decade you will be starting your professional carrier. Don't get carried away by success or bogged down by failures. It may seem daunting and what you learned in college may seem to make no-sense at all. Just stay focus on the initial years. Professional carriers are really long- like 30-40 years so be patient and attentive to the changes happening in and around you. Your job will also lead to your first experience of getting a paycheck. I would recommend you to take classes on finance management or learn it from peers. Remember the golden rule - The early you invest the wealthier you will be.
Take Away - It is just a start, not the end, you can change your carrier as and when you like

Family - As alway they will be your strongest supporter. The family will get extended in the last stage of the coming decade. There will be big dynamic changes coming up, something you might not comprehend at this stage.
Take Away - With time, the bond is just gonna grow stronger

Travel - Let me spill the beans here - you will start moving around the world and you will be visiting Europe, thanks to your cousin for making it happen. Some trips will be with friends in and around India.
Take Away - You will travel the world which will help broaden your perspective


CONCLUSION - Meet you after 10 years, eagerly waiting to hear your experiences from 20-30 !!
Time for my flight to Bombay !!!

A letter from gmail treasure trove - Reply to Roshni's story - 2014

End Goes December - I wrote this post on 1st Jan 2014. In this, I mention a friend I made on 31st Dec 2013. She used to blog too and it is because of this that she shared her life story in 2 posts. Below is the reply/review/feedback I gave to her after reading her story.

Why am I sharing this - It contains many emotions and success moments of my past, particularly IIT.

PS: - I just Love email (Gmail). I randomly keep stumbling on long lost documents.

Here goes the reply -


Part 1

Well, it will take couple of pages for me to write a similar story of mine. Frankly speaking, when I read your story, I was remembering each and every part of my journey. Especially I still remember, I was in my room and saw the IIT Kharagpur result and I stood up and gave a punch in the air and came running to hall and told my mom and called dad immediately. I went again to my room n I was so happy and so happy and happy. I hardly remember such other wining situations in my life. IIT Bombay’s news came in slowly.
I knew I would get thermal, then came to know I got Design, I actually called them and they said
personally that yes, Sandeep is selected for Design. The main Joyous moment was the IIT Kharagpur
news.
Back to Roshni- first thing, I liked the concept of including the time. I could picture everything in front of me. Also, I heard most of this part the very night you wrote it. I am sure that now its easy to understand that Tough Times Never Last, but Tough People Do. Also how important it is to not loose hope.

Kuch toh log kahenge, log ko kaam hai kehna- go one class, five or zero, people are always gonna say something or other. Want to write lot more, but that will spoil the fun of this post.

Part 2

Three mistakes of your life, nice way to start and set up the stage. I didn’t know how tough the competition you had back then. Trust me, If not completely, I at least understand 80% of your situation about how non-existant you were. All my life I have left many groups and teams with my own personal issues. In the end I found myself all alone every time. You know what, I think I am introvert and also I didn’t stay in hostel back then. So being an extrovert, things were different with you. Hats off and salute to you for going through that phase. I am sure you can always look back at those days to motivate yourself. How Roshni became a ray of hope for herself and how you ended up getting good grades and awesome job.

One lesson I am learning from you is, that we shouldn’t be too attached to anyone of our friends. No
matter how good they are, doooriya bhi hai zaroori.

Depression seriously is the worst phase. One of the ways to get out is talk more and more to as many
people as you can. I too found it tough in my first sem in IIT, but then one sir told – ‘Once in IIT means you are the Best’. Sorry to include my persoanl story and drifting away from your part. You wrote so nicely and touched so many little points that I can directly relate my PG with yours. I am sure many others might connect to it also. Difference lies in the intensity of depression and lonliness one goes through.

Yaar, Phodu Bandi ho tum. More stronger. I told you before also, I liked the way you have learnt from
your mistakes, like apna Dravid. Importantly XLRI and your friends made you strong. I may write one mail in case I forget to write something over here.

My name, no isues about using my name except a couple of them
1. I wasn’t a part of the phase that you are talking about,
2. I don’t know if deserve the statement - who would stay with you even if you plummet to 0 from  being a hero. Using’0’ instead of ‘Zero’ was eye-catching.

