The best two months of my life

Australia, Australia, Australia – why do I have to leave you. Can’t the time be stopped, can’t some miracle happen to let me stay here for some more time, to let me appreciate this beautiful country a bit more. Sadness grips me as the day of our departure gets nearer. The journey till the day we caught our flights was exciting but the journey of the last two months has been totally enthralling.

Singapore: Stepping outside the country for first time, entering this city of high-rises, a country where dirt and rubbish seems like a thing of the legends, with people so friendly, a culture so rich and the attractions so charming - Singapore was a perfect start. Coming from a country known for unclean environment, it left me wondering, how can something be so clean and properly organized. The aroma of food was so captivating – it was sad that I couldn’t experience it with me being almost a vegetarian. Huge shopping malls built all around were like shopping heaven for shopaholics like me.

A perfect stay: The family we have stayed with made our stay such a pleasant experience. The way they have treated us like family - it feels like we have known them for so long. With Bhaiyya and Bhabhi being very young, it was very comfortable for us to interact with them freely. We found a great friend in Bhaiyya, he does all sorts of bakar with us, advises us, enjoys with us, and tries to pull the leg of one or the other every time. The best thing I’ll miss is the wonderful food Bhabhi cooks for us. Being in Australia, getting Indian food and that too even better than the one you’d get in most restaurants outside, all credit goes to Bhabhi – who is talented in almost all sorts of cuisines. Soumya and Arya – though they trouble us a lot, but the sound of “Chachu” from these innocent kids sound so cute. God, I’ll miss these people

Chilly Canberra: The weather has been very chilly. Though it did not snow but the temperature dropped below zero many a time at nights – something I have always wanted to experience. But the heaters, the fiber clad houses, and we being laden with clothes all the time, the only time I felt seriously cold was when me and Kislay went on a 2 A.M. night-walk on the day when temperature dropped below minus four.

Influenza: As it is said that nothing can be ideal, this trip even wasn’t. There was a time when just a week before the Melbourne trip I caught common cold. Bed-ridden, experiencing extreme weakness, fever, malaise and nausea – I thought I had caught typhoid. My fear was aggravated by monetary concerns given the high costs of treatment. Bhaiyya kept me to keep my calm and said it was just a normal In-FLU-enza, very common in this cold climate. Now this word seemed very new to me, further heightening my tension. It was then when Wikipedia helped me to realize, it was just a normal case of Common cold, something I only knew as “Viral”. A rest for three days and I was all set for another exciting trip to the sports capital of Australia.

The best city to live in: Undoubtedly, Canberra is the best city to settle in. I have always been crazy to get settled abroad – US to be precise. But having lived these two beautiful months in Canberra, realizing how peaceful and nice this place is, this place surely would on the top of the chart on the places I’d like to live in. Mild population density, amazing infrastructure, beautiful surroundings – there is nothing more I can ask for.

Sydney: A jugaad of mine got us a two night stay in Four Points by Sheradon – the biggest hotel of Australia – a place where you need to shell out big bucks to stay in. Although we lucky fellas had to pay even less than what we paid the third night in a normal hotel. Sydney was a totally mesmerizing city – undoubtedly one of the best tourist destinations in the world. The opera house, the Sydney tower, the Sydney casino, shopping malls – even bigger than those in Singapore, McDonalds lying at every 10 minutes distance, I simply fell in love with that place. But the best thing about Sydney trip was the adventurous Skydiving we did. Falling from a height of 14000 feet at a speed of 250 kmph, it was worth every penny.

Melbourne: A trip just to spend a bit of money we had amassed over the past month, Melbourne is a unique city. Great attractions line every part of this city – connected by a network of trams – something which was totally new for me. Though rain hampered our experience a bit – but still seeing MCG and Rod Laver Arena from close up is a chance not many can get. Just like the enjoyment in Sydney was accentuated by the Skydiving, this place had the journey through “Great Ocean Road” on offer. This road running parallel to the ocean had on offer some really amazing views, beautiful surfing beaches, a visit to “The Twelve Apostles” – this is one place where you’d surely love to go on a long drive with your girlfriend.

