It was another business trip to meet a Wall Street customer and make a presentation. I was very excited coz I have generally been to the West Coast and they tend to be a little casual than their East Coast counterparts. Not that I don’t like being casual, but this was a different proposition.

I actually had to fly to New Jersey and then commute to New York. Apparently, the locals do it all the time and public transport is adopted widely in these parts, in comparison to the rest of the United States. Now, travelling to US is always a pleasure, coz I have been there on more than one occasion and I have so many people there I can call friends. Very recently, Saby moved to NJ and I was planning on meeting him at office and home. I also caught up with some Ex-MS friends from BPO and we decided to meet. Also, I happen to get in touch with someone I hadn’t met in 15 years. Her name was Rakhi and she and I were school mates. We bumped in to each other on FB and planned on meeting. We couldn’t eventually coz something came up at the last-minute and she had to report to work.

Then there was the HK gang in Rahul and Kris. Kris was actually holidaying in the East Coast with his wife and in-laws and he happened to be in NJ, the same time I landed there. It’s a different thing that we didn’t end up meeting. He left for the Niagara Falls early morning on the day when I had planned on meeting him. That suck!

Back at work, I met my contacts and I spent a couple of days preparing for the presentation and then we were ready to make the trip to the Big Apple. I was put up at the Hilton this time and I loved their rooms besides the fact that the office building was attached to the Hotel with a sky-walk. On the first day I landed, I was so hungry and I called my contact at the office and luckily he had not left and asked me to join him with others for dinner at an Indian restaurant at the famous Oak Tree Rd in Edison. It felt like a refugee camp for Indians…only the food was good :)

On the presentation day, I reached office early and took some print-outs and headed to the bus-stop right at the basement of the Hotel. Me and my colleague we took a coach to Port Authority and it was right in the middle of downtown NYC. It took us 45 minutes flat and it was so much easier and convenient coz there are lanes marked clearly for the buses and you don’t get stuck in the traffic like those in their shiny limos. Oh yea, how can I not mention that I got picked up from Airport in a Lincoln Limo…I asked the chauffeur if he was sure it was a taxi and he said yea, well we are out of work. It was a damn good ride…for sure.

We were at the Park Avenue on the 42nd St and my colleague was very comfortable navigating the subways and the metro. I saw the Grand Central station and boy, was it massive and the beautiful architecture. It was just like in the movies, the hustle-bustle of the city they call New York. The yellow cabs…the fashionistas, the Wall-Street guys, the Hot-Dog vendor…it had it all. Not to mention the hordes and hordes of tourists snapping away at everything they saw at Manhattan. It was definitely a city I could identify with and it was nothing like California or Arizona where you don’t see people on the roads for miles and just barren land.

I finished my presentation around noon and then had lunch at  a Japanese restaurant with colleagues. In the evening, I met Saby at his new pad and boy was it inside some kinda woods. I spent the evening with him after a walkathon of sorts in what was starting to feel like a tornado warning outside. I crashed at his place and next day headed back to the Hotel.

The next couple of days I spent time in NYC and I started with a hop-on and hop-off bus tour around the city. I visited the famous Rockefeller Center and Times Square on Day 1. The night views of the city from the 67th floor was stunning especially the Empire State building. And of course who can miss the lights at Times Square. I spent some time sitting there and taking in what NYC had to offer….beautiful city…beautiful people.

On Day 2, it was time for a cruise on the Hudson River and going up…and up and up all the way to the 102nd floor of the Empire State building for the day-time views of the city. So basically, if you buy tickets from one of those City Sights Tour guys standing with their red and blue caps on the side-walk, you get tickets for the hop-on and hop-off bus and the cruise and many other attractions. The cruise was for 90 minutes and I had an amazing time just marvelling at the city sky-line and also a grim reminder that 2 twin towers were sucked away from this line-up. There was the Manhattan Bridge, the Brooklyn Bride and at a distance the Statue of Liberty.

Back at the Empire State building, I bought tickets for both the 86th and 102nd floor views. The lines are not as long as you think but this whole jazz of stopping to take pictures, go through the A/V takes time and the queue gets longer. Once you are there on the top, it is just magnificent. Though the 102nd floor views are stunning, there are glass enclosures and you don’t really get that sense of being on top of the world…feel the air…smell the sky.

