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Current News
 June 10, 2004 - Wedding Coming Up!
January 31, 2004 - Diaspora
November 30, 2003 - Sooner State
July 16, 2003 - Starting Work At Skire
July 07, 2003 - 28 Years Since Arrival
May 31, 2003 - Music Room Alpha
April 25, 2003 - Uneventful Arrival
April 02, 2003 - Departure Rescheduled
March 06, 2003 - Work Visa Arrives
February 26, 2003 - Nostalgia In Chennai
February 22, 2003 - A Welcome To Remember
February 14, 2003 - Trip to India
February 13, 2003 - Selling a beautiful car
February 08, 2003 - Gemify Launch
January 01, 2003 - A New Start
June 10, 2004 - Wedding Coming Up!
There are events in life that are so subtly orchestrated that you barely notice the connections.
Looking back and looking forward, I'm thankful to Him for His beautiful plan.
My lovely fiancee Sheeya and I are getting married at the Home Church, Nagercoil, India
on the 23rd of June, 2004. Sheeya and I met in late February when our parents arranged
for the rendezvous, and since then, there's been no turning back! Sheeya is a precious and wonderful
gift from God, and needless to say, I am very excited!
January 31, 2004 - Diaspora
It is a funny feeling when all your roomies get married and move out - all in a month! Today is the last day
at my apt#46 address. Tomorrow I move into a new apartment. The last couple of years have been interesting. Old
friends coming together into an apartment, enjoying the bachelor days in clean and fun surroundings and then,
a sudden diaspora. A wedding-based diaspora, that is. Looks like I will be doing the honors of completing the
process when I find my ring! ;-) "Bachelor days were fun." Yes sir, indeedy!
November 30, 2003 - Sooner State
The best view of Oklahoma city at night is possibly from one of the overbridges on I-44 West as you drive down I-35 South. Oklahomans would probably kill me for saying that... ;-)
While in the area for a couple of days, I got to visit the National Memorial in the city. The partial building remnant from the bombings was eerie. Downtown was deserted after noon
on a Sunday; a friend says "Of course! Everybody's in church in Oklahoma on a Sunday". More or less, I seemed to like the southern 'Bible' belt. Churches galore, the place seemed to
be overflowing with children - lots of 'em. Loved the respectful "yes Sir"s and "yes Ma'am"s!
July 16, 2003 - Starting Work At Skire
Today I start work at Skire, Inc. I am told all things happen in His time. I
bear witness to that. Needless to say, I am very excited about this
opportunity. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for all your prayers and
support.
July 07, 2003 - 28 Years Since Arrival
Twenty Eight years have passed since I arrived here on planet Earth.
The past year, my 28th, has had a tremendous effect on my life. A mixed bag
I'd say, but nevertheless, it was a worthy and memorable roller coaster ride.
In retrospect, 'Change' seems to describe the year best. All in all, I count the
past year a very important one, possibly the most important, so far.
Happy Birthday!
May 31, 2003 - Music Room Alpha
A Private Music Listening Room is now available
for alpha testing on Gemify. A selected few from my private MP3 collection are
listed, with convenient listening options in this area. Please note that this area
will be made private as soon as it is deemed listen-worthy!
Encompassing technologies such as Java Server Pages, XML, JavaSound API,
third-party Java-MP3 libraries and an ID3 implementation, this room is
proving to be quite a learning experience. You know what that means, right?
Yep, I'm looking for a job... :-(
April 26, 2003 - Uneventful Arrival
"Thank you for bringing me back here Father" I prayed silently
as the B777 touched the tarmac at SFO International ahead of schedule
on April 25. The immigration officer even took the time for a
friendly chat about my home state in India before nodding a 'you're
all set' smile.
Thank you for your prayers!
April 02, 2003 - Departure Rescheduled
Due to the current situation in the middle east
and partly due to my parents' desire for me to spend
some more time with them, I have decided to postpone
my return trip to the US, originally scheduled for
April 05. Under the revised plan, I am scheduled for
arrival at SFO on the 25th of April.
March 06, 2003 - Work Visa Arrives
I've seen miracles happen in my life. The latest one happened
this week when I received my work Visa ahead of schedule in the
mail. Thanks to everyone who remembered to say a little prayer
for me!
