Two weeks to go...

It had been a wonderful trip so far
Exploring places and driving the car
I really don't have to mention the best
Coz you know that I've been living in a bar

It seems just like a couple of days ago when I came to Germany for this short 3 months trip. The time just blazed like a flash of light. But it was amazing that I got to congregate such immense amount of fantastic memories in this short span of time. Great place, nice people, ok ok food, unbeatable beer and pretty girls….Life has been good in the last couple of months.

Aug 7, New Delhi
The trip, as always, started with me feeling low about leaving home on the day I had to fly. But I don’t know how, the feeling just goes away as soon as the plane takes off….always….it is like as if those feelings just don't have the visa to fly out of India.

Flight was comfortable and uneventful as much as the Economy class of Air India could help it to be. But then, you just can't expect a lot from the elderly. I'm just glad that the people inside the cockpit were good enough to ensure my safe arrival at the destination.

Oh yeah I don't wanna leave this one out….T3 at IGI Airport was opened a week before I flew and it is really really awesome…..truly world class. I just hope that they are able to maintain it too.

Aug 8, 7.30am Frankfurt…..I swear I've never been out of an International airport this quick…20 minutes for me to get through the immigration, pick up my baggage and reach the exit gate through the customs. Way too smooth.

Aug 8, 10am Heidelberg
It is just a beautiful city to be in…just big enough for you to take the trams and buses to go to different parts in the city but not big enough for you to get lost. Enclosed elegantly with the mountains, the city is just a delight to visit. Although people say that Heidelberg is place to visit and not to live, I kind of strongly disagree with that. May be I've not lived here long enough to be in tandem with that opinion. But I just love this city. It is small, has just the right amount of people in it (residents and tourists), smooth traffic, nicely connected by public transport, optimal climate, has a river running through the city and has great dining places.

The walk on Hauptstrasse (Main Street) is great…That is what we call 'The Induction walk' in our group. Anyone who comes from India, is taken for this walk by someone who's already been living here to introduce him to Heidelberg. It is about a 1.5 km long stretch (for pedestrians only) with all different kinds of shops, restaurants, pubs, etc. on both the sides. The street runs parallel to the river so if you get bored of shopping or the crowd, just sneak out and start walking along side the river. I'm staying very near to the city centre so I've enjoyed walking here almost every other day….well I have to burn some of those beer calories :)
Oh yeah…Work…that's what I'm here for. It's been great. A good learning experience and great exposure to a new working culture. Met quite a variety of people at work, but never ever had any bad experience with anyone….and even if I did…you think I'm gonna mention it here??

Lunch hour had been quite an adventure here almost every other day. I reach the cafeteria ('Casino' is what they like to call it) to have a nice and filling lunch and guess what…the names of the dishes are written in German. And I'm standing there, looking at the counter that has some stuff that people eat, trying to figure out by the look of it, whether those little guys who work in my stomach to digest the food would like it or would call me names that I have never heard in my whole life. And the icing on the top…the lady who serves food also doesn’t speak English. So I had to be at the mercy of people standing with me in the queue. After being here for a while, now I do understand a bit of German so I can figure out what it is but it was really hard initially…and trust me…I've had some near death experiences with the food here at times. Tip for future travellers….the first thing you should learn in the German/Deutsche language is the names of food items. I've been here for over two months now, but these guys continue to surprise me till date.

Weekends….those have been real fun and there is nothing much to say in words here. Either a trip to somewhere or just beer and boxers. :) The pictures on facebook say it all.

10 out of 12 weeks have passed on this trip and in no time. Although I've had a time of my life, I can now sense that warmth of my home, smell the Indian delicacies, be with family and friends and listen to the honking on the super jammed Delhi roads…God…how I missed all of that. :)
So the countdown begins…2 weeks now and I will be back in India….just before the best time of the year…Diwali….I'm sooo excited.

See you all soon.
Cheers!!

