2000 to 2009.....

Today, January 15, marks my decade in the US.

Days like these always make me reflect and ponder.....and wonder how time flies by!

I want to write about my experiences  in the last 10 years....but I am still working on that post.

However, I did want to post something today, so that I would remember this day.

So here's a picture of mine from each of the last 10 years.....I've gained weight and I've lost some, I've changed hairstyles, I've tried out weird fashion styles, but overall, I've become much more mature and comfortable with my own self as time went by.

2000 - I arrived at SFO on Jan 15, 2000. School started right away, and I slowly began adjusting to the new country. I did not miss home for the first few weeks, as I was used to staying away from my parents in India. But when my grandma passed away in Feb, I felt awful and miserable. I spent my summer in Boston this year, with my cousin.  I completed most of my MS coursework at school, and also got a job at Intel. I went to Yosemite for the first time, and hiked Vernal+Nevada falls on the mist trail. This picture was taken at NASA, Houston in December 2000. It was my first visit to Houston to visit my family there.  The first year in US was sure very eventful. The sweatshirt I am wearing was one of the 3 that dad bought me before coming to US :)

2001 - I started working at Intel as an intern in January 2001. I also went back home (to India) for the first time after coming here. I graduated from CSU, Sacramento with my MS in Electrical and Electronic Engineering. A very memorable year. Here is my graduation picture :)

2002 - I started working at Intel as a full time engineer. I made new friends at work, and went on a lot of trips with them. I got my own room+bathroom at my new apartment....and enjoyed reading until late in the night everyday. This picture here was taken at a studio....my first set of portraits taken professionally.

2003 - I started off this year with a trip back home. Celebrated Uttarayan in Ahmedabad for the first time after moving to US. The rest of the year was usual stuff....more work and more travel. I tried hang gliding and whitewater rafting for the first time. I had gained a lot of weight in 2002, so I joined a local gym (24 hour fitness) here. I also started playing tennis and racquetball, and loved them both. I lost all the weight I gained after few months of regular exercise, few sessions with an excellent fitness coach, and watching my diet. The picture here was taken in September...the outfit is from Banana Republic gifted by one of my friends. The second picture is me hang gliding over the Smokies in North Carolina.

2004 - This was the year of relationships. Lots of ups and downs happened in this area, and professionally also, I went through a lot of stress. I got my first promotion in April, and immediately decided to move jobs. I was extremely lucky, and found a position within Intel without applying for one (with a strong recommendation), and before joining the new position, I went to India again. This time, I took my family on a trip to Singapore, Malaysia and Goa. It was their first overseas trip, and was very memorable. It was also the first time I went back home in summer, and I enjoyed mangoes to my heart's content. You can see all the sugar and fat on my cheeks in this picture below, which was taken at the sky lobby on Petronas Twin Towers, Malaysia :). This was also the year of bangs...in terms of hairstyle :).

2005 - This was the year I bonded the most with my aunt, Jayshree aunty who used to live in Sacramento. We spent so much time together....her and uncle were like my parents here in US. This was the only year where I lived by myself in a 1-bedroom apartment all year long. I loved watching movies on my 17-inch widescreen laptop almost every other night, comfortably reclined on my bed with the laptop placed on a stack of pillows in front of me :). My parents came to the US for the first time to visit me. I loved taking them around California during their 5-week short visit. Towards the end of the year, I moved to Folsom with one of the best roommates I've ever had (Swapna), and around Christmas of 2005 was also the first time Sameer and I communicated :). I don't have my parents' US trip album on my computer right now, so here's a picture of me outside my aunt's house with my friend Hiren's new car.

2006 - This was the year I met Sameer for the first time in March. After spending a weekend in California (our first date was a day in SF), I met him couple more times and then went to India in summer to meet his parents. Things went well and we committed to each other, and our wedding date was decided. I spent most of my India trip with wedding planning and shopping. During this year, I also met a couple people who are now very close friends. I  made a lot of new friends this year, and also enjoyed lots n lots of outdoor activities with them. I hiked Half Dome in Yosemite with my friend Hiren. Here's a picture of Sameer n I taken at Twin Peaks, SF.

