Adventures during Fall 2009

The journey from Bombay to New York was one of the longest one I ever took…it was the same time as the last time I took the flight from NY to Bombay but this time, it was really different simply because I had not spent more than 12 hours without talking to Saurabh. It’s strange but it’s true too. I was looking forward to getting to JFK airport, turning my cell-phone and giving him a call. But the journey wasn’t so bad after all—I slept and watched movies that I have seen before. It took me an hour to get to the Bus Station, another hour’s wait for the bus and then five hours to Amherst. Finally, I was home---tired and sleepy.

It was Labor Day weekend and my roomies were out on a holiday. It felt strange to be back and somehow it felt that I had not left at all. But, I know that I had and life had changed since the last time I was in that apartment. Strange, isn’t it? I was all ready for the semester but before that, I wanted to take a back seat and relax. I met Anna and the girls for a swim and some nice BBQ at her place. Now, I was ready for the semester. Bring it on!

It was fun to get back to school, old and new faces, same campus…honestly, I loved it! Classes began and I got into a nice routine---routine that altered between school, assignments, having fun and skyping with Saurabh. Well, honestly, that had become an important part of my life and I looked forward to it every single day.

Soon, it was time for Fall colours and I was so excited to take a long walk, clicking the awesome scenery.

And, then, it was birthday time! I was missing Saurabh and I wanted to spend my birthday with him. But, that was not really possible since he was in India. He wished me for midnight in India and I was not sure is he will get up early enough to wish me at midnight for US. But, he did. He got up and came online at 11:30pm. At midnight, Ajanta, Supratim, Rashmi and others came to wish me with cake. Ajanta gave me a platter from Saurabh and I was wondering how that was possible. Looks like, Saurabh got in touch with Ajanta and Supratim on Facebook and asked them to get me a cake from him. I was so happy that he was on skype when I cut the cake, and it got smashed on my face too (wink wink w

ink)…The day was awesome too---brunch with Ajanta and Supratim; and then, Ben Fold’s show with Megan and Tricia. I was a little sad that Anna was in hospital and couldn’t be there but I prayed that she feels alright and we all missed her so much!! (We love you Anna!!)

Midnight surprise...

Diwali was next and I spent it with my cousins in Boston. It was Vansh’s first Diwali and we were excited too. We started preparing for Diwali Night and it turned out to be a great success too. Excitement was also building for my wedding---the date was finally finalized and I was so excited. What was more exciting that one of my best friends Kriti got engaged to Mark. I think I was more excited about their engagement than I was for mine.

Thanksgiving was round the corner and I was planning to go to NY with my cousins but a weekend before that, I realized how much work I have for the finals and I decided not to. That turned out to be awesome. I got some work done, not a lot, but I also spent some relaxing time at Anna’s place with her family and Irene. From then on, it was a crazy time---the last two weeks were crazy and I am glad that I finally got through that.

My roomie Shruti was goign back to India to get married and we wanted to give her a bridal Shower before she leaves. It was going to be a surprise for her and I was scared that she will find out. But, luckily , she didnt realize anything till she came to the apartment door and saw the decorated door...it was superb girls night and we laughed, played games, ate a lot of food and shared a lot of fun stuff!!

Somewhere in between, when Anna was well again, we sat down and decided to take a break and go for a nice vacation (I am on my vacation right now!!). After a lot of deliberation, we decided on a road trip from Amherst/NY to Raleigh (in North Carolina), then Orlando (in Florida), take a cruise to the Bahamas and then drive back via Washington DC for the networking event organized by the department. Later in the semester, Anna was not too sure about the road trip so we decided to fly. Gosh! That was such a relief as it came out to be more relaxing.

I spent Christmas Eve with Anna’s family as they follow Polish tradition of Christmas Eve Feast and then midnight mass. It was awesome---we made some cookies and the mass was beautiful too. The next morning, we opening our stockings and it was so much fun!! I have never done the stockings before and it was so thrilling to just see whats inside it. There was more to come….gifts!!! Opening the gifts was so much fun and Anna got me SO MANY gifts!! Scarf, gloves, socks, snuggler, books, cap….her parents got me book and Nick got me an awesome candle. I was super thrilled…and, the Christmas spirit continued when we went to NY to celebrate the Devey family Christmas party.

