Buffalo Dhamaal

2008-10-16T17:22:00.001-04:00

An Old Saying

2006-10-17T12:07:00.000-04:00

An old Gujarati saying:

kaman thi choodelo baand,
moh thi nikdelo shabd,
veetelo samay,
ek var gaya toh pachi pacha nathi aavta.

The second line can be generalized to not just spoken words but also actions that are committed. This line can be interpreted in two ways: you should be careful of your actions & choose your words carefully; the other interpretation would be to forgive your loved ones for what they said/did to you, they might not always mean what they said (esp. if they are angry at that time). Accept their apology and move on.

The Dark Side of the Moon

2006-10-13T11:04:00.000-04:00

I see the dark side of the moon,
Growing some days, devouring the bright side
Shrinking other days, defeated by the light
Waxing and waning, like the devil inside me.

I see the dark side of the moon,
Within it I see my dark side too.

We do it once, we do it right! :)

2006-05-30T00:40:00.000-04:00

The planning started on March 26 2006, and finally it was a memorable trip on Memorial Day weekend (May 26, 2006 – May 28, 2006) at Adirondacks :).

Lists for things to be bought for the trip kept pouring in. Kaushal taking the lead went ahead with organizing most of the trip, hats off! He made reservations for the camping site at Nicks Lake in the Old Forge region. Also, the rafting trip was planned & booked for Moose River by Kaushal & Shantanu. Tents purchased by Golu & Chintu (after too much research by Chintu ;)). Grill & barbeque enthusiasm showed by Kavin. Purvin & Chintu landed up doing loads of shopping of all the essentials, be it light, food, protection, etc. Kanan & I prepared thepla & other food necessary. Purvin & myself also researched on the trekking & hiking trails with no success :-P. Here we were all set for the trip, the car trunks loaded & all pumped up for an exciting & adventure-filled weekend ahead … Yoohooo…!

May 26, 2006 (Friday):

We (Buffalo gang) loaded the last bit onto the trunk and off for a great start at 4:30pm. We started with loud music in the car & all crazy acts. With Kanu aunty in the car, not a minute can go without music :-P Nautanki in the car! On the other side, Golu was struggling his way out of the DC traffic. Finally made it to Shantanu’s place and they drove to Kavin’s place where Chintu & Kavin were waiting all ready to start.

With continuous runs of 80-85 mph we made the 5+ hour journey in about 4 hours to the Old Forge town. Mother Nature started showing its hues :). Couldn’t help but appreciate the beauty every time. In this jhol, we lost our way… had to call the camping people to figure it out. Finally made it to the destination, just in time. B-29/B-31 was where we headed to; it was 10:00pm by now. It was only now that the other gang had made their move out, they would take 4-5 more hours.

Super-excited us, started unpacking. Unboxed the tent, and here we were building our tents. Reading the manual, finding our way out, sticking in the right rods, tying the right rope, and we were all set… tambu gaadh diya finally ;) The traditional Lantern hung on a tree branch by its side. All our energy wasted, we hogged on to the theplas & athanu ;) We decided to take a bit of sleep before the other gang came in. So some craziness in the tent for a while, before we slept away to glory. Boss, tambu mein dhoom-dhaam ;) They arrived earlier than expected, neat driving must say. Disturbed our sleep for some gap-shap. Shantanu ke haathon ka bana sheera in the middle of the night tasted great. Then Purvin uttered the golden words “Atyaare sui jao laa, nahitar kaal no aakho daado bagadshe” ;) O’boy… we picked up on him the entire trip bcoz of this statement! We distributed in the 2 tents for some golden sleep before the long day which was in store for us.

May 27, 2006 (Saturday):

Woke up by 9 o’clock… I know it’s late, but thought we’ll take it easy ;) Headed towards the showers to freshen up & get ready. Pilan mein thoda change tha… we decided to experiment with the grill & campfire before we headed to trek/hike. The campfire wouldn’t light enough, the charcoal wouldn’t get red-hot :(. With few futile attempts, we decided to move-on. The hunger satiated by sandwiches & chips.

And we started for the trek. Drove to the Cascade Lake trail (4.6 mile round trip) With great zeal… the trail went on with fun being the greatest ingredient. The walk through the tall green trees, some times bare trees, also through the sward, the swarm, marshy patches. Purvin had his shoe caught up in the marshy lands, hero-giri joh karne gaya tha bhidu ;) A beautiful sight of the waterfall refreshed us. A wash under the falls was rejuvenating… but the bugs had made life difficult. Logon ne unn bugs ko kitni gaaliyan di thi :-P Climbed on tree branches, Bandar-giri toh humare khoon mein hai ;) Chalte-chalte we eventually caught a sight of the lake. It was indeed blissful, my wait for the sight of a water-body ended. Took pictures in abundance, each one of us trying our hand at photography. Then got to see a group of people on horse back. Rested at a mini-falls; wetted our feet in the chill-cold waters & did kidas :-P Not to miss out, Purvin dropped his cellphone in the water - talent hai boss! ;) The trail ultimately came to an end. Pretty worn out by now…

Drove to the Bald Mt. Trail (one mile hike). This was really exciting, and we were cursing ourselves for doing that stupid previous trail. Many steep sections offering excellent view of Fulton Chain of Lakes. This was indeed scenic… started experimenting with B/W & Sepia modes on the camera. Eventually reached the mountain top and straight away climbed a tower there. The top view was mind-blowing; out of this world… jannat! By now the athlete & the smart one, Golu had cracked us up completely. And ya… not to forget, his Aniket and Thumbs Up ;) Maarna mat mujhe…! Kavin had lost his stamina by now, fukadi saale aisa hi hoga; he took a quick nap. Now tired, we decided to head back to our camping site. 4 of us zoomed down the slopes, with Golu falling once when his ABS system failed :-P. The other 4 lost their way, so we had to wait ½ hr at the base fighting the bugs. And we were outta here…

Ab toh logone thaan lee thee, Campfire aur Grill ko toh chalu karke hi rahenge. While Kanan & myself closed our eyes for a while, the guys did a gr8 job ;) (Don’t get ur mind to think wild). They just lit the campfire & as per instructions given by the gas-station guy got the charcoal to the red-hot stage ;) Kaushal used his expertise from Samiyala to get the woods burning to fire. Ab garmi badh gayi thee :-P Bando ne sahi kaam kiya, grilled veggies & burgers were ready for us. Shantanu & Purvin, the hot pair showed their culinary skills & served hot grilled food to all of us. Now was when we really felt the tire… we gave each other massages (Don’t worry, not foot massages ;)) We crashed in the tents, some snoring, some shivering in the cold.

May 28, 2006 (Sunday):

Morning was too early on Sunday. 6:30am the alarm rang & we struggled to get out of the tent into the cold. Now it was time to pack up & get to our rafting site on time. Ab tamboo ukhaadne ki baari thi. Tents out in no time, but fight thi iss samaan ko ab car ke trunk mein fit karne ki. Convinced the other car to take both the tents with them ;) Cleaned up the litter & left the camping site. We had to say bye-bye to the grill. Also, FSA ki yaad dila di meine Kavin & Shantanu ko. They had to dig into the dumpster to actually get my shoes out, which were by mistake dumped into the trash :-P U guys rock… Thanx :-)

Now came the super-exciting part, white-water rafting. Oh did I mention… before we left on Friday the rafting guys called us up & told us that they won’t be conducting the trip. To our good luck they arranged for a level 4 rapid in the Hudson River (17 mile stretch) for us :-). Jo hota hai ache ke liye hota hai. We grabbed coffee & finished the theplas for breakfast. Now we had to cover a distance of about 60 miles within 45 mins. The drivers did a great job of driving through the curved roads. Some great maneuvering of the wheel & we made it just in time. They rushed us through wearing our rafting gear; we were all set to hit the waters in our wet-suits!

Here we were, finally listening to instructions from our raft guide (dunno if there’s a special noun you relate to them). Colleen, I guess that was her name & not even sure if I spelt it right. Guys, correct me if I’m wrong. Especially Kavin & Golu who were busy hitting on her, bahut try maara boss! Last row on the raft bhi occupy kiya, sorry daal nahi gali :-P Left back, right forward, dig it in and the best of all ‘Paddle check’ were the commands made known to us. Battling against the rapids, taking turns in securing the first row on the raft, the swims in the still sections, the lemonade & wraps served during the lunch break, the rapids again, Purvin’s fall in one of the rapids – style hai! The sensational beauty around was truly enchanting… The last 2-3 miles were still waters, the last 45 mins relaxing, playing the 20 question game. I became famous for my question, did the freedom-fighter become famous before or after the freedom struggle ;) :-P Kaushal would invariably pull my leg “Sabse bada stud kaun – Saloni”. We had a great time pulling Golu’s leg… Thumbs up, taste the thunder! Finally we reached the shore & helped her pull up our raft onto the truck.

