My Trip to Toronto - 14

Today is a Saturday and I stayed in the room. I got up and had calls with my love, my friends who logged in and then by noon it was football time. First it was Arsenal leading a 4-0 to the Newcastle United who finally managed a 4-4 draw if not because of their bad luck which stopped them getting a win in fact at the 90th minute. The eventful match was followed by another match which marked an end for the Manchester United’s winning/draw streak in the English Premier League as they lost the away match 1-2 to Wolves. Well, Manchester United really needs players. Except Nani, I don’t see a soul left there. Anyways, after these, the time was for my favorite Barcelona to reap victory in a hat trick from Lionel Messi in a 3-0 win over the Atletico Madrid. There was no Forlan or Augero. It was Guardiola and Barcelona all the way through as they also got into the all time high record of 16 wins in la-Liga by any team in the history. You just have to love the way they played. Names like Xavi, Inesta, Pedro, Villa and Messi, they all sound synonymous.

The football laden day rolled into my Roadies 8 show time at Youtube as Raghu ensured some real entertainment. Lunch and dinner was Pizza today. And I also got myself Bread and choco-biscuits as I exhausted my stock of foods for the breakfast. I am learning algorithms on my own. They say that that is what makes a difference. Algorithms are powerful and they always help you make your brain work extra as they teach you really cool programming stuffs. My tries to solve a few programmatic puzzles from the Facebook and coderloop.com has got me thinking into as to how to code the other way round. I just hope I see it till the end.

It has started to snow again. It felt nice though, with lower temperatures to go out and get the food. As I watched the T.V. today I couldn’t help notice something which I would like to share. It comes from a commercial and I really liked what it said about the Canadians. I guess, if some Canadian is reading this, he likes it. It said “The self esteem of a Canadian doesn’t simply allow him to expect a warmer day. And to break the cold is just a national sport for the Canadians.” LOL…

That’s all for today.

My Trip to Toronto - 13

It was a tough day and I really had a lot on my plate as I struggled in the morning to remotely connect to my desktop in India. It was 2 hours before I finally was able to raise a ticket. The lady Indian in my team thought of helping me out and took me to the local admin. He was supposed to be a man of hard words. I didn’t like him and the way he spoke. I didn’t understand what made him feel so proud and tough. He came to my machine twice, did nothing and came back later post lunch to change the network cable and everything started up fine. It was the start of my day. I stayed and worked on whatever I could. I am not happy. My bonus and CTC hike keeps on coming back to me and I find it difficult to work. I won’t feel any good unless I go back and talk to my manager regarding all this. My love headed home today. I just hope that amidst my heights of loneliness, our communication doesn’t become bad. Its two weeks and I can finally say that yes, I am half way down my journey. Another week and on coming Saturday, I would travel to New Jersey for a week before I fly back to India.

My lunch these days have got replaced by “Jimmy the Greek” and I have been away from “Thai Express” for the whole of the week. Well, MacDonald undoubtedly is on a record for the dinners. My Indian storage of cup noodles stands at a count of 1. They were handy and helpful. I can never forget the mornings when I gulped in two at a time, hungry and sleep deprived.

I just realized today as to what can be a downside to blog anonymously. You always miss upon your network and people you know, for votes when you participate in some blog contests. Everything these days have become all about social networking and how much you can network. No one cares much about the quality or content you write. So, being an anonymous blogger, I guess I never stand a chance at any of these contests. Many a times I do feel like going public and declaring the true me, but this is the true me, without the name or the face. I know if I go back, I won’t be what I am, here.

Tomorrow I have a Barcelona match to watch as they play against Ateltico Madrid in the la-Liga. Atletico always come up heavy against Barcelona. It’s time to see what they can do this time as Barcelona is at their historical best. On Sunday, it would be Liverpool against Chelsea. With Torres moving onto Chelsea and Liverpool signing in Suarez and Andy, it would certainly be interesting to see who draws more blood. That I guess speaks for my weekend plans.

My Trip to Toronto - 12

I slept really long yesterday. I remember sneaking into the bed by 9:30 PM and it was 7 in the morning when I woke up. There is nothing to do except for waiting for friends to update on Facebook. And how many movies do you think I can grab a day? Going to work was the toughest today. After the blizzard here, roads were full of snow and it was sticky and the worst part; I wore formal shoes. I walked for some steps and got slipped forward for a few steps and managed myself from falling a few times and the fear of what will happen if someone else passing by skids was a constant companion as I walked the 1.2 km to walk to office. Not to mention the condition my shoes were in, I had to endure the same while I came back though it was much warmer then. My LOB manager wants me in another team lunch this Friday. Last time it was Sushi and this time it would be Italian. That’s the only fun left for me here. I am tired of having MacDonald burgers and Thai and Greek cuisines. I really feel desperate to go back.

I am done with all the major OSCAR contenders. A post is now very much necessary, which I feel won’t happen before weekend. That puts an end to my today. Is that wonderful or disgusting? So small, to have a day, is………..