With all my lovely gifts...

But, before that, I had to pack, clean the apartment and get it ready for the pest control. It was a lot of work but it worked out eventually. And, now I am looking forward to the cruise and spending some awesome time with the girls…

some snapshots from Cape Cod and Summer.. :)

Truro is the town in Cape Cod where Bob and Joan have their home.



National Seashore Museum



With Bob, Joan and Ms Mary (Joan's mom) during Dinner in Provincetown




Saurabh and me... this one is my fav!

Superbly surprising summer….

The entire procedure of getting to JFK and checking in for the departure was tiresome (5 hours from Amherst to New York City with changing buses at Springfield; dragging my heavy suitcases to the taxi pick up point; another 45 minutes to reach the airport; standing in queue for checking in!) By the time I was done, I was exhausted. I picked up some more chocolates for my folks and wished to board as soon as possible. Once I reached Bombay, I was so excited to be home. I had packed separate bags for stuff that I brought for Bombay and Calcutta. I felt like Santa Claus, opening all the things I had gotten for them. Every 5 minutes, my brother was like, “Oh! This is nice. Take one packet for Papa.” I explained him every time that there were similar things for Papa and Mummy in the other bag. Anyways, I felt nice that they enjoyed all the stuff. We slept really really late and honestly, I was still in US time. Early next morning, calls started pouring in and I was fast asleep. They finally woke me up at 1am in the afternoon for lunch. My brother gave me the cell and a list of people who called to talk to me. Boy! I was important… ;)

Lunch was good and I did some more sleeping that day. Evening was slow with meeting cousins and family. The next day, I did some shopping and headed for Calcutta. I was looking forward to being home and it was great to be back. Somehow, I didn’t feel that I was gone anywhere. Everything was the same. I joined work---Save the Children Bal Raksha Bharat as an intern. My office was hardly 15 minutes walk from home. This was great as I could get up late and be one of the first people to get there. Weekends I met cousins, friends, family….the sun felt nice and everyone was laughing at me as I wanted to walk in the Sun. Well, when you spend almost 6 months at a place where the sun goes down at 4pm and some days it doesn’t come out, where it snows from December to April, you would know why I loved the Sun so much. My childhood friend Amrit was getting married in mid-June and I got a little busy for a while. By end-June, I had planned a trip to Bangalore, soaked in the Sun, met most of my friends and cousins, and enjoyed everything I wanted to do when I was home and honestly, I was beginning to wonder if I would get bored for the next two months simple because I was running out of things to do!!

Now, when I got back to Calcutta, I told my parents that I didn’t really have anyone in my life and if they wanted to start looking out for me, they could, as long as I had the option on finding someone for myself too. The first proposal came within a few days---my Mom’s friend’s son. To cut a really long story short, I met his sister and we got along. Then, we exchanges photographs and biodatas (resume for weddings!) and of course, I goggled his name, came across his blog and thought I might be able to live my life with this person. We met in the last week of July and he told me that he goggled my name too and read my blogs. We met twice and decided to get married. The late-night calls started and we had one weekend before I headed to Bangalore for a small engagement ceremony. I went a few days ahead of my parents, simply because I wanted to spend some time with Dr Shobha, meet a few friends and also spend some time with Saurabh. We had a great time together and got to know each other a little more. The engagement ceremony went awesome too and there were relatives that came from Chennai and Bombay too. After a great week of being in Bangalore, I came back with a heavy heart and started preparing for my trip back to the US.

I wasn’t sure if Saurabh was going to come to Bombay or not but during the last week in Calcutta, he told me that he can come on Friday night and spend Saturday with me. I was leaving on Saturday night but any time spent with him would have been great! But, he surprised me by coming on Thursday night and spending the Friday with me. It was simply out-of-the-world. I knew I wanted to meet him before I left and I guess he wanted the same too. Right now, I really don’t know when I will see him next but I am definitely looking forward to it.

