Thanksgiving

The thanksgiving was a nice break. It was getting too boring and add to that the chaos I was, or rather, am going through. Got to meet Dipanjan after a long time; I think first time after leaving IIT. On Wednesday, he arrived from Pittsburgh. From Jackson, we went to the University of Chicago campus from where one of the seniors of UIUC drove us to Urbana. It was around a 3-hour-drive. He dropped us at Podu’s. The apartment was nice. It looked like Podu was pretty comfortable with P.Bhora. Those who know him will understand how great an achievement this is. Well, I think Pratik is actually an improved person. The evening was great with Dipanjan’s enthusiastic cooking and scotch. The next day we had a brief tour of the campus. Since all (literally all) shops were closed on account of the Thanksgiving, Podu and I had to shoulder the cooking responsibilities as Dipanjan had an invitation for lunch. We were the only two to eat and were unanimous that the food was good.
We took the Amtrek train to reach Chicago that evening. We put up at BArnab’s (Bhalo Arnab!). With the fine culinary skills of Dipanjan (although all along he complained about not getting the right spices) and the accompanying beverages I think I gained a bit of weight on those few days. We went around the city, on one occasion ‘up the city’ to the 95th floor lounge of the Hancock tower. Debjeet too was there for a brief duration. Chanced to meet V.V.Chandrasekhar once. Arnab’s camera was in continuous action (Bhubanjyoti gets the credit for that). I will be uploading them soon. Dipanjan went back on Saturday evening and Podu on Sunday afternoon. I am again busy with assignment. Shit!!

Thanksgiving: Almost there

Things are going all okay right now. Tomorrow is the last date for a proposal submission. So day after tomorrow should be free. And Thursday is the Thanksgiving. DD is coming on Wednesday. We will be going to Podu’s in Urbana together and will be back to Chicago on Thursday evening. We will go to Arnab’s and will stay there in the weekend. PJ and company are also coming, so weekend will be fun. All set. Hopefully there won’t be a spoil sport.

Umrao Jaan

The first movie in theatre in the USA … ‘Umrao Jaan’. Still not quite American, you see. The multiplex wasn’t of any surprise, like any of those in our metropolitans. $9 ($1 concession for students -:) ). The movie was rather long. The first half specially I feel could have been shortened quite a bit. Overall, it was good. I have not seen the original one, so can’t make any comparison. But I think Aishwarya has done a good job. She looked gorgeous and delicate in the costumes and sets. Abhisek Bachhan, Sunil Shetty, the couple who took care of Umrao and others have played their part well. Sabana Azmi was elegant in her own style. The lyrics by Javed Akhtar was really good and that was an absolute necessity for the movie, umraao jaan being famous for the sher and shayari of Lucknow. Anu Malik has given a music which I think he is not very much used to, it’s in keeping with the mood of the movie. I would recommend that you watch it. However, if you are looking for fun and enjoyment, this is not the movie you should forward to.
By the way, the first two characters in the movie except Umrao Jaan (one who listens to the story of Umrao and the other whom he talks to in the beginning) sounded pathetic. Their dialogues just too mechanical. Who are they?

The Roller Coaster

Well, well, well …………. So I got the laptop and the internet connection. But blogging just couldn’t be regular. Excuses are there, some might be a bit justified but still the main reason is plain, old lethargy. I can never be too busy to write a few lines.
So here is the update from my side. It looks like my stay in the US is riding a roller coaster. The first few days was all good. New place, new people …. Nice place, nice people. Soon that changed. Classes, exams, assignments …. all over again and add to that the TA labs at 8 in the morning twice a week, research works, no weekends (effectively ….) I felt overwhelmed. It took me some time to recover. I talked to old friends, made some new friends, got used to the TA burden (it actually is not a big deal), reintroduced me to the lectures, familiarized with the work and there I was, all set again. How long can lectures intimidate me?
But that spell has ended. In Mumbai, I had the money and the time and most importantly the people to have fun; here, painfully I realize, I have none. At least not the quality and quantity I need. But the worst part of the story is that I am right now in a very awkward position. I have a problem with my advisor. I have found the solution too; only, it needs some time to execute. And the solution is simple, I have to change my advisor -:) Yeah, I am decided. I am not going to discuss all the details here. Hopefully there won’t be a problem. But the situation is pretty delicate, I am not exaggerating. I am not being able to concentrate on other issues still this one is resolved. Let’s see, how things turn out to be. Hopefully the roller coaster will see a new high soon.