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My Journey from IBM to San Jose - A Memoir

I understand that I am no Vasco da Gama or Gandhiji to write about my "Travels"or "Experiments", but then I have always felt that the mistakes I make and the good things I do, help others in planning their future. And I feel that the experience I had in this time is worth writing a post. When I was starting from Bangalore on the 26th, I was pretty dejected as I had no set target or even options in mind. Also, I didn't believe that the Love Story I had been writing ( I Found Her ) had any chance of becoming real. So, I was almost dejected and expected my next few days to be really bad what with being jobless. It wasn't long before I got warned by my parents that I shouldn't waste time and should get a job as soon as possible. The night I reached Hyderabad, my future felt so bleak and almost hopeless that I cried myself to sleep. The next day morning my happiness knew no bounds as I received an admit mail from San Jose State University (SJSU) for...

I Found Her - Ep 7

D-Day has many full forms associated to it including Doom’s Day. But the day of my departure to the US had been dubbed as D-Day by my friends (Departure Day). And true to the phrase, the day was full of raw emotions. Each and every moment of the day was ripe with feelings. I had not seen such a jumble of naked emotions even when a bride is taken away to her new home from the marriage hall and I had been to a fair share of marriages in these twenty one years of my life. My dad, being MY DAD, had made sure that most everything to be taken was packed by the night before, so I sat down to go through the checklist I had made to ensure I wasn’t forgetting anything. And lo and behold! As always, I was forgetting few of the most important necessities of day to day life. Thus, I got another helping of my dad’s temper as a farewell gift. By the time I had everything ready, I had got nearly 40 calls and a 100 messages bidding me farewell. And in between all this, Jahnavi also calls me ev...

I Found Her - Ep. 6

    As the day of our reporting at the University neared, our relationship just got deeper and deeper. Though we had started off as complete strangers, in a very short span of time we had got to know each other much better than most others. Though love played a really big role in that, the fact that we both think alike did also make it very easy to second guess each other’s thoughts, needs and feelings.     When we were a week away from catching our plane to the US, Jahnavi and I decided that it was time that we introduce each other to our parents. And with that thought in mind, we told our parents that we had found a person who is going to the same University. Every parent wants to meet each and every person who might be playing a major role in the life of their children. And as expected, even our parents wanted to meet us.     Thus, the scene came into being, where I was sitting to the side while my parents scrutinized Jahnavi dissectin...

I Found Her - Ep. 5

I have always loved the sunrise no matter how many times I might have seen it. But it became much more special when the first sunrays fell on Jahnavi’s exquisite face. Her curves and dimples became more prominent and her eyelids fluttered open like a newly born pigeon’s wings. And again, just like before, my heart stopped for a micro second and then shot up my throat when she smiled. I could almost envision myself in the clouds. The plush Volvo seats were comfortable enough to make us forget that we were sitting and to sleep like kids without a care in the world. The sleep was made much more deep and treasured, because we were holding each other’s hand while sleeping. I had dreamt of her and finding her right beside me on waking up gave a settled feeling in my stomach that could only be described as satisfaction. We reached our respective homes by 9 AM and went through the motions of the day as usual but all the time keeping in touch via SMSes and calls. I liked how we each knew...

I Found Her - Ep. 4

The early morning rays and a nice breeze with a tang of rain woke me up from a pleasant dream and a refreshing nap. When I turned my head, I saw a beautiful half-smile playing over the lips of Jahnavi. She had pulled up her legs and was crouching in her seat. With her chin thrust out and her face looking up at me, she looked just like an angel to me. Within moments I was in a state of déjà vu without understanding what it was. When she opened her eyes, her hazel eyes just made me want to get lost in them. I could go on and on describing her beauty. If only I knew how to write poems, I would sing all the time about her. To my eyes, she looked like the most beautiful maiden on Earth. I just wanted to wrap my arms around her. I felt that I owned the world if only I owned her. The moment was completely ruined by the coarse voice of the conductor announcing our arrival within 15 minutes. Man, give me a knife that time and I would surely have stabbed the guy through his heart!!! Any...

I Found Her - Ep. 3

My cell buzzed at 7 AM. I woke up and read the first message of the day from Jahnavi. Since then till 7 PM I didn’t stop chatting with her. And then, I had to stop because my 200 messages were completed. We could not meet after that beautiful day for few days. She was busy with her relatives and I myself had to go around the city meeting all my friends and sisters. But we kept in touch via messages and calls all the time. But three days later I got a call from IBM asking me to come to office on Monday without fail. I had not planned for this and so there were no reservations on train. I decided to go by bus. When I told her this, she said that even she needed to go to Bangalore for one last time to get her things from her relatives place. We decided to take the trip together as we already knew each other a bit. So, on Sunday night, I waited near Mehdipatnam for the bus that would take us both to Bangalore . As the bus journey culminated from Ameerpet, she would be one of the fi...

I Found Her - Ep. 2

I got down the train. I searched the platform in the hope to see Jahnavi once more, but I couldn’t find her anywhere. With a heavy heart, I turned started walking through the Exit towards the bus stop. Just as I reached the bus stop, my cell phone beeped. It was Jahnavi. “I still don't know your name...  ” I scared a lady standing beside me by laughing out loud quite suddenly. I replied, "And how do you know my number?" Bang on came the reply, "I took it when you went to wash up.  " I had a stupid smile playing on my face. I couldn’t stop feeling happy. I told her my name and we continued chatting. We had talked so much on the train but somehow I could not remember any of it. The only thing I could remember was how graceful her eyes looked. The way she moved her bangs from her forehead once in a while, putting it behind her ears. I asked her if she remembered what we had been talking about in the train, but even she could not tell any of it. I smile...