365 days of happiness and still counting...

Its been one year today and yet it seems just like yesterday when we were united eternally in the bond of marriage. In between that day and today, I have felt the love in me only increasing with the every passing day. The more I knew you, the more I have fallen for you.

Today when I think of this same day as last year I remember how confused I was then. Not knowing where this life was taking me. Leaving everything on fate, completely unaware of each other, we began building the castle of our dreams.

Today after one whole year when I look behind, all I can see is our beautiful journey from being strangers to becoming soulmates. I can see how much I have changed and how graceful this change has been. I have changed from an irresponsible spoilt girl into a responsible sensible women with you in such a short time.

The way you support me everytime I get an interview call and motivate me to keep trying even though I have failed so many times in interview is one thing that keeps me going. Some times you make me wonder how do you know the art to handle my mood swings in such a perfect way. You exactly know when I am tired and when I am over enthusiastic. The way you take care of my every little thing, whether it may be your continue reminders to oil my hair every week or it may be to pack both of ours tiffin box early morning when I be in total hurry to wind up with other work, is truly lovable. Its only because of your support that today I am able to manage my office and house effortlessly.

I feel glad everytime, when I see that I am going to spend my entire life with a person like you. This one year was the most wonderful year of my life and I am happy that many more such years are awaiting to come ahead. 

I am left with no words to thank you enough for being such a loving husband. The only thing I can say now is,

I LOVE YOU :)

Cloud Power!!! A Quick Solution for the Big Disasters.

Won a Microsoft Certification Exam for this post.

“Slow and steady wins the race”. I heard this slogan when I was a child and always thought, this is a mantra to be successful.  But, it was only until I joined IT profession as a Software Developer. It did not take me much time to realize that this slogan has no place in today’s fast paced era. Here, in this place you either have to be fast or screw yourself for being slow.

The only expectation from you is to give good quality software/service that too in very less time. The deadlines mock at you with the every passing second. In such a case the only aim in programmers mind is to finish off the task in hand as soon as possible without wasting any time.

Every programmer would love to be correct right in their first attempt while writing a new code to avoid scrap and rework and most importantly to avoid frustration. More over what if someone asks you to rewrite the same old existing code once again? Well, writing such unnecessary code would only add the wastage of resources which in turn could be utilized in concentrating in some other productive work.

Thanks to cloud computing for being there and bringing an end to such issues.

What is Cloud Computing?

If someone would have asked me this question 10 years back then it was acceptable. But now cloud computing being so extensively used, almost everyone related to IT sector have hit the search engine to know anything and everything about this term creating so much buzz.

But yet, to summarize in simple terms “Cloud Computing is sharing and using the computing resources hosted on the internet rather than having our own local resources”. These resources can be anything like virtual machines, database, servers, software applications and so on.

To make it even more simpler let us consider an Example of a new Online Shopping Website named ‘Shopkart.com’. Now initially when this was launched not many people knew about it and so even the visitor traffic was very less. But with the each passing day this site began to gain the popularity. More and more people visited to shop from Shopkart.The servers were not able to handle so much of load and the performance of the site began to gradually reduce. Inturn, increasing the risk of financial loss due to customer dissatisfaction. To overcome from this difficulty the new servers had to be brought and accordingly the code had to rewritten for the entire application to make it more vulnerable, to handle load and stress of increasing traffic. But this disaster recovery was time consuming as well as costly.

So, the Shopkart decided to go for cloud. Instead of rewriting the entire code the application was just migrated to cloud saving a lot of time of developers from rewriting the existing code. Also the servers were shared from cloud and this prevented the huge cost overhead for getting new own servers. This was a quick, efficient, reliable and cost friendly solution by which the people shopping from Shopkart had always a happy experience.

By this we come to a conclusion that with cloud computing a company can speed up and reduce the costs of existing processes. They make setting up of online applications extremely easier and much cheaper, then before. If we wouldn’t have cloud computing then most of the developer’s time would be wasted in figuring out the server and setting up the routers. But, now we are able to instead focus on actual product as all these things are taken care by cloud.