The rafting company sponsored dinner tasted even more amazing ;) And once we had refilled our stomachs, we decided to spend sometime together before we departed. Maps in hand, now we were hunting for a place to relax on the grass, get a view of the lake and chit-chat for a while. The drive on 30 S was picturesque indeed! The scenic beauty never failed to impress me, attract me (a sight of a water body – my weakness, u see). We found parking on the banks of Mason lake. It was too beautiful all around. Have no words in praise of the blissful sight.

We munched some left over food & there came the time to depart :(. We finally took the last picture & bid farewell to each other, dispersed. Adieus amigos!

This wasn’t enough that our drive back was even more marvelous. The vivid skyline, the orange formed a silhouette… astounding.

Wohoa… still cant get over all the niceties of the weekend. Cant stop telling stories about it to friends around. Hence venting it all out here :-P

WE DO IT ONCE, WE DO IT RIGHT… What say public?

p.s. Oye boss, feel free to add if I've missed out on something. Apun se koi galti hua toh maaf kar dena.

Live Passion With: Youth For Equality

2006-05-19T22:14:00.000-04:00

Live Passion With: Youth For Equality

Buffalo Sabres vs. Boston Bruins

2006-03-14T22:42:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday I went to watch an Ice Hockey game at the HSBC Arena in downtown Buffalo with my office co-workers. The game was between Buffalo Sabres and Boston Bruins. Personally, I am no big fan of hockey or for that matter any other sport. But since I got the ticket worth 77 dollars for free, din't want to miss the opportunity ;). For a change, most of the people at my work place follow ice hockey over football - may be because the Buffalo Bills suck and Sabres are one of the best teams in the league.

Anyways, so back to the game. When I got the ticket, all I knew about the game was it's called 'Ice Hockey' and nothing more than that ;) and even today I hardly know anything more than that. However, I found hockey very easy to follow over football. I tried a lot but still can't follow football, but hockey isn't that bad for me. Also, in hockey the players do fight a lot with the opposite team. I saw at least 4 such instances of fighting. Surprisingly, the referres stand there and allow them to fight instead of stopping, and that's really the exciting thing about this game.

So, being a no great fan of hockey or Sabres, my prime goal was to experience how does it feel like being in the Arena and watching the game live for free..:). And believe me it really feels good. The stadium was something - for me it was a first such experience, so I found it very amazing and overwhelming. The stadium was almost packed with 18690 people, that's really a big number for a city like Buffalo. I had no idea that Buffalo has such a huge number of hockey fans. But it does. The best part of the arena was its sound system with thousands of wattage. And when the speakers are at full volume, nobody in the stadium can sit without cheering and shouting and making as much noise as they could. Truly, those speakers really made me cheer 'Let's Go Buffalo' again and again. And you could really feel adrenalin rushing in your veins.

There were hundreds of such exciting events happening to keep the crowd charged on an ongoing basis. To add to this, the Sabres being a better team over Bruins and Sabres playing at home - the crowd was really going mad with every goal they made. And you can only feel sorry for the Bruins. Poor guys...!

Btw, the Sabres won squarely with 6 goals, while the Bruins could only make 2.

Happy Holi

2006-03-14T13:59:00.000-05:00

If I had been in India this time around, I would be completely immersed in Rang and enjoying my favorite Festival with a pinch of Bhang ...aur hote dost hamare sang.. aur lagate hum unke Ang par Rang...
Happy Holi to all...Enjoy the festival of Colors.....
-Kavin.

Basanti Ko Rang Diya Finally...

2006-02-18T13:02:00.000-05:00

So finally the day came last night, yes last night. Eventually we watched 'Rang De Basanti' in theatre. It's really been a long wait though. I had never waited so eagerly to watch any movie until RDB came. All of us here in Buffalo were very badly desperate to watch the movie in the opening weekend. Btw, we here mostly means - Kanan, Purvin, Saloni, Kavin and myself and some others as well.

We tried million things, rhetorically if not literally, to our bad luck it wasn't being screened anywhere within the 60-100 miles radius of Buffalo, and we really cursed Buffalo a lot for that. Everyone then wanted to be in NYC or Jersey or Cali. At that point of time we were even ready to drive upto 200 miles or more, just to watch the movie. So restless were we that, we even tried to get tickets in Cleveland, which is 200 miles away, but somehow it didn't work out. In that regard on the Saturday of the opening week, at some theatre in Cleveland we did call like 10 times, nothing worked. Btw, we could never figure out what was there in the voice mail of that theatre. His speech was so jumbled up ;).
Anyways, so first week went just like that.. And then we were listening from everyone from all across America, it's very very good movie and this and that. Sab log hame jalaa rahe the. And slowly but steadily ab hum logo kaa bhi tempo and enthu jaa rahaa tha. Day by day the novelty of the movie was becoming and open secret. Then reviews in news and other sources. Personally, I refrained from reading any news about RDB ;), I was even making sure that we don't even discuss anything about the story :). We din't watch it on streaming websites, even though it was there. Somehow it was all over me/us and we wanted to see in hall only.

After all the failures, we just gave up and surrendered to our luck, and accepted just to wait until it comes in Buffalo. And finally, it came last night. So once again, this week we were so charged up to watch it FINALLY in theatre in BUFFALO. And if like it wasn't still done, when we reached at the theatre there was a huge crowd waiting to get into the hall. Saw something like that for the first time in America, and we waited almost for 20+ minutes in line to get in. Due to this, most of the groups were scattered all across the theatre due to non-availability of adjacent seats.

But we really enjoyed last night. It was well worth the wait. Needless to say, the movie is well made and no doubt it's very dramatic just like any Hindi movie but with a strong message leading to thought provocation. And I'm in no mood to write the review here ;).

Kaushal

Uncle Bob and Aunty Valentine

2006-02-13T18:49:00.000-05:00

Hey guys, I know I have been too lazy in recent months and have hardly posted anything on this blog and I really dont have any excuse for this act..actually I think this blog has died down and people surely should be more active in putting up any crap on the blog......I hope people will start writing more on this blog....
Ok I am sure by now everyone would be wondering what exactly does the title suggest here and what is it that Kavin is trying to convey here...or is this one of his usual farts which everyone will have to put up with...So let me tell u this upfront...this post is dedicated to Uncle Bob and Aunty Valentine...Ok pls let every 1 know who Uncle Bob is and how is aunty Valentine related to u or Uncle Bob? Ok..it goes like this...Uncle Bob is just one of the words which some of my friends and me have been using to describe our state of being on weekends or more appropriately how would we like to pass our weekends...Just picturize Uncle Bob having a 6 pack of Beer sitting in his arm chair the whole day and watching TV(movies, Football., or any other show), smoking cigarettes and doing nothing but just lazing around the whole day ..so Uncle Bob is just a lame description ...This is exactly how my weekend was (without the beer though)...Friday night at KJPs and Purvins house...we cooked some Pulav and Sabji..and decided to watch a movie in the night..but somehow only me and Kaushal ended up watching Waisa Bhi Hota Hai Part 2 because the others had to leave and get up early the next day to go for Skiing.....The movie was funny and also was very light...so I crashed at 4 am and I managed to get up by 10.30 am the next day and by then Kaushal, Purvin and Saloni had left for Skiing...So I decided to freshen up and head to the library...I managed to reach the library to do some work,but just then again as uncle Bob had decided not to let me study,I decided to watch a movie named Brokeback Mountain ..good movie with a story which is handled with care...so one more movie for the weekend...Again that night just like Uncle Bob would have done we happened to watch one more hindi movie...Mangal Pandey(Chirag Bhai ..K'nans cousin was the star of this movie) appreciated much more than Aamir Khan...The movie was horrible and so just headed home and crashed...Sunday morning woke up at 11.30 am and me and Purvin decided to cook Poha...I think it turned out to be pretty nice and so after eating Poha ..me Purvin and Kushal were wondering what to do and were just trying to kill time..I was lying on the Lazy Boy and was about to doze off...just then Purvin suggested that we shud watch one more movie...so once again me and Purvin this time ended up watching a movie named Morning raga..was a decent movie..and then finally the weekend came to an end and I just managed to live like Uncle Bob for the weekend...lazed a lot over the weekend...One of the laziest days I have spend at Buffalo , but believe me it was nice....
So now its time to talk abt aunty Valentine...I am sure u guys wud have surely guessed by now wht I am referring to...Ya its true...Valentine Day has arrived...Gosh so much pressure it gets along with it every year for guys who are single like me who try and please aunty Valentine..I call it the mid-Febrauary crisis....oops I am sure it puts pressure even on ppl who are in a relationship...for a matter of fact I think it puts additional pressure on guys/girls who are in a relatioship...They have to start finding that special card,gifts,poems and many other things just to show their love on this day...I think there is a lot of planning that needs to be done... and I wud really appreciate any person who could manage to pull it off well...But for me I dont think that this day is of any particular significance...ya ya I know u will say that Kavin does not have a GF and so is whining about it...But seriously I dont think that one day can justify that your love for ur gf/bf is really special and u dont do anything about it for the remaining year...I think it has to be all year round.. Just see this pic and just see how much this guy has done to prove his love for his special girl..I wud not wish him Happy Valentine...I wud rather wish him a Hairy Valentine day....I wonder whether he wud have given all his hair to his Gf as a gift... not a bad idea though..
Anyways since I had a good time being with Uncle Bob over the weekend, I wud love Aunty Valentine to come on Tuesday and get me a special gift(Ipod-30GB) to show her love to me.I will love if she could make me good dinner and clean all the plates after tht.She could get me a DVD of my fav movie and we cud watch it together .She could spend the night together and in the morning make me some Coffee and then just leave...It would be such a great V day ..aunty Valentine cud help me live like Uncle Bob even on a Tueday...That would be the best thing ever to happen to me..I dont think I am asking for too much from my Valentine and in return she will get my love for the whole day ...its a good deal once in a lifetime and so all the girls out there shud take their chances and get a hold of me before it is too late...
Anyways guys,I hope everyone had a great weekend and I sincerely hope everyone has a Happy Valentine....
Cheers,
Kavin.

