I wish i could...

I wish i could ...

I wish i could see you smile
how the love in your heart sparkles in your eyes and lips

I wish i could tell you
how lame is this no-touch smiley hug
looting me of your tender 'touch'

I wish i could tell you ...
How sick i am of this virtual long distance kiss
I wish i could kiss and tell...
how the warmth of your lips actually feel

I wish i could see your curl
reminding me of a baby with nothing to worry
I wish i could see that peaceful face
and for a moment feel I'm in a trouble-free world

I wish i could say 'i love you'
just not to your ears....but to YOU.
and with you by my side

I wish i could say 'i love you'
looking in your eyes..
seeing you smile ...
smiling and hugging...
hugging and kissing...
kissing and curling...
and say 'i love you'
wishing that we would never part...

I just simply wish.

A quickie. No, not that you pervert minds.

Hmmmmmmmmm....I'm back....but not with a bang.

Where was I?Ahh...right, snow. Snow is long gone and now its almost spring officially. Somehow, I don't seem to understand the American season system. How can they exactly pin point the first day of some season in the calendar? Yeah i agree with all the sun, equator and bullshit. But, how?? is still the question.

Well, Springs' in. That reminds me of something. The highly famous H1-B drama and this year the news is out that the H1-B Cap is not full yet and USCIS is accepting petetions for both master's and general category. 'There is no lottery'!! Pheew! What a releif. If you are lucky enough to stick with an employer and get an H1-B petetion filed, you are sure to get an H1. Wait, there is stil a catch in it. A H1 for sure, IF you get through all the query bullshit. So, good luck on that folks.(including me :)

What else?? Yeah, after a couple of gruelling months, the Department of Motor vehicles and National Threat advisory board has finally decided that i'm not a saboteur of the American integrity and issued me a license(again :P) and let me register my car. Ofcourse, i had to go through a lot of ordeal, say, change my name on SSN, pay more insurance and garage my car for almost a month. Now, i'm officially Pandu Ranga(first name). Howwzat?

And all you license holders, never get caught talking on the 'hand held mobile phone' while driving in NJ. Yes, the law enforcement officer can ticket you and an amount higher than you can get while caught speeding!! Thats right. It happened to me.

I earned $10. Yes, in a casino. Probably my first win in luck based games. Not that i've won a lot in skill based ones. :P . Yeah, it was during the Bachelors' party for Vishu in Atlantic city. Let's wish Vishu (my mentor, friend, philosopher and guide..to be read as bol-bachan-dene-wala, bakwaas-ideas-denewala and Vtech-aane ka- idea- denewala.) a happy and married life as he is getting married. (finally!!!) . Seriously, Vishu..you rock dude.

And yes, I have been pretty busy these days with all these things that i didn't get time to update. Don't beleive that, do you? You guessed right. I got lazy and didn't feel like writing.
Now,i've done it and back to work i go.
You all have a great weekend

Comments?Thoughts?Questions?

My experiments with snow.

I didn't find any other title that would be apt for this. So bear with it. It's not a copy, it's just an inspiration. In my defense, i'd quote most of the music/film directors who would blatantly rip off some hollywood/arabic/german movies and present them as their own.

Well, to kick start from where I left, I was washed ashore after i was for a couple of months lost in the 'OPT extension storm'. As i was waiting on the lonely island for some rescue boat to appear and give me the news, I wondered and wished that something exciting would happen to tell you all about it. Then it happened. It snowed. Not that it wouldn't snow anywhere else, but it snowed here and i had the perfect mood to experiment with my Nikon D40 SLR in snow. I was hoping to do this since long time, but never really had the mood to do so. This time, it was perfect. I had the snow, I had the camera and I HAD THE MOOD. Perrrrrrrrrfect.

I set out in the snow and yeah it was snowing pretty heavily. Oh k, c'mon now people in far far north states of US need not shrug it off. I know you people are blessed with a lot of snow. And any people in Canada need not contest at all. I had a snow cover of 4 inches on my car. Now tell me if it was some snow. Of course, it was a pain to clear the snow off the car. All I could see was snow. Trees, bushes, houses, roads and even cars were totally white as if a canvas was ready for someone to paint.I started off from the balcony and then moved on to the parking lots finally on to streets. I was experimenting various shutter speeds and ISO settings and am pretty much satisfied with some of the shots. Most of the trees were without leaves and it was pretty artistic to see the curvy brown branches covered with snow. It was like a black forest cake with icing and chocolate on the top. :) You can find all the snaps in this picasa link here
Everything was fine, but I couldn't shoot 'falling 'snow. I always wanted to shoot snow while it was falling. I tweaked the camera controls, looked through google, but all in vain. Any of you know how do you shoot the snow flakes while in motion, please do tell me.
By the time I had some satisfying shots, my hands went numb. I had the snow gear minus the gloves. After a while, i couldn't feel my hands. My clicking finger wouldn't bend anymore. It was then when i had to give up and prepare some hot tea for myself. Also, did I forget to mention that i was almost run over by a car while i was totally engrossed in shooting the snow and i never did notice that i tread on to the road?
At the end, I was glad that i could put to use my camera after a long time, but the real pain started when i had to clean the car and go out to eat. The brakes wouldn't hold on the slippery road. I had to drive slowly that I would reach my destination safely. Ah! the next pain is parking. Snow parking regulations come into play. I finally found one and could eat.
One thing i've learned out of my experiments with snow is other than the fact that you can click some shots and play in it, there is nothing good about the snow. Yeah, bitter truth.

Comments?Thoughts?Questions?

One not so important date.

13th January 2008. Tuesday.

What is so peculiar about that date? You must be trying to recollect if something happened on this day. Yeah, this also coincides with the 'sankranthi' festival. But that's not what i'm talking about. It's just any other date for you people out there. For me, this was the date that has been haunting me since months. Giving me sleepless nights. Nope, nothing cataclysmic was supposed to happen to world that would put the very existense of our mankind at peril.

That date was simply the last date of my OPT. And yeah, for all those out there wondering by now... Yes, it IS a big issue. Fortunately the 'considerate' United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which decides the fate of all poor souls like me who wish to live their dreams, has given us an 17 month extension of OPT. Great!!! But wait a minute..there is a catch in it. The firm has to be e-verified. Now say whats this?? This means firm which registers for this program would be monitored by the Department of Homeland Security for any illegal immigrants. So, if you can get hold of a firm which is ready to offer you employment and which is also e-verified, then you can apply for your extension. Thats not the end of the story. From then on, your approval rests in the hands of the intellectual who might not even have a hint of what my masters is in, what kind of a job i do and how are they even related.

This reminds me of the time we used to joke about our bacherlor's exams correction. If the evaluator was in good mood, even if you didn't write a single sentence with the least possible logic, you could score a top mark. I still wonder how i secured a pass mark in ' Finite Element Method'. That question paper was still a mystery to our professor himself. That day the watcher has given us full power to consult anyone of our friends within the classroom to scribble an answer in the answer sheet. No use. None of us had a clue what to write. Magic!! Everyone passed that exam. Thanks to our paper evaluators. I am certain now that they were in good mood that day.

Okay, now I've done my part. Waiting for the USCIS to do their part. The day that has given me nightmares too passed me very smoothly. I don't feel that it was all that terrible. Afterall, it was just any other day. One of the many days on which I could come across some trouble. Just one more difficulty. There will be many more days with a new difficulty for selected for that day. Until that day comes, I'm good.
As they say, You can only prepare for the future, you cannot predict it.

Comments? Thoughts? Questions?