Click the below image to migrate to cloud and enjoy the benifits...

Smell the hell...

We are been blessed with so many things from the almighty. He created this beautiful world and showered on us with unbeatable and uncountable things. Just imagine, how would the earth be if there was no colour, no sound, no music or no smell. Would it be the same as it is now? Can't even imagine the world without these things right?

Well, let us take a moment now and think. How many times do we really appreciate the good things? Hmm.. We do it sometimes,isn't it?
But, We do appreciate good things only because we know how the evil things are. And that is why god created the evil along with the good. With music came noise and with the good smell came the bad one. Once the god found out that there is no appreciation for the good sound, he created noise. Similarly, when he realized that the people started to take the good smell he created for granted, he just created the bad one as well and said, "Smell the hell..."

            Now this imports my mind back to the days when few of the incidents, I had to experience, when I have literally "Smelled the hell ". Let me share some of them with you.

           One day I was late to office. Since I travel by bus to my office, I had no other option but get into a bus fully crowded. However, I just managed to fit my self in a very little space available. While I was struggling to avoid from being sandwiched in between the other people in the bus, my nose suddenly smelled some kind of a hell of a smell. Initially I could not make it out from where the smell was coming from. But it did not take me much time to find out that this rat like a smell was from one of the man standing near me. The smell was becoming more and more unbearable as the time was passing. I couldn't take it any more and just wanted to breath a fresh air. So, I pushed myself in between the crowded people and somehow managed to reach the bus door and got down from the bus as soon as the bus stopped and inhaled a gallons of a fresh air. Aahh.. relaxed. I did not mind being late for some more time. To me saving my self from the life threatening smell was more important then my boss screwing me for being late to the office.

           The most stinkiest smells, that I often get to smell are in the trains and buses. One can find every kinda odour available in the world in this crowded public transports. If someone had to do some research on most stinkiest smell on the planet then all you have to do is just board some train or bus in India and you are done. Every kind of smell will be available to you free of cost.

           Well, the stinky guy from the bus was however for time being. Just imagine what would you do if you had to stay with a stinky person at your room. During my college days I had a room mate who use to have shower once in 2 days. And God forbids, if there were the examinations going on, then this girl would not have the shower for days together. That would not affect her in anyways, but we, being her room mate would die because of the stinking smell of hers. This time there were no escape also. One day we decided to discuss with her the reason for her not having bath regularly. She replied,"Its very cold outside and there is no hot water available in hostel". Honestly when I heard of this contest in Indiblogger I just remembered my room mate. I wish I knew of Racold Water heaters then. I would have definitely gifted her one and save my self from the horrible smell.
         

This post is written for the contest " What's that Smell Boss??" by Racold Thermo Ltd. Click me to visit.

Hairy Tale...

Every girl's heart is a cocoon of thousands of wishes. May it be a girl next door who has never applied a hint of makeup in her lifetime or may it be someone titled as Miss Universe. The wishes are the one common factor that binds all the girls in one group despite of any differences.

To burn out that extra flab bulging out from the hips, to have a clean and clear complexion, to master the art of  applying the eye liner perfectly, to be a better cook, to eat her's heart's content without caring of the calorie count, to find a true love. The list that occupies a special place in every girl's heart is never ending.

I am no different. Like any other girl even I have a special wish. A wish that grew in my heart when I read a fairy tale of Rapunzel. It is a story of a girl with a long and strong hair who was been caught by an enchantress who shut her in a tower which had neither stairs nor door but only one window. But one fine day her prince climbs the tower with the help of her strong hair and reaches her. And then they fall in love and live happily ever after.

