She gave in!

Yippie! After months of pestering, discussing, arguing, disagreeing, flattering, buttering and taking her to shopping, DW gave in...we got ourselves the much sought after iPhone. I actually came up with a brilliant idea over the weekend in Philadelphia. I had DF Swats convince DW about the iPhone and the usual suspects (TUS) would know why? And it worked! If you forgot who TUS are (a.k.a. our Philly gang), see adjacent picture (I like this picture, thought I'd upload it for future reference). This morning we got a message from DF Swats, I quote -- "Congrats on not being Apple virgins any more :D hope you are enjoying ur new phone". Thank you again, DF Swats...you're an angel! This morning at work, I went on to share my joy with DF Ross, who promised to get me up to speed with some cool iPhone apps. And I am sure DF Ankit will pitch in too.

Alrighty all, I'll get back to fiddling around my new gadget. I am definitely looking forward to Twittering. Have a great rest of the week. I'll be baaak!

Victorious Again!

We (the good ol' alumni team) won another edition of the Spring Cricket Tournament organized by Pragathi, the Indian graduate student association at Drexel University (my alma mater) on May 2. DF Ankit did a good job as our captain in the absence of DF dAdA. DF Saurin was in blistering form both with the bat and the ball. I cannot believe that we've sent him to bat so low down the order until now. DF Sujith hit a crucial boundary in the final that went right down to the wire. As promised, here are some pictures. I've posted all pictures from the tournament here.

Another great news came by this morning. DF Shanbhag had a baby boy! Congratulations buddy! Someday your kiddo is going to see these pictures -- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 on my blog and know what his father was up to during UG days. :) The first Squadian to have a little person. Super!

Alrighty all, I'm singing off now. I hope you like the pictures. Take care and have a wonderful rest of the week!

 
Sledging Away!

Some candid moments from the tournament!

The Victorious Alumni Team!
Above L - R: DFs Sujith a.k.a. Boss, Vishal a.k.a. VGK, Chirag a.k.a. Patel, Anand a.k.a. Pillari and Shailesh
Below L - R: DFs Ankit a.k.a. Boogdee, Saurin a.k.a. Sau, Siddharth, Tushar and Yash

Whatever happened to Spring?!

DF Ross and I have been cribbing for the past week about how nature decided to skip Spring this year. Only a fortnight ago, the  trees were naked and I would not dare to step out of the home without a fleece on. And last weekend I nearly passed out on the Cricket field due to heat exhaustion. This might sound like I'm making excuses for my lack of fitness. Okay, that is true but not completely. It really was hot as hell! Well, this is only a preview of what is coming up over the Summer.

The Indian Premier League took off with a bang in South Africa. Tendlya has been in great form and that always cheers me up. No points for guessing who I'm rooting for, of course, the Mumbai Indians. Oh and BTW, I managed to get selected in the tryouts (that I mentioned in my previous post) to play with the Lehigh Valley Cricket Club (LVCC) in the Philadelphia Cricket League. I'm now looking forward to a super Summer of Cricket!

DW and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary today. Two years just flew by, just like the eight years of courtship that culminated into marriage. She is the smartest, most wonderful, level headed woman that I've ever known. To marry your best friend is easily the best decision that anyone can ever make. Last evening, I surprised DW with a cake and a card. The look on her face was absolutely worth the Cricket practice that I skipped for it. I then cooked chicken curry, which she loved! I hate to write posts without pictures...so here is one of DW and I, taken sometime last year. I call this picture -- Biwi No.1!

Alright people, I have to crash now. Tomorrow is a big day -- the Pragathi Cricket Tournament at Drexel. I'm excited and looking forward to meeting old buddies who I will be playing alongside on the Alumni team. I hope, as always, we will triumph! We will miss our usual captain, DF dAdA, who is chilling out in India at this time (dAdA, you better come back engaged or we're going to kick your butt!). I'll try to get some pictures from the event for my next post.

Yes, I remember that I still owe you the glossary of terms. But, you should expect this from me...remember, I'm a "P" type personality. Delays happen as there exists a sense of infinite availability of time. Alrighty then, will be back with  you all soon! Have a super weekend!

Coming back to blog!

I know, I know, I know...I've been out of action for a while and nobody missed me. Not even DF Mahesh, who has been out of action too. I have a lot to write, but I'm just plain lazy. Believe it or not, I think about my dear blog every day but haven't gotten to give my fingers a workout. Ah! That reminds me that I still owe you a glossary of acronyms (that I promised the pre-Christmas edition). Will do it soon.

A not-so-happy start to the new year given the nose-dive that the US economy (rather global) has taken into an abyss. I joined Air Products in October 2007, when the company celebrated its record year of $10B in sales. Just over an year after the  celebrations, in December 2008, it announced the elimination of 1300 positions as a cost reduction measure to survive the recession. It is absolutely unfair how the market works. Some unethical million-dollar-bonus-earning-idiots on Wall street screw up the market and everybody ends up paying the price for it. My heart goes out to the families that have been affected by this economic mess.

Moving on to some positive things that have happened in the past few months. In January end, DFs Arijeet and Asavari tied the knot. In mid-February, DFs Ankit and Swats followed suit. Soon after, AR Rehman (they now call him the "The Mozart of Madras") became the first Indian to bag two Oscars. You should have seen how excited DW was?!  The Indian Cricket team beat Sri Lanka on their home turf 4-1 (one day internationals, ODI) and more recently won their first ever ODI series in New Zealand. They kick started the test series in style with a 10-wicket victory at Hamilton. The team has been in superb form in the past year. Oh! How I wish the World Cup was round the corner? All these events did well to keep me distracted from the frenzy of economic downturn. I am now looking forward to the Indian Premier League (IPL), which unfortunately is being moved out of India due to the upcoming elections. But, I would not have wished for a better alternative than South Africa to host it. I am also excited about playing Cricket this Summer (DW graciously agreed to let me go!). If I get selected, I will be playing in the Philadelphia Cricket League on the Lehigh Valley Cricket Club (LVCC) team. Let's hope it all works out.

Recently, I had a sentimental conversation with DF Arvind a.k.a. "dAdA". We discussed how we have been neglecting the "artsy side" of our talents/hobbies lately. If you were not aware, DF dada is one of the best visual artists that I've personally known. We resolved to meet once every month to pursue our passion for visual art. During the past weekend, DF dada make this beautiful painting for us (DW and I, Thank you!) on canvas, replicated from here. DF Deep also came up with his creation, the colored tiles. Check out the adjacent pictures. I, as usual got lazy and passed. But, I promise to get something going next month.

Oh by the way, DW has been up to an OM. Its called - "O Pardesi" (literally translated as, "Oh foreigner") from the Bollywood movie called DevD. If you know DW well, you will also know why she likes the song (when you watch the video). Incidentally, I have an obsession this month too. It is called "Emosonal Atyachaar" (literally translated as, "emotional atrocities") from the same movie. This is easily one of the best rock songs I've heard coming from Bollywood. Ever since its release a month-and-a-half ago, I've been listening to it at least once to-and-from work  everyday and haven't gotten bored as yet.

Alrighty all, I'll sign off now. I will come back with more (but shorter) updates. Looking forward to an exciting Spring and Summer of blogging! I hope you have a wonderful rest of the week!