Around the corner I have a friend....

2006-02-08T20:23:00.000-05:00

This one really seems true, eventhough we are too young... :)

------------
*Around the corner I have a friend,*
*In this great city that has no end,*
*Yet the days go by and weeks rush on,*
*And before I know it, a year is gone.*
*And I never see my old friends face,*
*For life is a swift and terrible race,*
*He knows I like him just as well,*
*As in the days when I rang his bell.*
*And he rang mine but we were younger then,*
*And now we are busy, tired men.*
*Tired of playing a foolish game,*
*Tired of trying to make a name.*
*"Tomorrow" I say! "I will call on Jim*
*Just to show that I'm thinking of him."*
*But tomorrow comes and tomorrow goes,*
*And distance between us grows and grows.*
*Around the corner, yet miles away,*
*"Here's a telegram sir," "Jim died today."*

*And that's what we get and deserve in the end.*
*Around the corner, a vanished friend.*
*Remember to always say what you mean.*
*If you love someone, tell them.*
*Don't be afraid to express yourself.*
*Reach out and tell someone what they mean to you.*
*Because when you decide that it is the right time*
*it might be too late.*
*Seize the day.*
*Never have regrets.*
*And most importantly, stay close to your friends*
*and family, for they have helped make you the person that you are today.*

Not so Buffalo....!

2006-01-24T21:57:00.000-05:00

I guess everybody should be wondering like me. This winter is really not normal in Buffalo, and Buffalonians are surely missing something this year. You got it right, so far the 3 winters that I've seen, this one is unsual and any winter has never been so uncold. In a way it feels really good, when it doesn't snow in January, and everymorning when you look outside and you realize that the roads are not white even today, you thank the God for giving one more good day :).

It is unbelieveable that you can go out on a January evening with just a sweater on. But, it's been happening this year. In a short term, this really feels great, but if you dig a little deep, you would want to agree with thousands of other world citizens in believing and in attributing the warm winter to global warning. And if you can recall, the summer of 2005 was also historically hot with temperatures consistently crossing 90+ in June/July, and everyone was shouting back then and people preferred to stay in school for no reason to beat the heat :).

This surely says a lot where are we heading in the 21st century...!

Kaushal

Merry Christmas

2005-12-26T01:52:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas to Dhamaal public...Enjoy the Festivities...
Regards,
Kavin.

Wats going on...Wats going on...!

2005-12-15T11:15:00.000-05:00

Long time there hasnt been a post on dhamaal :(

Wats going on... with everyone?

Best days of our lives

2005-11-18T11:52:00.000-05:00

I found the following on TOI. Very true....

Kaushal

-------------------------------

The new year also signifies the beginning of a new phase for many collegians — life after graduation. However, the bittersweet memories of college days are hard to forget, as are the friendships. Bonds that have been immortalised by artists, singers and writers galore, and yet, barely lasted once university is over.

Life after college is like a sieve. It filters all your friends through, and ultimately there remain only one or two, whom you actually care to keep in touch with," smiles designer Amrita Gupta. "Funnily enough, it gives you a reality check on friends who were purely 'hang-out' buddies and those who you actually never want to lose touch with," she adds.

However, for many, those 'one or two' special friends also slowly melt into oblivion with the passing years. "In college your lives are inter-twined, your worries and aims are similar. Once you part ways, you lead separate lives. And life deals differently with different people. After a point it is tough to keep up a friendship, because of the different circumstances one is in," says 32-year-old techie Rahul Sharma...

...Agrees businessman Namit Mehta, "Sometimes you zoom ahead in your career while your college friend is still struggling to get a foothold. Then the distance is not only literal but even metaphorical. Awkwardness comes in which is sad."

But for many, surfing through websites often brings back pangs of nostalgia as they come across unexpected buddies. "I suddenly came across a link to the personal site of my roommate in college. It was so nice and so sad at the same time, as I thought of how we always vowed to stay in touch," reminisces homemaker Anju Sheth.

"I came across my exflame in college on a site. And strangely, despite being married myself I was elated to know he wasn't married yet!" laughs Sanjita Agarwal, software professional...

...It is probably easier to keep in touch if one is single. Once you are married, there are too many issues that take up your time," adds Sheth as an afterthought. And sure enough, for many, the void left by a close friend after college, fills soon enough.

As VJ Nikhil Chinnappa explains, "When you leave college, there are tears (yes even among men!) and promises to keep in touch. Then you enter the professional world and become too busy shaping your life."

He signs off humming, "Those were the best days of my life..."

--------------------------

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1299136,curpg-1.cms

Cricket Mania

2005-11-03T14:49:00.000-05:00

Guys I have been following the series between India and Sri Lanka very closely and I have to admit that its one of the best Cricket being played by India in a very long time.Its not tht the Lankans are playing bad, Its just that the Indians are playing too good.Last match is just an perfect example of it.The match was swinging between India and Lanka and for a moment it looked that Lankans will take it, but the new young guns Raina and Dhoni showed that the future of In dian ckt looks bright .They finished the match in style and played as gr8 mature cricketers.
I just hope they carry the good form all the way and Dravid can be the man to get us our lost glory.Long way to go but lets just pray for the best.Good luck India.
--Kavin.

Happy Diwali!

2005-11-01T03:09:00.000-05:00

Happy Diwali and New Year!
Lots of Wishes!

Kaushal

Halloween Candies!

2005-10-31T21:34:00.000-05:00

A humorous incident happened just a little while ago! Someone was knocking the door! I opened the door and what I see is two girls standing outside with orange bucket of pumpkin shape in their hands. Then they said, "Halloween Candies ?"

I thought they are offering me candies. So I tried to pick a candy from the bucket, and here are they, both of them shocked and surprised :D! Suddenly, I realized something is going out of order here! Then thought, I guess I am supposed to give them candies ;). So, went inside, apparently there were no chocolates/candies inside. Din't know what to do now! Fortunately, I had bought oat meal cookies yesterday, so thought of giving those, otherwise it would have been very embarrassing! So, took advantage of the night and sneaked in a cookie into each of the pumpkins! I hope the girls din't notice it :P.

Laughed a lot after closing the door and still laughing! Now, I realized why they sell lots of candies in Halloween! Anyways,

Happy Halloween!

Kaushal

Kaju katri or Fish??

2005-10-27T16:27:00.000-04:00

Everyone brings in some food stuff and puts it up as a biting for others at my workplace. As Diwali is approaching I took a packet of Kaju roll my parents had send from India….
Well I know it would not be very much welcomed but to my surprise.. people first thought it was Fish……………
Secondaly there was silver foiling around the Kaju roll and it also had saffron in it… So these guys ask me if they had to remove the silver foil or not…
I had a difficult time explaining them , that it was an edible silver foil…….
The most hillirous part….
Table manners to inke khoon me hoti hai.. so these guys got a fork and knife to cut the sweet and eat it… That was heights…
At this point I felt I should have got something spicy for them instead of such delicious sweets!!!!!

Jersey ki sabse choti prem kahani!!!

2005-10-24T18:41:00.000-04:00

Shantanu, Hemal, Chintan and myself were at Jersey City garba at Elizebeth High School on 10/22/05….
I must say , we did see some amazing girls… wearing some stunning traditional outfits…
The atmosphere was thrilling and everyone was dancing with full energy…
At this time Hemal (Golu) was dancing with a couple of his friends from NJ and their girlfriends..
Suddenly out of the blue a simple but sexy girl dressed in a Black Punjabi style salvar kmezz came and joined their dacing group…. Hemal had his eyes set on her.. and was dancing with extra enthusizm…
In between Hemal also did a chance pe dance kind of act…. And had fundedi with this beautiful girl… Ya her name was Sheetal….