My wish is something similar. Well, not to have so long hair as Rapunzel but to have thick dark hair to my waist. To have most wonderful tresses anyone can ever imagine, smooth and silky, falling thick and full clear to my waist, rippling and flowing down my back like liquid sunshine. Hair on which I could actually sit. Every time I pulled a brush through them, they should shine like a diamond. To be blessed with each hair as soft as a silk strand and as strong as a metal string. Which I could proudly flaunt where ever I go and delight the feel of those magnificent masses floating down my back when the breeze played with it vibrantly that made every girl envious and left every guy in an awe. Hair flowing like a river when untied and when tied the escaped side locks dancing with joy to the rhythm of the breeze and tickling my face with its soft touch. Hair which I could easily convert into naughty when partying out or turn them elegant while attending a family function. Graceful in either ways.

But as we know, not all dreams come true. As I grew up I realized managing long beautiful hair isn't easy at all. It needs a lot of care and time which I rarely have. Moreover the pollution sucks out life from every hair of yours and  all you can do is helplessly collect those fallen strands where ever you move in your house and throw them in dustbin. My wish to have long beautiful hair died hundred deaths everyday with my every fallen hair. Due to this reason I never let my hair grow beyond my shoulder so that I could protect it from falling. But my wish for long hair is still within my heart. I pray someday I get some magical wand that could make my wish come true.

This post is written for Indiblogger Sunsilk Contest. Click Here.

Yes!!! Priorities do change with time...

It's a strange feeling these days when I open my Facebook account. Its just like yesterday my Facebook feed use to be flooded with the pics of the beautiful girls dressed in super amazing outfit partying hard and today all I can see is the same girls posting their wedding pics or pics either with their babies or with baby bump. 

They say that the marriage changes everything. Yes! that's true. It has beautifully changed my dull boring routine life suddenly into a fairy tale. Well, not everyone are equally lucky. It all depends on the person you choose to spend your entire life with. Mine is an arrange marriage. And I totally believe arrange marriage is like gambling with your own life. If you are lucky enough you win happiness for a lifetime and if your stars aren't with you then its a hell forever. I am lucky enough to get a life partner like Deep. He is someone who cares without limit and love without boundaries. Hmmm.. something like "unconditional" wala love. He plays a guitar for me, cooks food for me when I am bored of cooking, gets bugged but still watches any of my stupidest favorite movie with me without complain, food ordered in restaurant is always according to my choice, he eats anything and everything I cook even if the food is spicy, bitter, salty or has no salt at all, I become a total kid when I am with him and he takes care of me with all his heart. What more then this can a girl ask for! :-)

Life is changing even more rapidly. The things for which I was crazy just a few months back interests me no more. Expense tracker app on my cell phone is more active then whatsapp now. My eyes whose attention was once grabbed by designer bags and sandals now checks out fresh vegetables or house decorative items shops. Just few months back the biggest task for my mom was to wake me up in the morning and now this little Mumma's girl is managing house and work at the same time in a complete new city. Journey from a small town to the busiest metro city of India, Mumbai was never difficult or tiring. As my companion in this journey has taken care of me in every single step that I took.

Year 2013 was a roller coaster ride for me. Life changed and so did priorities. In this one year I quit one job, got married, shifted to new city Pune, once again shifted to a new city Mumbai, joined a new job. Though I am left with no time for myself I am just loving the life I am living. 

Memories Unlimited...

This is for all those moments we shared together which wouldn't have been so mesmerizing without you. 
This is for all that time we spent together which wouldn't have been so memorable without you. 
This is for you without whom my life would not be so colourful.
Here I am pouring my heart and collecting some of those memories which will cherish both of us when ever we will read this at any phase of our life.
This is for my best best bestest friend, SURABHI!!!

I don't know from where to start with because there are so many memories in my heart and they all rushing to be on this blog from the time I thought of writing some of them here. Okay!!! Fine, Let me start with the first day we met  in our 3rd semester when Chemical Engineering and Computer Science Engineering both the classes were combined for that M3 class of Mr.Anshi Sir. I thank our lecturers for making those combined classes because those were the best Mathematics class I ever attended in my lifetime as you were with me. Just recall our small introductory conversation on that day when you were wearing a green coloured salwar (Arrgghh!!! it was really bad) sitting on the last bench with Rekha when you asked me with your cheerful smile,

U:  Hi, What is your name?

