2013...What a year it was !!

The year 2013 has ended and 2014 has arrived. Oh yes we are still alive and not seen the apocalypse of 2012 yet. We all fancied that we wouldn't see 2013 at all after watching the movie 2012 and imagining all the the devastation that would have happened. I guess the Mayans were wrong and one more year has passed. May be they meant something else. Who knows...we don't give a shit.

Moving on...talking about 2013. It was one the most exciting year that i experienced. All my excitement had stopped right after passing out from college and entering into the corporate world. Years passed and on the last day of each year i felt i wasted another year doing nothing but just work like a robot.

But 2013 was different. It was a happening year for me. Well to be more specific the year was  divided as the first half being absolutely dull and the other half full of happiness. The year 2013 started with the same old regular routine. Working my ass off in the Sarkari IT company (you can guess this) doing the same old production support work. It was too boring for me. 

To top it up my promotion was delayed further. I worked day and night to accomplish the unattainable goals defined in the so called goal sheets but it all went in vain. I got good ratings but it was not reflected on my pay. And every time when i spoke to my manager about it , all that i got was only one stupid answer "You are just doing what others are doing...there is nothing different that you are doing...Do something more".

Exactly how it was 

Months passed and i was closing in on completing 5 years working in the IT industry. 5 years of more downs and less ups. My job was boring. My life was mechanical. I use to travel a lot....over 3-4 hours daily to be precise. There was nothing exciting in it. It was the month of May when i decided to either quit my job or take a break and do something different. Quitting the job and joining another IT consulting company would have landed me up in the same situation. Before beginning my IT career i always wanted to study more and travel abroad. It was always on the cards. Travelling to another country was one thing that i always wanted to do as i believed that travelling makes us a better person. But the corporate world screwed me up and drained all the enthusiasm and will out of me. And to my bad luck i was never even remotely considered by the company for sending me abroad to work. There is a saying that "When the going gets tough the tough get going". And i am person who does not give up so easily.

So i thought about it and decided it was the right time for me to pursue my personal goals rather than sitting in the office and trying to accomplish those ridiculous Goals sheets. And then the second half of the year began.

Second Half of the year 2013: 

So i had decided to apply for admission in the Canadian colleges and do my PG. I got admits from few colleges and gave the exam. It all passed through swiftly. And to my surprise I got my visa for Canada very quickly. I never imagined it to happen so quickly considering my sheer bad luck working for over almost 5 years and getting nothing out of it. This is when all the excitement began for me. I started doing things which i never did before. Started experiencing new things. Few of those were 

1. Travelled by Plane for the first time ever in my life (Yayy !!)

Yes....Lufthansa it was!!

2. Stepped in another country 

3. Played tennis for the first time 



Well just imagine me as next Rafael Nadal in the making :-P



4. Played golf for the first time



Like a Pro !!



5. Became a chef (For Survival) 

One of my speciality dishes...Mutter(Matter) Paneer !!

6. Experienced snowfall (Chilling and Thrilling)

First ever snowfall experience..It felt like Large flakes fell from heaven as if the angels were having a pillow fight and the goose down fell to our humble homes.

7. Experienced white Christmas and a  New Year Celebration in another country 

New Years eve

8. Visited the Niagara falls 

This is a rare view

9. Went to a Casino 

To loose some money :-/

10. Started writing blogs

Started writing some crap things

11. And also went back to college again :-)

Well that was a wrap of 2013. There is a saying that "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all". To succeed, you must dare to live the dream for which you need to take risks.  I am extremely happy that i took the risk and made my decisions quickly . A lot things are yet to be done. 2014 is going to be a fun year for me and looking forward to it.  Expect more boring posts soon :-) 

A short poem

My dreams are why I don't sleep
I am why I sleeplessly dream
My ambitions are high, my thoughts are deep
I am God's unexplained scheme

I don't know who I am 

All I know is, I am just me
People think I am insane;
I dont give a damn 

Coz I fully enjoy my insanity

I make my own paths, I walk my own way

Listening to my heart all along the way
I sweat, I burn, I grow too tired at times
But I don't give up, come what may

 
Life is kind at times, and at times rude
It gets tempting sometimes to take the easy way out
But I am simply not that kinda dude
To give it all up when in doubt 

I toil everyday, all the four seasons 

To reach the destiny which for me is planned
Listening to my heart, which has reasons
That reason does not understand

A month completed in Canada !!

To start off, I have a great interest in reading blogs. I don't like reading books much but i like to read blogs written in informal ways. For many days i had been thinking of writing my own blog. For months i had been searching for a topic to start but always ended up out of ideas. After thinking over and over finally i got something to write on. Finally i found something to start off with and here i am for the first time trying to put my thoughts into a blog. My first experience living in another country !! I could not find any better topic to start off with. I flew on 22nd August from India to Canada to pursue my higher studies. Well it was a very tough decision for me leaving everything behind(Friends , Family , Job ). This was a risk i was willing to take and also thanks to my friends and family who gave me the support, strength and motivation to pursue my higher studies after working for over 5 years. Oh Yeahh 5 damn years !! Many of them loose interest in studying after spending so many years in IT. Pursuing my higher studies was always on my list of to do things. Also i was tired and bored to death working in IT doing the same mechanical work everyday. So i decided to go for my dream and here i am in Canada. 

