15th anniversary

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leela @ 3 months

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tip of my tongue

Mon, 31st May '04, 12:55 pm ::

The bunker is no more. I've setup myself at my aunt's house for 2 weeks and then to Florida. Went to Atlantic City with family last night. Lost $30 but had a lot of fun. Now I know why Donald Trump is so rich. Hehe. Anyways, I have so much packing/unpacking to do before I get to St. Petes.

Fri, 28th May '04, 9:00 pm ::

I'm listening to old Beatles hits sipping Smirnoff Ice - Green Apple. Celebrating my last few hours in the bunker :( I wish my friends were on campus.

In Memory Of The BunkerFri, 28th May '04, 11:05 am ::

In Memory Of The Bunker: I'm getting sentimental thinking about tonight as the last night in my bunker. It's been just over a year living here and so much has happened. All those long nights I spent working or studying. All those movies and TV shows I saw alone. All those movies I saw with my friends. It's all coming to an end. People don't realize how comfortable the bunker makes me feel. It's my home away from home away from home :)

Of course, now that college has ended, life's gonna change drastically. No more midnight pizzas from La Familia and no more pasta at Gerlanda's. No more skipping classes to go back and sleep in the bunker. No more waking up late for a meeting at work (well hopefully). No more seeing my friends every day :( I didn't cry when my last class ended. I didn't cry when I graduated. But I'll definitely cry when I leave my bunker. Such sweet fond memories.

It's a tiny 10x8 sq. ft room that has taught me how to live independently. The bunker taught me how to enjoy my life when nobody's around to enjoy it with me. From movies and TV shows to little hobbies like paper-cutting. The bunker taught me how to be clean, organized, and prioritize my chores. The bunker taught me how to make baked potatoes and alfredo pasta in microwave. Those nights of drinking hot chocolate with Horlicks, they will be missed. So will those days when Arthur or Mason would come over to watch The Family Guy or South Park with me. Or the times when I studied for annoying computer exams with Linda. Or the Pulp Fiction movie with Jeannette. So many memorable days the bunker saw.

I learnt how to make my special Maggi-Macaroni mix in the bunker. I made great friends with my landlady - Sunny. And above all I realized it's not the size of the bunker but the space in my heart that matters. I know it's pretty childish to call my basement room a 'bunker' but now all my friends and even family members call it the same. To you I might sound like a blooming idiot referring to my place as the bunker, but my friends are so used to it, they ask me all the time if I'll be at work or at "the bunker?" Ha.

It's unusual to associate yourself with a place so simple and plain. But that's the beauty of it. I moved into a tiny room with no furniture and I made it my home. And tonight I leave it. Oh the sorrow...

Thu, 27th May '04, 11:55 pm ::

I can't believe tomorrow is my last night ever in the bunker :(

Thu, 27th May '04, 6:40 pm ::

My cousin Priya asked me what's my favorite poem. It's an English translation of Rabindranath Tagore's original poem in Gitanjali, titled "The Little Grain of Gold."

Wed, 26th May '04, 11:50 pm ::

Finally went to Michele's house today and chilled with her and Arthur. She cooked for us! That's an absolutely surprise cuz she's the laziest person I've ever met. Hehe. Anyways, I have just a few more days in the bunker so I better spend some quality time sleeping it off.

Tue, 25th May '04, 10:05 pm ::

I've started running on a daily basis now. Today I ran only 12 minutes before my legs started to hurt. Yesterday I ran a decent 2 miles in 18 minutes. My shoes aren't the most comfortable otherwise I have breath to run much longer. Soon I hope to reach 3-miles/30-minutes. I don't need to lose weight per se, but I do have to get rid of a spare tire.

Sat, 22nd May '04, 10:55 pm ::

Henceforth, I am officially a graduate of Rutgers University, New Brunswick. Today was my graduation ceremony. I graduated with the highest honors in Computer Science and Economics and was awarded one of six Honors Scholars distinctions. My aunt, uncle, cousins Sneh and Sagar were there to see me finally achieve what I've been working hard at for four long years. My buddy Arthur graduated with me too! Neeeeeeeew Brunswick!!!!! Home of the Scarrrrrrrrlet Knights!!!!!! By God we did it man. We did it :)

Nobody in this world could have topped my success today, except my sweet little cousin Sneh. She participated in the Miss India NJ/PA/DE competition and she won the Runner's Up title! Her answer to the judge's question was frankly 100 times better than I could have ever come up with in such spontaneous circumstances. Congrats Sneh!!!