Ok at the end of garba everyone was scattering and this girl came up where we were standing… and tells us that she has seen us over there from the previous three weeks….
What crap… this was the first time we had gone for garba in Jersey.. but the girl was interested in talking…..
The suddenly there was a pause and no one was talking…. Golu wanted to get the girls ph. No. but was waiting for me and Shantanu to ask it….
So as the pause prolonged instead of asking for the Ph. No.. I said ok good bye…. (well did not know that golu was so much interested!!) and hence we parted even without taking any contact info….

Later on Golu told that the girl was working in Philly and Shantanu also got so disappointed that he also missed an opportunity…………..

Now for our Mr. Golu he did not ask the number because if he had asked the number then to store the number he would have to take out his good for nothing cellphone and looking at golu’s cell definitely the girl would not have given her number… So it was a nice popat of golu… and we laughed our hearts out

Trip to Philly

2005-10-24T18:38:00.000-04:00

Last weekend I went to Philly for a weekend trip. Hemal was also there from Virginia. As usual the flight to Baltimore was delayed by 30 min. which was not bad. At the airport Hemal was there to pick me up. He did get some food stuff from Taco Bell for drive to Philly. We reached Philly around 11PM. And then the usual TP started. After a long time Shantanu had a chance to cook some delicious Dosa for us and let me tell you.. He has not lost his touch for dosa. Because of some mishaps in supply chain… there was no chatni but the sambhar was equally good.
Meeting friends after a long time (1 month) sleeping is the last thing on mind….. (Except for golu) so we went out for a drive in the pouring rain… drived through some famous downtown streets of Philly…. Had a coffee in between from a gas station and came back home around 3:30-4:00.
The next day in the morning I had to go and visit some of my relatives. So we got up by 9:30 and then my uncle took us for a coffee at Dunkin Donuts…
We all got together at a Mall around 2:30 and did loads of shopping but at a very cheap price. Then headed to Baja Fresh.. A Mexican restaurant. It was my first visit and I really liked the Mexican food over there. Especially the fresh salsa bar out there.

By 5:30 we were heading towards Jersey City for Garba. Reached at Himanshu’s (Kaushal’s Brother) house by 8:00. Everyone got ready and left for Garba which was accutually only 15min away but we lost our way in the confusing streets of jersey and it took us 1:30 hrs to reach there…
The atmosphere in the hall was magistic… for the first time I heard so loud music in USA… and so many Indians together….. The ABCD or migrated girls were looking stunning… but as always said never fall for a chick in garba as all look sexy…..
Chintan was also there along with his parents so it was kind of a small get-together at Jersey. We did some cool garba steps … and especially Golu had great fun with some unknown girls..(Read the next blog for its details!!)
After garba we came back to Himanshu’s house and had some nice gujju snacks at 3 in the night..
Headed back for Philly at 4:00 AM and reached at 6:00 .. Hemal as always had a nice snoring sleep in the car… We all went to sleep and got up at 12:00…
One of our seniors at Buffalo Viral was there and we all went out for Punjabi lunch at Jaipur.. The food was amazing.. and can’t even dream of such Punjabi food in Buffalo.

Then visited Shantanu’s office.. The area is a well developed Business Park... and its very senic…Came back home... did some tp and I and Golu headed back for Baltimore...

In all it was a fun filled and satisfying trip.

How is climate in Buffalo?

2005-10-14T12:04:00.000-04:00

Dear All:

Just checking how is climate in Buffalo? Because here it is too hot and we all are in shortssssssssssssssssssss

I hope you guys are not in sweatshirt.

Hahahahahahha

:-)

Adi

Fun in La

2005-10-10T22:52:00.000-04:00

Dear Dhamaalees:

I am buffalosick (Homesick) looking at all the snaps you guys had been sending it to us. First thing was garba. I am a garba freak and can dance (Bombay istyle 2...4) for hours if I have a right group and right people. But I hope to go atleast on one of the weekdays for garba here in LA with our public log.

Well on other side we are having fun in LA. It is good to have Kavin, Shashi and Patel here. It really feels good and as Snigdha babhi is coming too all the hopes are high. Life in big city really makes difference....but I guess if you have good friends circle then what the hell where you are it does not make any difference. Well I am attaching some of the pictures of mine enjoying the nightlife in LA.

Buffalo Garba-2005

2005-10-10T14:45:00.000-04:00

Hello fellows,

Navratri is going on and the Gujarati Samaj of Buffalo like each year had their Garba in a Church Hall ( Yes its wired Garba in Church!!) But this time instead of one day… We had garba for two days…. Friday and Saturday…

Not all the Dhamaalies in Buffalo preferred to come on Friday. (which I personally feel was a much better day for playing Garba as there was more space…) But Saturday Garba Rocked…..Hemal ( chotli), Jeetal, Nimesh, Saloni, Kanan, Kavita, Chandresh, Keya ( most of you know her) and myself (Purvin) were there…

As usual there were some discussions before Garba on the difference in the style of Garba from Gujarat and Mumbai…..But once we were there nothing mattered…
Everyone was so enthu for playing Garba that we all jumped into the arena… and were tapping our feet to the gujju garba music….

The girls were doing some kind of spinning popat... which I tried to copy but was not very successful. So most of the times I kept myself to the patent jumping Dodhiyu…
But I should say the girls were very graceful in their act……
Slowly the pace of the garba increased and we also did not disappoint the DJ (DR. Bhupendra Patel) and kept with the pace…

Apart for the Dhamaalies there was a big crowd from UB and guys let me tell you the girls were looking stunning …. As far as guys were concerned I shall let the girls comment on it…

After playing for about an hour and a half... Dandia-raas started which also had its initial confusions... Once again Kanan and Saloni were playing some Dandi raas in which they were spinning a lot and doing everything except for making contact of Dandia with the opposite person.. It was really getting difficult for first time 40 plus uncles and aunty to play with them…but in the end everyone had fun…..

After that we had Maataaji ni Arti… a perfect time for fishing!!!! The dhamaal Guys were successful in their fishing…. And it followed by Prasad or I should rather say dinner.

We had Fafda , Jalabi, Kachodi, Green Chatni, and some shero and other sweets….
I used my Amdavadi skills of gusofying in a line and got plates twice before our actual turn came… This was not enough we had an announcement that Chole-Puri is also there for the bhookhadas.. And we were not behind in getting it…

Well but this was not enough…. Then started the hich(gujju term for jhatka ;)) and again followed by garba and dandia..
Not to forget followed by mango & pista ice-cream…wah kya mazzaaa aa gaya.
It was a memorable evening which everyone shall cherish…
The next day morning was bad with everyone having a body and feet aching….. As all of us had played garba for prolonged hours after a long time…
But the pain was worth for what we enjoyed the previous day….

-- PURVIN

Who is "Jungle Queen" ?

2005-10-06T01:16:00.000-04:00

As everyone knows, Kanan is very famous for giving innovative and out of the box names to people and things as well. Ex. mammad, pappad, gangu, baablu, dhinglu....and the list goes on. But she doesn't have a name for herself - so strange, naa ?

So, today I christen her as "Jungle Queen". Wondering ? To know the reason for this name please look for "Kanan" in Gujarati-Gujarati dictionary.

Everyone please say "Hi" to our new Queen of the Jungle!

Kaushal

This one is for Gandhi - Vishal Gandhi :)

2005-10-04T02:54:00.000-04:00

Hey All, Say hi to Vishal Gandhi
Vishal, meet all these people... they are known as dhamaalees ;)

Now everyone must be wondering why this formal introduction even after Vishal is a part of dhamaal. Well it was very much required. Vishal has been regularly reading the blog , and has been a silent admirer. However, he confessed that he doesnt know the dhamaal people much so does not feel free to comment on our postings.

So Vishal, here is a formal intorduction & an open invitation to feel free & post blogs/comments. A request to our moderator to give him posting rights. And yes be ready to give & take crap :)

Aapka iss duniya mein hum haardik swaagat karte hai. People please give him a round of applause...! Heres introducing... Gandhi - Vishal Gandhi ...tede tede ted te te (Was suppose to be Hindi movie musical effect ;))

p.s. I also dunno many dhamaalees really well, very new to them. But what the heck, I can still make an effort & so can u vishal :)

Made a 'PITT'- Stop

2005-10-03T13:18:00.000-04:00

The debate started with should we leave at 2:00am or 4:00am. Was indeed planned for 2:00am but as usual the delays led to a 4:00am start ... and there we were on I-90. After a 4 hr. journey we reached Pittsburgh. Took 4 hrs. due to some wrong lefts-n-rights. And yes, not to forget the PP-emergencies ;) Chintan,Shantanu, Golu, Purvin, Kanan, Kavita & myself finally met each other at the Sri-Venkateshwara Temple in Pittsburgh, PA. Was a great feeling to meet old friends after months :)

At the temple, we enrolled for the Archana...did the 'Archana' pooja and spent some peaceful time at the mandir. Then had our breakfast comprising of upma, tamrind rice & bisibela bhaath, sweet-boondi, etc. Then headed towards Jain Temple. Shantanu got a car-pooja done for his new Black Nissan Altima. Felt like we had really become gr8 bhakts...atleast for yest. ;) Too many temple visits, and good acts!