A month has passed now staying in Canada. Many of my friends ask..How do you feel over there ? I say what kind of question is that. How would i feel without you :-/ Answer it yourself and you will get your answer. Those who really matter will understand it and those who don't..well i say ask yourself again ;-). And here i am recollecting all the moments that i had back in India. Of course college has started and it feels like going back in time. Same assignments, Same submissions , same last minute goof ups , last minute prep for Presentations , last minute study weekly quizzes, completing assignments on last day. Well i got this skill from my engineering and as a Mumbai university student i should work with same ethics ;-).

Its a Challenge !

The college is good and also the eduction system is well structured. Here the colleges make students to focus  work on real scenarios and case studies rather than just going by the book. The courses are well structured and aligned to Industry expectations. This is what i have felt till now. But what studying in Mumbai university made me learn i don't see the people learning that over here. Yes we always curse the Mumbai university especially when we have done engineering. We say that doing engineering is worthless in Mumbai university. Yes i will be honest that it hasn't taught me much academically. But i must say it did made us as Bachelors of working under pressure.

Oh yes you can !!! 

And i am making use of the same system over here. Minimum effort maximum output is the motto of every engineering student from Mumbai. Don't you agree with me ?? Many of you who have passed engineering from MU might have a thought on these skills before cursing the degree. I say that it had given us a small glimpse of what was coming up in our life not academically but through means of hard work and working under pressure. And this is what i feel is missing in the colleges over here. 

Well much spoken about the college now i would like to share what i have done in a month in Canada. Before coming over here i had already prepared my list of places to go and list of to do things. Since this is my first experience outside i did not want any thing to be missed out. 

The moment i landed in Canada i was greeted by my best friend. That was the first thing on the list. Though he made a few visits to India but what i felt was we had not met since ages. And there he was waiting to pick me up at the airport. He waited for 2 hours thanks to the Canadian Immigration who made me wait for a long time and miss my flight at Ottawa. I was out of communication and had no means to call him up. But i knew he would wait for me. Finally i came out of the airport and he took me to his home and insisted to stay over there with him over the weekend. Well he shares the same name as i do ( sirf baap ka naam alag hai). He was very happy to see me and i saw it on his face that he found someone to talk to openly. I could not say no to him and decided to stay with him over the weekend. We had fun together and i shared all the stories from India. Weekend was over and he dropped me to my downtown rental apartment.

He asked me to come another weekend to his place for a house party / feast. I was excited to show him my culinary skills that i learnt in India and wanted to make some dishes for him. 

A week passed and i went to his place again. We decided to cook something special. So i told him that i would make the first dish i ever learnt --- "Khandvis". We had a great feast !!

Yummmm !! Delicious and mouthwatering 

NEXT STOP NIAGRA FALLS !! 

I was back in downtown. College had started. Me and my roommates decided to go somewhere over the weekend. I was pretty much excited to visit Niagara as it was top on my list of places to visit. Coming to Canada and not visiting Niagara ? Someone would say "You mad Bro ???". So i suggested them that we can go to see the falls. After a long discussion we came to a conclusion to visit Niagra falls , Casino and the Clifton hills together. And icing on the cake was to go for a night out since i had lectures in college on Saturday. So we caught the casino bus on saturday evening and took us around 2 hours to reach the Casino. Below pics would be more than enough to describe what a pleasant view we had after reaching there.

Sunset !! 

Fountain illuminated with colors

Oh yeahh !! The Casino 

God knows what this is...but looked great

Casino from the outside

Observatory and revolving restaurant

The falls illuminated at night

Clifton Hill

The giant wheel !!

Giant Wheel again 

Wax Museum 

NEXT STOP : RUGBY MATCH 

This was a surprise to me. This was not even on my list. But we had managed to get free tickets for the match thanks to some new friends i made over here. The match was between Canada and USA. I had no special interest in Rugby but since there are no other options in sports over here i decided to watch it. 

The match turned out to be exciting as it was an international match played with high spirits and good tempo. Though Canada lost to USA with a close score of 20-28.  Next time Canada !!! 

CN Tower from outside

CN tower is considered as a  signature icon of Toronto's skyline, and a symbol of Canada. It is the 5th tallest free standing structure in the world. Though i haven't visited it from the inside, I got a good glimpse of it from the outside. 

It is truly iconic and stands out from the Skyline

Well thats it so far. Would keep on updating on the next places i visit.

To All my friends :

Before leaving India i made sure i met all my friends. Every one of them told me one thing  " Tu bhul jaayega na hum log ko udhar jaake". And now i am asking the same question to all those i met. Did i forget you people ? I made sure i called every one of them as i had promised. Well some of them really answered my calls. Thanks to them. They are the ones who matter the most. And well some of them didn't. I tried my best but.....they just didn't. Some would not like this. So i ask the question "Ab kaun kise bhul gaya ?"  This disappoints me a lot. But what can i do. I can't change them. So moving on is the only option. Speaking about the country, Well it is nice and beautiful. I can see people from various culture living in harmony and peace. But there is something missing if i compare it with India. The sense of belongingness is missing. People mind their own work. They don't interact much with each other. Well this is what i feel after staying a month over here. May be it will pass over and i would feel much better as time passes. 

Thats it from me. It is a long blog and if you are still reading this i thank you for your patience :-P .

Hope you liked it !!