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Oct 20, 2008

Support a cause!

It’s all about me, my family and my friends. My world is limited to my people. That’s how the world thinks; If not all, most of us. We don’t care about what goes on outside of it. Cancer, asthma, heart attacks, deaths, violence, injuries! We don’t think about it, until someone from our personal world is affected by it.

How many of us have ignored the fliers publicizing a cause-supporting event? Walk for breast cancer, run for healthy hearts, bake-sale for the orphans, donate for hurricane sufferers, fund raisers for soldiers and many more like that. I know I have, and I know many of you have. Have we ever thought what difference can that make? It can save many lives and lives of the families of the ones suffering. All it takes is a little thoughtfulness, a little time, and just a little effort.

Stop it, before it affects your own world. It’s never too late. Be a part of the campaign. Choose your cause, and support it!

Life is not just about having fun, there is more to it. Add meaning to your life. Please… Support a cause. Any cause. And make a difference!

Oct 14, 2008

Adventures of miss little Gini Part 3

Suggestion: Before you proceed, make sure you read Parts 1 and 2

Late in the night, I landed in Atlanta. Honestly, I was a little (just a little) nervous at that moment… more because my phone was dead.

Thank Karan that he booked a nice hotel for me and I had a place to stay in this new unexplored city. I took the shuttle and rode to the hotel. “Nice!” I said. And once I got to the hotel, my nervousness faded away. Completely. I was back to being myself, in fact better.

“Welcome to Marriott hotels Ms. Bhardwaj, hope you have a great night”

Ah! That felt so good… after a tiring journey, I finally had a relaxed night in the super comfi bed and nice smelling linens. No e-mail, no phone. I felt the peace that a person would feel only after he dies. Ah! So good…

Next day:

Good Mooooooooooooooorning Atlanta! Here I come…

Checked out of the hotel, took the train I had a blast in the city… country’s biggest aquarium, downtown Atlanta, Lenox mall, train station food court and for that matter, just the feel of an unknown city. I was overwhelmed.

My mind was over flowing with thoughts; memories, comparisons, nostalgia, excitement, plans, questions and what not. Besides battling with the millions and millions of thoughts running in and out of my mind, I spent the entire day, going around the town and striking mini-conversations with the strangers. I even got to play the guess-my-age game with a bunch of people on the way. Risky eh!

Finally I saw my dream of traveling alone, come true. Tourism, maps, trains, shopping, nice peaceful lunch, reading… Perfect!

Who wouldn’t look forward to such a Monday??

P.S. For pictures, check facebook.

Finally I took my flight back to Peoria. And my journey ended with a healthy conversation with an intelligent man from Accenture. I love interesting meaningful conversations. I couldn’t think of a better way to conclude this little adventure.

Finally at eleven at night, I was back home. Not tired at all… Just content and delighted! I did loose some time, money and my very faithful sweat jacket during this trip. But I still returned satisfied, with plans of my next vacation running through my head…
That’s how we are – me and my life – just completely unpredictable!

That night when I went to bed, all I could think of, was to thank god for such a wonderful time and making my life just the opposite of boring.

I love you god!

Adventures of miss little Gini Part 2

Suggestion: Before you proceed, make sure you read Part 1


Saturday was fun! And very soon, it was Sunday afternoon, and that is time for me to leave. Beautiful day, and tired me. After the Friday incidence, I wanted to take control of my life and be a little organized. So I checked the flight status online and was happy to see it was on time. My friends dropped me off to the airport; we said good byes (bdw, that’s the part I hate the most in any holiday).

I got to the boarding gate, and was standing in the queue to get my seating arrangements taken care of. The screen there was showing weather and other stuff about the destination city, and I was trying to see if I should keep my jacket out or just pack it in the bag. And WHAT THE HELL was that! Did I just see that the flight was late? Never mind, it’s just forty-five minutes; I can still catch the connecting flight. I should just be a little more alert and active when I get down. Nothing to worry about.

DON”T TELL ME! An hour and a half delay? What? Now they say two hours? Two hours and thirty-five minutes? GOSH! Three? Is three final? Sigh! There is no way I can catch the connection. Just impossible!