In the night, I met my Ex-MS friends Gaurav and Prabhat. We again headed to Edison to the Indian Restaurant “Rasoi”. We had some drinks and started reminiscing the days in BPO and it was nice to catch up and re-live those moments that shaped our career. I bid them farewell and headed to the Hotel and crashed.

On Day 3, I headed first to Wall St. and then to Ground Zero and called it a day at the beautiful Central Park. The Wall St. and the adjoining blocks still had a strange eerie even after a decade of the twins towers terrorist attacks. I saw a group of protestors speaking up against the greed that had consumed the US and pushed it in to a recession, this group was just about 50 people when I was there but later when I returned home in India, I learned that this group had turned in to 100s and they called it a ”Occupy Wall Street” movement. It was very evident that Wall St. was no longer the envy of other countries when it came to the financial stability and prosperity, except for what the protestors termed rightly as 1% of the population of the USA

I saw the new buildings on Ground Zero and it was as if the Phoenix would rise from its ashes. Nothing can prepare you to start thinking what happened that day and how people cheated death and others who were not so lucky. There were two memorials, one was free for every one to visit where white ribbons were tied outside a chapel with messages and the other on ground zero was free but required a Visitor’s Pass. I didn’t enter inside and took pictures standing out with other tourists. It was indeed a solemn moment and I hope the families of the deceased where busy re-building their lives.

After a light lunch at a Pizza corner near the 9/11 memorial site, I headed for the last stop on this trip…the Central Park. So the cab guy told me that the south-side of Central Park was the most popular one and so I decided to go with the lead. I did have an idea that the park was massive but not until I reached there I realized it’s enormity. It is best to hire a bike and do the trail, I however, decided to walk. I mean it is just something…you CANNOT find in any metropolitan city in India. The greens, the lakes, the fountain, the benches, the meadows…and yes people use the bins provided. There were all kinds of people, it was like everybody in the world was on a vacation at the Central Park. There are amateur musicians, professional artists, budding sports persons and the likes of Paris Hilton who cannot leave without their chihuahua on a lazy…sunday afternoon.

I also saw a group playing baseball, this was my first and throughly enjoyed the shots they played and the shots I took of them.

There were these african-american guys who called themselves the “Afrobats” and they were wise-cracks, just there to make money with their somersault and back-flips. It was fun to watch and laugh at their white jokes.

I started to wrap up with some pictures of the Bethesda Fountain, flipped a coin and made a wish!

This was a truly memorable experience I brought back with me. I couldn’t wait to show the pictures and share the stories with Sonia.

Yes, I ♥ NY

Sravan came in with his wife, Preeti and Namrata. Oh yes, that reminds me Saby and Preeti had decided to move to the US and Saby had already left for New Jersey. They both had their respective work offers from their companies. It was a bitter-sweet moment coz another friend after Rahul was now moving away.

We had some really huge platter of Non-veg and some fine wine from the French vineyards and we were stuffed like nobody business. The place was generous all right and I could see their generosity when they presented the bill too. Anyway, it was fun to bum around.

As the d-day was approaching, my mom was of the opinion that we should drop by in Pune, a day in advance so there is no rush in the morning next day. So me and my mom we took off on the 7th Sept, 2011 and stayed at a nice Service Apt. in Magarpatta City called Cocoon. Late in the night, we dropped by at Sonia’s house to meet her extended family who had come down from Kerala. It was also the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi and they had brought an idol for worship. Sonia was busy applying Mehendi on her hands and me and my mom were just chilling with the kids and talking about the plans for next day.

We retired to the Apt. but I think my mom never slept. We were up early and got ready. I had shopped for my stuff when I was in Mumbai some weeks prior. I was not really nervous but I knew this event was planned for only a few family and friends but it turned out to be much larger and we ended up booking a hall. I had no clue who was coming from her side but I knew I had a chosen few from my side. My uncle and their family of 4 who lives in Mumbai, my brother’s friend and his wife, me and my mom. After some back-and-forth on when to arrive at the hall. I reached around 11:30 AM, I had drop my mom prior coz she was required to perform some rituals.