That's how it goes

Drink number 1
It’s always for fun

Drink number 2
My friend..it’s for you

Drink number 3
It’s just 2+1 free

Drink number 4
I’m not too sure

Drink number 5
Not for a naïve

Drink number 6
Not a good time to mix

Drink number 7
I sure am in heaven

Drink number 8
Can I walk straight??

Drink number 9
I quote “I’m just fine”

Drink number 10
Go sleep in your den

Cheers :)

PBN loses its LIIT charm :(

Well this happened a couple of days ago and since then i've been thinking of writing about it, but it was just so much knotty to come out of the enormous amount of despair that this event has pushed me into. As i'm still trying to get over it, here I am sharing it with all of you.

It was that great evening back in year 2005 when I was introduced to the greatest drink ever made...my favorite since then - The Long Island Iced Tea. And where did I drink it - it was at Punjabi by Nature(PBN) in Noida. I've never been able to find a match for that taste anywhere else, even in the far west.

My friends and I used to look forward to those great friday nights at PBN in those times. When I used to come back to India during my winter break for a couple of weeks, it was absolutely quintessential for me to go to PBN and have at least a couple of LIITs...with the same old friends of course. And the LIIT was just the same old magical masterpiece in all its glory.

But then as they say....all good things come to an end eventually. I could never imagine that this would imply on my beloved PBN's LIIT as well. :(

On July 18, 2010, my friends and I couldn't be more disheartened to declare that the PBN's LIIT is no more with us. It was just nowhere close to what it used to be not so long ago. Very very very disappointing. It was a moment of despair, a point of desolation, an instance of dejection and much more for all of us. It is just way too painful to be decrypted into simple English words that can make sense. As we moved out of that disappointing restaurant that night, all of us had just one question in our minds, "Why God?? Why?? Why us??"

Ab honi ko kon taal sakta hai....jo hona tha wo to ho gaya...now i think it is time for all of us to gather ourselves together, get over the murkiness and move on. As we move on to search for the next best available LIIT mixer on earth, with all due respect, we pay tribute to that wonderful drnk that has given us such great times when we needed them the most. May it's soul rests in peace.

Any suggestions on where we should go next?

Summer Ice-candies

Today, at 2.00pm, if I ask you to go out in the sun to do some work....you'll curse me like anything. All we want in these punishing summer days is to be inside....all the time. But think about this...do you remember those wonderful days when the school bells used to ring in the afternoon for you to fly off.....No matter how hot it was outside, you just ran towards the school gate with the overwhelming levels of enthusiasm. And in that ravishing heat, before you get on the school bus , or whatever other mode of commuting, you always wanted to go to that little booth, right across the street in front of the school gate. The booth that was always crowded with tiny toddlers with although red but bright faces, the booth with super sonic levels of noise because of kids shouting to the vendor about their favorite flavors, The booth that ended many desperate cravings...yes that's right...It's the Ice cream booth.

When i think about that time today, it makes me wonder, was it the heat that pulled all of us towards that little stall of heaven, or was it just pure love for those super cool, terribly shaped "Orange Bars" as we knew them? If you think about it, it is simply impossible to justify the level of content that one had after having one of those Orange bars for nothing but 50 paise. Just try and compare that level of satisfaction to the one you get after you have your favorite flavor at Baskin Robbins today....it is nowhere close to it. It was altogether a different feeling coming back home, with a couple of orange drops on your bright white shirt and an orange tongue that you have been flaunting throughout your way home. No wonder these ice candies are so close to my heart. The bond was crafted 20 years ago.

Every second or third day, my brother calls me up around 7 in the evening on his way back home from work and asks me which ice cream do i wanna have....and my answer is "It has to be an ice candy bar". Now initially there were only orange and mango, but these days we get so many options that it is so difficult to resist them...lime, raspberry, black current...and believe it or not "jaljeera". Both of us have become such huge fans of the ice candies now that our final meal of the day feels incomplete without putting a full stop to it with one, sometimes two ice candy bars.

The Ice candies totally are the best solution to the Delhi heat and I really cannot imagine a summer without them...What say??