Me: Hi, I am Sssonia and yourself?

U: I am Surabhi

Me: Very nice name(with the wide smile). Which place are you from?

U: Bangalore.

               and our this small conversation has now reached to this extent that we can never imagine a day without talking to each other.

Roaming in those hot streets of Gadag and than relaxing in that soda shop with full fan speed with chilled NIMBU SODA would not be so much fun without you. 

Walking such a long distance in that scorching sun just to have our favorite AMUL TRICONE ice cream from MY FOOD Restaurant would not be so awesome without you. And I must say that even now Amul Tricone taste at its best only when I have it along with you.

Our craze for food which always made us so desperate to eat and try every thing that we found on that Tontadarya streets and restaurants. That famous Mirchi bhaji, Gobi Manchuri, Shev puri and Masala puri, Vada pav, Egg puff, Pastries, Watermelon pieces with salt, Tender coconut(shiyala), P-Fries(;-P) and of course that Omlet pav from down:-)

May be we  thought twice before spending our small pocket money even before buying the books but when it came to food we were even ready to spend the last rupee from our purse.

I agree now we can easily buy those costly pizza's from Domino's and those Zinger Burgers from KFC but all these things cant taste as good as that 7Rs Egg puff with tea for which we use to wait in a queue and give our names to that funny bakery uncle at hostel.

I still wont be able to control my laugh when I remember all of yours condition on the day when you along with Samreen and other girls at hostel were suffering from Madras eye and only I was spared from it. 

Even in that condition with those red eyes you came along with me in that heavy rain and we both in one umbrella went to the medical stores that evening to buy eye drops for Madras eye for everyone at hostel.
That journey we had on the tum tum that day and than that Kadak hot tea with egg bhaji in the heavy rain in that restaurant would not be so memorable if you weren't there.
The day I was so tensed for my project work and you came along with me to Hubli carrying that heavy laptop bag and our search for the institute in that hot sun and then after that our visit to Iskon Temple of Hubli would not be so divine if you weren't there. 

Our craze for movies which made us to go and watch every new release even on a day prior to our final external exams when everybody else would be seriously studying. 

So many flop movies we watched together in that SHANTI THEATER and after that, that lunch in HOTEL PRINCE would not be so yummy if you weren't there.

Those countless movies we watched on my laptop with lights off in my room with full curiosity as if we were in theater would not be interesting if you weren't there.

Those hilarious Hyderabadi movies would not be so funny if you weren't there and of course those horror movies would not be so scary if you were not there to squeeze my hand with fear.

How can I forget those lazy Sundays at hostel. Remember those oily puris prepared in mess which I would preserve for you till you would come from your Sunday extra classes and whenever I asked you to bunk those afternoon classes to watch a movie you would agree without even thinking as if you were waiting for this opportunity only.

Hmmmm... Let me come to our so called Maths combine studies in your room. Studying Maths had never been so interesting as it was with you and thats all because we studied less and did all those other activities more. We would not even realize when we would close our books and start our crazy stories.

Our combine study reminds me of our craze for music. I remember the time when we use to stop studying and on my laptop to listen to those favorite tracks of ours. 

I remember how we paused the new song after every line and wrote it down on a paper to learn the lyrics of it and than sung it together as if we were great singers of the world.

I pity those unknown guys who called us on our cell to impress us and the way we irritated them by our horrible loud singing. Masakkali and Emotional Atyachaar were the best songs we used to irritate them.:-P

Those songs that we sung together on top of our voice sitting behind the tum tum while on the way to hostel from market would not be so enjoyable if you weren't there.

