Tis The Season - 2014!

Hola!

This is me with another attempt in vain to remind myself that i should write more.

2014 has been wonderful. Lot of memorable moments. First full year as a married person. A wife who loves you more than the world. A job that, well, i really have no words to describe it, it's that good. I could not have imagined a better life.

The year started just like any other. The first big moment was in March where we celebrated our first anniversary.

And then along came a pretty sweet moment at work. I got an opportunity to give a recorded-talk at Google I/O, Google's annual developer conference. It was a big deal as developers from all over Earth tune into it.

Then thanks to my girl we got to spend the summer in Seattle as she was taking up an internship there. It was three awesome months that encompassed a wide range of cool things like living across the street from Space Needle, flying on a sea plane, an awesome trip to the island capital of British Columbia. Not to mention, getting away from the heat of California's summer.

Along came October where there was a really fun filled party for her birthday.

Then came the holidays where we did crazy things like reaching 130ft beneath the Pacific Ocean on a submarine.

126ft beneath the Pacific Ocean!

I am writing this as we pack our stuff headed to celebrate the dawn of 2015 in random parts of the California West Coast.

Until then, Mahalo & Happy new year 2015!

To end this post, a random quote from Phoebe that always makes me laugh - "If you wanna receive email about my upcoming shows, please give me money so that i can buy a computer".

-Vignesh

P.S.: I cheated in this post by including more pictures than words. Although, i really hope that i will write more in 2015!

Our Story!

Circa May 2005 - The Characters

Boy - A 10th standard student in Coimbatore, who moves to Madurai for higher secondary schooling.

Girl - A 10th standard student in Chennai. No prizes for guessing where she moves for her higher secondary schooling!

May 2005 to June 2007 - The Beginning

As many would anticipate, they both ended up being classmates in their new school. Despite that, sadly, nothing interesting happened in this period of time (we know, they were such idiots back then!). They just looked at each other on random days and barely spoke.

June 2007 - The Actual Beginning

The girl moved back to Chennai and the boy moved back to Coimbatore for college. As with most couples of this generation, they started conversing with each other in the form on SMS'es and phone calls. Few days after that, they felt they were really close to each other. Few months after that, they realized they can't live without each other.

Few Months (or years) Later

The boy was on a late night train journey and as it was always, they were talking over phone (despite the annoying train noise). He felt something spontaneously and popped the question. It took a while for him to get an answer, but it was an answer that he rejoices till today!

P.S. The time frame of the above paragraph is omitted intentionally. ;-)

September 2011 - LGTM

The girl told about her life choice to her parents and the boy did the same to his parents. Both of them were genuinely happy instantaneously. No hesitation, No fuss, Pure happiness. It was then they realized how gifted they were to have such wonderful parents!

September 2012 - Its Official

The boy and the girl got engaged on September 2nd, 2012. It was a small but wonderful ceremony with family and friends.

December 2012 to March 2013 - The Present

We are writing this draft over a video chat (damn you geography!). We are really excited about the brand new phase of our lives that we are about to step on to. So please mark your calendars and try to be there on our special day, as your wishes would mean a whole world to us!

By the way, the girl's name is Gayathri and the boy's name is Vignesh! :-)

March 2013 and Beyond

We are undergoing our "Happily ever after" phase. :-)

P.S.: I didn't write this now. I am just copying this from my wedding website. Since that domain expired, I wanted this to live somewhere on the internet.

-Vignesh

Je L'ai Dit turns one!

Yesterday, may 31, 2011, my blog turned one. I have written around 60 posts altogether and I really feel good about it.

My heartfelt thanks to all who are following and managing to read all the rubbish I write. Thank you! :-)

-Vignesh

Celebrating women’s day!

No crackers explode, No fireworks lighten up the sky, but year after year we celebrate womanhood with simplicity and i would like to take this time off to wish all the women i know in my life a very happy women’s day.



A woman is always special for a man. Though the fights and arguments about male chauvinism may exist on the lower layer of the society, i have always felt that the population belonging to our generation always treated women as equally as men. Not to stir any discussions about it, i just want to say thanks to every single woman (or girl probably) who has helped me over various points of my life.

Adage goes that, “Behind every man’s success lies a silent woman” and i couldn’t find a better quote to describe this wonderful day where we celebrate womanhood. Be it your better half, your sister, your mom, or any other friend, they always make you feel special and always show you rays of happiness.

Happy woman’s day everyone!

-Vignesh

Last Day of Internship !! :-(

Today is the last day of my full time internship with my employer. Here is a small dedication to all my colleagues and friends who have made my past 7 months the happiest 7 months of my life. I will miss you all!



Excess..

I came here hoping to learn,
Which I've done in excess..
I came here hoping to have fun,
Which I've done is excess..
I came here hoping to gain new friends,
Which I've done in excess..
For i never thought,
This place would be excessive of excesses !!

Lunch..

