Few more hours….

but not few more words… i m sure….though this beautiful journey has just a few more hours….but whatever i have got here…its just not a matter of few words……feeling a bit sad..not bcoz leaving US but bcoz leaving a place where i spent one of my the best days of my life…..that excitement …that enjoyment…..that masti…..not sure when i’ll be back in US again but surely i’ll not be again in ABQ that too with my undergrads days

It was a time when i first stepped out of my country………time when i first get into a flight…..time when i first tried to cook(though not bad)…..time when i first got my first pay package…time when i turned 21…..time when i first looked the ‘beauty’ of vegas…..time when i first felt how it was to be in abroad…
time when i first felt like a professional…& see the time is almost over!!!

I am gonna miss my lab, i used to be in for 8-9 hrs……that university blvd, i used to ‘walk alone’ daily…….that frontier, my mess……buritto, my luch menu…..every rocking weekend……”but u have to carry on” thats what my mentor said……so patient….so caring he was…..those ISA guys…where we did most of our dinners……used to give them pain over little issues…..then Anna…..so sweet always…infact she is the one who is gonna drop us to airport at 4 in the morning…..to be true..yaaa! I cried..& really cant understand why!! feeling like crying again, better close this post right here.

Bye bye ABQ…..bye bye US…..India I m coming back…welcome home!!!!!

Late Post….

The entry must have been entitled as ‘Last Post’…..but  this post is just to make sure that this blog survives…..but u know nobody asked me about this except Pulkit …so this blog is really thankful to him!!!!…..You know it was not like that I was not having something in my mind to share with….. but somehow I got a worm inside me.. rather I just woke him up…& finally it ended with the decision of buying MacBook!!!  Free time means surfing about laptops..price..processor.. …graphics..apple…windows…bla bla bla….I can surely write at least 10 post on this whole data analysis…..but dont worry…I’ll not do that rite now!

Final pesentation is over…..research is over( both academic & laptop)……few more days in the this foreign land…..a lifetime experience is coming to an end….& believe me I am more than happy  that I m coming back to India…..primarily due to bad food habits here….but is it the only thing which is making me feel strongly to come back to India….or is it the only thing which is making me feel strongly to leave US???? Anyways I’ll try to find the answer in my next few posts.

Coming to the food habits….it was not all bad…. first time I get to see how does a falaful (Arabic food…Pulkit’s favourite)tastes like……Italian is not that gud..except Pizza….they just know about cheez & tomatos…pasta aur noodels are ok..but the deserts were really gud…one more thing taking olive oil is common practice and I think its also gud for health….coming to the Thai food…cloasest to Indian food but mostly sweet in taste…..sauces were really gud..but somehow I got constipation after eating the food….aur Chinese food quite similar to Thai one but more spicy(on demand)….Tofu..sort of soya paneer was good….Soya sauce is one of the major indegrants in Thai & Chinese food…& offcourse maxican food is very good…Burrito was the boon for me…..its is substitute of roti & rajmah…….Fajitah was also good enough…Also there are two famous Indian hotel here..one is India Palace….again maja aa gaya….found Karachi alu there..(India-Pak bhai -bhai)….. second one was TajMahal…..had samosa there as starters but they were so hard…..samosas at Dhaka bazzar were really good…it not bazaar but a small shop..where u can have good samosas… ( reminded me of Alpahar ).

That was better half of the story…..2nd half is tragic like hindi movies…..initally we had our proper brakfast..& proper dinner in the apt but as the time passed, we were getting tired of this cooking habit…our kitchen was no less than big trash can..our apt really stinks yaar…u know in the starting we were 6 in the same apt but now we almost 500 in the same apt.. wondering who the rest are…. the small dirty flies which u can found at any kude ka dher.  Well today we have decided to clean the apartment properly..as one of the friend is leaving tomorrow..so we want equal share among all…..also security money is at stake….so I m leaving for the apartment rite now… hopefully I’ll be back with my nxt post this night itself!!!!!  Wish me best of luck for mission cleaning (though i m a expert at that :p) & also for continuing my posts!!!!

Hills……don’t have eyes!!!