Once I entered the hall, uh-oh (clearing my throat)…I did see quite a few people in the hall and all eyes were scanning me like I was asked to make the first pitch at a Major League. Sumit, Sonia’s sister walked up to me and handed my a bouquet. My eyes were looking for fiancee and she was not to be found. I saw some marriage-like chairs put up for the couple and garlands too..oh man. I took some time to gather myself and generally walk between the people assembled with a little poise. After like 30 minutes Sonia walked up to where the chairs were kept and I made my way up to her. I started talking like she was the only person I knew around. It was time to start the function.

The garlands were basically handed over to me by her brother and to her by my cousin sister. Phew! for a moment I thought if I had to garland her, I might as well take her home, what else is left in a marriage?

We exchanged rings next and then for cutting the cake.

We had to keep posing for pictures every now and then and there were like two of them…one my bro and the other his friend. They did a good job, though I would have done it better….but it was my moment of truth. The next thing that followed was to dab a little turmeric powder on our hands and some on our forehead. All the ladies in the house took turns to do that.

I met a lot of people that day and every one passed on their good wishes for this new chapter in our life. I met her colleagues from work, her friends and even met some cops…that was a first. It was time for lunch and we all sat together…family and friends and discussed our plans for the marriage day, which was fixed for 27th November, 2011

Sonia and I wanted to get out and get some fresh air and so we excused ourselves from the rest of the family and went out with my bro’s friends to a place in Koregaon Park called Malaka Spice.

So we had some nice time-off the whole function and the feeling was just starting to sink-in. We made the biggest commitment to each other and looked forward to what life had to offer and enjoy the good times and share the not-so-good ones together. A lot of things just rushed through my mind and it was kinda like a flashback and you know things happen for a reason and if you are ready to be patient and persistent, you are rewarded. I’m so looking forward to the marriage day and starting a new life with the person I love.

As the date was approaching closer, we were making plans for the engagement day. Sonia came down to Mumbai with her brother on one of the Weekends and me, my mom and bro went out for shopping for rings and sarees. We went to Mumbai and met my bro’s friend Rohit and his wife who suggested we shop in Matunga and Dadar. It was fun shopping and the ladies were having a ball…on expected lines.

On another weekend, Sonia’s brother and her uncle visited me at my place in Bangalore. I showed them around the house and my office in EC. I guess it’s one of those things when a family wants to make sure their daughter will be comfortable living with her husband.

At work, there was an opportunity to travel to Scotland to meet one of our partners and discuss business opportunities. It was my second trip to Scotland, the first one was my amazing trip to Edinburgh with my friend Shweta. This time I was travelling to Glasgow. Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and unlike Edinburgh it is seemed more like a financial hub for businesses around the world. Edinburgh is where you see re-visit history. I was excited nevertheless, like every new journey I undertake. And this time I also have Sonia to thank for making this possible.

It so happened that I missed my alarm at 2 AM to board the cab to go to the airport. Around 4 AM, Sonia calls to check on me and I see my watch and get a rude shock. I rush to get my stuff together and to my luck see a cab waiting to take a neighbor to the airport. I hitch with him and just in the nick of time make it to my flight at 6:30 AM. Phew!

I took my usual BA flight from Bangalore to London and then Glasgow. I had a couple of days of work and managed to squeeze in a Weekend to go around the city. I met my folks at office and made new contacts and it was business as usual in those 2 days. It’s always nice to meet new people from different parts of the world and hear from them about their life and work. We went out had drinks and that always works to forge new friendships.

There is also a not-so-good part to every trip and this time it was the hotel I was staying, the Premier Inn at East Kilbride.

These small hotels in quaint places look pretty but once you step in, you are suddenly transported back in another era. This hotel did not have a lift, no phone in the room and the Internet cost £ 5 for an hour and these are Internet cards you scratch. Personal Credit cards can be used to re-charge online…no corporate cards. I had to keep going up and down the reception if I wanted something, it was just pathetic. The only saving grace was the bed and it was superlative and I had good nights sleep every night. There was two restaurant close by and that was my joint for complimentary b’fast at Crooked Lum and dinners at Beefeater Grill.

On the first day I reached, I realized I didn’t carry the usual stuff like my belt and socks and had to go shopping at the near-by East Kilbride Shopping center. It was a nice place and had its own Ice Rink where small kids looked like they were practicing for Scotland’s Got Talent show.