Then was the wonderful lunch at UDIPI. (One regret, noone treated me:( ) Oh man...by now we were so full, too lazy to do anything. So we decided to sit at one place & chat. We again drove to the temple, and took rest under the shade of a tree, on the grass. Everyone let their thoughts flow, we were just generally talking. Since Chitu & Golu had to get back to work today morning, we departed pretty soon. At about 3:30pm we departed...and back to Buffalo.

We 3 girls had a gr8 time irritating Purvin during the course of our journeys, which he refers to as raping, harrasing, torturing, etc. Thanx to the Navigators & drivers, we had gr8 safe journeys. Once we were back, we had Batata-wada(brought by Shantanu) at my place (21 Merrimac). I slept like a log last night. Slept at 11...and woke up today morning at 10...wow it was good.

All in all, one more memorable day of my life came to an end:(
Oooff...Cant really get out of the mood still :)

Highlights of the trip : Masti-dhamaal & Food.

p.s. Shanatnu would put up the pics soon, so havent added pictures to this blog yet.
Also, everyone please feel free to add ur version or any comments about yesterday.

International Food Tasting Festival at St. Joseph Church

2005-10-02T21:51:00.000-04:00

Hi people,Check out this photo album:
http://community.webshots.com/album/463108865gVAZYd

This photo album is of a truly multi-cultural event at St. Joseph church in Buffalo. The event was called 'Taste of St. Joseph' and featured food, dance, music, crafts, and displays by people from different countries. Our group (Indians) made Bhel, Besan laddoos, and Indian Tea. In addition to this we had volunteers putting 'Mehendi,' which eventually became a major attraction at our table. Towards the end, vishal and saneel's band played a song from the album 'Indian Oceans' and Amarja Desai did bharat-natyam on the popular song - 'Omkar Swarupa.' All praise to the volunteers (Clive, Nikki, Sujeet, Brian, Medha, Purvin, Kanan, Saloni, Amarja, Sonal, Sandeep, and Hanson) for remarkably show-casing the Indian culture. Especially the efforts put by Clive, Nikki, Sujeet, and Brian are laudable.

Chandresh

Friday fever

2005-09-30T16:35:00.000-04:00

Guys, its friday and I dont know but I suddenly become pumped up and just look forward to have a great time in the eve ...its like at office I am ready t0 do ne kind of work and just run off ...I start getting restless...after 3 I start escaping my Boss's eye so that he cannot inundate me with ne work ...Now every Friday, I have somethin to look forward to..I have started to play for a Cricket team in USC..there is a tournament goin on in USCX and its good fun...I even got to play in the lights in the Stadium and its a great feeling and tht too on a Friday..Cant get better than this...This is 1 of the best things of staying in California...the weather permits u to play all kind of outdoor sports and for a sports freak like me ..its heaven...
So the Friday fever is something tht no 1 can escape from...even if I am not doin anythin on a friday night..I just wont sleep early..i will do something or the other and just stay up as late I can...
Anyways guys hope every 1 has a great weekend and keep blogging..
Laters,
Kavin.

LA on Fire!

2005-09-29T20:08:00.000-04:00

LA weather has been nasty for past 2 days, and today it reached 97 F. Can you beat that ? I experienced that for the first time in 2 years. And sahi main was feeling very uncomfortable in this heat at home. Couldn't do much work for the whole day and had bath for 2 times and drank a lot of apple juice and sprite. But, no relief man. Still don't know what to do and it's 90 at this moment. Opening the doors also din't help a lot.

Then thought of checking LA Times, and suddenly realized that LA is on fire, yes, literally. Had heard about it yesterday, but couldn't relate it to the current heat wave. But then got everything. Believe me folks, -20 deg C of Buffalo is bearable but 97 F in LA, beyond my tolerance. Home has become like a furnace now, and I don't have a fan ;).

Btw, this place is in north of Santa Monica!

Kaushal

P.S: LA Times Links:

Article Photos A Photos B Video

Soccer Match at LA

2005-09-28T01:11:00.000-04:00

Guys here are some of the pics of the Soccer match between Real Madrid and LA Galaxy which I happened to watch live at the Stadium here in LA...It was my first ever Soccer match in a stadium and it was all that I was hoping for...I have been to a lot of CKT matches back in Bbay, but surely this match also comes up in my fav list..I got to c the likes of Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos,Michael Oven, Figo, ZIDANE..Beckham(I hate him though), Cassias..and all the other gr8 stars of Madrid..It was truly a wonderful experience and would love to watch a soccer match agn and preferrably in a European country...Guys the next CKT world cup is in West Indies and hopefully if everything goes well, I would love to go and watch tht in West Indies...
Laters,
Kavin

How "Google" was derived ?

2005-09-27T16:20:00.000-04:00

We all know that "Google" has become a verb now! Ever wondered what is the origin of the word "Google", it was coined by a mathematician long before Google's birth. Here is some info on Google's 7th birthday today, from Google's history!

http://www.google.com/intl/en/corporate/history.html#1995

Some more at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Googol

Kaushal

P.S:http://googleblog.blogspot.com/ - Official Google Blog

How do forwards originate ?

2005-09-23T20:52:00.000-04:00

Hi All,

I've been wondering on something for a while now (for past few hours ;)). The questions is in the subject line. We always get forwards in one form or another. And many people don't like them at all. But, does any one know how do they originate ? I mean did you ever put 10 flowers or 7 cute kids or 9 great pictures together and wrote a message for each of those ? At least I've never done so, I always get something from somewhere and just pass it on, if I like it ;). And I guess all of us do the same thing, right ? But I myself have never done anything like this or compiled 15 PJs together and started the chain.

Sometimes, I've seen mails originating from some big companies, and then they have note at the bottom that "Meant for the recipients only etc..", so do they have such departments/employees in their companies to compile such mails ? ;). Or, are there any special people in the market who do such work or they are just like us with lots of time to spare ? The wondering question is "Who/where/what is the source ?"

So, what do you say, any inputs on this people ?

Kaushal

Fix A Flat

2005-09-23T12:40:00.000-04:00

Hello,
If u ever get a flat tyer, and u dunno wat to do, u can use “Fix A Flat”, it’s a bottle of a size of a huge deo bottle, contains a yellowish liquid, which fixes the breach in the rubber tube inside the tyer, its for 10 bucks in walgreens, handy to keep in the car, supports the tyer by the time u reach a mechanic.
Thanxs.
Chab.

It looked like a dream once upon a time

2005-09-21T13:04:00.000-04:00

Had I not been in USA, sports like Golf, Tennis, Racketball, Squash, American Football, Roller-blading all seemed like a dream. But I cud do all this after coming here.

Besides the sports I played in India like cricket, valleyball, basketball, soccer, cycling, swimming, skating, skiing, adventure sports , etc. I played various sports after coming here. Started with playing Squash/Racketball for tp. Then in Florida got an opportunity to get hands on Golf. Driving the Puts was fun. Played American Football over the weekend, not tackling though but Touch-football was indeed a gr8 experience. Have been trying my shots in Tennis, be it sixes, boundaries or even nets ;) Also had done skating on 4 wheels, however roller-blading just looked too difficult. Trust me it took 2 mins to get myself to balance on the roller-blades. Was a lot of fun.

Sports truly r fun....have been enjoying every bit of it :))

Mummy ko nahin hain pataa....

2005-09-20T02:27:00.000-04:00

Last weekend, was the first weekend for me in Los Angeles urf LA! Kavin had come to Shashi's place on saturday evening. And, we met about after 4 months! Did a lot of tp on saturday night and watched Bunti & Bubli, then sunday whole day was fultoo tp as you could guess rigthly!

Then, went to eat "Indian Chinese" in a restaurant called Tangra Bistro in Cerritos, I guess suburb of LA. It's a favourite restaurant of Desis around. And we 5 really enjoyed the food, I had such a spicy Chinese for the first time after a span of over 2 years. See the photos! The unidentified individual is Mohan :), with who I stay, of course Shashi is also there!

And, as per the plan we went to watch a Hindi movie in a theatre nearby called Naz 8,. 8 since it has 8 screens! At least, I was very excited since it was the first time I was going to watch a Hindi movie in America. And above all with the tp gang, it was more fun! Frankly speaking, I had almost forgotten how a movie watching experience in theatre is ;)! I mean every now and then I got amazed at the sound system ;). It sounded so great, imagine watching a movie in a theatre after 2 years! It was nothing great, just a simple Dolby system, but I really enjoyed it.