Well it all started when Amit gave Anna the idea of hiking…..so last weekend was going to really “rocky”…. We were supposed to meet at Frontier Restaurant  at 6:30 AM, but as usual it was 6:45 Am by the time we reached there. We started from there to downpoint of “Sandia” peak…..I went inside my prof’s car along with Abhik & Aman…. I was enjoying the lots of gas balloons spread across the horizon…when suddenly I noticed the steering wheel ….it was BMW……seriously awesome…..clearly upto its name & fame …..& in US its so smooth that everytime I use to enjoy the ride.

At about 7:30 AM we reached the point from where we all have to start hiking……we got another surprise that we had to start hiking alone….Anna & my Prof they simply wished us ’Go Hiking’!!!!! Our starting was  fabulous….despite of a map, we lost the very first path….then we returned back to the starting point & started all over again!!!! Our first trail was TramWay trail…….having some gupshup…some drinks….some snaps….watching those foreigners who were using that trail for their exercise……they were like giving us a feeling of inferiority complex……by the time we were on the same path they were coming back.!!!! Then we reached Lalu’s Trail (actually La Luz Trail)…it was hardest part..we were already tired..it was 12:00 in the after noon…..path was full of rocks…also we get to see a little bit of ice there……finally at about 2:15 we reached at Sandia peak..at a hight of about 6559 feet.

It was simply amazing……the weather was so pleasent….one could see whole ABQ city from there & infact vast plane down there…the black clouds they seem to be so near to us….those hill which seem to be once our destination, they were now below our level…..after having our lunch we all just rested there….in the meantime my prof with his son came there to take us back…..It was world’s longest tramway which we were going to follow after this…..it took just 15 min to get us to down the hill…which took us more than 6 hr to climb up!!!! Finally on the return way my prof he took to StarBuck coffee bar(BMW once again) & finally reached at apt at abt 5:oo Pm….I went to bed at about 6:00Pm & nxt time which i saw was 8:00 am the nxt morning!

For me although it was not something new…..in my school days whenever we need to go for one day trip..we use to go to some top hill having some temple at the top..neither this tramway was new for me..except that it was world’s longest……But the hill that I use to track earlier they were like pleasent one…but this one was giving a challenge sort of feelings…ofcourse tracking for more than 6 hrs is not easy…especially when u even cant see ur destination!!!! Overall i would  rate my trip 8 out of 10…..the pics are uploaded on picasa & thanks to new feature of orkut that u can get that link on my profile itself ….& if someone has doubt about the title they can ask Batsa….. aur just google the title!!!

FlashBack-I…..The fear Inside

As I started blogging a bit late… so allow me to go back a few days..when it all started. After crossing a lots of hurdles( I think most of u know all that story..) & essentially screwing up my whole semester…..finally the last exam was over on 12th evening…but still there was one last hurdle…. to put myself in a comfortable situation…Comm. Assingment. My parents  were there on the morning of 13th but I couldnt find any time till 3 o’clock despite of my best efforts….finally I started packing… had to take some stuff from market….after dinner I still have to pack my whole room…no less than a herculean task. It was 2 in night & still my room  seemed no near to be packed…it was then my dad came to my room & helped me to close all that within one hr.

Nxt morning I woke up and still has to dispose the comp and put the beddings in the common room. Finally at about 11:30 Indica arrived & we left for Delhi airport at 1:00 from Roorkee.We had our lunch on our way….still had to manage some documents etc….so didnt have really time to feel like going to US. Our car was on the highway..me at front seat…when suddenly I found the car getting slow & eventally it came to halt within 2-3 sec….& suddenly I found the physics law to be violated in non-accelerated frame…I got a strong jolt & seemed like car moved without any external force..It was only after a few seconds that I realised that this was how a car gets a dent in its back….Jokes apart..it was a serious accident….our car was hit by a sumo in the back….but thank God there were no injuries. Had the sumo driver wouldnt have controlled his car..it could have resulted in anything.

After a few minutes as I was comning out of this shock….I felt that the fear that I feared even to mention in this post till now, which I tried to hide from my parents……& which I tried to hide even from myself….was fading away…..somehow I was feeling like more strong, more prepared, more fearless for my nxt journey……& I was just humming that song–”woh kehte hain na, jo hota hai ache ke liye hota hai —– sahi kehte hai!!!!”

