18th June, 2014

 Another date blog post, and a post after long time! I had pretty hectic work in office for last 3 months, was feeling tired, took a vacation and went to Gujarat. Visited Rajkot, Baroda, Anand and Bhanvangar. 4 cities in 9 days, lots of siblings masti, lots of home food, card games, and eventually gaining a few kilos at the end of it all!

 I visited Rajkot first, I was really surprised by the amount of development in Rajkot, I could see lots of premium apartment buildings, actually more than I have seen in Mumbai. The highways in Gujarat are also incredible, to be frank I have visited US, and some top cities in Gujarat have infrastructure facilities and development of similar to what you would find in the US!

 Did a lot of shopping in Rajkot, then I went to Bhavnagar, it is a very memorable place for me and my sister. We just used to love playing on the big swing in the yard outside the house and brushing in the open air tap every morning! As soon as I sat on the hichko, I felt an indescribable feeling, it was good, it was happiness, it was wonderful indeed! Went to our kud-devta Dhudiya-dada temple in Babara, which comes between Rajkot and Bhavnagar. Performed our family traditions there, and back to Bhavnagar.

 Went for the movie Fugly in the evening with my little PhD sister Nidhi, it was a big mall indeed, movie was nice too! After that had some exotic hot bhaijias, tomato and capcicum bhaijias to be precise! :D Went to Takteshwar mahadev temple after that, weather was wondeful, cool and windy. Takteshwar is a temple on the hill, and you can see whole of Bhavnagar from it!

 Next morning started for Anand, first time visit for me. Reached there and meet mota mama and all. Anand and Valabh Vidyanagar are next to each other, Valabh Vidyanagar is the biggest educational hub of Gujarat, where a lot of NRI students come too! Visited my brother's college where he is Assistant HOD, the infrastructure and cleanliness of the college were really commendable! Really impressed!

 Went to Baroda after that. Played cards with Snehal, had Punjabi food, a relief after 9 days of aamras and Gujarati cuisine, also had Pav Usal there. Started by journey back home from Baroda! It was a wonderful refreshing trip, and a memorable one indeed!

 Coming back to the subject now, today we had Kaizen fair in office, and my idea was selected as one of the top 12 in my unit. I was given a stall and I was presenting my idea to all visitors and the judging panel. A new experience indeed. I was a bit nervous all day, but did all the required preparations, started getting good feedback from the audience and then it all went well!

 Also finally ordered Moto E for mom, form flipkart today. This has become like booking tatkal ticket in irctc...lol. Also today is Sparsh's 4th month birth anniversary, Kaizen fair achievement dedicated to you big guy!

100 posts..5 years..

 I started blogging in 2008. My first post was on my mom's birthday that year. Also it was, when I just finished my graduation in Computer Engineering. I really love writing, I have passion for it, also I believe it is a very good way to look back at time, and relive some wonderful and special moments in life.

 I remember my first ever job at First Source, I was waiting for my joining date at Infosys, and wanted to do something productive. It was a wonderful experience. I worked for one month, just attended training for our client British Telecom. Project name was Talk Talk. Then came the moment, 20 days in my first job, I got joining date of Infosys. I spent very short time at First Source, but it was my first job. I had a lot of fun, and I also learnt a lot.

 So 10th November 2008 was my joining date at Infosys. I can see this was one of the most crucial period of my career. Working for such a big company, I was nervous and excited. I was definitely overwhelmed when I saw their Mysore campus. I am really proud to be associated with Infosys. I posted a couple of experience, one after one month at Infosys and one after six months. I feel great reading about the wonderful time I had there. Also there is the Transformation post on how I started spending lavishly on branded products, and the One year completion post. I was in MQ training during that time in hyderabad.

 I moved to Bangalore for my first production project. It was for MQ Support, client was Northwestern Mutual. I remember the post of Christmas 2009 in Bangalore, I really looked different then. I really had nice time in Bangalore with lots of parties and outings. 13th feb 2010 taught me a few things too. My time in Bangalore was wonderful. I learnt a lot in my first project, also I had lots and lots of fun.

 Then I had health problems, I had to undergo back surgery. I was on leave for more than a month. Once I resumed office, I joined Pune campus of Infosys. Another chapter in Infosys history, after Mysore, Hyderabad and Bangalore. I worked in the Hinjewadi phase 2 campus of Infosys. It was for microsoft project. I really liked the food there, lots of options. I specifically remember the super size paratha we used to get in the BPO cafeteria. I stayed in Pune for couple of months, and then I was back to hyderabad on short term transfer.

 I had lot of night shift in hyderabad. So lot of time to write philosophical stuff, mixed with astrophysics. I stayed in the guest house in hyderabad. 28th November 2010 was again a memorable day. I got a new mobile, Samsung Wave 723, it is still working great for me! Another post coming from night shift in hyderabad, which I am proud of: The Rational Philosophical Thinking.

 Then came 2011. A very memorable year for my life. The year when I went to USA for the first time. A year when I quit Infosys. A year when Indian won the cricket world cup.  Also 2011, was the time when I started working on my sci-fi novel. The Untitled Series.  Also 2011, was when I completed 10 years of vyaskartik2001. I started my grad studies at Purdue School of science. I could not adjust to the live by yourself lifestyle in US, I also could not manage job along with studies. Food and weather were also a problem. All these factors resulted in bad health and coming back to India.

 I started searching for a job. After 2 months, I finally got a job as a contractor in Amdocs. Amdocs is a lot different than Infosys. Here, employee care is given more importance as compared to Infosys. The work culture is great. Lot of fun events throughout the year. I am also lucky to be in a good team with good management. I will finish 2 years in Amdocs soon. Time has certainly passed quickly. I have lots and lots of memorable moments at Amdocs, one of them being meeting Anna Hazare. I have not written any post about life at Amdocs, like I have done for Infosys, but I do have lots of photo albums on facebook of the wonderful time I have had here.

 Also I have blogged a lot about cricket in this blog. Like every Indian I am an avid fan of cricket. I have also blogged a lot about technology, something you would expect from a Computer Engineer. Today is 29th Dec, 2013. Everyone has plans for the 31st. I don't know what I would be doing, but today I felt wonderful recalling the past 5 years of my life. Hope 2014 is a wonderful year for everyone!