So here I am, all set to visit my Kaushik Mama (Uncle) in Queens, NY tomorrow. Haven't seen them for months now. I most definitely want to meet them once before I move to Florida.

Sat, 22nd May '04, 7:00 am ::

Happy B'day Chetan!!! I'm off to my graduation now.

Fri, 21st May '04, 11:45 am ::

Tomorrow is my graduation ceremony. I'm so nervous. I know all that's gonna happen is that I'm gonna get my diploma but I feel like this is my biggest final exam ever.

Song for the day: "Upside Down" - Barenaked Ladies

Tue, 18th May '04, 11:55 pm ::

I'm winning another photoshop contest on Fark :) Thanks everyone who voted for me.

Oh and I'm also winning this one. Total of 4 Photoshops won so far :)

Tue, 18th May '04, 11:50 pm ::

Song for the night: "Shape of my heart" - Sting

Tue, 18th May '04, 11:45 pm ::

Today is the one year anniversary of moving into my bunker :) Here's to one amazing year in a tiny little place that has provided me shelter for months and many a peaceful days. Oh bunker I love thee like thou art a palace for the richest of the kings :) And coincidentally just today I got a call from the manager of my new apartment in Florida! Hopefully everything's gonna work out now *crossing my fingers*.

Sun, 16th May '04, 1:55 pm ::

I officially have over 1.2 terabytes of space on my computer - 9 hard disk drives from 3o to 250GB in size. Hopefully I'm not gonna run out of space anytime soon :)

Sat, 15th May '04, 6:15 pm ::

Never has my blood pressure been so high. I've been playing more games - Halo, Call of Duty, Unreal Tournament 2004 everything! I can barely handle all of this without breaks...

Sat, 15th May '04, 2:20 pm ::

Ok this is no longer fun. I've been playing games for two hours now and am totally bored. I guess I'm just not a gamer. Thank God they have free pizza 'n soda right here. I've taken a few pics but it's basically a buncha 20-somethings playing games on their computers, an all too common sight. We're gonna stay here till 11pm so I gotta figure out what I'm going to do for the next 9 hours. There's only so much pizza that I can eat.

Actually my diet has improved a lot in the last few months. I was on a strict pizza + cheese diet for the last few months on 2003 and obviously gained some weight. I'm having a hard time losing these extra 10-15lbs, especially since I have a little tire around my waist now. I've been running almost everyday for a week now and hope to keep it up for a while. My running is pretty bad too. I can barely run for 10-15 minutes without my ankles acting up. I need to work out and get my legs in shape. I tell you, four years of college can really screw your body. But now that I'm outta college and don't have homework every damn day, I can concentrate on other things in life, like taking care of myself, my hobbies, and leisure.

Sat, 15th May '04, 12:25 pm ::

Here's to my most expensive 'blog entry ever :) Well I'm in the New York City with my friends Chris, Tim, and Ahmed at Web2Zone cyber-cafe. It's $30/day to play almost any multi-player game on some awesome PCs. Of course I don't "play" games per se but today I'm experimenting with MicroSoft/Bungie's Halo. This is so much fun :)

Fri, 14th May '04, 3:00 pm ::

Quote for the day: "My party and alliance may have lost but India has won," Indian PM Mr Vajpayee. In an address on national television he said he accepted the verdict and said it was a demonstration of India's strong democractic roots.

Fri, 14th May '04, 2:10 pm ::

I haven't 'blogged in a while because I don't have much to say. Today I feel an urge to share. A lot of changes are going to happen in my life now that I've completed my undergraduate studies. I'm graduating with BS in Comp Sci, BA in Econ, Math minor, Honors College. Hopefully my GPA's gonna be 3.9+ since I already got 3 A's and 1 B; the results of my Math class are not out yet. I don't have terribly high student loans and if my calculations are correct (thankfully they often are), they should be paid up within 12 months.