2007 - The year I went from being single to married :). The wedding in India (Jan'07) is one of the most memorable events of my life. The honeymoon in Mauritius was also amazing. Sameer moved to CA soon after our wedding, in March of 2007. We moved into our first apartment as a couple in June. I felt the first year of my married life a lot more challenging and relatively less fun :). It has only gotten better though. This was also the year my sister Dharam came to US to do her MS. Here's a wedding picture of ours, and a picture of mine on the catamaran in Mauritius.

2008 - We forgot Intel all these years, but things were going smooth on the professional front. I got my second promotion at Intel in 2008. I was delighted. We also invited my in-laws and parents to US for a visit. They both stayed for few weeks with us. Sameer's contract ended in Sacramento area and he found a job in LA for few months. It was back to single life for both of us, with him commuting a lot of weekends so that we could spend time together. We went to Hawaii to celebrate our first anniversary, and had an amazing time out there. Towards the end of the year, we all left for India for another trip filled with memorable events. Here's a picture of me in Maui, Hawaii.

2009 - The last year of my decade in US. It started off with a bang...we were in India and enjoyed our post-wedding ceremonies at my in-laws hometown, as well as my sister's engagement function. We got back and Sameer found a job back in Sacramento area. We decided to buy a home and moved into our first home here in the US in May 2009. We hosted a wonderful house-warming for our friends and family. I biked the entire American River Trail from Folsom to Old Sacramento for the first time. This year was light on travel, but we found time to engage in new activities close to home. Here's a picture of Sameer n I at my sister's engagement function.

Phew! That was a long post. I enjoyed my trip down the memory lane. There is much more to cherish and share. There were happy times, and tough times. It was like a roller coaster ride, and I have enjoyed every bit of it.

Hope you enjoy the pictures and few of my memories!

Adios 2009 and Welcome Twenty10

It's New Years' Eve today. The last day of 2009.

Reminds me of this quote: "New Year's eve is like every other night; there is no pause in the march of the universe, no breathless moment of silence among created things that the passage of another twelve months may be noted; and yet no man has quite the same thoughts this evening that come with the coming of darkness on other nights. "


As I reflect on the past 12 months, I realize that it has been a very blessed year for me and my loved ones. And a very eventful one as well.

It started with my sister's engagement is January, and post-wedding puja at my in-laws hometown in Gujarat. Then my hubby found a permanent job in the same town as me, so finally we could settle down here. We then made a huge decision of buying our first new home together, and invited all our family and friends for a wonderful housewarming party. Some of my close friends are now our neighbors, and the house has kept us busy since we moved in.

On the work front, even with this depressing economy, both hubby and I managed to sustain our jobs. Hubby had to work harder than me on that front, and I am proud of all his efforts.

My sister got a summer internship with P&G, and got a great work experience for 3 months as a result. This will help boost her efforts to find a full time position in her field.

We also traveled to new places - like Burney Falls, Lassen Volcanic National Park and Channel Islands. We did a bunch of new activities together, like sea kayaking, lake kayaking, river rafting, camping and biking.

We celebrated Diwali with a great BBQ n potluck party at our home with friends. We also celebrated my sister and her fiance's birthday in LA/San Diego, where we all went to see Lion King LIVE on Broadway.

I also read few good books, watched some great movies, and spent quality time with friends. Blogging was another enriching experience for me this year.

The end of this decade also marks my decade in the US. YES - I came to this country in January 2000, and never thought I would live here for so long. I entered as a fresh graduate, fresh off the boat, naive person, with dreams to study and work in the corporate world. Little did I know that I would land a job at the #1 semiconductor company in my field. I had no idea of my capabilities as a professional, nor my vulnerabilities.

It's been such an enriching journey, and it just keeps getting better.

Twenty10 promises to be a fantastic year. There are so many exciting events to look forward to.

I wish all my blog readers a happy and blessed 2010 - full of love, warmth, laughter, good health, peace and prosperity!

Cheers to the new decade :)

A book review on Rowing the Atlantic

St. Augustine quoted:
"People travel to wonder at the height of the mountains, at the huge waves of the seas, at the long course of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars, and yet they pass by themselves without wondering."

Adventure fascinates me. I love to explore. And travel. I think I got it from my dad.