To my surprise, I found an Indian joint called Cafe India and actually had Samosas for snacks and Chicken Briyani for dinner. The food is not always a great talking point outside India and so let me switch to the part where I happen to visit Scotland’s National Football stadium, the Hampden.

I took a Train from East Kilbride to Central Glasgow and from there to Mount Florida where the Hampden Stadium is located. The train rides in the UK are always a nice way to see the country side and this was no different. It’s also a good idea to grab a jacket at all times, coz the Scotland weather can change at the drop of a hat. The Stadium was a short walk from the Mount Florida railway station. It looked pretty impressive from the outside. So basically, you buy tickets to visit the Stadium Museum and the Tour of the Stadium.

I visited the Museum first and saw some of the finest football player profiles, trophies and great battle stories displayed for the viewers. It even had X-Box gaming consoles for viewers to play FIFA. It was interesting to read and watch how Scotland football evolved over the years and the birth of the rival Glasgow Teams…the Celtics and Rangers.

The tour started around 11 AM. There was a guide who seemed to have worked in the Stadium for a long time. There was another old german couple and we started the tour with the dressings rooms, the umpires rooms and media rooms. There was an indoor practice field where the visitors can try kicking the ball in the nets and see the speed of the shot. Nice touch. And then the moment we have been waiting for, step in the middle of the Stadium and take-in the fabulous view…I could imagine what it must feel to play in front of the screaming fans and lift the trophy in the end. I so wanted to witness a real game but alas, there was a game scheduled for the next day. Nevertheless, I loved every minute inside the stadium and spent some time surfing to find out other places of interest. I headed back to Central Glasgow and took one of those hop-on, hop-off buses and did a city tour.

The weather was a little cold outside but it was nice to zip around and look at all the landmarks in Glasgow. From the Clyde Arc at Lake Clyde, the new-age Science Center, the Botanical Gardens, old Merchant City, Glasgow University, Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum, BBC Studios, the Clyde Auditorium or the “Armadillo”…the city has a fabulous line-up. Want to party? Head straight…to Boho we were told at West End…hmmm some other time.

Well, it was time to say good-bye and add another city to my list of places I have visited. It was difficult to stay in touch with folks back home with no phone and intermittent internet. I did have my personal phone but used it only to give them short updates. I was itchin to go back home especially now that I had someone waiting to hear from me. It was our first real test in what could be a regular affair when we get married and if I had to go out on business trips. I think we handled it well. As it turned out, the second trip was also just around the corner and this time it was a place I always wanted to go….New York City.

But before I left for NYC, I was ready to make my formal commitment to Sonia. Get Engaged.

That day was especially sad on the contrary, I came back from work as usual sat browsing on my laptop and had switched on the TV. The day was July 13, 2011. One hour in to the evening and there was a breaking news on the marquee…there was a Bomb Blast in Mumbai. We all know how the Breaking News can be…it always comes in parts to the viewer so-to-speak. Like a standard operating procedure, Mumbaikars in Mumbai and outside tried reaching out to near and dear ones. The news in the mean time was getting grimmer, it was 3 blasts in different parts in Mumbai and from no one died to 5 then 7 and finally 11 besides the injured which ran in to the 70′s. I tried calling my folks but the network was jammed and I just waited for calm to prevail. Same places, same type of explosives, same ol Center told you..State did not act, CM in the Hospital, PM announcing ex-gratia, Media in the victims faces….how do you feel? F**k it.

I just took my eyes off the news for some time and started to do something I have been doing for quite some time now, which is find a partner in one of those matrimonial sites. That task was no less than finding who was responsible for the recent bombing. I reached out to a few who were online. I’m not going to get in to what kinda girls I was looking for but generally some one from Mumbai or any of the metros. Out of the two I reached out to, I got a response from one of them almost instantly. Her name was Sonia.

