Scuderia Ferrai t-shirt: 59 $

Michael Schumacher Cap: 20 $

Ferrari Flag :30 $

Camping in the freezing cold by the speedway......reaching the Speedway in time for the drivers parade......watch Schumacher get out of his car and 'wink' at the crowd.....watch him kick Montoya/Coulthard/Kimi et all ka ass......listenin to the german national anthem and italian national anthem......see the ferrari pit crew rush to the finish line to cheer schumi across....hear schumi thank the tifosi(that would be us ferrari fans) after his win.....watch a race with so many ups and downs .....listen to that Ferrai engine roar.......to have friends that made this trip possible....to be around with the brother and watch the race with him...and then see his face after the race(he is a Mclaren fan) .......the look on the face (especially)of the zillions of Columbians who were there to cheer Montoya....all in all : Priceless

Will I go again next year....koi shaq?????

Off to Indy.........Forza Ferrrrraaarrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was away at a conference the last two days....so there has been no update.......Since I hace started working, I realize that like many bloggers who work , I too have stopped updating over the weekend......I dont think it has to do with me not wanting to see a computer. ......Though I do some data analysis on the computer, its not like I stare at my screen all day long...nothin to think about too much but this is just an observation I made.....

I leave for Indianapolis this weekend to watch the penultimate race of the F1 season.....lai bhari......I remember ..when I started follwing the F1 season it used to be very close and exciting....the last two years of ferrari domination have not been that exciting but I am never someone who will complain as long as ferrari is winning....I a Ferrari fan first and then a fan of the driver who drives for the team bearing the "Prancing Horse"......

Ok I have to rush into a meeting now...more at a later time......ciao

Some random conversation (about marriage) with mom and dad last night….

Mom: Beta…..if the girl is elder than you ….to chalega???
Me: Maa ….sab chalega lekin I don’t want to get married abhi!!!
Mom: There is a right time for everything….and I think its high time you started thinking about it
Me: I think the right time has not yet come….

Dad: Beta…I’m on your side…..I promise that I wont talk to you about marriage till Dec. 31st (that’s because I said I don’t want to think about marriage for some more time). But if your mom starts pestering you then I am not responsible…That’s your problem….I wont be able to manage it…
Me: Arre Dad……you have been handling it well for 28 years now (Mom and Dad have been married for 28 years)…….another 4 months should not be a problem…you take care of Maa if she gets hyper….

Mom: I think you are just too tired (was midnight)…we should talk sometime during the day
Me: You can ask me about marriage at 12.00 in the night, or 2.00 in the afternoon or at 6.30 in the morning…..and my answer is going to be the same….I don’t want to get married
Mom: I have my doubts beta…I still don’t know what kind of girl you want…….
Me: Maa …..even I don’t know what kind of girl I want…welcome to my world…...we are sailing in the same boat……good night now…its past midnight and I need to be up by 6.30 ….have to get to work by 8.00
Mom: Ok Beta….good night…sleep well….( I can imagine the look of frustration on her face..)

I call my blog ‘Confessions of A Puneri”…and it’s been a while since I posted something about my beloved good old Pune….so here goes

There are so many times that I observe that a whole lotta peeps (especially Puneites) will actually and literally translate a marathi or hindi phrase/sentence/question into English and use it very confidently in day to day lingo….some examples

where where did you go/what what did you eat/who who had come…which in marathi would be kuthe kuthe gela hotas/kay kay khalla/kon kon ala hota…..notice that in marathi the first two words of every phrase are repeated and instead of saying the same in a grammatically correct fashion when speaking in english…people just translate and ‘kuthe kuthe’ becomes ‘where where’ instead of ‘where all’…….

Another classic is “to majhi sahi kadhto”…which means 'he can replicate my signature'…however I have heard someone say……he removes my signature, because ‘kadhto’ in marathi also means 'to remove'…..

‘veg-vegle padartha (pronounced as vauge-vauglay padartha ) when translated into english means ‘a variety of items or simply put ‘different items’…I use different here because ‘veg’ means different……so when translating into English I have come across some say ‘ dif different items’…where the dif different would be the ‘veg vegle’

In recent times ...just for the hck of it...members of our cricket team here in Akron say ‘Shy is coming’ instead of ‘Sharam aa rahi hain’…now that’s funny too……though I have yet to come across someone who actually says that when talking in English

Some other examples not limited to the above-mentioned genre are

F.C. College Road…….where the ‘C’ stands for college…..B.M.C.C. College of Commerce…where the ‘C.C’ is already there to represent ‘college of commerce’………

Any more suggestions from you peeps out there?

In the land of blind men....the one eyed man is king.....and I feel just like the one eyed man today......you can look at it as being one eyed and thats not a very happy situation...but I prefer to be called king.....and ohhhh ya thats exactly how I feel today.....

Tomorrow is Saturday...which means I can sleep beyond 6.40 a.m.........jhakasssssss

4.00 pm I go down to Volkswagen showroom to test drive the Volkswagen GTI 1.8T......I think if I end up getting a GTI its gonna be the 1.8T (Turbo) rater than the VR6 version (6 cylinder....V angle is 15 degrees)...ohhh but then its just something I have in my mind.....I might just end up repairing the old Ford Taurus and use for a few more months...I plan to give it a shot this weekend......

plans plans and plans.......yeh hui na baat!!!!

The week is coming to an end.......Though I have been doing research for the past two years......work is quite a different ball game I realize......I end up doing less physical work....its all about using the space up there.....the acid test has begun....

Its been quite a while since I played cricket....am soo looking forward to the quadrangular tournament that kicks off this weekend with a game against CCC2.....go Akron.....one of the things I was most excited about this job was that I get to stay in Akron and continue playing for Akron Cricket Club....

And soon the week is coming to an end.......This first week at work seemed to go by pretty soon.......

Cricket practice this evening...followed by some late evening car shopping.......I think Im hooked onto the Volkswagen GTI.....V6 engine 2.8L enigine and a cool 200 bhp...think I should take a test drive......aila.....jhakas...

This new job is exciting.......lotsa thinking to do......managing projects.....and compliments from the boss...what more can I ask for....here I am working on nanocomposites....and I remember there was a time when I did not wanna work at all in this field.....now my advisor is quite an expert on nanocomposites and here I was wanting to do a project with him which did not involve nano stuff at all......I basically wanted to work with him on some other stuff that he is also known for...then with a little coaxing from my advisor I agreed to incorporate a bit of nanocomposite work in my research....and so here I was working on this hybrid project that did not make much sense to me then.....but I think it worked out just fine in the end.......

more confessions by the puneri at a later time....in a while crocodile....see u later...alligator......

Ganpati Bappa Morya, Pudhcha Varshi Lavkar Yaa........

And I think my schedule is gonna change very soon now......

Some random thoughts .....

-This years F1 season is something that was totally unexpected.....I said something about the Australian GP (the first race) being very boring....I take my words back..... ..can't wait to be in Indianapolis this month end to see the race there.....I think Bernie and the folks at FIA got it right this time.....

-I cant seem to get enough of many things nowadays...sleep being one of them........

-I got my laptop fixed (with a little help from my frineds)...but there is the sense of accomplishment....

-This weekend R and Kiki are having a court marriage in New Jersey......time to meet up with friends and family..I shall be off Saturday morning.......its hard to believe that R is shaadi shuda...seems like yesterday that he and me would be in a rush to attend the 10.45 am lecture in M.I.T. ........ohhh and the best friend is married too......thats another thing altogether.........

-I like the song Babylon by David Grey......and Dhadkan Zara Ruk Gayi Hain from the movie Prahaar.........

-and I have miles to go before I sleep.......