February 26, 2003 - Nostalgia In Chennai
The train pulled into the Egmore railway station in Chennai
30 minutes behind schedule. I am impressed, given that we started
out an hour and a half late! Nostalgia set in as I walked into
a friend's home, which happened to be practically yards away
from where I used to live about 5 years ago. As I stepped into
the little 'oh-so-familiar' shop around the corner, the guy at
the counter looked at me quizzically for a moment and then let
go of his jaw... "Maashe!" he exclaimed. ('Maashe' translates
to a colloquial 'sir' in Malayalam, a south Indian language -
more like a 'hi' than a 'sir'). And we talked. It's been a
while you see.
I was in Chennai to submit my paperwork for my work visa.
After the paperwork was submitted, a friend of mine in spite
of his tight work schedule agreed to come down to see me. As
we chatted, walking down the parking lot, he stopped in front
of a brand new Honda City (very closely resembling the Honda
Accord) and said, "Gem, I just bought this". As I congratulated
him, he looked at me briefly before continuing, "I drew
inspiration from your Accord". You see, he'd stayed briefly
with me in Sunnyvale during his official visit to the United
States. He even ordered the wood trim. Man, the guy must've
been in love with the Accord! :-) "I miss those days", he said
dreamily. "Yea, me too...!"
As I looked out the window of the speeding mini van zigzagging
through the 'one-inch-closer-and-I'll-crash-into-you'
traffic of Chennai, with speakers at full blast blaring a barely
intelligible song, and dust dancing the Tango with the rays of
the evening sun, I thought to myself, "Hmmmn... I'm really
enjoying this..."
Uh huh. That's what too much nostalgia can do to you.
February 22, 2003 - A Welcome To Remember
Some welcomes are unforgettable, such as mine at my destination,
Trivandrum International. The customs officers there declared me
a smuggler and detained my beloved Nikon photography equipment,
including my F5, the assortment of lenses and accessories.
:-) Okay, all right, that's not what they charged me with, but
it amounts to the same thing; they concluded I was trying to
'sneak' the items into the country, ignoring my statement that
I intended to use the items for my personal stuff and that I
would take the items back upon return. After about three hours
of pleading and justifying my case, I realized that the new AC
(Assistant Commissioner) would not budge from her stand. My
parents, sister and her family were anxious and understandably
concerned when I didn't appear long after other passengers had
left the area. A few hours later, I was home at last, happy
but nevertheless worried about my equipment stored away in
the warehouse at the airport. And I thought life was easy! ;-)
We (family and friends) are trying to get the officers to allow
me to 're-export' my equipment when I travel out of the country
next. I hope it can be done.
And oh, btw, I'm doing alright except for a nasty cold, and my
throat's on vacation! :-) A glass of hot milk with a pinch
of turmeric and ground pepper after dinner : mom's prescription;
I'm feeling better already. Moms do know a thing or two, don't
they??? :-)
 Update
All efforts to redeem/re-export my beloved photography equipment
have failed. Ah! :-(
February 14, 2003 - Trip to India
Chance and choice are two different things,
but sometimes life has a strange way of presenting
amalgams of the two. As a result of my circumstance (chance)
and procrastination (probably best portrayed as a choice),
I might have to go to my native country, India to obtain extension
of my work visa.
Update
I embark on this trip on the 20th of this month. Wish me luck!
February 13, 2003 - Selling a beautiful car
Due to seriously constrained resources, I have parted with my beautiful
and trustworthy Honda Accord. All the years that we've
been together, she has never let me down, not once.
She has witnessed my quiet times, frustrated times, times I've broken
down, times I prayed, times I felt like the king of the road, times I
simply sat inside long after putting her in park, listening to the
radio or my favorite CD, times I fondly and gently brushed dust off
her, and oh, so much, so much more...
Update
Today I drove my baby to San Francisco for the last time and handed
her over to her new guardian. As I stepped out of the car at the
train station, I turned to the new owner and said "Take care of her...".
He smiled knowingly and said "You got it Gem. She'll be well taken care of".
I smiled, nodded a 'thanks' and waved a meaningful goodbye. As she breezed
away I stood there for a few moments, swallowed hard and walked towards
the train.
February 08, 2003 - Gemify Launch
The gemify.com website is being unveiled today.
Although the site is not exactly complete or the best out there, there
are certain portions of the website that I'm proud of. Originally planned
for launch during the first week of February, the schedule was postponed
for February 08, 2003 due to unforeseen technical difficulties.
January 01, 2003 - A New Start
When I told a friend that I went to Church first thing in
the morning on New Years day, she said, "Starting the year off right, huh?"
Given the way things were going in my life, I very much needed a new start,
a fresh perspective. So, all said and done, did I have a good start? I
like to believe I had a good start when in a quiet moment with Him, I said
'Thank you for this day Lord. Help me through, one day at a time'.
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