On June 12th I leave for Florida, an entirely new life. It's extremely scary and challenging. My client/boss called me up the other day telling me how excited he is that I am joining his firm. I have big plans for his company too and I know how to get them in place but I'm gonna be the only one doing all the IT work. So things are definitely going to be tough. I'm only 23 but the responsibilities are that of someone with 15 years of experience. Leaving all your friends, family, people at existing job, and going to a new place, new job, working with new people - honestly it's a big change. But, it only feels big when I think about it. If I don't think about how much of a change it is, it feels trifling - so I'm just moving to Florida to work for my client. No biggie. Hehe. From your point-of-view I'm sure it appears that way, Chirag making the big bucks and having a great job. From my point-of-view it is coming home everyday from a great day at work but having nobody to talk to.

Hopefully I'll make new friends in the kickass place that I'm moving to. Get this... it's a 1020 sq.ft. apartment with patio/balcony, two bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom, huge livingroom, walk-in closets for only $625/month! I'm paying over $500 for a TINY one-bedroom, bathroom apartment in Jersey. Gotta love Florida. And I'm getting a two-bedroom apartment because you can come and stay with me if you come to Florida. Yes you, whoever you are, you're welcome to my humble apartment :)

So I got an A in my research but still have a lot of work to complete. I hope to continue my work-relationship with my professor but I don't know if that's going to be easy long-distance. Oh and I'm not giving up my dreams of Masters (or MBA) and PhD. That is definitely coming in the next few years.

Right now I'm talking to my sister online. She's the best sister in the world and we all know it :)

Fri, 14th May '04, 2:00 pm ::

Happy B'day to Nikita and Manzinder :)

Wed, 12th May '04, 9:15 pm ::

In one month, I will be moving to Florida with my buddy Arthur the Awsom-O. Last night was fun. Met Art's girlfriend Kate at her house and chilled with her friends. I had enough drinks but as usual, none of it affected me. Before we went to Kate's house, we stopped by at Art's, and his dad offered me an imported Polish beer - now THAT was strong :) I'm not a beer person and so it hits me quite hard.

Anyways, have my research to complete now. Working on a site as usual. Life's going ok I guess. Talked to my family a couple of times in past few days. Missing them a lot. Especially for my graduation.

Tue, 11th May '04, 3:10 pm ::

I AM OFFICIALLY DONE WITH COLLEGE :) Just took my last exam (really really bad but who cares, it's all over!) Arthur's coming over to chill with me in a few. I gotta do my laundry then tonight we go to his girlfriend's house. I've never met her so it's gonna be interesting. Wooooohooooooooooooo college is OVER!!! WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO :)

Of course, I'm gonna do an MBA and then a PhD in Comp Sci eventually - no matter what!

Tue, 11th May '04, 12:05 am ::

I haven't abandoned my 'blog. I've just been too busy with finals. Soon everything will be over and I shall be free :)

Fri, 7th May '04, 4:15 pm ::

"Chirag, the project looks pretty good but I have some comments for making it better... Overall, it's quite promising...." - my professor on my research. Phew :) I'm gonna fix up the issues he raised in the next few weeks and hopefully get a good grade.

Fri, 7th May '04, 9:20 am ::

My friend Jamie is in the news. Worked with him a couple of times on a few websites. Haven't talked to him lately though.

Wed, 5th May '04, 12:55 am ::

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ARTHUR!

Tue, 4th May '04, 7:30 pm ::

Dey Dook Ar Jahbs!!! I made this mp3 file after watching the latest episode of South Park. Took about an hour to make. It's funny only if you know what "Goobacks" means.

Tue, 4th May '04, 7:25 pm ::

I received a very prestigious award today: The Department of Economics Award for recognition of Outstanding Performance. Also received a mug and $125 money order. The ceremony was short and sweet. My friend Mihir received an award too, something about being even more awesomer than yours truly. He's a smart kid :)

Mon, 3rd May '04, 7:20 pm ::

And college classes are officially OVER!

Mon, 3rd May '04, 10:25 am ::

Today is the LAST day of classes. Ever!

Sat, 1st May '04, 11:25 am ::

Quote for the day: "I've successfully assimilated alcohol into my blood stream as a valuable nutrient." - Chirag

Yesterday was one of the most amazing days of my life. If I wasn't so busy with studying for finals I'd write out in detail exactly what I did. I chilled with 25-30 different friends in just one day! From a frat party to concert to late night sing-alongs... I can't believe how much happened in just one day. And I even met a nice girl but well since I'm going to Florida soon, I doubt anything's gonna come out of it. All in all I had a great time at Rutgers Fest with all of my friends.

Now for finals.

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