“Ok Mr. Delta guy, when is the next flight?”
“We only have one flight per day”
“Are you kidding me? When is the next one? Where will I stay the night?”
“The next flight is at 8.35 pm tomorrow. And since the delay is due to weather conditions, we are unable to arrange accommodations for you”
“8.35 pm tomorrow? And what am I supposed to do till then? And wait, do you want me to sleep at the Atlanta airport?”
“Sorry for the inconvenience ma’am, but we don’t have anything else available for you”
“Thank you for your help, which was really not of any help to me. But I know you are doing your job” (Straight face and super sarcastic tone!)

So now what? Should I go back to New Jersey where I was staying? Or should I fly to Atlanta? Without much of brainstorming, I figured out that flying to Atlanta and staying there for the night would be a good idea. So three hours later than the scheduled time, I was in air, on my way to Atlanta.

To be continued…

Adventures of miss little Gini Part 1

If I don't make it big enough in the engineering profession, I can still be rich. Two options: 1. Either get my auto biography published in a book OR 2. Sell it to a filmmaker. Seriously! With the number of adventurous happening in my life, I am sure it would sell! And don't be surprised if you find yourself sitting in your child's bedroom at night reading him/her 'Adventures of miss little gini'.

Let me quote an example. Let's not go too far, and relive a recent weekend in my life.

Remember my last blog? Well if you don't go back and read it…

Anyways, so why I mentioned it is because it would tell you how much I hate waking up early everyday for work. To leave at seven, I have to wake up latest by five thirty. Why? Cz I am a girl. Well that's not important. But yeah Friday morning, I think I was already in my weekly T.G.I.F mood. I opened my eyes, and WOW the clock shows seven. 'No way' I said. Now I had exactly 7-8 minutes to get ready. Jumped out of bed, grabbed the first thing that came to my hand and rushed to work.


The day was okay, I don’t want to count the running around at work that day, cz it definitely isn’t as big as the other stuff that was coming to me as a surprise. I got back home at forty minutes past four that evening and I had to catch a flight to Philadelphia at 6.15 pm. Yes, the very same day. And halleluiah! I had not packed yet. I had luckily made arrangements to get to the airport, and the cab driver said he would pick me up at five. But somehow, I managed to pack, change, and rush to the ATM to get some cash to pay the driver. And I was at the hotel door at sharp five; waiting for him to come and pick me up. I look at my watch, and CRAP!! It’s 5.25 and he wasn’t there.


Any normal human being (especially if it’s a girl) would freak out and start to panic! But nope! This isn’t the first time I am in such a situation. I was worried definitely, but was trying to figure out what to do. People had just gotten back from work so no one was answering my calls, and the cab driver decided to ignore my calls too. God bless Patrick! He showed up as my savior; A ray of hope in the dark stormy moment. And he agreed to drop me off to the airport. And we started walking towards his car, while I explained how the cab guy ditched me. And while getting into the car, he asked, “So how do we get to the airport?” Holy shit!! “I don’t know” I said. And at 5.40 we were still at the hotel, trying to figure out how to get to the airport. Somehow I managed to reach ‘just in time’. Obviously I was the last one to board the plane that evening. But who cares, as long as they let me in, all is well.
Relaxed, and pacified, I sat in the plane, and before I knew I was in Chicago. Yay!! No wait; too early to be happy sweetie… the next flight is two hours late. Never mind. After all the rush, I didn’t mind kicking it at the airport.


I decided to call my friends and catch up with them. Yeah right, at the end of two hours my phone battery started to die out. “It’s okay, I can talk. Will charge it when I get to phily… so what were we talking about…”


Two hours over and I reach Philadelphia at 1.30 am.

To be continued…


Oct 9, 2008

Smooth

On the way to work, my friends were talking about getting free breakfasts. Some of them always find free food after meetings, events etc. and I was wondering how come I never found any free food? I know I am not that non-vigilant. So how come I never found any food? Hmmm.. I said. And confessed in front of them that I have never been able to get any kind of free food from the office, unless it was for everybody.