Growing up, we traveled a lot across India. Every couple years, we would visit new places. I have been to Kashmir twice, and it is still #1 on my list of "favorite places I have visited so far". Each trip with my family would be an adventure. We were not rich, so we traveled mostly by train and bus, and mom packed lots of meals from home to save money on food. Every trip brought our family closer, and every trip taught me few lessons worth cherishing.

After coming to the US, I have done several adventurous things....and maybe the most significant has been my hike to Half Dome in Yosemite (~18-mile round trip with 4800 ft elevation gain). Each trip to a national park in the US has been amazing - kind of sacred - and has taught me so much. Apart from hiking, I love biking, playing tennis/racquetball, kayaking, etc and have tried adventurous things like hang-gliding, white water rafting and most recently sea kayaking.

I read an article recently on CNN.com about Roz Savage , the ocean rower. I read a few of her blog posts, and came to know that she was releasing her first book "Rowing the Atlantic" - Lessons Learned on the Open Ocean...and was intrigued. I decided to order the book and finished reading it last week.

Let me start by saying that I absolutely loved the book.

How many of us would dare to leave our jobs, divorce our husbands, leave all materialistic possessions behind and decide to row SOLO across an ocean to find happiness and a purpose to live? I just admire the guts this woman has. Agree that the measures she took to find happiness are extreme, and not everyone needs to go to the great lengths she did, but I do admire her courage.

While reading the book, I reflected upon my life a lot. I love books that make me do that. I realized I am fairly content with how my life is right now. I am not unhappy. I don't hate my job....I would love to do something different than engineering, if given an opportunity, but I certainly don't hate my work at this time. I feel extremely loved by my family, my husband, and my friends. At every point in my life when I am going through difficulty, I feel blessed to have people who I can rely upon and who can be trusted.

Having said that, there are few things that could definitely change in my life to make me feel happier (it's a relative term, isn't it?).

Coming back to the book, what I loved the most is Roz's description of all her challenges at sea, and how she handled them, and the thoughts that went through her mind at that time. She was the last person to start the race, and she didn't like that. She secretly hoped she would do better, and she did. I saw a bit of myself in her when she described that.

Throughout the book, she beautifully illustrates Mr. Self-critical, Mr. Self-Doubt, Mr. Guilt and Mr. Competitive. I enjoyed reading how she deals with them during her adventure.

While reading through her pages which described her upbringing and education, I reflected a lot upon how I grew up. In a very different environment, to say the least. I will not say that I don't desire for materialistic possessions, but I do feel I am mostly content with what I have, at any point in life. When I came to the US, my dad helped fund a loan for my education, and it was the first time I had taken such a huge debt. So I used to think twice even to buy a banana for a snack, which I found very expensive coz I was still converting $$ to Rupees in my head all the time.

When I recently purchased a home, I bought the most affordable one, which a lot of my friends feel small. I find it more than spacious for my needs and I am happy. It doesn't have a huge backyard, or a pool, or a big kitchen, or a jacuzzi....but it has all the basics that a couple would need, and much much more than that. It has a lot of upgrades, which I like, and its brand new. More than anything, it fits our budget at this time, and when I go to bed every night, I feel peaceful, rather than stressed.

Coming back to Roz's adventure. I loved how she always found a way to believe in herself. When, one by one, all of her oars broke, and she figured out how to move on. Her blisters, her tendinitis and how she dealt with them. Her days after her satellite communication failed. I was impressed that she carried a sprout maker with her on the boat - a lightweight inexpensive thing which had such a great use for this kind of journey. The Ziploc bag of homemade greetings cards from her mom reminded me of mom's love - nothing can beat that.

Solitude - how many of us have spent so many days by ourselves, anywhere on this earth, with no contact with human beings? It's frightening for most, I am sure. I routinely have days when I am off the internet, minimal phone calls, no TV, with just a book to read. But that's just a day and its easy.

These are the life-learned philosophies that Roz has shared on her website :

• Don’t waste mental energy asking yourself if you CAN do something. Just do it. You’ll surprise yourself. I did.

• Be clear about your objectives. Ignore others, stay true to yourself and measure success only against your own criteria. I was last to finish the race – big deal. I went out there to learn about myself, and I did.

• The only constant in life is change. So don’t get depressed by the bad times, and don’t get over-excited by good ones. Accept that things are exactly as they are, and even bad times have something to teach us.

