Moverz n Shakerz

Two weeks ago, I moved out of the city where I did my Masters and moved to a friend’s place in the area, where I am interested to live and work. Anyway, that’s not a big deal. Everyone does so…known as: moving to greener pastures (however I have moved to north which is mostly white of snow). Now this process of moving is a painstaking one. You ought to take so many binary decisions. Either you can keep something and pack it (considered 1) or just trash it (considered 0). Decision 1 is not dependent just on your desire and attachment to that particular thing, but rather subjected to the availability of space in your suitcase and boxes. Decision 0 is affected by your ability to sever your attachment with that thing and respectfully place it in the trash can. Once placed, there is no turning back. By the time you will go to take it out from trash can (hats off to you), your roommate must have dumped some more garbage over it (sometimes roommates act faster than you think). Since I am moving every year from past 7 years, my packing skills have greatly improved. The fine print here is that my ability to part away from my belongings has decreased. Then, I run into the great conflict of volume vs. weight. All airlines have meticulously fixed their baggage policies in such a way that it is literally impossible to fix the stuff in the bag without exceeding the weight requirements. After making several combinations and adjustments, I finally made my mind to pay extra charges to the airlines (assuming it to be act of generosity and making a major contribution to prevent one more airline going bankrupt). Finally, thou moved safely…..!!!

Life@Airport

Its been quite a while when I last posted something on this blog and I think, I should better get regular here before others like you stop visiting my realm altogether. Well right now I am sitting at a place, where no one would like to sit and relax until forced to do so. Any guesses…well…before your mind wanders, let me break the silence….I am sitting at an airport waiting for my next connection which will take after 2 hours (hopefully…always to be added when talking about air-travel). There is something strange about an airport. So many people arrive here and leave; so many flights land here and take-off, so many bookstores, cafes, bars, restaurants are full of people here yet no single soul would ever express his/her desire to stay at an airport. Have you ever heard of someone planning his trip and saying lets fly from Atlanta, GA to Denver, CO visiting JFK in New York, O’Hare in Detroit and then San Francisco International Airport in our way ? Well, airports have everything ranging from a McDonalds to posh Sports Bar & Grills, Starbucks, bookstores, restrooms, lounges, wireless connection etc which are essential for one’s life. There is a possibility of meeting strangers and making friends or maybe more than that. I agree that cost of living is a little high at airports and it would be hard to find a place to sleep, but still it’s not a bad place to spend a couple of hours.

I have spent quite a lot of time at airports (my sincere thanks to the airlines and unpredictable weather conditions) and observed them closely. I have spent long layovers at airports which were actually not in my itinerary altogether. While coming from India, I spent 3 days in Boston, where I was not at all supposed to be. Last Sunday while enjoying one layover at Cincinnati airport, I met a guy whom I have met more than 5 years ago for a few minutes during one of my summer internship in India. He didn’t remember me (evident from the big ? mark on his face) and was amazed (evident from the * in his eyes) at my memory (I don’t forget people until I want to). Without digressing from my pont, lest ask this question: Would someone be willing to accept a grand prize of staying at a posh airport for 3 days and 2 nights?

Edited after sitting at this airport for 1.5 hrs: I completely agree with the fact that chairs at airports are not comfortable esp while sitting with a laptop.

Kim 'The Babe' shines !!

So, finally the Belgian Toughness shines in the US Open after defeating the top seeds of Tennis i.e.Sharapova 'the tigress', Venus Williams 'the powerhouse' and Mary Pierce 'the slammer staging a comeback' !!! Wow..what an achievement. This was the first time I had watched Kim Clijsters game completely and analyzed her performance. Her coverage of the court by exceptional stretching and reaching the ball was simply remarkable. She must have made her mom (Belgian Gymnastic champ) and dad (outstanding soccer player) proud of themselves. Her game has the technique, strategy and tenacity and offcourse excellent physical abilities. And then she had the determination to remove the black spot of not having any grand slam title. So, she got the US Open 2005 trophy. Her game against Maria Sharapova was a 'not to be missed one' and I dint missed it either.

Afterall my belief in 'a true fighter fights till the end' became stronger than ever...Yes !!!!

Inspired a Blog

Well..I inspired a Blog..Wow..a very close friedn fo mine got inspired from my blog..got into the world of blogging and then decided to put words to her thoughts..she started her own blog. Here it is:

Dewdrops of Thoughts

Check this out & leave your comments.

Fighting spirit at US Open

Today I did one of my favorite thing..watched tennis whole evening..the Women's singles quarterfinals of US Open. (yes..there was more to watch than mere women!) The two challenging matches I witnessed today lying on my couch sipping Coke Classic [no beer :(] were worth watching 'Live'. First was between Nadia Petrova (9) and the glamorous russian champ Sharapova (1). Sharapova has been the cynosure of all eyes this season not just because of her looks, but because of her fitness, practice and vigor. But today the champ had a hard time. Even though she won finally, but whole time I was favoring Petrova. Because for me, she was a true fighter. Her spirits in the game were awesome and worth appreciating.

I dont know why, but I always have this penchant to support the person who is fighting and struggling against a champion or against all odds. Maybe the true feeling of victory or achievement will come if you defeat a champ. In another words "The more challenging it is, more exciting it becomes !". Sometimes, I see myself in there and start supporting that person aggressively. The comeback of Nadia with well-placed shots and good serves after loosing at 1-4 was truly awesome. Even though she lost finally, but she did gave the feel of 'loosing' in second set. It was visible in Maria's errors and misdirected shots. Hats off to Petrova.

Second match was between Kim Clijsters (4) and Venus Williams (10). Venus is making a comeback and was ousted by the Belgian Bomber. Here I was in favor of Clijsters, not just because she is cute and athletic, but because of her determination. William's game is more governed by powerful shots and aggressiveness whereas there can be something more to the game i.e. technique, finding opponents shortcomings and using them, strength and high amount of agility and flexibility. Thats what Clijsters demonstarted on the courts. Her flexibility by taking shots at the end of the courts by stretching legs, endurance during long volleys were so great. Though she lost the first game, but then she fought back and finally won. She said, "Even though I probably wasn't playing my best tennis at all, for a set and a half, I still kept fighting." Thats what I like, "the spirit to fight".

This makes me realize that I also have to fight against all odds to get the career of my choice. Afterall, A true fighter fights till the end !!!

As for the tournament, as it shrinks to the final stages, the challenges will grow bigger, competition will become stiffer, stakes will be higher and excitement will increase to new heights....so will my beer consumption.

Power of Nature

After seeing the aftermaths of deadly Katrina, I am wondering about the power of nature.

Claude Monet once said:
"The richness I achieve comes from Nature, the source of my inspiration".

The nature is definitely not the source for my inspiration right now..!!!

Thesis goes online

After much efforts, my Masters thesis is available for the enthusiastics on World Wide Web. For any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me.

Mesoscopic Simulation of Grain Boundary Diffusion Creep in Inhomogeneous Microstructures

While browsing over the vast online library of Electronic Thesis & Dissertations(ETD) of my university, I was just wondering...if my thesis is another speck in the heap. Maybe for others..but not for me. For me, its my prized possession.... for which I toiled for two years !!!