As far as movie is concerned, it was pathetic! But the music is good and really enjoyed few songs - halka halka sa hain shama and mummy ko nahin hain pata ;)! It was unbelievable who could probably write such a lyric for the 2nd song! Otherwise, total waste! But was fun though! Oh man, I forgot to write the name of the movie, but keep guessing ;)!

Kaushal

P.S: It was Chocolate.

Memorial day weekend snaps...

2005-09-20T01:42:00.000-04:00

Guys, here are some of the snaps of the grp which we had clicked at Niagara falls on the Memorial weekend...surely happened to b memorial..there are also some opf my friends in this snap..Reddy kabootar caught live flying high at Niagara falls......so Enjoy guys....

Car buying fiasco

2005-09-16T23:57:00.000-04:00

Hi ppl,
As you must be knowing I am searching for a decent car to buy (for almost 2 months now!!). Past Labour day weekend I was very close to getting a car but something happened, nobody knows whose fault it was, and the car buying didn't work out. Read the story ahead to know what happened.

It was a long weekend and I was quite intent in buying a car and getting over with this car buying headache. I had searched extensively online and had short-listed the best car for my budget. On Saturday (Sept 3), I first went to an authorized Toyota dealer asking for a new Toyota Corolla CE. I test drove one and it was a smooth ride, overall a really good car (ofcourse you can't expect anything less from Toyota). Problem came with price: I was asking to buy the car at invoice price of a 2005 Corolla CE but the sales person was stuck at MSRP for a 2006 Corolla CE (when you live in Fairfield county sales ppl think you are rich ignorant buyer. I saw one lady buying a 2005 SUV in ~5 min at $500 less than the MSRP and she thought it was a great deal. lol ). Anyways, I was still trying to negotiate (for almost 1 hr) to bring the price to my budget but the dealer didn't budge and finally kicked me out (not exactly kick, but he put the 'kick' in his words, you could say). Next, I went to a Honda dealer. This time, I made it sound as if I was just looking and inquired about Honda Civic VP and certified Civic LX/EX. Again, prices were exorbitant. Came back home empty haded :(

On Sunday, Sept 4, all the dealers were closed (such weird business timings are quite common here), so I was home doing more research about cars (mostly used/certified vehicles).

Monday, Sept 5, I went to the Toyota dealer (the same one who had kicked me out) and this time I was inquiring about certified vehicles. Finally, found a 2003 Corolla CE. A lot of miles on it (compared to the norm), but came with Toyota warranty which would continue till 2009, so was not worried much about the miles. Again, there were lots of numbers to-and-from on the negotiating table, but this time I won :) I made the down payment and did the necessary paper work. Since I have a New York licence, the car couldn't be registered immediately in my name. The dealer asked me to get Connecticut Licence/State ID the next day. So, registration was the only thing left. I even got the car added to my car insurance. The dealer gave me a temporary registration for a couple of days till I can get the proper registraition done. So, I came back home with my car :D The CT DMV (Department of Motor Vehicle) is on my way to office so I decided to go there early next day to get CT ID. Next day at the DMV, I got one of the biggest shocks of my life: I cannot get Connecticut licence or State Id. Apparently, there is a law which says that your licence should be atleast 6 months old to transfer it to CT licence(I got my NY licence in May this year). Also, I couldn't get a Connecticut state Id as that would revoke my New York licence (I didn't want that at all). So, shocked and not completely understanding what all this meant, I went to office. Half attentive at work, I managed to get thru the day. In the evening I went to the dealer and told him what I had learned. Connecticut had another law which says that you need a Connecticut licence to buy and register the car in this state. Oops!!! One work around was to get a relative, with a valid connecticut licence, on the loan of the car and register the car in his/her name and after I get my CT licence in November, refinance the car in my name only. I talked to my cousin regarding this, but he pointed cons with this approach: I would have to pay the sales tax again when I refinance the car, insurance problem for him, property tax, etc. That would be an expensive deal, so that was a big no no. All this took another 2 days. The car is still with me but it is giving me more tension than doing good. Finally, on Thursday (Sept 8) I returned the car to the dealer :( Was totally frustrated thinking about what had happened all weekend trying to figure out what went wrong. Fianlly, I gave up.

My first big purchase in USA and a disaster. Seems like I can't buy and register a car in Connecticut until November (there is legally no way to do that). So, I'll have to purchase a car from New York. So, started searching for a car there. Fortunately, I have some relatives there but imagine what whould happen to a person who was alone and couldn't give any address in New York? ... who writes such flawed laws?

NOTE TO READER: Hope you liked reading this as much I liked writing it. Some of the situations and emotions have been exaggerated above to make for some interesting reading :D
If you can't laugh at yourself you shouldn't at other ppl too.

Regards,
Chintan

watup

2005-09-16T00:01:00.000-04:00

kya hua aaj fir thanda pad gaya.....kuch to likho saalo....yaar gaddar party members...

Waste Log

2005-09-15T01:12:00.000-04:00

LA wale paagal ho gaye hai...bachaao

abbe jaago

2005-09-15T00:49:00.000-04:00

arre sabhi log...post karna chalu karo..

Norwalk Oyster Festival

2005-09-13T22:07:00.000-04:00

Norwalk Oyster Festival is like an American "mela" held every year in Norwalk just before summer oficially ends. It is an excellent place to have a family picnic. This year it was during the weekend from September 9 to September 11. The fair was close to South Norwalk downtown, ~5min walk from my place. Initially, I was not at all inclined to go there -- what to do all alone in a fair where I don't know
anyone? But then on Saturday, after listening to Radio Teentaal for almost 4 hrs, I finally got bored of listening to music and decided to go for the festival.

The place was really well set up. They had a whole bunch of stuff for ppl of all ages. For kids/teens they had swings/rides, some comparable to the rides one finds in big theme parks (see picture). That was cool. For the ladies they had shopping stalls selling some rare and cool stuff. For the guys they had the beer stalls and hot dog center close by. So they catered all :) They had three stages where live bands played popular songs. At the main stage, the band played county classics. The older and family folks really liked those. I hadn't heard any of the songs, but the music was good. At another stage they had different local bands playing soft rock, some really nice tunes. I was at this stage for the entire 4 hrs that I was at the festival. They even had something like a dance stage. Really missed you guys. Was watching other ppl dance. Even the really old folks were dancing at the 60s tunes(that was a bit funny for I don't think any of our parents will be able or willing to dance when they are of that age). Heard HOODOO, The Short Bus and a jaaz band. The jaaz band was my favourite.(I have some videos, will send them some time later)

Remembered Clive and Kavin a lot when I was at the HD exhibition (see photos).

Overall it was a welcome break for me. I saw ppl out in the open in Norwalk for a change.

(tried to keep this post short this time)
http://www.fairfieldcountyonline.com/

One More Down!

2005-09-12T14:44:00.000-04:00

One by one everyone is leaving Buffalo.

We had a lot of fun last few days, before Mr. Patel left Buffalo. This time it was not at 90 Cornell but at 240 Montrose. Cooked dinner together (Not to forget Ragda pattice, usal pau, Veg. Puffs,etc.) , sat together to chat, Joked around (especially "karne" wale jokes ;)), Clicked a lot of pictures, went for long drives etc.

However 10th Sept. night...was the last night for Kaushal here. We wanted to say bye to him in a special way. So our evil minds thought: "Ek bakra halaal karte hai". So we decided to garland Thaushal (Kanan way) , put tilak on his forhead, And hand him a Shrifal (coconut). But due to lack of resources, we did it the americanised way. We garlanded him with a false creeper & ribbons ... and crowned him with a wreath. Then put Tilak with cake-cream. Bechara, was shocked...! That night at Tim Hortons is a memory.

Keep having fun Patel.

G'luck with job hunt....

Saloni

Six Flags Great Adventure, NJ

2005-08-28T16:20:00.000-04:00

On Friday, August 12, 2005 (final week of training) we had a company picnic to Six Flags Great Adventure, NJ. The day stared early (~6:10am, yep that early), got ready and had to go to a colleague's place who would be driving some of us to the park. The park is ~2.5 hrs from Norwalk, CT and since it was working day for rest of the world, we would encounter a lot of NYC bound traffic, so we left early at ~7:30am. Reached the park at ~10:20am. The ride to the park was fun as the other ppl in the car were quite talktive and jovial. I was the only new hire in the car so didn't talk much (as usual) but was keenly listening to them. Most of it was crap, but got an insight into what amrus generally talk about and what I would experience at work.