• Life can be magical, but magic only gets you so far. Then you need discipline, determination and dedication to see it through.

• Hope can hurt. The danger is that you hope for too much and set yourself up for disappointment. Be optimistic but realistic. Nothing is ever as good or as bad as you expect it to be.

• Be mindful of the link between present action and desired future outcome. Ask yourself: if I repeat today’s actions 365 times, will I be where I want to be in a year?

• Decision-making: act in faith, not fear, and don’t worry about making a ‘wrong’ decision – the way you implement it is more important than the decision itself.

• Be your own best friend. The more you rely on other people, the less control you have over your destiny.

• Be proud of your own obituary: a few years ago I wrote two versions of my obituary, the one I wanted and the one I was heading for. They were very different. I realized I needed to make some big changes if I was going to look back and be proud of my life. I am making those changes, and now I have a life worth living.

To sum it up, I was inspired by the book in many ways. It gave me one more example of someone who dares to dream big, finds a cause to fight for, and overcomes challenges to become successful in the pursuit of their dream. Roz is a great campaigner for our environment. Way to go Roz!

Here are some sentences in the book that I found very thought provoking:

"My lifelong tendency to rely on others meant that my repertoire of practical skills was sadly limited, and although I suspected that I was capable of more than I imagine, in ordinary life the temptation to take the easy option and ask for help was too much for me to resist.


Whatever you do, put your whole heart into it.


That night, I sat at my desk with two blank sheets of paper in front of me. I had decided to write my own obituary. What might people say about me when I died? Or, more importantly, how would I perceive my life as it was drawing to a close? Would I be proud of the way I'd lived, or full of regrets? I was going to write two versions. The first version would be the obituary that I wanted to have, and the second would be the one I was heading for if I carried on as I was.


What mattered was what I did, not what I owned. 


Life is easier in the storms. My strange ocean existence seemed more tolerable while I had the occasional crisis to divert my thoughts from negative emotions, and keeping myself busy with chores around the boat made me feel I was in control of at least some small aspects of my life. 


Loneliness had not been one of my demons. No, the demons that had plagued my first month on the ocean were feelings of inadequacy, self-doubt, and frustration.


A large bank balance didn't provide insurance against unhappiness, and wrapping myself in cotton wool was no guarantee against injury. It was better to get out there and live life, and to live it large, than to continue in my supposedly "secure" lifestyle, quietly dying of boredom.


Fear is rarely logical. Nor does fear have any reality - it exists only in the mind. 


It is the odd things that the mind chooses to focus on in a crisis.


For here am I sitting in a tin can far above the world,
Planet Earth is blue, and there's nothing I can do.


I have learned a lot, although sometimes I feel I have acquired just enough wisdom to know how much more there is to be learned.


When you stand at the bottom of the mountain and look up at the mountaintop, the path looks hard and stony, and the top is obscured by clouds. But when you reach the top and you look down, you realize that there are a thousand paths that could have brought you to that place.


For we are all on a great adventure--the adventure of life--and even for the majority who will never row across an ocean or climb a great peak or trek to a pole there is much to be learned from living life with mindfulness and awareness."


Roz is currently rowing the Pacific - she has completed 2 stages and will begin her third and final stage in Spring 2010. Looking forward to it :)

2009 Birthday

Last Wednesday (18th November) was my birthday. 

Birthdays are very special to me. Not just mine, but everyone's. And I love it if I can make someone feel special on their birthday. I try my best to give unique or handmade gifts, write something original, arrange a surprise party, or plan a nice getaway for my family and friends on their birthdays.

For my birthday, I always like to celebrate it with my family and loved ones. Since the last 10 years, I have been away from home. So my friends here in the US have ensured that they make me feel special. The last couple years my hubby has done his part to make me feel loved on this day :)

This year, I had my sister with me on my birthday (after 10 years). The above picture you see is my Birthday Cake home-made by my sister....Vanilla + chocolate cake with strawberry filling, layered with an orange zest flavored mousse, topped with kiwis, strawberries and Ghirardelli dark chocolate shavings :) YUMM-OOOO!!!! She is an extremely talented chef and I am enjoying the luxury of her cooking as well as spending some quality time these days with her, after a gap of more than 13 years.

