The onset of laze

...indicates that I am back now. However, part - III shall yet see the light of day.

ground zenith - II - all about pubs

First up - all in all we went to 4 pubs that night!

# 1 was more like a pit stop for a couple of drinks before we carried on with the walking 'tour'didn't take no pictures there and its was like a narrow little crowded place with Shakira playing and the Winter Olympics on. Unbeatable combination that.

# 2 was my favourite stop that night - Back Fence, Greenwich Village.



Now, just the fact that we were in THE Greenwich Village had me going. I mean, I was maybe walking where Mr Zimmerman had or even other great musicians, and so, when my friends told me about this place playing live music - I felt like maybe just maybe I was going to be in the resence of my next potential favourite band or something. Truth be told that did not happen coz the band in question was ike 40-something and playing the strictly popular numbers by the Simon and Garfunkel's, John Denver, Lynnyrd Skynyrd, etc. Oh and they did sing 'Like a Rolling Stone' too... :)

What they taught me was how one can be so happy doing the thing you really love doing - obviously these guys were not looking to make it big ot anything and had probably been playing in this little place for the last decade or so (my friends who visit the place regularly vouched for their having been there for at least that time) - what a pleasure it must be to be able to do this.

# 3 was called Senor Swanky's and turned out to be a stopover of sorts too while we grouped (more friends joined in) and we decide where we would head for the rest of the night. The decision was practicaly unanimous - a karaoke bar was to be our next destination!

Whack event of the night: We stopped a limo and took a lift in it to Muse! here's a glimpse of our smug selves in the limo.





# 4 - the Karaoke Bar - Muse,



Now, I have never been to a Karaoke place ever before and so, I didn't quite know what to expect. Plus, the last time I ever did some (aesthetic and publically acceptable) singing was like in school and college and when I didn't used to smoke! But, as is alcohol's wont - things rock and so do usedto-wannabe singers like me! I think I sounded like I have an alternate career all lined up!

and DO me a favour and DON'T ask me about what my head felt like the next morning...err... make that all day.

coming up next - the snowwwww!!

...not part - II

just a quick note to say that I am soon going to be homeward bound -

Home.
where my thoughts escaping. (what will I get to eat for dinner?)
Home.
where my music's playing. (actually, all my music is with me and I got some new stuff here)
Home.
where my love lies waiting silently for me. (nopes got my fave books and movies with me too)

ah well, still homeward bound I am...

I leave on the 20th, lose a day, and reach on the 22nd.
...just in time for your birthday, AE! :)

my clients seem to have just woken up to this fact and suddenly we are in the thick of a lot of action concluding with a meeting even on sunday!

on another note, I tried stuffing my stuff into my suitcases and man! was it an ordeal or was it an ordeal - and this with there still being some stuff left to stuff. Damn. I knew I shouldn't have broought along so many movies and books. stupid. stupid. stupid.

yes, yes, lots of 'stuff' in there.

and I still do mean to post part - II soon though.

ground zenith - part I

oh boy. oh boy. oh boy.

As you can see, I am back from NYC after not just an exhilararting-for-various-reasons weekend but also with an extra day off thanks to the 'Blizzard of 06' - to which I was a personal witness! :)

Do I sound like a star struck tourist? Well, for the first time ever, I actually felt hopelessly like one - it's like being a teenager all over again and suddenly coming face to face with your crush or something!

Yes, I had heard loads about NYC and all sorts of extreme opinions over time - and as track records go hype always kill-eth - but nothing, nothing prepared for me for what I saw, felt, and experienced in this truly great city and amazingly enough, it was ALL good.

The first picture is what comes closest to the first view I had of the city - this is the first instance of manmade inanimate objects inspiring some kinda awe - I mean, mountains have done and do so all the time - high rise concrete is not supposed to be in the same .

(I didn't take this picture was impossible to do so from behind the Greyhound windows.)- it's from this website)



So, my Friday night adventure began with my friends picking me up at the Port Authority Bus station and from thereon we went walking all over the city.

Guess who (/what) we almost immediately 'ran into'?



(from L to R - Rakhee, Samuel L. Jackson, Smita)

After this quite unusual start to the tour, we walked by the usual sights n sounds. These included:



Turning my back to Times Square



saying hello to David Letterman and ESPN (not in picture)



playing watch-other-people-skate-and-laugh at the Rockefeller Center



meeting some other Indians



horsing around in general

...and then we went to a pub that played live music - next post that - so watch this space for more...