I still wonder what was the reason which made both of us to cry at once while listening to song "Kahi to Hogi Vo" from movie "Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na". Who else would support me to do all these crazy things if you weren't there. :-)

And hey how can we forget that fare at Tontadarya temple. Those gaint amusement toys and the most worstest experience when Indu, Shirlz and Sneha forced us for that TORA TORA ride and than our mixed feeling after getting down from it of fainting and puking would not be so weird if you weren't there.;-)

I miss those chocolates which we shared only with each other locking the door of the room so that only we both could have it without sharing with anyone else. 

I miss your red coloured warm blanket. I must say it was really heaven kinda feeling to sleep using your blanket in that freezing cold.

I miss our laughs, our cries, our imaginary stories, our hugs, those long never ending talks sitting at the entrance of our hostel gate while having evening tea, having that awesome night tea at hostel during exams with u, that support, that care.

I miss those stupid jokes we cracked, those tears we shed while sharing our pain and most important I miss that relaxing AANKHON WALI KISS which made us forget the complete strain of the day.

I still remember that promise we made to each other sitting in TV room of our hostel while we were studying that we will remain best friends for ever. And I am proud that in spite of so many people who tried to create misunderstandings in between us we are still so close and will always remain the same no doubt.















If I start squeezing my heart I can still see so many memories but not possible to write them all here. 

Now I dont want to end this blog by saying "I wish I could get those days back" or " Where are those days gone" blah blah because I know we both are still the same. So what if we are not staying together? Our hearts are connected and they will be connected till the death or may be even after that ;-)

Lastly, please convey my thanks to your hubby Vishal for understanding our friendship and a special thanks to him for paying those huge postpaid bills of your number which is just by talking to me for hours together.

Love You :-)

Sonia..

This post is written for Dove: Guessing Game with my friend contest. Please click on the image below

A Trip to Nowhere...

So have you ever been on a trip where you are completely unaware of the destination?

The only plan about the journey is heading to any random location wherever the milestones fixed on the road side takes you.

So if your answer is no then now get ready for a roller coaster ride of the crazy road trip with me and Ambi Pur which will head you to a mind blowing destination. 

Since the day my husband told me that he has a fantasy of a road trip where we make a zero planning of the routes, stay or destination, it became my fantasy as well. In just a couple of weeks we both managed to take the off from our work for three long days. So what else we needed? We got our bags packed with a pair of jeans, shirts and camera and within no time there we were, on the road in our car with bags and of course with our Ambi Pur.

Day 1:
We started from my hometown Karwar, Karnataka in the early morning at around 5'o clock with the music player screaming on the top of its voice and took the exit from the city. The first milestone which came across us was of the nearest place Ankola of 33 KMS. The drive of few minutes took us to the place but it was the next milestone which grabbed our attention. So, our next destination was to Murdeshwara which was 83 KMS from our present place. 

The first image that pops out in my mind whenever I hear the word Murdeshwara is of a giant statue of Lord Shiva which is surrounded by Arabian Sea. It is the third highest statue of Lord Shiva in the world. We gave a quick visit to the temple and got mesmerized by the divine beauty this place has got. But unfortunately we had no much time as we had to cover a lot in so small period and so we were back on the wheels in search of our next destination.

Photos clicked at Murdeshwara, Karnataka

After traveling for the few miles we got our next destination to move on. It was to the beautiful city of Mangalore. But it would take pretty long time for us to reach our new destination as it was around 155 KMS from Murdeshwara. So, we had some snacks and started to drive again. The greenery all around and the enchanting fresh air welcomed us with the open arms to this beautiful place Mangalore. And upon that the cherry on the top was Malpe Beach. After having a lot of fun on the beach our stomach started growling. We decided to have popular tasty Mangalore fish curry with rice in our lunch. What else one need in life if one get a chance to experience such an amazing road trip, Isn't it? Now I did not wanted to leave this place so soon so we decided to halt here and feel this place some more.

