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!