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

How happy is the blameless vestal's lot!

The world forgetting, by the world forgot.

Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!

Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd

- Alexander Pope

just saw the movie and this stuck on...

YAY!!

Boulevard of Broken Dreams just won the Record of the Year at the Grammy's!

Size does matter!

...at least when it comes to apples, coz hey, I am headed for the biggest apple of them all - New York City! My first real trip-trip since I got here. Going to be there alllll weekend! Have bought my tickets, done the laundry, packed and all set.



guess which way I am headed.

ulp

I ate up a baby octopus today.

and now I am feeling very uncharacteristically sad about it.

:(

stupid random insom(a)niacal thought

Question: what do you call an imaginary story that messes with your head?

Ans. Fucktion

(and this is what made me get up, log on, and friggin' post on my blog. God damn.)

All about me

So, well, the parents have been complaining like hell about how there've been no pictures of me in all of this while and i have had one heck of a time explaining how I look just like I did when I was over 'there' and it's the place - what I see here - that I would rather shoot more of than me! But, hey, they have a way of getting things done and so, here are now, some pictures of me at the annual day thing I attended in Atlanta over the weekend and where I 're-union-ed' with some of my colleagues. Hell, I even had my first real outing to a pub and a drink (alcoholic)!

Funny thing happened on my way back - which was probably propelled thanks to my near-harrowing experience at the Atlanta airport which almost made me miss my flight - but it's 'funny' nonetheless: I felt like I was coming 'home' to Providence! Maybe, I should tell my parents that! hee! hee!













Oh and since they have all been shot within minutes on the same day, not much variety to offer.

prospect terrace - at last!

well, so ever since I started my Tourism R&D of Providence, I kept hearing of Prospect Terrace - a place which purpotedly affords the best view of the city. The rain had so far prevented me venturing to it, but took the chance to go there thanks to the fact that I was riding with my favourite cab driver (another whole post) this morning. I dropped in there on my way to work. does it really have the best view? You be the judge!

more views - I

The sky suddenly cleared this morning and sunshine peeped through after what seemed like ages. What also 'peeped' through was a massive traffic jam on the one route to get into the city - took the opportunity to take some pics from the slow moving cab.

Road to Massachusetts

Yeah, this is just outside my wndow too! And this is the road I walked about 2 miles down on my first evening here.

Picture quality (seemingly) not great coz shot through jaalis. Incidentally, this road has every shop and resaurant you ever heard of...and t(h)en some more.

View Point

The view from my room when I had just arrived - considerably less snow around now though slated to get some fresh stuff in anytime soon. Still raining away (since Sunday evening) btw...

Home Away From Home

The hotel in East Providence I am staying in. LOVE the little Kitchenette - plays a significant role in my little fantasy living-alone world.

picture perfect

well, not quite-even-remotely 'perfect', but tired of the weather not letting me go out to take any pictures that I might actually like, I took some quickie pics of the view I get from one of the windows in my 6th floor office.

so, unveiling the city (and cars) of Providence, Rhode Island

Beauty

Beautiful lyrics from a beautiful song from a beautiful movie.

Baavra Man - Swanand Kirkire

Baavra man dekhne chala ek sapna
Baavra man dekhne chala ek sapna
Baavre se man ki dekho
Baavri hai baatein
Baavre se man ki dekho
Baavri hai baatein
Baavri si dhadkane hain
Baavri hi saansein
Baavri si karvatoin se
Neendiya door bhage
Baavre se nain chahe
Baavre jharokhon se
Baavre nazaaron ko takna

Baavra man dekhne chala ek sapna

Baavre se is jahaan mein
Baavra ek saath ho
Is sayani bheed mein
Bas haathon mein tera haath ho
Baavri si dhun ho koi
Baavra ik raag ho
Baavri si dhun ho koi
Baavra ik raag ho
Baavre se pair chahe
Baavre taraanon ke
Baavre se bol pe thirakna

Baavra man dekhne chala ek sapna

Baavra sa ho andhera
Baavri khamoshiyan
Baavra sa ho andhera
Baavri khamoshiyan
Thartharati loh mad tham
Baavri madhoshiyan
Baavra ek ghungta chahe
Haule haule bin bataye
Baavra ek ghungta chahe
Haule haule bin bataye
Baavre se mukhre se sarakna

Baavra man dekhne chala ek sapna
Baavra man dekhne chala ek sapna

Play it again...and again...and again.