And I walk into the building cafĂ© to get breakfast. My all time favorite: whole-wheat bagel, low fat cream cheese and starbucks regular coffee with irish cream. And then I walked to the counter to pay for it. And my head was thinking… 5 dollars again. Sigh! Especially for some one who didn’t get paid this time.

So here I arrive at the counter and open my mouth to tell what I am having today, and before I could say anything, the lady says “He gotcha!” and points towards a guy out in the hallway. “What??” I said. “He paid for your breakfast”. No wait, I understand that. My ‘what’ was because I don’t even know him. But never mind, I think it was smooth. And I admire polished, smooth men (knowing that there are just a few of them left on earth, rest are just too busy playing Mr. Cool).

I walked out with the free breakfast, feeling kinda obligated to talk to him. So here I go… “Thanks for the breakfast”… and a little conversation for about half a minute or so. But, no introduction, no names exchanged.

And I come to my cubicle wondering, what exactly was it supposed to mean? Did he want to strike a conversation, or was he hitting on me? Well, I chose the easy way out-ask a friend!

Sowmyatta: BDW, i have a question about guys
Sowmyatta: if you don’t know some one and he buys you breakfast, without you knowing it... what does it mean? i think it means he wants to initiate a conversation... right or wrong?
Alexander: he's interested
Sowmyatta: to talk?
Alexander: haha
Alexander: he's interested in talking and probably likes you
Sowmyatta: hmmm
Sowmyatta: ok
Sowmyatta: but is it a subtle way to approach?
Alexander: not really
Sowmyatta: then?
Alexander: i guess it's a subtle move
Alexander: a lil bold, but it's definitely a way of trying to get your attention :)
Sowmyatta: hmmmm
Alexander: somebody has a crush on you!!!
Sowmyatta: haha, I don’t think so

So huh, really? Well doesn’t matter. I don’t even know if we will meet ever again. And I am not acting naive either. Just want to hear it from the horse's mouth. (P.S. Alex, I am not calling you a horse here!).
The reason why I am writing this is not because I want to tell the world about the guy. Or want to show off or something.... There are two main points I want to make:

1. Watch your words when you talk! Refer to the first paragraph for details.

2. Confidence and subtlety gets noticed for good. Point to be noted, for both girls and boys. (Is it the pre-effect of the Business etiquette lunch I am about to go to today? haha)



Oct 6, 2008

What goes on at work?

A piece of chat ...

Guy: How do you like your men?

Guy: Well done?

Girl: Are you talking about my men or eggs at ihop?

Guy: Haha

Girl: I like my men just as I like my coffee… Strong, Smooth and Sweet :)

Guy: Hmmm, interesting

Girl: So how do you like your women?

Guy: Hot mocha with lots of sugar

Oct 2, 2008

That’s me... The commitment-phobe. The unmarriageable. It is not about how the word “marriage” freaks me out, but how I run away from commitments. This thought came into my mind yesterday while sitting in the CAT career information session.

They were talking about how after training rotations, the employee had to commit to the hiring business unit for 3-4 years. And as soon as Stephanie said this, millions of thoughts ran through my mind. (Stephanie was the speaker by the way). Instead of thinking about the job I was thinking how would I be able to commit to the job for four years? How will I be able to stay in the same city for four years? How will I go to work and see the same faces for four years? And talking about city, it is Peoria of all the places. No no no! That’s impossible!

I always ran away from steady relationships, as I knew it’s hard for me to stick around for a long time. But now they talk about commitment to the job? I feel like I am about to get wed to the job or something! I don’t have a job yet, but I already have butterflies fluttering in my stomach.

It doesn’t mean I am not loyal. I am loyal to the core. But I don’t want to be restricted. I should see an open end always, open options… The idea of being told to be there doesn’t get into my system.

My unstable mind is not letting me get used to this fact of being at the same place for four goddamn years! May be it’s about the place. Or is it just about me? Considering my history, I have moved thrice, to three different towns already; all in one and a half years. And I am all set to move the fourth time, gladly! I love my gypsy life!

Now the thought of sticking around in the same place is just driving me nuts. HELP!