Hotel Kumar's International, Mangalore, Karnataka

We halted at a hotel named Kumar's International. The hotel is located in the heart of the city and because of that our day was spent in lot of shopping. Evening we just went on a walk to the places which were nearby from our hotel room. After such a fun filled day how could one spend an evening without making it interesting. When I told Deep that I want to make even this evening more memorable then he said he was too tired and asked me to plan out something. I thought for a while and searched my bag to see if I get something. And to my surprise I got few floating candles which I had kept in my bag few days back. As we packed our bags in hurry while we left for this trip, I had not got much time to take it out of my bag. Finally an idea popped out in my mind. Yes, It was nothing but candle light dinner.

Candle light dinner in Hotel Kumar's International, Mangalore

We ordered some chicken and paratha for our dinner. I could not found any bowl or something like that to place these floating candles. So I just placed them and lit in a mug :-P
The entire tiredness of the day was gone in just a second when the light from these candles filled our room. The food was splendid as expected. The evening turned out to be even more memorable then we had thought as it was our first candle light dinner after all :)

Day 2:
Deep woke me up at 5 AM early morning. I was not willing to get up so early but had no option. But it was after travelling for a while that my excitement was on the peak after seeing this new milestone. That's because we realised we were only few miles away from entering the God's own country, Kerala. I had never been to Kerala earlier but always had a strong wish to visit the place. Finally, my wish had come true and that too in a such an unexpected way. Now I even had no complaints of waking up early. We kept travelling for a long time following every milestone that we got in between and clicked a lot of pics as well.

Clicked near Airport Road, Cochin, Kerala

We then decided that we will travel to the longest distance milestone which we see and then our
return journey will start from there. I was too sleepy by now and I slept off. When I opened my eyes I was totally surprised to see the surroundings. Everywhere till my eyesight reached I could just see the green plants. The tea plantation spreaded over miles and miles of area. On enquiring to Deep about our next destination I came to know that we were on the way to Munnar.

Las Palmas Resort, Munnar, Kerala

Munnar is a hill station so obviously the drive to the place was quite hectic as there were a lot of
curves and turns. We reached the place at around 5 in the evening and we directly checked in to the Hotel Las Palmas.

After getting fresh we went for a walk and had our evening tea in road side tea shop with cake. Having hot tea in the chilling cold with the greenery all around. Totally priceless :) At night we had Typical Keralian Food and slept off early as we had to explore Munnar even more as soon as the sun would rise the next morning. After all it was our return journey in the morning as well.

Day 3:
We got up early morning and left the hotel at around 6.30. All I can say is, if there is heaven anywhere on this earth then it is right here in Munnar. Every now and then this place mesmerised me with its enchanting beauty. My excitement would be on peak as I could see one waterfall after every ten minutes. There were many little shops on the way which sold out the local products of Kerala like Tea, Garam Masala, Juices, soaps and so on .

The images clicked on the way while driving back from Munnar

So have you ever seen honey growing on tree. Well, this was what we got to see after driving for a while. We found some tourists gathered at one place and taking pics of a tree. So out of curiosity we stopped just to get surprised once again. Yes, It was a honey tree.
Well, in reality honey doesn't grow on this tree. The name is such because there and hundreds of honey bee hives on this tree. The more surprising thing here was these honey bees have built there hives on just one tree. All the surrounding trees were totally normal. Strange, isn't it?

Honey Tree, Munnar, Kerala

It was the time for us to refresh our soul now as now we were in the  another soul touching place of Munnar, The Flower Garden. There were thousand of variety of flower gardening done in this area. Deep captured most of them in his camera and out of it some of my favourite clicks of his, I have uploaded in image below.

Flower Garden Munnar, Kerala

Well, now it was the time for us to get back to our home. The road trip of three amazing days was about to end in few hours drive. The amazing food, the friendly people, the mesmerising water falls, the beautiful flower garden, vast tea plantation spreaded over hundred of acres, we had it all in this road trip. I can now literally say that I have never seen any place as beautiful as Kerala in my lifetime.

Brought this little boat and wind chimes in memory of our road trip

Planning of next such unplanned road trip while getting back from one. Its just Priceless :)

This post is written for Ambi Pur Contest on IndiBlogger.