Well finally the moment came, when I knew that despite of my best efforts I cant stop myself…. anyways leave it !  With a lots of excitement & not the fear…I entered  the airport for the first time…with all that sort of formalities I was finally in the plane ready to fly…..my transition from road to rail took a lot of time about 20 yrs!!! but from rail to air it took only 3 train trips. It was really a ….cant find a word….. moment when I felt like “in the air”. The whole trip involved some screen watching (‘Norbit’ a gud time pass) .. some sleeping …. & sometimes looking out of the window! Finally we reached at Newark….the security check was really tight here as compared to Delhi…..then to Houston and finally ABQ where we were received by ISA guys..really helpful…I’ll tell u abt them  in flashback-II….By the way I m having a hiking trip tomorrow..so need to sleep early…so bye for now!!!!

Good Evening!!!!!

It may not be the time to wish you good evening but — “Good Evening”— that was how me & Vinay were greeted by a sweet American resident, when we were coming back after some shopping from Smith’s Centre. I was having some onion & bread etc  when I noticed somebody watering the kitchen garden…. but without any much attention I was just about to pass her, when she said “Good Evening” …… & I just looked around to find her there with a very cute smile. I felt sort of …. welcomed…a bit surprised… and all I could do was just smile back at her.

Well such incidents are usual here… while in the department u may find someone wishing u ‘gud morning’ or saying ‘hii’….like Guneet was telling that some foreigner even whished him “Namaste”….or like when Nitesh told an old couple that he is coming to US first time and that too directly to ABQ, that old couple really felt proud of it!!!

“How people can be so courteous??” thats what Guneet said. Here people always say sorry even if its not that much a big mistake. Generally in India we dont find people to be bothered about others so much….. we never wait in a queue…..nobody cares for pedestrians….nobody admits his mistake usually. If same people can follow all the rules here why they cant follow the rules in India..Are they made not to follow the rules or do they all think “Apna India hai..sab chalta hai!!”(As once told by Sinha Sir.)

Though on the very first day we were told by ISA students that such incidents will be common here but on the same time they told us that there may be other cases also when people can be very-very rude to you…..so if one half of the above statement we are finding true…strong chances are there that we’ll face the other half also. And I guess the other half will hurt anyone more than enough to forget that welcome… & at that time I m sure that I’ll be thinking  that though India may not be that much polite but atleast not that much rude also. By the way, the dish that I mentioned in last post..for its nice details please refer to its comment by Pulkit…u may find it gud!!!.

Mine Day Out…

Well it was our 2nd official trip…….. (1st visit was before I started this blog…)….. well before this trip we were supposed to have lunch with prof Sanjay Krishna, at Yasmin’s Cafe at 11:30 AM…. but as usual we remian what we are….no matter whether it is US or India….we were late by 5-7 minutes (…..just bcoz of our ‘rate determining member’ of our apt… who really takes his time in bathroom !!!! )…but when we reached there we get to know that we all are same….our prof himself was late……. He was assisted by one of his post doctoral researcher, Mr. Yagay Sharma, & later I came to know that Yagay himself was B.E. from UOR !!

Well our prof helped us to order something & I ordered a “Phala-Phal Sandwitch”(You know veggies have always problem to find out what to order)…… It was some sort of fruits+dahi+dal+burger ….. & it was served with 3-4 fruit looking pieces….which were like @#$@#@#@……so bitter to taste……this sandwitch was just ok & thanks to Sprite which helped me to swallow it!!! Finally we left at about 12:45 for CHTM (Centre for High Technology Materials).

Well finally we reached at CHTM..& believe me semiconductor course was almost overviewed within nxt 1 hr……I actually saw that MBE (Molecular Beam Epitaxy) machine…..we were shown some micron devices…..most important was Clean Room which they use for processing materials…..it was class100 clean room that mean within a certain area no of particles were 100 instead of normal 25000 or so…..I saw people wearing those “Bunny Suits” which they use to wear to work inside…infact i also tried them…it was really fun to wear them(I’ll upload the pic on orkut..)..It was really awesome experience to actually see all those hi-fi instruments & devices which we use to read in books only… then we visited some laser lab & mica lab. To be very true this was the first place which made me feel like semiconductors are not that much boaring yaar!!!