One at a Time

One Step at a Time
----One Punch at a Time
--------One Round at a Time

One Turn at a Time
----One Lap at a Time
--------One Race at a Time

One Answer at a Time
----One Subject at a Time
--------One Semester at a Time

One Word at a Time
----One Para at a Time
--------One Chapter at a Time

One City at a Time
----One State at a Time
--------One Country at a Time

One Key at a Time
----One Chord at a Time
--------One Song at a Time

One Ball at a Time
----One Innings at a Time
--------One Match at a Time

One Seed at a Time
----One Forest at a Time
--------One Planet at a Time

One Day at a Time
----One Month at a Time
--------One Year at a Time

One Brick at a Time
----One Room at a Time
--------One Flat at a Time

One Step at a Time
----One Punch at a Time
--------One Round at a Time

IIT Bombay - Land of my many First Times

My last post was sometime in May, 3 months ago. A month back I was recollecting my moments in IIT apart from studies. I realized there were so many things that I did for the first time in life during my stay in IIT Bombay. We guys used to have a saying, if you want to send anything to Heaven, then the pin code is 400076 (pin code for IIT Powai). Indeed that is what it was for me, learning to stay in a hostel, skating, juggling, and so much fun.

No matter what your interest or passion is, you will find a club related to same in IIT. These were mostly run by students themselves and open to all. You didn't have to be a pro to join any club, if you are passionate you are welcomed or you can join and then fall in love with that particular art. I stayed in IIT for three years and most of the weekends I used to go back home and miss out on many of the student body activities. I used to come home mid-week too. In the second year, once we got our individual rooms, things changed and I started staying more in IIT. Yeah, this was my first hostel experience in Life. Being in Mumbai, helped to adjust to the conditions gradually. That's enough for now for the overview of IIT Hostel.

It was somewhere in the last phase of my first year that I came to know about the IIT-B skating club. The club comprised mainly of under-grad students. They help us procure my first inline-skates (roller blades) and organized a crash course sort of stuff for the new joiners. In the past, I had done roller skating and so it was somewhat easy to learn rollerblading. The best part was, here you learned the technique to go fast as well as you had seniors to help you learn tricks so that you can show off your stunts. I dwelled into both the world and found going faster was easier than doing tricky stunts. I continued that for a year more before giving it up for something else.

Guitar - I was always fascinated by Guitarist and had that in my dream bucket list. Luckily I had a batchmate, Ajinkya Joshi who was a very good guitarist and he helped to take my baby footsteps. He was patient and his notes were like a bible for me. I was more into tabs rather than chords. I learned quite a few Hindi songs but couldn't catch up on the chords part. Way too tough for me. After IIT, Ajinkya and I both joined Mahindra in Chennai and I got a chance to again try out my hand in Guitaring. But like the last time, Chords were beyond my reach.

The other skill that I tried to catch up was juggling. In one of the techfest, I saw Jason Divad a street performer. He juggled, balls, clubs, knives and even rode a uni-cycle. I am not sure what was the trigger point, but on Jan 2015 I decided to give a shot at juggling. Youtube was my only source with hundreds of videos. I followed Niels Duninker since he was a professional juggler and his videos were to the point. I ordered some good quality props like the Balls and Clubs for juggling from my brother in UK. I was able to do 4 balls, three clubs and so variations in that.

Running - This was one of the biggest game-changers. Just before joining IIT I was diagnosed with Astha and had to take inhaler daily. This was frustrating, I couldn't imagine my life taking inhaler daily just to be healthy. Plus, it was always a dream to run a marathon. But it was not like I trained and within a year I completed a marathon. It took years. The seed of that was laid in IIT. I started with 2.5 km runs and then slowly increasing it to 8-9 km. It was in my final year of IIT that I completed my first Mumbai Marathon (Half - 2015). It felt bad to be called half-marathoner and not a marathoner. I trained for a year more and then I ran my first full marathon in 2016 Jan.

These are some of the key first-timers that I had in IIT. I'll end my post and hope that you share your stories too.