The biggest attraction of the park is the new fasest and tallest roller-coaster in all US, Kingda Ka. It stands 450ft tall and goes from 0 to 128mph in just 3.5 sec. This is faster than the Dragster in Cedar Point, OH which I rode last August. The shape of KingDa Ka is same as that of Dragster, it has a 90 degree ascent, 90 degree descent and a 270 degree twist during descent. But, kingda ka has a bump at the end which Dragster doesn't have. Truly, that was the best way to start the roller-coaster ride in the park. There was a 2hr wait for it, but it was definitely worth it. Next, I rode on Twister: a huge swing which makes the full 360 degree circle. But, it moves slowly which is really scary at times as it pauses for almost a second at the top (like the TV serials which end at a suspense scene), it keeps you guessing whether you will go all the way or just back the way you came. Also, the 360 degree circle can be the entire swing or just the seats. I would say pretty good ride.

Then it was time for lunch. Unfortunately, no garden burgers in any of the restaurants inside the park so had to eat salad (which was also good in a way because I didn't want to ride on a roller-coaster with a full stomatch).

Then we went on some smaller roller-coasters and a couple of water rides. The best of them would be the "Stunt man" ride where they drop you from some height and you experience free fall. The colleague with me kept a penny on his lap when we sat on the ride and during the ride we saw the penny flying with us while we were in air, really cool :)

My final ride of the day was Nitro. This is a fast roller coaster (although not as fast as kingda ka) but it has lots of humps and s-turns. Also, at certain points on a turn the centrifugal force (hope you remember that stuff from std. XII) is so large that you experience large accelerations which can knock you out. I don't think I had that passing away feeling, but 2 of my colleagues were talking about it on our way back.

It was only 4:30pm when I finished Nitro and could bear a couple more rides but weather was against us ... it started raining heavily and the rides were closed. So we had to head back home. But overall, it was a great fun day. I'm looking forward to getting there again.

Some advice when you are making such trips to theme parks:
1. Carry water/soda with you or know where to get some in the park
2. NEVER wear black clothing (even if it is you company T-shirt or your favourite jeans). Wear shorts, if possible.
3. Even if you don't intend to do the water rides, get a towel (because if everyone else is going and you feel like joining them as it is so hot, you have a way to dry yourself and not catch pneumonia)
4. Carry a plastic bag (zip lock bag preferred) to safely store cell phones/wallets when you go for the water rides.
5. Know someone who is carrying a bag/purse (girls generally do that, so be in good terms with them. In general, be in good terms with girls ;) ). Give them the stuff you bring along so that you can go on the rides carefree.
6. Bring sunscreen and gogs to look cool and protect your body :)

lazy bums

2005-08-28T11:51:00.000-04:00

well its a lazy sunday morning.......got up preety early (10.00 am, i suppose its early for most of us).......after breakfast started comp.......both me and kavita were on comp..........i was checking news on katrina (hurricane that's gonna hit louisiana and mississppi) and i checked my elder bro's (Avinash) blog (well he always asks me to check it and i always forget) so here i opened it on my comp.........i really like the background, the colour and design (http://avirandomthots.blogspot.com/) , i told kavita abt it.......and asked her to walk a few steps come over to my station and check out the blog (u guys have an idea how much distance is between her and my comp, not more than 5 steps)..........she said she is too lazy to get up..........ultimately we took help of technology and i sent her the link via yahoo messenger!!!!!!
technology rocks!!! esp for lazy bums like us!!!!
medha.

Blogger for Word

2005-08-18T15:33:00.000-04:00

there is a nice tool for posting on blogs directly from your MS-Word documents. just install the following toolbar and write in word and publish directly on the blog. however, it doesnt allow posting of images at this time. And above all, u don’t need to open any website or page. All u need is internet and MS Word. the links are:

http://buzz.blogger.com/bloggerforword.html

http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=1180

and i m posting this msg directly from word.

kaushal

LA Rocks

2005-08-17T21:18:00.000-04:00

Dear BuffaloDhaamal ke Wasiyo:

How you all doing? LA dudes are enjoying here. I celebrated my B'Day whole weekend. Last weekend me, Shashi and Kavin dude had been to one of the hottest place in LA i.e Venice Beach, Santa Monica Beach and Elsugendo Beach. Venice beach is same as you all must have seen in Baywatch serial as use to telecast in India. I have attached some of the pics above.

believe me Shashi's place is more like a vacation hangout place where beach is just a mile away. I hope u all visit LA soon.

Till then peace out!!!!!

Mera Buffalo Dhamaal Mahan.....
Kehlata hai Buffalo ki Shaan.......

ADI

The independence day brunchnner

2005-08-16T12:06:00.000-04:00

Hey guys wassup?

I am at home in NYC for a week and am having a ball..

just wanted to share my experience with u guys..

I have been hanging out with my buddy who has come from Mumbai and
has rented an apt a block away from my apt..so we are having a
blast..

So,yesterday we celebrated Independence day by going for an early
morning walk/jog in the flushing meadows park (the US open one)
nearby..we came home at 10 o clock ....

HUNGER STATUS: "ok not really hungry."

...we planned to go to the "ganesh temple" which has the most
delicious idlis/dosas/uttapas...but my dad gave us an "assignment"
which he had to do..so couldnt eat..had to drive somewhere.got lost
as usual..so the "assignment" finished at 2:30..

Hunger STATUS: STARVED.

SOLUTION:Jackson heights>>>Jackson Diner>>Unlimited food $9 Lunch
(daily between 12 to 4)
http://newyork.citysearch.com/profile/7411723/

So, I think the jackson diner boss might be having a second thought
over whether his "unlimited" food scheme was a good idea..
cos we HOGGED i repeat "HOOOOGGGGEEEDDD" the food..

Starters:Chaat.
"Pre" Lunch: Dosa
Lunch: Punjabi food chole,paneer makhanwala,etc etc
"Post" Lunch:Lassi
Dessert:Some sweet dish which was awesomly awesome..

The look of our table was quite a scene in the end...i think we
had "stacked" the plates (now I understand what a "stack" is in
programming;))The waiter demanded a tip from us (not joking) cos we
hogged till 4:30 although the "unlimited" scheme was till 4..

It was the most awesome "Brunchnner"(Breakfast+Lunch+Dinner) I have
ever had in my whole life....:):):):):) and ofcourse an
unforgettable independence day...

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: Please visit jackson diner if u r ever in NYC..

>>>>>PEACE<<<<<<<<

-V

Happy Birtday Adi Buddy...

2005-08-12T19:11:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday dude....may u have a blast today and gr8 wishes....saale raat ko mil Santa Monica main..santa ben aur Monica aunty dono ko lete hai....
Kavin.

Leaving 90 Cornell!!

2005-08-11T21:24:00.000-04:00

okay, finally i m writing something major after creating the blog. speaking honestly, i dint expect ppl to take so much interest in the blog. i thot it will get a gold response. but i've been proven wrong. and everyday there is at least a post. ha ha great job all of you. i wanted to write many things, but these days i m too much withdrawn into myself ;) and its very typical and chronic of me. tats why if any of you had noticed, i've been sending and responding to very few emails :D. kind of passive participation from me, which is unusual. but there are reasons. we r leaving 90 Cornell after 2 complete years. as a matter of fact, i moved in on August 15, 2003 and will move out on August 15, 2005. and so far i m not ready to accept tat i've to move out. its too much of attachment with the place. i've been trying to pack my things for past week or so. but everytime whenever i goto my room i just look around and dont know where to start from. even now, i came to do some packing but writing this ;). but yesterday did some stuff, finished at least packing the clothes. Kanan had helped a lot. Thanks Kanan! here are few images of packing. i cudnt take photos of packing in India, as was very busy and at that time i forgot to buy a new roll ;), but this time i m using this Canon S1 IS like anything! look at my room, its in miserable condition! ;)

but i guess, we've to move on in life as everyone does it. i just hope i'll be leaving 90 Cornell on monday finally ;) it causes a sense of nervousness and insecurity unnecessarily i guess. but shud get back to normal within few days. but after that major move is coming. its about leaving buffalo finally and permanently, hopefully for good ;) i'm moving to LA on 911. yes 911! tats also going to be a big event for me. as buffalo is where i saw america first, so it has special significance in my life, and i guess cud be true for most of us. i m not sure if i'll miss the snow or not :D

i guess will hv to skip writing here, so tat i hv something to write next time when i mv finally. :D wishes, Kaushal

2005-08-11T21:10:00.000-04:00

hey guys..

looks like everyone is still trying to get aqquainted with the blog...
same with me.... so kavin do give time to people to start blogging in full swing.....

also a technical question...... to the gurus of bloging.... why is it that if we send an email then it shows in kaushals name? ...... can that be changed? or its work in this way only.....................

and yes kavin its going to be the first weekend after the blog was created.. so i think there shall be some serious amount of activities... after this weekend........

-purvin

Heal The World

2005-08-11T16:26:00.000-04:00

Hey People,

I know I'm going to hear all of u say, this is a very intense one I'm posting...but its reality.

With all the misery and disaster Mumbai just went through; the natural calamities that hit Gujrat; the east- coast being affected by hurricanes...the bombing menace has scared people all over the place...

Why only India? Whats happening to the world?

