What's Orangut (o-rang-utt)? Well, that's my first take as an entrepreneur and my first initiative to give back something to my country. Orangut is all about improving the education scenario in India. How? Find out more on Orangut's Official Blog. See you there!
Friday, April 3, 2009
New Delhi to New York ... and ... Big Apple to Big Samosa
New York City - The Big Apple - The city of dreams for so many Indians. Well, I never knew that I would get an opportunity to live that dream straight after college! Yes, I got an admit to Columbia University for a Masters degree in Computer Science. :)
Preparations started almost three months before I was to leave and the excitement was building up. New York's map was on my fingertips within a month. I landed in NY on the Indian Independence Day of 2007. What a day to do so :P Anyways, it did not take time for me to realize that NYC is an awesome city to live in; awesome people all around and an awesome infrastructure plus the benefits of studying in an Ivy league. Everyday was a new adventure in its own way and meeting so many people from different countries and cultures was fun. I also got an on-campus job that paid me enough to survive in the city. And the best part of it was to narrate the entire day's activities to friends and family back in India ... each and every day :) It seemed like I had it all.
But merely three months down the line, the situation started changing. The charm of living in the heart of the city that never sleeps was almost over. I started missing India and my college life. My research project that was one of the main reasons for me to join Columbia did not materialize. Courses and assignments became repetitive, boring and monotonous. My on-campus job became a mere source of paychecks. Internships interviews turned into bad dreams that one would want to forget. Life became detached. I knew it was vacation time; and ironically my first vacation included the 'best' ever air-journey of my life: Hail Aerofloat ;)
I got back to New York in January 2008 but things didn't feel the same this time. Something was pulling me back home. My seventh sense was constantly telling me that India is the place for me and that I must use my education to give back something to my country; that was when I decided to complete my course and come back immediately. Incidentally, I never allowed myself to "grab" the NRI status because I managed to make a trip back home once in every four months, which also makes me eligible to vote in India's general elections this month :)
My life in the remaining part of 2008 is untold history. This included a three month internship at a nice little "mature startup" and a 100% scholarship from my academic department for my final semester. And then there were those times of "low adrenaline" too. 2008 was very much like a sign wave for me with more downs than ups. However, I spent my last few months in New York trying to make the best of the city and doing my coursework whenever time permitted ;) The other important thing on my mind was to decide on what to do in India after getting back; something that would keep me engrossed forever and also help me give back to my country and college. 'The Great Recession' was setting in and jobs were becoming increasingly tough to come by. Ironically, a couple of biggies (names stripped for the time being) came to my 'rescue' and offered me great packages. But this time I was just not feeling like it. I was even rubbished by several colleagues for having such an attitude in such 'tough times' but by then my mind was clear about what I was supposed to do. Then came the day when I 'officially' completed all the requirements for my Master's degree. My last week in US as a student called for celebration and the surprise arrival of couple of relatives and college friends in NY acted as a catalyst. Finally I entered JFK Terminal 4 (the terminal of which I can draw a map with my eyes closed), boarded Etihad Airways flight EY100 and got back to India. Of course this trip was special not only because I was going back to my country finally, but also because my luggage exceeded its weight by almost 15 kilograms, most of which had to be donated to the airport as a souvenir and a testimony to the fact that I had lived in NYC for 16 months! :D
Now I am back in India and I no longer hold a valid visa to enter the US. This means that I will be missing my second convocation too; probably some events in life are better imagined than attended.
So what am I up to these days? Hanging out with friends? Roaming around the country? Whiling away time on the computer and phone? Sleeping? Music? TV? Eating chocolates? Well, its a bit of everything and that's what makes it a million dollar answer! :)
Preparations started almost three months before I was to leave and the excitement was building up. New York's map was on my fingertips within a month. I landed in NY on the Indian Independence Day of 2007. What a day to do so :P Anyways, it did not take time for me to realize that NYC is an awesome city to live in; awesome people all around and an awesome infrastructure plus the benefits of studying in an Ivy league. Everyday was a new adventure in its own way and meeting so many people from different countries and cultures was fun. I also got an on-campus job that paid me enough to survive in the city. And the best part of it was to narrate the entire day's activities to friends and family back in India ... each and every day :) It seemed like I had it all.
But merely three months down the line, the situation started changing. The charm of living in the heart of the city that never sleeps was almost over. I started missing India and my college life. My research project that was one of the main reasons for me to join Columbia did not materialize. Courses and assignments became repetitive, boring and monotonous. My on-campus job became a mere source of paychecks. Internships interviews turned into bad dreams that one would want to forget. Life became detached. I knew it was vacation time; and ironically my first vacation included the 'best' ever air-journey of my life: Hail Aerofloat ;)
I got back to New York in January 2008 but things didn't feel the same this time. Something was pulling me back home. My seventh sense was constantly telling me that India is the place for me and that I must use my education to give back something to my country; that was when I decided to complete my course and come back immediately. Incidentally, I never allowed myself to "grab" the NRI status because I managed to make a trip back home once in every four months, which also makes me eligible to vote in India's general elections this month :)
My life in the remaining part of 2008 is untold history. This included a three month internship at a nice little "mature startup" and a 100% scholarship from my academic department for my final semester. And then there were those times of "low adrenaline" too. 2008 was very much like a sign wave for me with more downs than ups. However, I spent my last few months in New York trying to make the best of the city and doing my coursework whenever time permitted ;) The other important thing on my mind was to decide on what to do in India after getting back; something that would keep me engrossed forever and also help me give back to my country and college. 'The Great Recession' was setting in and jobs were becoming increasingly tough to come by. Ironically, a couple of biggies (names stripped for the time being) came to my 'rescue' and offered me great packages. But this time I was just not feeling like it. I was even rubbished by several colleagues for having such an attitude in such 'tough times' but by then my mind was clear about what I was supposed to do. Then came the day when I 'officially' completed all the requirements for my Master's degree. My last week in US as a student called for celebration and the surprise arrival of couple of relatives and college friends in NY acted as a catalyst. Finally I entered JFK Terminal 4 (the terminal of which I can draw a map with my eyes closed), boarded Etihad Airways flight EY100 and got back to India. Of course this trip was special not only because I was going back to my country finally, but also because my luggage exceeded its weight by almost 15 kilograms, most of which had to be donated to the airport as a souvenir and a testimony to the fact that I had lived in NYC for 16 months! :D
Now I am back in India and I no longer hold a valid visa to enter the US. This means that I will be missing my second convocation too; probably some events in life are better imagined than attended.
So what am I up to these days? Hanging out with friends? Roaming around the country? Whiling away time on the computer and phone? Sleeping? Music? TV? Eating chocolates? Well, its a bit of everything and that's what makes it a million dollar answer! :)
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
A glimpse of fun at college
To get a glimpse of masti that we had during college, have a look at this blog. But keep in mind, that this was just the tip of the iceberg and that this blog is in a way 'censored' :)
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