That's the Use - - -

A couple of years back I wrote a poem titled - What's the use? Back then I was sure that this poem is incomplete and there should be a part 2 to it. This post is just about that. Like most of the TV series and movies these days - I expect that the second part won't be as impactful and lyrical as part 1. I'll still try my best to link to the previous post as much as possible.

Click here to read part 1 - What's the use?

Part 2

That's the Use - - -

You keep me connected to near and dear ones at home and at work. Brings new people in Life - Mobile - - That's your use

You help me to keep pace with the fast-paced world - Watch - - That's your use

You helped me surf the ups and downs of life Actively - Activa - - That's your use

You give the power to script my own life - Pen - - That's your use

You are supposed to be Chocolaty and not Melodious - Melody - - You are of No Use

You helped me get my current Job - Suit - - That's your use 

In this age - I seriously doubt if you have any use - Webcam - - You don't exist in my Laptop

A lot still happens over Coffee but in Starbucks and not CCD - CCD - - You are out of my life

I am a peace-loving Man - Boxing - - Your place is in the Olympics

You help me stay Fit - Running - - That's your use

I am still mesmerized by your Beauty - Full Moon - - That's your use

You help me kick start my Day with High Energy - Songs - - That's your use

That's the Use

Check out other poems on the Blog -

The Clock Struck 12

A Patch Up Poem

Exploring Airport Lounge

This again goes in my collection of 'FIRST TIME'. I'll create a separate bucket and add all my first times there. Well, there are actually two incidents that happened which I want to mention here. It's 7:53 pm now and my flight is at 8:50pm. I am at Chennai airport in one of the lounges that accept Ola Select. Since I have a very short time I'll write to the point and expect this post to be a short one.

The story goes like this - Wednesday 24th April I was traveling to Bangalore with two of my teammates. We get to Chennai airport and visit one of the lounges. Now depending on what kind of debit/credit card you are using, you get some number of free access per month into this lounges. Both of my colleague's cards got accepted but mine didn't. I have a Jet Privilege card and so it got rejected, you all know what is happening with Jet now. So, one solution was my friends go to the lounge and I go somewhere else and it was a fair deal. But then suddenly the receptionist said that they accept OLA select too. I was not aware of the details but decided to go for it. See, on Wednesday I was at Chennai airport, then on 25th I was supposed to be in Bangalore (flying back to Chennai) and today 27th I was supposed to be at the Chennai airport. The OLA select has various plans and I went for a monthly plan (750 Rs). I made the calculation described earlier, ie in the one month period (24th April - 24th May), I 'll be at airports 4 times. So I go for it and it turned out to be a really great deal. Turns out that OLA select users get some benefits in the cab pricing too, so far I am all good with OLA Select. Try it once if you haven't so far. Recommended for frequent flyers. Also, if you have availed this facility, then please share your story. Currently, I am enjoying F1 qualification on my  Lappi and also blogging.

The second story (I have less 10 mins to write). I came to the airport early to enjoy the Lounge and know more about it. But as soon as I started blogging, I got a call from SpiceJet GroundStaff asking me to report at the check-in counter. Basically, there was something in my bag vibrating and making noise too. I wondered if kindle ever vibrated. Then in a few mins, I realized it was my trimmer. My trimmer has a lock switch, if I turn it on, then the machine doesn't get on. I forgot to turn that switch on and my trimmer was on one side of the bag, accidentally the ON button got pressed and it started vibrating. I went there and took the necessary action. Once check-in is done we proceed for the security check. Now I had to do the reverse. So som SpiceJet guy came and escorted me to the counter. Before leaving out of the security check-in area, my boarding pass was canceled. So I had to scan my bag again after adjusting the trimmer and go through the security check again. It is all done now and almost time to leave.

I'll be in Bombay till 5th May, Sunday. Let m know if anyone wants to catch up. Also, do expect one more blog by Mid May. Thanks and Happy Flying Everyone !!!