The jeopardy the people fear everyday...

Lets be one and lets make this world a better place to be...

Heal The World
Make It A Better Place
For You And For Me
And The Entire Human Race
There Are People Dying
If You Care Enough
For The Living
Make A Better Place
For You And For Me

You And For Me
You And For Me

You And For Me

This is one of the famous songs by Michael Jackson: 'Heal The World' , that I was listening and realised its so very true and we should all abide with the motto 'Heal The World'

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/michaeljackson/healtheworld.html

--
Saloni Sonpal
Graduate Student,MS
Dept. of Computer Science and Engineering
University at Buffalo, SUNY
Contact No.: 716 - 348 - 1413
email: sksonpal@cse.buffalo.edu

* "I believe life is to be lived, not worked, enjoyed, not agonized, loved, not hated." Leland Bartlett

Hi guys

2005-08-11T12:50:00.000-04:00

How are you all doing today? We,the buffaloties,are enjoying the hot summer out here. Btw, the latest news is that mama and father are back to buffalo...................
Have to hear alot of stories bout India from them. And of course eat lots of sweets which they must have got from India.
Rest of the news after meeting them,

K for Kanan

(this was from kanan, i dont know where she posted, but it wasnt on the main blog, so i m posting it again)

Wassup guys

2005-08-10T19:03:00.000-04:00

Wassup guys, where r thou.....kuch to likho yaar is blog pe....I just returned back from Starbucks...thnk God there is Starbucks just opp my office...otherwise staying awake and sober at work wud have been hell of a task....
So wht else is cooking up with others....Shantanu bhaiyya tumhare se thoda aur input hona chahiye...u r 1 of the senior members of the grp and ur participation will be appreciated.....
Kavin..

A snap of Santa Monica beach

2005-08-09T21:49:00.000-04:00

These are some of the pics that I had taken when I had been to Santa Monica beach...the beach is awesome....

Buffalo Waloooooooo

2005-08-08T22:52:00.000-04:00

Wass uppppppppp dhamaal ke wasiyo

I am going to"DHARMENDRA ESTYLE"- chaki blogging & blogging.......

I am going to be a great contributor in this group because I love this group.

First of all I am having great time in LA. With all Pani Puri parties and Bhel Puri parties I do not miss India anymore. Also no worries as Kavin and Shashi are here and I am sure more will fly on west coast soon because "CALI" is the place to be.

Also I feel that this group should be more like a team than a group. If we need someone we should be able to help each other in future. So I have a good motto for our dhamaal group
"OUR MERIT.....TEAM SPIRIT"

Peace out!!!!
ADI

nostalgia

2005-08-08T20:41:00.000-04:00

I've been watching Star Plus for past 2-3 hours
:). Yes Star Plus in Hindi. Man, it feels so
nostalgic, I am almost ready to cry :(. The hindi
tv looks so different, and its kind of strange to
watch it now, but still feels apna and its great.
cant stop recalling the good old days in India. i
watched some of the serials like (which i never
used to watch in india;) ) - kasauti zindagi kay
;), zindgai mil ke bitaayenge and one more (cant
recall its name now ;) - but it has the child
character frooty, and the sona auntie. frooty has
become) etc. etc. its still the same characters
and same gaudy clothes, its so beautiful watching
it. i guess being in usa we dont realize wat we r
missing :(

Kaushal Patel
Ph: 716-353-5595

Fighter kabhi jeet taa nahin,
Looser kabhi haarta nahin. - Modesty Speaks!

Blog: http://buffalodhamaal.blogspot.com/

____________________________________________________
Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

testing time

2005-08-08T18:23:00.000-04:00

Guys, feels good to be blogging for the first time ever...so officially I am a blogger now...wow...feels like winning an oscar...I am still sobbing with the award in my hand and then I give my speech by thanking every 1 who has helped me to get this far, like rickshawwalas, taxi drivers,BEST bus drivers, then the pilot of the airways which got me here to USA and last but not the least...COACH USA....Thank you all..and God Bless....
Audience on their feet .....
Thank you,
Kavin..

One hour before getting a job

2005-08-07T18:21:00.000-04:00

Hey guys... first time bloggeer.. and testing it so
posting an unedited artical... which i have on my
laptop..
however its a intresting story.. so go ahead and read
it...
p.s. please pardon the spelling and other grammertical
mistakes.......

Things have to go wrong in the most unexpected way
with me.. However they have never cost me anything.
So its 1:00pm on 27th July 2005. And I had received a
call from Mr. Francisco the manager of Cello-Pack one
day back that we shall like to hire you.. But no
details where reviled and was called at 2:00 pm on
27th.
So here I was relaxing in 90 Cornell and starting to
get ready to go to Cello-Pack. I had already been to
the company a couple of times and the route was now
familiar to me.. Hence though will leave by 1:35 and
shall reach there easily.

At 1:30 I could not stop myself from leaving the
house.. and I opened Chandreshs Car door. And tried
to unlock the other door using the leaver on the main
door which is battery operated. But to my surprise it
was not working so I said to me leave it and lets
go
Now I am trying to turn the keys but cant here the
usual starting sound . At this moment I though boss..
kuch locha hai..
Suddenly my left arm fell on the leaver on left hand
side of the steering which is used to switch on and
off the lights And I realized that I had abandoned
the car with the lights on the rainy morning. And I
realized that I was in deep shit. There is no way to
reach the company without a Car...

I called Medha to inquire if Kavita was around and
they could help me by giving me a lift to the company.
But Medha was not exactly sure when she will meet
Kavita

Again I though whom should I call. AND A BULB IN MY
MIND REDDY
Thus I called Reddy. Explained him the situation. But
he had to take someone to the driving test in couple
of minutes. So he could not help.

As I am thinking about all this. My phone started to
ring it was Hemal..
As usual in his casual manner he asks me Shu thayu
company ma (what happened at thee company} .. I
explained him that leave the company aside there is a
problem of even reaching there.. So I told him talk
to you later and cut off his phone..

It is not good practice to call up the company and let
them know that I cant come today.. And the anxiety
about what shall be my package was so high that I was
in no mood to postpone my meeting to next day..

After doing some analysis and thinking shu pharak
pade (what difference does it make? I called the
company and told the receptionist over there that my
car broke down. And I shall be late.. (Very
unprofessional of me but did not have any option.)

Soon after this I was thinking of who can help me in
this situation. And Janghir is one person with lots
of resource. Thus I called him. Maybe his minutes
problem or something else he did not pick up my
phone. And I was I no mood to leave a message. So I
hang up After a couple of minutes. Janghir called
from his home phone.. whose number is not stored in my
phone so I did not recognize that it was Janghir. And
first though it was a call from Cello-Pack. ( Dimag
works in wrong directions only at crunch situation)

I did not tell Janghir that I am going to discuss an
offer and told him I have an interview so he advised
me leave everything and catch a cab quickly he
looked up on the internet and gave me three phone nos.
of different cab companies..

Now at this stage I did not even knew what kind of
offer the company was going to make and before that
only kharch karna padega. However once again not
doing much analysis I called the cab..

Now I even did not have cash with me Luckily as I was
leaving in the Cab I remembered that I need cash and
credit card shall not work over here. So I asked the
cab driver to pull over to the HSBC ATM

Now the journey starts.. And my eyes are stuck on the
meter only.. Which I always feel is running very fast
then it should.. (Generally feeling!!!)
In between Medha calles that she is with Kavita and
they can come and drop me off at the company.. However
it was too late.. so I asked her to see if they can
come to pick me up..
Sandy was there and he agreed to come and pick me up

I reached the company and finally the meter stopped
ticking.. At this time I was still on the phone
only.. Finally I paid $ 35 and though how uselessly I
am spending money The offer by the company better be
nice.
Now it was a rainy day though I was dressed properly
the rain droplets had made a mark on my nicely ironed
shirt. .
I told to myself forget everything and lets move in.

Inside the company also.. The manager first made me
feel comfortable and then keep on talking about what
kind of responsibilities and other stuff I shall have
to do.

Still no talks about the package

After about half and hr of all commitment talks he
finally took out two sheets of paper from a cover and
told me we are making you an offer which was good
enough

At that moment I felt yes the 35$ of taxi were
worth.

Thus as usual. In my life there is always comedy in
tragedy.. and vice versa. And the same thing happed
here also..

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com

The First Post!!!

2005-08-07T15:30:00.000-04:00

As decided and discussed during past week, the dhamaal blog has born now. It took me about 3 hours to do all these ;). As I was trying to customize the blog for buffalodhamaal. It took a while to upload the photo in the profile section. Blogger doesn't allow to upload photo directly from the computer. So, you've to host the photo somewhere on the net and then copy that link location into the profile item for photo. Also, I was not able to decide which template to choose for the blog, but couldn't find anything else more appealing than the current one :).

So enjoy the blog and start blogging dhamaalees!

Kaushal