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Maine - The way life should be

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A beautiful morning at Old Orchard Beach North-east of USA is the place, where I lived the longest of my post college life. For around 5 years, in fact 4+ in Connecticut and around an year in NJ, and never thought of visiting Maine. It was one of the biggest mistakes. Since 2011 till 2016, we never thought about Maine. It was a sin. Thou, the mistake was rectified, and sin was about to get washed away, as soon as we got back to the region, sadly not to Connecticut thou. It was New Jersey. It was Wednesday, a weekday and I was yet to get assigned to my new organization, and was just getting bored. The thought came in to roam around, I shared about visiting Maine and planned to start on Friday, my wifey suggested, why to wait till Friday, lets start tomorrow. 15th, 16th and 17th of September were the dates, to leave lasting impression. Since 2 out of three days were weekdays, getting confirmed hotels were not a big task.  Plan: Day 1: On 15th, start by 10 AM, to avoid

A Journey through the Flood

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The Proglomenon Bihar and Floods are synonymous. One can only imagine the pain of the inhabitants of the region, especially the northern part, which has a lot of wild, deep and strong streams of Himalayan rivers flowing. Even the strongest of barrages will feel tenuous against the might of these mighty water bodies, when turned wild, who otherwise are the lifeline of the region. Bihar has been one of the states, which is affected by floods almost every year. Blame it on the nebulous political approach or the nature, Bihar is yet to get rid of this. I am writing this memoir after 16 years. You can imagine the conditions then.   In 2004, the connectivity to the rest of the world also used to get impacted. It was way before the Golden Quadrilateral, a dream project of Late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee shaped up, which now at least ensure the connectivity is not lost during the flood. The Long Summer I have completed my second semester. In my College, BIT Mesra, the semesters ending

Alabama & Missouri - Three days of Thrill - Part 1 (of 2)

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This was a trip to an unknown section than usual holiday destinations of Indians in America. Alabama and Missouri don't come close to qualify for a holiday destination list, forget about topping it. We planned to visit the parts of three states down south of the USA, completely different from each other. Florida, the vibrant one, Missouri, the quite and subtle. Alabama, the historic, mostly we heard about it due to the song "Alabama" or the movie, "To kill a mockingbird". The Plan Day 1: Start early evening and stay somewhere near to the first destination, town of "Mobile" Day 2: Visit the historic war ship, USS Alabama and head to Mississippi afternoon. Return back to stay overnight in Mobile. Day 3: Visit the vibrant Pensacola Beach and shred all the fatigue in the clean water of the gulf of Mexico. Preparation Hotel bookings were important. Because plan was to convert a normal weekend to be felt like long weekend, by cutting down the t

Ajanta & Ellora - A journey to the rich past

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India's civilization dates way back to thousands of years, way before the modern date system was invented. India is a country, which was flourishing in terms of economy, culture, literature, arts and prosperity, when entire Europe was in dark age, when USA was yet to be found and Australia was yet to be colonized. India, was then a leader in education system, economics and trade. India, the land of rich literature, scientists and philosophers, India, the land of seekers, religions and devotees. There are many Indias within India. One such India, is the land of architects and architecture. This story is about the journey to the glorious pages of Indian history, to the prosperous era and rich past, a story of man made structures of a nearly impossible architecture, even modern day architects, with all their extremely advanced equipment, cannot make. It is a journey to the place of importance in history of India, an important city of Mughal and pre Mughal era, the journey to

Lake Placid & Adirondack Mountains -

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Some of my excellent plans have been the plans made in a jiffy. This story is about a trip, which just happened, was planned over a cup of tea, within an hour. And it happened, because of the people, who were part of this trip. July 2014, 4th July was a Friday, which means, we had a long weekend. Long weekends in that part of world are not meant to stay at home, especially if they are during summers. We just discussed it over a cup of tea, it was agreed upon, that we will go somewhere. But where? It was yet to be decided. Vibhu bhai suggested Lake Placid, we all agreed. Since everyone in our group had some plan or other, so it was only four of us. jasu ben was included at last. Final group consist of five people, Jasu Ben, Vibhu bhai, Dhara, Sumu and I.  When Vibhu bhai is there, you need not to worry about anything, hotels, deals, food, plan, fun, Vibhu has the answer for everything. Vibhu bhai is resourceful.  The only input I had in this plan was, lets start on Thursday

Stamford to Alpharetta - Wherever Life Takes

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Stamford Stamford, a place, where I lived for the longest in a stretch. My rented apartment in Stamford, CT, till date, is the place, where I lived most of my post college life, almost 3 Years.  18th July 2013 to 27th May 2016. The next best is another rented apartment in Noida, Sector 62. Thou we are modern day nomads, still we get attached with the places. So leaving Stamford, that apartment, that place, was tough. It would have been easier, if Stamford does not have the flavors of small towns and facilities of the big cities. It would have been easier, if my wife and I, have not liked the nearby chirpy downtown and the tranquil neighborhood. It would have been much easier, if we would not have made some great friends. And of course, the stability for 3 years. Stamford was unlike boring Norwalk, a place separated from Stamford by 10-12 miles, and our abode for around an year earlier. Leaving Norwalk never made us emotional. May be we were shifting back to India then. Special