My Trip to Toronto - 11

It was the Blizzard day. I never knew what that was, until today. We heard of it being at the US yesterday and today it was Toronto. Since early hours in the morning it’s all covered up. My manager was caring to tell me that since my Canadian counterparts would be working from home, I can take a day off. Initially I felt that it would clear up as day progresses but I was wrong. Anyways, a leave really sucked except that it was a football day at the Copa-Del-Rey. By the way, would you believe me if I told you that I was on Skype calling up and talking to friends in India since 6 in the morning, till it was 12 in the noon. 6 hours, that is the longest I have been online talking to people.

It happened to be the Joke of the day when, a school mate turn up online and complaints to me that he had been trying to reach me badly since days and that it was really bad of me having not told him that I have switched my contact numbers. And all of this crying and shouting is because he feels that he got married without me attending his marriage. Seriously, he wanted me to buy that. If it’s my marriage, and I really want someone to be there, I would get to him, whatever he might be at or wherever he may be. He was calling on my 4 year old number and he forgot all together to explain as to why he didn’t try reaching me via e-Mail or Orkut or Facebook……well, its now-a-days a fashion to tell you that you were being missed at the marriage. Its dual; it tells you that someone got married and that someone still wants to be in touch with you, though he didn’t invite or forgot to invite you. Simple!

A short nap of one hour followed by a quest out into the snow and blizzard to get my hot pizza and diet coke and I was all set for the Copa-Del-Rey semi finals. Barcelona really play a good football. There is hardly any team out there presently who play as decently and stylish as Barca does. With Messi, Villa, Xavi, Inesta, Pedro and Puyol out, it was the younger ones trying their luck today. They scored thrice and Dani Alves had some really good effort today with the ball along with Bojan and it was disheartening to see him getting frustrated for a goal. Afellay’s first goal for Barca was really good and Adriano did some run till the goal post to open the score. Its time before this new breed gets mature and matches the quality of the seniors. A very satisfying 90 minutes for me which followed by a nice end up from the German, Mesut Ozil who saved Madrid from humiliation and sealed another Real-Madrid and Barcelona final. It’s time to see, with crossed fingers what damage Barcelona and champion coach Pep Guardiola inflicts on the second meet up. The last one, a clear 5-0 victory over Mourinho will be with me forever. Sevilla, who went down 0-1 to Madrid played safe and really lacked players at the front. I feel, that made the difference for the ball was distributed evenly. Ozil, unlike Ronaldo, Benzemma and Di-Maria is a tricky player who just doesn’t rely on shots and power. He is one who plays with mind when he is at the front of the goal post and certainly is according to me the most dangerous Madrid has. He truly belongs to Barcelona.

These days, an image keeps back coming to me. It’s me flying back to India. My flight, supposedly to reach in the morning IST hours would, I hope, ensure the best sunrise I would be seeing in quite some time. I feel lonely here. It could have been bettered have I not been into the buck saving business, while on my trip here.

My Trip to Toronto - 10

My trip to Toronto is turning out to be a Cast Away to Toronto. This city is great and people are nice, but I am on my own, stuck up this cold. I realized that like walking in this cold. Its freezing outside but that’s what makes walking fun for me here. Wearing all those heavy woolens and heading out, watching the hot air you exhale and the numbness in your nose, cheeks and ears are some experience. Here everyone walks faster than me. I find it hard to cross someone. Only, the old ones are the easy ones. And often I see couples, walking hand in hand on the streets. I feel like stopping them and suggesting them to go inside and order whatever they need. You are together and you go out in such cold. Born here, walking in this freezing cold could never be fun as against the case with me. Why not sit at home, relax and order stuffs you need. Nez, that can’t be generalized I guess. But really, doing the talk as you walk, here, is tough. I appreciate the ones who do the talk here while walking.

My stomach is frustrated with MacDonald burgers and French fries. Either they are the lunch or the dinner. From food, to the time I spent at my room to the amount of talking I do these days, everything has become a test. I feel like being under some regime and under constant monitoring on my way to some extraordinary certification that would earn me accolades. Oh I forgot. Pay Numbers are out in India. I got information as to how much my salary has been hiked and the bonus I would be getting. And I am being asked about my opinion on those figures. They aren’t bad as compared to others in the market. They certainly do match the investment bank tag but my necessities are huge. I am still in a fix as to what I should be saying. Well, I guess I will just show my dissatisfaction and hint towards a better figure but as I feel, spelling out the exact is always tough. Life hasn’t given me many options. Eventually I have to start looking out again which I don’t want to do unless I get myself some amazing abroad opportunities in countries of my choice. So, let it start. I will tell my expectations. Rest, is destiny.

My leave is approved, regarding the travel to my birth city, late in March. I hope something else doesn’t go wrong. I am dying to be there. Post job, its pending. I don’t feel much for being an Indian or a by caste, but I can die for the place I was born at. That’s me. And I feel good that there is something about my existence I love so much.

That’s all I have for today. It’s time for my black coffee. And a big Happy Chinese New year to the ones who have it. :)