Well, after the initial “Hmmm…Ok” moment, I started going through her profile. She was a criminal lawyer, doing her practice from Pune and seemed like she was born and brought up there. Now, so many things in just that one line made me try to reach out to her. The fact that she was from Pune which is as good as Mumbai and the similarities does not end with the languages we speak, the food we eat, the life we live in the fast lane. The fact that she got herself a degree in law and deals with people and places that are not easy to work with in your every day life….cops anyone? Not me. The fact that she lost her father, totally unexpected and now having to face the prospect of holding the family together and be the man in the house. She was a gujju on her father’s side and a mallu on her mother’s side. Again, I had a feeling this will work coz my parents, esp. my mom was born not too far away from Kerala and spoke fluent Malayalam. I read she had one sibling, her younger brother who was 3 years younger than her. She was 26 and boy was she tall at 5’8…she was pretty too. Well, it was time for my James Bond moment.

The Matrimonial site wouldn’t let you access the other person’s contact details unless you are a Paid Member….really? I found that both of us were just Regular users on the site and there was no way to communicate. But where there is a will, there is a way. Mark Zuckerberg’s creation came to my help and I looked her up and Voila! I sent her a message and asked her if she was fine with me adding her, so we could communicate? I kinda knew the answer. So well, she passed me on her number and the rest as they say dear readers is…my turn to get lucky!

The next couple of days Vodafone definitely saw an unusual pattern in my txtng and callin thanks to the distance between us. After having got a feelin that things were headed in the right direction, I made my move and I told her I wanted to meet her. She agreed to meet in Pune. So many things run through your mind and you don’t know what you gonna say when you meet the girl you think you going to spend the rest of your life with. Everything at work and home seemed useless except for this one thing. It is true…the magic starts to unfold, you cannot move your eyes away from your phone, you cannot start your day or end the night without that person wishing you. You are restless, you see the stars fallin, you smile when you shouldn’t, you might even wear a pink to work (no I didn’t)… I wanted to be with her and so I did.

I met her exactly in a Weeks time.

The meeting itself was quite something which we have decided mutually to keep it to ourselves and it is not for public consumption…so sorry to disappoint you folks. All I can say is, she was the girl I wanted to marry and I did propose to her. She said “Yes”

She did however, wanted me to meet her mom and her uncle and she was confident they will give us their blessings. I called my mom and shared the news and I am so sure, she had moist eyes, she was waiting for this moment like all moms do and I had her speak to Sonia and they hit it of really well…only I had no idea what they were speaking…coz it was Mallu..all the way.

I did meet her mom and her brother the next day and they were a very lovely family. They did agree in principle and said they would call me back (reminded me of job interviews). Well, they did call and one thing lead to another and soon enough, we announced our engagement date…8th Sept 2011.

Back at work, it was difficult to contain the news and every now and then someone would just give me a you-are-not-gonna-tell-us-are-you? look. Sameer was the first one I shared this news with and then others at work and I sent a formal announcement to the HK gang back in Mumbai. Every one was so just happy to hear the news finally and sent me their best wishes and glad that I didn’t turn out the Elton John way…

We continued to keep in touch and were excited on the big day ahead of us.

The month was June, that time of the year when I get to push the clock, blow the candles and cut the cake. The b’days used to be a very joyous occasions when you are growing except now it is like a ticking bomb for some, esp. the parents when they see their son/daughter having very little time for what they call “settling down”. I’m settled alright on my plush couch…that doesn’t work though.

Well, all that changed in what I think was some sort of divine intervention and my boat rocked so hard, I found myself in LOVE I know….I know…keep it down guys, the neighbors might call ONE HUNDRED.

I had plans to spend time with my family on June 29th in Mumbai and I called up a few close friends in Chembur to join me for a party. Now in hindsight, there was absolutely no hunch what was coming (in the next 14 days) and that day it was all about catching up on friends stories and me sharing my travel experiences and work and my life in Bangalore. We decided to meet at the Wild Orchid, a nice place to chill, very close to my school and my school buddies. My guests that night were Sandhya, Aanchal, Nilesh, Krishna and Amandeep and my brother Karthik for good measure. Except for Aman the others were my school mates, we were very tight in school and had some of the most amazing times and no matter how many times you narrate those stories of the past, it never fails to evoke a ROFL moment. I was meeting Aman after a long time and we had college stories which includes but not limited to failed attempts to woo someone else’s sweethearts

The party went well in to the night, we cut the cake, downed some JDs and burned the dance floor and hopefully some carbs on the way. It was time to exchange the goodbyes and everyone wished good luck…yea, it was not far away. Before I knew, I was back in the grind at Bangalore.