My birthday actually started on the 17th itself, with loads of phone calls from family outside of the US. The first person to wish me this year was my dearest+nearest bapuji (dad's elder brother in India). I love him and adore him so so much! 

Every year, I have a small group of close friends at work who take me out for my birthday lunch. This year was no different. Arvind, Saikat, Shubh and Jay took me to Mimis cafe for a wonderful lunch....even though this restaurant is girly and was filled with ladies over the age of 60, they didn't mind coz I wanted to go there :) Thank you and love you guys!

In the evening, my sister made a pasta baked dish for dinner, and a few close friends (some of them are also neighbors) came home for the cake cutting and dinner/snack. Since it was a Wednesday (middle of the work week), I did not do much post-dinner and slept early.

Throughout the day at work, I got tons of phone calls, emails, facebook/orkut messages and texts. I really really felt happy and blessed and LOVED - so many people remembered my birthday and wished me, and they do so every single year. Thank you everyone!

I hope next year I can celebrate my birthday with my parents and bapuji. It would be wonderful to be with them in India, and celebrate my birthday as well as Diwali/New Year at home.

Africa se leke America.....

Today, as I write this.....

Dad is in Zimbabwe, Africa.

Mom is in Gujarat, India, Asia.

I am in California, USA, North America.

Three of us in Three different continents.....its sooper cool and sooper uncool at the same time.

Miss you ma-pa!

Weekend getaway to LA/San Diego

The third year in a row that I would be celebrating my sister's birthday (8th Nov) in LA....and the second year celebrating her fiance's (10th Nov) birthday with her.....

It all started with booking "expensive" tickets for the Lion King Show - yeahhhh, finally I was going to see it live on Broadway....

And then the fight to get a free rental car for the weekend from Hertz.....

One of the few trips where I packed an hour before leaving....

The crappiest rental car (Ford Focus) ever....

The beautiful drive to LA with the sun doing its magic on the mountains and the fields....

Leaf Organics being closed at 8pm instead of 9pm (as listed on their webpage)....warranting for change in dinner plans......

Fantastic dinner with Rohit, Sejal, Anish, Dharam n Hubby at CPK ....soup and tostada pizza yumm-O!

Followed by a "like it" coffee+dark chocolate Coldstone  icecream topped with toasted almonds....mmmmmmm!

Meeting Nikesh (Anish's roommate) for the first time, hours before his India trip....and having a very interesting conversation on whether he should get married, get engaged, do both or niether :)

Lunch at Fresh Paradise - Fresh squeezed sugarcane juice with ginger and lemon, dosa, chhole, pav bhaji, and grilled sandwiches!

The awesome drive to San Diego in the carpool lane - again with the sun rays playing their magic on the Pacific.....

The cloudy but fantastic sunset at Del Mar beach .....while watching the surfers riding out the last waves of the day......

The Lion King  show - live on Broadway San Diego...it was truly a delight to watch all the brilliant performances....and the orchestra was sooperb!

The drive back to LA with "Happy Birthday To You" songs for Dharam at midnite :)

Buying the lucky bamboo in a cute elephant pot from Ralphs....

The Gujju Thali awesome-amazing lunch at Rajdhani  in Artesia.....

The most peaceful and relaxing drive back from LA to Folsom....read a book for most of the time along with soothing music. Hubby treated me royally by driving the entire 400 miles himself :)

All in all, a great break from the routine life, mouth-watering food, and wonderful memories of fun with family!!!!

Here's a picture of my hubby, me, my sister and her fiance in LA!

Happy Birthday Dharam and Anish! Here's wishing you guys a great year ahead!

Trivia from National Geographic

I read these today in National Geographic and the answers were surprising....worth sharing with all of you.

1. Your left lung is smaller than your right lung.
Ans: True. The left lung is a little smaller because there needs to be room for your heart.

2. Relative to size, the strongest muscle in your body is your big toe.
Ans: False. It's your tongue.

3. Your brain generates more electrical impulses in a single day than all of the world's telephones put together.
Ans: True - Imagine that.

4. An average human scalp has a million hairs.
Ans: False. But the average scalp does have 100,000 hairs.

5. Every square inch of the human body has an average of 3 million bacteria on it.
Ans: False. Would you believe the real number is 32 million?

So how many did you guess correctly?