Bits and Bytes from my Life

I have been hearing about AJAX for past few months from lot of people. So finally today I went on web to read about AJAX. HA Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha… I have been using AJAX for past 2 years in my projects and I had seen the first usage of AJAX around 2002 ending when I had visited Cordys(www.cordys.com) in Netherlands. They have web based integration framework which completely works on Asynchronous javascript and XML technology(inshort AJAX)…. I loved the concept so much that, I used the technology in my next project EPM UI(around march 2004)… It is a xml based web interface generation tool kit. I am currently using it in my current project in SAMSys for past 3 months… But if you would have asked me yesterday what was AJAX and if I knew about it I would have said “NO”…. Isn’t it funny….:):) Enjoy… It is great technology everyone should read about it.

Some good links…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AJAX
http://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/AJAX:Getting_Started
http://java.sun.com/developer/technicalArticles/J2EE/AJAX/index.html?cid=59754

Today I baked a cake for arrival of 2006…:) It was fun. It was first time I baked a cake… It was simple and turned out really tasty…:) I just had to mix the cake powder with 3 eggs , oil and water and bake it in oven at 350 deg for 1 hour…:) It was great… Everyone liked it… Here are some pictures of work in progress…:)

Happy new year to all of you… Hope new year brings lot of happyness to all of you.. Year 2005 has been a year of ups and downs, Goods and bads. Here are some key changes/events of 2005…
1. When year started I use to work for e-Emphasys and life was not going anywhere. Now things have changed I changed my job moved to SAMSys Technologies. Samsys manufactures RFID readers and I work with their Rnd department to define interfaces of RFID reader with various middleware solutions. So it is work that I love. I represent the company in EPC global the standards organization for RFID. I have great colleagues at work. I have leant a lot(bit more later).
2. Along with this I have started my MBA at kenan-flagler business school at UNC chappel hill. It is one of the best schools in US. This year it was ranked 5th for executive MBA program. I am enjoying it.
3. We had a great vacation in Switzerland in May. It was fun. You can read more at http://liketravel.blogspot.com
4. I started blogging(thanks to Joe and Damon my colleagues at SAMSys). I love blogging and reading blogs. It is an amazing experience. I am not a great writer but I am improving and I will strive to become better.
5. I learnt a lot at work. Especially from Joe. Joe is very active in OpenSource community he is author for ATOM the protocol used for blogging. It is good to work with him. One of the best tools I have ever used is Wiki… Amazing tool for collaborative document management. There is lot more but that I will write sometime later.
6. We bought a new townhome… http://gharonda.blogspot.com/
7. 2005 has come with lot of challenges especially on my health front. Since may end I have been continuosly facing problem on health front. I had never been to a hospital before that but I have had 3 surgeries and 4th one is scheduled for 13th jan… So it has been a real challenge especially for Swati. But tough time show you how strong your loved ones are.. Trust me Swati is so strong. We are alone here no relatives or any family members. But Swati has taken it very well. Hmm I am not sure how I am going to payback.. Maybe when I am totally allright I will cook and arrange a candle light dinner for Swati..:)
8. I registered a company… www.vakra.com. It has not even taken off but hopefully 2006 will be a good year for Vakra.
9. Inspite of work, health issues, MBA I am much more stress free.. I am relaxed and I can enjoy my life.
10. In 2005 I only knew hand full of people in RTP area and now I know so many of them that is because of new job and MBA….:)

Somehow I wanted to write 10 so last 2 are so dumb…:) Anyway happy new year to you all and here is a greeting for you all… Enjoy…

We had been to Switzerland for vacation in first week for may this year. I have been behind Swati to update the travel blog with details about the visit. Finally today was the day she finished it… I think you all should read it… It is good stuff..

http://liketravel.blogspot.com

Chunnu joined us in mumbai after his studies till 12th in cochin. He had never left naval base in cochin and here he lands in mumbai. It was his first day at college so he took the same bus as all of us. Our regular route was navy nagar->colaba-> regal->Vt… We normally caught the bus at navy nagar and got down at regal and then walked to our college(KC College). We all got down at Regal excetp Chunnu. He was on upper deck and waving good bye to us. We din’t know why he din’t join us. Anyway we reached college and after some time saw chunnu running towards college gate. We caught him there and asked what the problem was and why was he running and where was he coming from. His awnser was…. He was coming from VT as by mistake he bought ticket for VT and if he would have got down at regal he was scared that TC may catch him…:) As soon as we all heard that we all were on ground laughing like mad….. So this is chunnu…Bhola bhala chunnu…