Just a routine update from Airport

Hello readers !
Yet another post from airport(Chennai). It has now become a custom to write a post either while flying from Chennai or flying back to Chennai. Sometimes I delay my post just so that I can include those points when I write a post from Airport. BTW my last blog was an audio one - click here incase you haven't heard it yet.

So, continuing from the audio post - I did do a book review on 'Competing on Analytics'. Let me be honest, it turned out to be a flop. Only three people came for it and there were two more basically the organisers. So 5 in total. I was instructed to keep it short and I made my presentation accordingly. In all it was a one hour show. Those who came did enjoy it since they got some new insights in to the power of data. Now, we get some token of appreciation for our presentation and this time I got a book titled - 'Thinking Fast and Slow'  I have been thinking about reading this book for quite sometime but I never made the purchase. I felt Lucky to have received that book as a gift. Its a big book with small fonts. So I won't be starting it for next few months.

Data Science training - Going slow and steady. I will be missing out on some topics due to my Mumbai trip. It's 5th April and I am back from Mumbai. I came back in 1st April. Completing the post now. So on 29th March while going to Bombay I met one of my colleague at the airport and he happen to be in the same flight too. We chatted a bit and slept a lot in the plane. I went to Lonavala from there for couple of days for so called Family function. Ok, something to do with marriage and life partner selection etc. .

So, there is a friend of mine who stays in Mumbai and we hardly meet. Long distance friend, family friend. We met around 6-7 years back at a station in Mumbai while both of us were going for some classes .other than that we were mostly in touch through WhatsApp. I met him again and this time in Train to LinavaLo. Turned out that he was going to the same event. We both were allocated the same room too. With, there is one more coming up. 7-8 months back I met a girl in Mumbai, you know one of this first meeting of arrange marriage. Nothing happened after the meeting and I never spoke to her after that. You guessed it correctly, I saw her in Lonavala too in the same function. This all made me realise once again - 'World is indeed Small'. That's all from Lonavala for now.

Back in Chennai things are exactly the way I left it. I study, watch TV, eat sweets and go to work and go to walk too. I'll be more than Happy to hear about your incidents of - 'World is Indeed Small' - write it down in the comments section below. My next post should be between 28-30 April. Flying back to Bombay for elections, 29tj April in Munbai. My humble request to all of you to go out and vote and make this Country a Better Place to Live and Work in.

My First Audio Post

This will be the craziest thing I have done this month !

Check out the below Clip - - -

A post about Tommy Hilfiger from 36000 ft

PS - I am publishing this post after reaching Home in Aqualily !!

2018 - A year Gone by

Have been thinking of this post since a week now and finally I have started jotting down points. A Happy New Year to All my Readers and Friends and Near and Dear Ones!

2018 was much like any other year except - many if my Dreams - Big Dreams came true and some big Good Byes were said.  I don't  recollect much about what happened in January 1st. Fast forward Mid Jan - my marathon time. As always I was half trained for Mumbai marathon and this time I failed miserably. I ran till 27 kms and then gave in, basically blood clotting had started in my right toe and I opened my shoe to check it out. The sight was pretty bad and I decided to quit. My first DNF. It was more than enough to out me out of my running career. I took early flight to Chennai to join my friends for Rameshwar trip. 9 people, 2 cars and 3 bikes. I was not driving back then but it was hell of a trip. Kartik was to leave for new job in few days and this was last long trip with the gang. It was a three day trip with more than 1200 kms on road.

Then February March April - came and went. It was a mixed one. I went Gujarat with parents somewhere at that time. Had one of the best birthdays where I didn't sleep for entire 24 hours, double cake cutting and long chat with Bestie and other close friends. I also had a very small visit to Bangalore where I didn't move out of the airport and you can find more about it - Bangalore Trip. Office was good as always, there was some heavy load at the end of March and I started to work on project which helped me learn new programming language.

There were two other big things that happen which are interconnected - Euro-trip with parents and my Car-Drives. Euro-Trip - my First International trip with Parents and it was a Multi-Country visit. My Cousin stays in UK with his wife and that made the trip process very smooth. Thanks to my Boss and office policies, I was able to get an approval for around 3 week trip. So, my second and parents first trip outside. It included visit to UK, Germany, Switzerland, France, Netherlands, Belgium. It was cold there and snow at some places. Cable-Cars, Snow Clad mountains, Green Fields, Street full of cycles and Super Sports Car and what not. I'll have to write a complete new chapter to cover all the days and adventures, but for now let me highlight few points.