After a break of one hr we were taken to ARTS lab which was devoted to develop animations & to study the human movements etc. There were motion tracking instruments in one lab which they call “Green lab”  which they use for making real-looking animations & then there was some large dome shape hall…. it was giving a nice feel to watch though I couldnt understand for what it was….Someone was explaining too but I was not interested anymore. Finally at about 4:30 we were back in the lab…& did some mailing, googling, scraping & chatting & ofcourse posted this one also!!!!

First Weekend….

Well…it was not only my first weekend but also one of the things which reminded me of IITR…..guess what??….as usual on both Saturday & Sunday, I woke up late….but the difference was that there was no “mess” or canteen to rush to here…. I was forced to think what I should cook for my breakfast ….rather brunch…..I took some maggi & fried it & that was enough for me…..On Saturday evening, I came to the lab…but the weather was so pleasent that I couldnt stop myself to come out of the lab….I along with Aman & Nitesh decided to go around the campus…..& believe me it was really really nice out there……especially the duck pond..its simply amazing there….I simply wished that there would have been “someone” else with me….anyways I came back to my lab just to close my account when I surprised to see my Prof in “shorts”…..its really surprising at least for once for a student coming from IITs to see his Prof in casual wears!!! Back in the apartment I managed to cook “chhoole  & alu” and it really turned out to be quite gud….played cards for whole nite & then again getting up late the nxt day…..

The weekend was also special as I found “someone special” whom I was not expecting at all (will tell u more later!)…. also I get to know about my grades & biggest sigh of relief was that I managed to get some marks in comm…Seems like bad memories of last sem are getting over!!

Well one of the weird things in US which I found….. that people are given so much importance  here (actually its not supposed to be weird but thats how we are developed….)….whether its road where in many places pedestrains are given first preference & those luxury cars actually stop there to give u the way….. or its in restaurant where they ask so politely, ”R u in  queue?” and a yes means they just stand behind u & wait for their turn !!!…on campus u have got so much of security systems….. which make u feel a bit special!  And there are somethings which are “actually weird” here like here tissues are used instead of water…..it really stinks!!!!….gates are opened outside….switched are “off” to make them “on”…… me  still  a bit struggling & trying to adapt to these whole new situations…I just went to the ISA (Indian Student Association) guys(…. really helpful guys )….& heard two very gud songs….they are shared on my orkut videos….just chk them….also u may find pic of duck pond there in album..i’ll try to share more photos soon!

Getting Started…..

So finally after about a yr of opening this account, i m posting my first blog!!!…a gap of one yr…..may be i couldnt get time for it….or i couldnt get something to write about……but both are not possible…..but somehow….now having 5-6 research papers on my table…..i m getting a feel like writing.Well sitting in ”Communication & Information Science lab” what one can except me to write about….Recursive Least Squares parameter Adaptive Algorithm ….expectation …mean ….variance …random variable…process…( & all that dirty stuff which despite of  the “best” efforts of our “Dear Profs” i couldnt really see them getting space in my brain…).

Anyways the scene completely changes when the lab comes out to be in one of the US Universities. Whether  its about entering the lab….where u need to have a “swipe card” to enter….or like working in the lab where u get a dell desktop with 2 GB RAM, 160 GB harddisk, LCD…and that too with a fast broadband internet connection……& that too fully for urs..no sharing at all….When u comes to know that installing MatLab is not just a pain of getting CD’s from one of ur frnd..but really need to get ur id buy for using it……..so in that sense system is quite systematic & organised here….& that is something which is giving me a reason to write about.

I just came from a meeting with my Prof….Mr. Jayawerra…really a nice person to talk with….quite descent & handsome….I just discussed like what I know already & what I not….though he was not expecting anything from my side..but when I told him that I know about the thing already like LMS algorithm( EC guys… u remember this I hope!!) & that too as a part of my syllabus..he was really surprised & impressed……So that is something which i always heard but now realized that in India we do have quite hard academic program…. & that is something to cheer about & write about too!!!!!

Well with such lots of experiences i m sure i m having lots of stuff to write about….in these coming 8 weeks..so wish me best of luck for this beautiful journey..whom i m going to call “UNM Diaries”(actually suggested by someone else!!!)