Mark and the cool internship: We couldn’t have been any luckier to meet a person like Dr. Mark Pickering. The coolest professor ever – it was really funny when he used to roam around in his knickers within the campus, didn’t even say a word when he found us sleeping through work innumerable no. of times. Although I had been a bit anxious about my capabilities on completing this project, but Mark made the whole internship seem like a cakewalk.

I really will miss all this!!!! :(

IT’S AUSTRALIA MATE!!!!

Australia has been like a beautiful dream, a memory that I’ll cherish forever. A totally mesmerizing experience – far better than I had ever imagined……The beautiful preview of Singapore – my residence for next five months, the chilly winter of Canberra, those fights with Kislay, the lovely food Bhabhi cooked for us, the tiny tots and their sounds of “Chachu chachu”, those early morning chats with Dumbo, the trips into this beautiful country, an amazing internship, the amazing bakar sessions with Bhaiyya – “God I’ll miss all this so dearly”……………But then every dream has to come to an end.

Recollecting the experience in itself is so exciting, it can’t be described, rather just felt. The two phases of this trip – the planning and execution – so very opposite of each other – each offering unique moments of happiness as well as fear.

The journey to an Aussie vacation

The lucky start: Being within the first persons to receive an internship call from a foreign university was in itself a lucky charm – a sign for better things to come my way. To add to that, was the handsome stipend of five grand. And nothing could have been any better than the company of two people same branch, same hostel and even same group – two of my best friends…..

The search for accommodation: Much to my surprise, Canberra was unlike other Australian cities. Though Australia is big, but it’s capital had hardly any place on offer for students like us to stay. Fascinating houses came our way – one’s with fancy furnishings, swimming pools, modern appliances and what not – ranging from 300-400 dollars a week only to be rejected by my two companions on the grounds of being too costly – only later to be found that we rejected some golden opportunities. The photos above are only some of the few that I came across – there were many more on offering. With rejections from almost all real estate agencies, I decided to stick to the “Beggers are not choosers policy” and decided to go for a single bedroom apartment for 600 dollars a week – too much by Indian standards.

And it was then that Vaibhav decided to contact some acquaintance – the son of his neighbor who had recently shifted to Canberra to help us out. He offered us a stay in his house as a paying guest. Though I argued against it, accepting only when I was outvoted….But then what I fool would I have been not to accept.

Visa & Flight problems: Our visa application got delayed because Vaibhav had still not got his passport and we had decided to apply together. The situation worsened with flights getting costlier and availability declining at a steady pace. Though I had been trying with multiple agencies to get hold of a flight to Canberra, all of them required a confirmed visa. Once again, Vaibhav came to our rescue and some uncle of his got us a ticket booked on the dates we wanted without the submission of Visa and they even offered us to pay for the ticket within a fortnight.

Australian Immigration: Australia has one of the strictest immigration policies in the world and they decided to give us jitters before the start of our trip by declaring that the earliest they can decide whether they are willing to issue us Visas are just a week before the date of our flight. All sort of stupid interviews followed, unnecessary forms were asked to be filled, vague replies about the application status from the embassy – those were the fears that haunted me for almost two months.

Singapore Visa: With uncertainity in the date when our passport will arrive back, we had decided that we will apply for Singapore visa on arrival at the Singapore airport itself when one day I realized that we would be arriving in Singapore on a Saturday evening – a delay of a day and half before we could find the visa office opened on Monday.

The Australian immigration decided not to ruin our party. We got back our passports in time, got the Singapore visa stamped in India itself. Loads of concerns followed – how we’ll stuff so much stuff within 20 kg limit, how we’ll manage our food, how would we able to meet the expectations a professor has from us budding IITians, how would we survive the freezing cold of Australia, how life would be without friends, without family……..

But it’s now only that I can realize that it has been a perfect journey – paths carving out of nowhere through every trouble we encountered. And now I can understand the true meaning of “All is well that ends well”.

Mah Cronies !