Some of the not so good point was that I broke my mobile when it slipped off my hand. It was a special one and I was planning to use it for atleast a couple of months more. So, things don't go always as planned. Because of this I had to make a purchase of new cell and one of the costliest purchase that I did for myself. The most exciting part of the trip was Car-Drive. We hired a self drive car in UK and took it from Cotswold to Oxford to Swindon. It was around 200-250 kms only but nothing compares to the fun that I had. Volkswagen Golf, it had 6-speed and one of the costliest cars I ever drove. People there fall rules like how Indians follow religion and it felt so safe to drive there. Wide roads and less traffic with ample of traffic signals. Turn around  there are tricky and couple of times I took 2 rounds before taking the correct exit.

Now, it was not like I said I will drive in UK and my parents and Cousin agreed, no. Frankly I myself had some doubt and so I tried to make a long term plan to improve my confidence and also make my parents realise that I can Drive. I had been driving some of my friends car here and there but not much in heavy traffic. After some lessons from kartik and Rohit I get to drive Abhijay's Wagon R. I took it on GST road (A narrow highway in Chennai) on weekend in the afternoon or early morning. I got the required confidence and I was sure I could drive abroad. I always knew that driving outside India is based on rules whereas in India it is based on Intuition, so safe drive abroad. Next I hired Ford-EcoSport and with Rohan and Ajinkya went to Pondicherry. A big for my my standards and we shared the driving time. You can read more about the trip - Road trip to pondicherry. That was the last push I needed for myself. As a final step my task was to convince my parents that I can drive in trafic too and they can be assured of their and my safety when I am on the steering wheel.

I made an impromptu 2-day plan to go to Mumbai, and drive my parents around in ZoomCar. This trip served two purposes - First I hired and drove in Mumbai and second - A short impromptu plan to Mumbai. I always dream of going to airport booking a flight to Mumbai on weekend, meet parents and leave the next day. I booked the ZoomCar from Airport and didn't inform parents about it. It was a surprise for them and I got a mixed share of scolding and praise for the same. So next day I took my parents for a spin for few kms and my Mom felt safe. It was less than 30 kms. Then I made a trip to Ghatkopar from Mumbai with Dad and he further accessed my driving style and he was happy about it. This trip was around 5th August and I was to leave for UK on 9th August. During this trip I also went to Marine Drive with friends and before that I had self doubt about driving in Mumbai traffic. All went well and I was able to convince all to let me Drive in UK. More about my this Mumbai trip - Inch-by-Inch.

Now, 2018 has a been a year when many of my Dreams came true. Few of them have been highlight ed in the post - Dreams Do Come True. Euro Trip with Parents _ i never knew that my this dream will come true so soon. It was an expected one and thanks to my Cousin too for making it happen. Then - buying a car - I bought my first powered vehicle - Activa (2 wheeler) when I turned 25, I got it on my BirthDay. I am not a good saver of money and it felt really tough to own a car in Chennai with my current salary and spending habit. Also, I was not sure how long I'll be in Chennai. I had a personal target to buy a car before I turn 30 but who knew Universe, or what I call Forces of Nature, had some other plan. My team, change, a burning desire to own a car, parents support and easy loan procedure made it possible for me to buy my first Car - Alto 800 :)

This year included many Good-Byes too. Many of my close friends and Crushes left the organisation and or the city. It was tough to deal with but at the same time I was Happy since everyone got more than what they had asked for and everyone moved towards a brighter Tomorrow. Finally, the last week of December was full of Marriages - Marriages -and- More Marriages of my friends, with some more friends getting blessed with Baby Boy/Girl.

Thanks for reading it completely and now I'll end the post Abruptly just like how 2018 ended. May this year bring new challenges and teach all a New Lessons which would make you stronger and help you climb upwards in life and at work.