There’s one thing that i ought not forget to mention,
The daily lunch..
We discuss minutes together where to go for,
The daily lunch..
And mostly end up changing the decision,
In the lift..

Supriya, Biriyani Express, Mast Kalandar,
Saravana Bhavan, Just Orient..
These are the places that i’d never would forget..
Thanks for all the memories..

Carrom and Chess..

We aim at the black,
We aim at the white,
We aim at the red,
But all we hit is,
The one we never aimed..
Yet we never get bored..
We’ve had spectacular wins,
That even kieron pollard could not have done..
We’ve had spectacular losses,
That even a second grade child could have done..
This is the place where i learnt,
Even chess can be a team game..
It will be a sin,
If i don’t mention the place,
That gave all the laughter..

Farewell..

Though it may not be permanent..
Its really hard to say good bye,
To such an awesome place of work..
With tears in eyes, and lump in throat,
Adios.. Au revoir.. Farewell..
Life has really been Happier,
Thanks to Efficient Frontier !!

-Vignesh

Madarasapattinam and Me !! :-)

I was sitting all alone in podanur railway station (podanur is to coimbatore is what tambaram/perambur is to chennai) awaiting my train to chennai. I had arrived an hour early than the scheduled time just to know that the train was late by half an hour, leaving me a solitude wait of one and half hours. I really liked the peaceful environment with gentle breeze flowering across my face. If I was like before, I would have just been irritated that i would have to wait alone for one and half hours. But then, I had all the feelings about the past awesome six months rushing up to me. And I was involuntarily forced to open my blog and start sharing them. As the title suggests, people who aren't interested in me lamenting about stuff I like and stuff I'm gonna miss, please feel free to press Ctrl+W (frankly I know that you don't really care if I miss velachery railway station or not)

Long story short

Past six months have been awesome and I have really been at the efficient frontier of my life. But sadly, everything has to come to an end. The internship is about to end in a few days and I already couldn't stop feeling bad about the things I'm gonna miss. On the whole, I will miss chennai, I will miss efficient frontier and I will miss everything that has been keeping me going for the past six months.



Short story long

It just seems like yesterday that I stepped into the seventh floor of chamiers towers (well known as satyam building), but all of a sudden, six long months have passed in a jiffy. There have been many life cheering moments over the course of this internship.

I have had many wonderful moments. A bulleted list won't hurt after all:

• The daily bike rides to office! (13 kms one way)


• Breakfast at the near by mess!


• Velachery Sangeethas T20 (the offer still continues as T30 - velachery folks, dont miss it!)


• 5 working days = 5 different cuisines for lunch (Andhra, Punjab, China, Italy, Delhi, Tamilnadu)


• Heavenly mini noon naps in bean bags!


• Non-stop free flowing discussions about work!


• Non-stop fun in the entertainment area (more on the upcoming post..)


• Besant Nagar Beach with friends in the evening!


• Dinner daily at some random shop!


• Maintaining accounts (thinking before every swipe of the card and every rupee out of the wallet)


• And of course the work!


• Fighting online for tatkal tickets to and fro home for long weekends!


• Listening to songs almost 8 hours a day

Another such lamenting is coming up soon!

-Vignesh

Festival of lights is here !! :-)

Hey folks,

The festival of lights is here. We are all gearing up to celebrate the death of narahasuran in a high fashioned manner after these many decades. I just want to take this time off and wish you all a very happy deepavali.



Here is a small one for all the rajinikanth dudes!



இனிய தீபாவளி நல்வாழ்த்துக்கள். இந்த தீபாவளி தினத்தை உங்கள் சுற்றார் மற்றும் உறவினர்களோடு கொண்டாடி மகிழுங்கள்.

-Vignesh

Happy Birthday APJ Sir !! :-)

Today is the 77th birthday of the people's president of India, Dr.A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. He is a dreamer and wants to see India as a developed nation by 2020.

You have really been a friend, philosopher and guide for the entire generation of youth in India. We love you sir!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!




Here are a few of his inspiring quotes:

• As a child of God, I am greater than anything that can happen to me.


• Be more dedicated to making solid achievements than in running after swift but synthetic happiness.


• Climbing to the top demands strength, whether it is to the top of Mount Everest or to the top of your career.


• Do we not realize that self respect comes with self reliance?


• Educationists should build the capacities of the spirit of inquiry, creativity, entrepreneurial and moral leadership among students and become their role model.


• English is necessary as at present original works of science are in English. I believe that in two decades times original works of science will start coming out in our languages. Then we can move over like the Japanese.


• God, our Creator, has stored within our minds and personalities, great potential strength and ability. Prayer helps us tap and develop these powers.


• Great dreams of great dreamers are always transcended.


• I was willing to accept what I couldn't change.


• If a country is to be corruption free and become a nation of beautiful minds, I strongly feel there are three key societal members who can make a difference. They are the father, the mother and the teacher.


• If we are not free, no one will respect us.

-Vignesh