And, I am back from my hibernation...

The last time I wrote my blog was a long long time ago and honestly, I have been thinking about updating it since then! But, I do as bad job at updating blogs, don’t I? Anyways, so, after my Chicago trip that I took in March, the next best thing that happened was Cape Cod in May. Life between Chicago and Cape Cod was pretty hectic---had finals and paper submissions and loads of partying. Sometime after Chicago, I finalized my summer plans of going back to India and being home while I did my internship. India Night happened in April and we were busy getting the evening together. This time, we did a diya dance, which was basically a semi-classical dance with diyas (lamps); and a “Festivals of India” sequence where we represented different festivals like diwali, holi, eid, durga puja etc. It was great putting up the show and it turned out to be a great success. It’s always fun doing things outside the class and its even better when others appreciate the effort you put in it. Right?

Cape Cod was like a relaxation period after the finals. My host family, Bob and Joan, wanted me to go to their home in the Cape and experience the sea-beaches there before I head home. So, we headed to the Cape during the Memorial Day weekend. That was the first weekend they were going to take their boat out too. I was super-excited about it. I had heard a lot about the Cape and knew for sure that they will take GOOD care of me---making sure that I do touristy things and see a lot of the places. The drive to the Cape was interesting. I had told Bob and Joan about my decision to tell my parents to set me up with someone when I get back. They wanted to know how the arrange marriage system works in India. For every little detail I gave, Bob had a zillion questions and it was fun explaining everything to them. The first day was kind of relaxed---we went to the Corn Hill and Corn Beach. This was the part where the beach was facing the bay. We took a nice long walk, enjoying the breeze, soaking in the good air and just enjoying. (It’s amazing that I still remember all the details---it feels like so long ago!). I was looking forward to going on the boat the next day. We packed all the boat stuff and hoped that it wasn’t raining in Orleans (part of the Cape where their boat was docked). But, alas, it was raining a bit. Nonetheless, we headed out on the boat, hoping that it would be alright in a while. The rain became worse and it was getting difficult to see. So, we decided to get back and do some touristy things. We went to the National Seashore Museum and saw some documentaries about the Cape. We also saw their Museum with artifacts from the olden days at the Cape. In the evening, we had reservations for dinner at a fancy restaurant in Provincetown (which is the tip of the Cape). We walked around downtown Provincetown, saw the Pilgrimage monument from far and took some pictures along the beach.

The next day, we went to the Lighthouse in Truro. We climbed till the top and heard stories about its history and how it was moved. We also went to Provincetown and climbed the Pilgrimage Monument. There is a stone path that leads to the last point at the Cape. It was a long long walk and there is a lighthouse at the end. We didn’t really do the entire path but walked up till a point where there was sea on both sides of the path and took pictures! Smart, isn’t it? In the evening, we went for a long hike in the woods that led to the sand dunes and eventually to a beach along the national seashore. It was a long walk but a good one too. A good movie followed and then some more movies for me (while everyone went to bed).

Day three was our last day at the Cape and they really wanted me to have a boat experience. Luckily, it was a sunny day. While Joan finished cleaning the house and closing it down, Bob, Ms Mary (Joan’s mother) and I went to Truro Vineyard for a tour. Their tour was not due for some time so I did some wine tasting. I have never done wine tasting in my life and it was some experience. They had some wines from other vineyards while others were their own product. Their own products were bottled in glass-shaped lighthouses. It was a nice experience for sure and I had fun doing it. We headed out for the boat and were lucky to have an hour into the sea. I saw a seal jumping take a dive into the sea and the ride was fun. Bob also let me steer the boat for a while and I felt like I could do it well. Just basking in the sun felt good---especially since summer was on its way and I didn’t have to wear layers!!! On the way back, we had some nice conversations too. Once back in Amherst, I knew I would have tons to do----packing, cleaning the room for my sublet, meeting a few people before I left for home, some last minute shopping…!! Summer was here and I was thrilled about it… I knew it was going to be a good time but honestly, I had absolutely no idea as to what life had in store for me!!!