Friend. Pal. Amigo. Buddy. Chum.....So many words...All for the same - the most valuable possessions one can ever have - or as some wise soul said, "One mind in two bodies". For me, my friends means much more...The best gifts I could ever get. So I dedicate this very first blog of mine (leave apart that stupid introduction), to my best pals, my partners in crime - if I ever committed one :)

Freond, as it originated. "Love incarnate". Someone whom you can trust your life with. Trust, that is returned. Relationship "Perfecto"....

Though there are so many people, I've known since childhood whom I care about, whom I can relate with, with that beautiful word, but some people are special - whom you cherish to have known all along. And here are those special angels of mine......

Sharma Ji "The precious one" - Coolness, calmness, composure - now that's what this guy is all about. Vivek can be the life of any group. With the all the maturity inside him, he's the one whom everybody likes to look upon. And he's always there for you..

Shubham "The coolest one" - I still remember that first Watch Out meeting where this smart chap introduces himself as The coolest one - Kelvinator :) Shubhi, is still like dat. Alvs having a cool attitude towards life. Now this guy taught me an endless list of things. Living for more than marks and grades, its the first thing I can take out from Shubham's guidebook. The great adventures college life had to offer, I would have been so unaware of them had this guy not been there. And ya, ofcourse he introduced me to his unique colored dressing sense ranging from Purple to green to ..... :)

Kislay "The cutest one" - Mr. Chinku has always been the cute guy of our grp. His "Kya kad dahe ho" is like really cute. Had some really gr8 time with him Down Under. And to some hand, this guy had a hand in me landing with that offer. Not that he ever realized it. Love u Kisi!

Aarti "The Sweetest One" - This lady is all about living life king size. Full of energy and life. I wonder how can somebody be so charming and vivacious. I really cherish her friendship. Thanks dudette for being there.

Arun "The One who'll always stand up for you" - I guess I can say nothing more than that. If there is one guy, who'll always be there to help you in the worse of time, its the Prince of Seodha. :P

Swami "The knowledgable one" - Swamiji is all about maturity, knowledge, philosophy. He and Sharma are like the advice center of our group. Always has some unique views about everything, most of which tend to be wrong :P but still everybody loves Swami, the bond.!

Six people that have totally made me change. Six people I never ever expect to forget in my life. Six people without whom life would have been tasteless. Six people which made things look brighter and beautiful.

My eyes become all sad and deep thoughts take over when I even have to think of life in college without these guys. Hope our friendship continues for ages!!!

For the very first time!!

A blog is something which is least expected outta guys like me…But still, I do write sometimes…Its like, sometimes you feel like sharing your feelings with anybody, except for a lifeless paper may be. Or as my keyboard knows better, how I beat the hell outta it to create some really sentimental piece of MS-Word file….

A paras or two, scribbled down and dumped away in some unnoticed folder on my comp - dats how its always been. I've been reading a lot of random blogs lately...So decided to create my own too...Still I don’t write that well…Guess, the Shakespeare in me hasn't come to life yet.

The funny blogspot address – ‘A Bugs Tale‘ .. I wanted to name it ‘A bugs life’..But some stupid moron, who has left blogging long back since 2004, wanted to ruin my happiness. I like this name newayz…‘BUGS’ - My nickname, dats Ridhi's gift! Dunno if this was inspired by that movie that really bugs me or if it was from dat cute ‘Bugs Bunny’…Wateva..Who cares!! But thx Ridhi, for the nice name. Saved me some time to think about a decent name....

As for this beautiful image, something very characteristic of me - "Pessimism", so perfectly depicted by the setting sun. N wat can be better than to put something you captured urself. Photographer indeed, I am... :D

N ya, there is something peculiar about the title as well…Insane but true. Coz most of d feelings I pen down are the ones which are like really sentimental.

Retrospection - My favorite past time

And when I retrospect, something really crazy takes me over…A profusion of emotions – Happiness, Sweet memories, Bad memories, Sadness. I do laugh at times at the silliest of things I’ve done. Even shed a tears or two at times.

Hey, if somebody was reading all this, and felt like banging their head somewhere, then its not my fault. I had already warned you…No words of wisdom here! :P