One day Bhau was walking towards bus stop and he saw chunnu and his dad walking ahead of him at some distance and suddenly chunnu started running back towards home and his dad towards bus stop. Bhau was surprised so he caught chunnu and asked wat the problem was. Chunnu explained I forgot my certificates for admission so I am running to get them and when asked abt his dad he said he will go and stop the bus for himmm:):):) lol

Anyway… Chunnu had lot of energy when we played cricket he would throw a ball from one end of the field to other rather than towards the stumps..:):) same when we played volleyball..:):) He was a great guy.. He finally left college and joined Indian Air force as a Field engineer or something..:)

Chunnu the ultimate hitch…:)

Back to Pavilionis a famous term associated with cricket , when a bats man is out and returns home !!!This is our last day of vacation and today is Sudhir’s Birthday too. We get up early ie 4.30 am and get ready for our journey back home.We reach the gates at 6.30 am . Sudhir is still sleepy and I am just staring @ the airport, there are informative videos about switzerland. we board the flight for paris around 7.00am . Our vacation was so fantastic , cant belive its ending too!!! We walked and walked a lot this time.Our daily schedule was , get up early , eat heavy breakfast and hop on to a train , stop and walk…. I have’nt seen a place so beautiful in my life, it was much more charming the what i had read on the net about it. You have to come here and experience by your own eyes.
We reach Paris @ 10.30 am and have our next flight @ 11.30 am , looks like we are just gonna make it. Finally after some running around we reach the gates to board Delta flight to Cincinnati , Ohio. Our week long swiss bliss comes to an end..

We get up in the morning and watch CNN- they are discussing about the UK elections.
This is our last ride in the scenic trains , we board the Glacier Express from Zermatt for Chur.Glacier express is completing 75 years , Cute little red train. As the train descents we see small slate stone roof houses, to support the heavy 3′ snow during winter.There is also lot of construction going around, Once green valleys are naked with Steel Tower cranes. there is a stone bridge in the mountains while entering Visp, what a perfect postcard pic.The glaciers have formed definite patterns on the rocks.We met some interesting people on our journey, They are from germany and serious travellers. They are very nice we discuss on US and the world in general. Glacier express has continuos commentary abt the train and surrounding points.We reach to a point called the oberalp pass where it was very foggy and snow around, low visibility. There is this village of rivers called as Izon, White water rafting is famous here. The train reaches Chur in 6 hours .
Switzerland has heavenly views , every nook and corner is so beautiful, just transforms you into another era.We bid adieu to our German friends and catch the train to zurich.
We take a walk outside the zurich train station,on the Bahnstrasse, do some shopping of chocolates for friends back home. I also bought the swiss bell. Zurich is armed well with all the upscale shopping malls to lure all genre of travellers.
We take the train to Zurich Flagafahn and check in the hotel .Thats the end of our switzerland journey.

Our next stop is Geneva , we board the Golden pass line and are reserved in the 1st class lounge, this was so awesome, it had all the facilities to spoil the travellers, I must say tht Switzerland is so good for tourist as far as guiding them and giving necessary information , kudos to them for maintaing such high level of hospitality. The train has all glass cabin and especially at the front of the train it gives u 360 view of where the trian is headed as if u are the driver, gosh tht was so great.We pass thru zstaad, here most of the bollywood films are shot, beautiful indeed.There are these stone tunnels on the route which are fun while travelling in a train. Sudhir is reading Deception point- Dan Brown. I am imbibing all the natural beauty I can see..seems endless.We change trains at Montreaux, this is near the french side of switzerland, can see the French influence, The guys with the dining cart said Messeur.
All thru montreaux the train had a big lake running parallel.The lake was so magnanimous that the swiss alps looked tiny in front of it.There are these big villas surrounded by farms on all sides. Reach Geneva @ 1.37pm , we book a hotel by taking info from the information center. The people all thruout swiss are very helping and happy go lucky, they have a beautiful country and they are proud of it.

Geneva is the commercial centre of switzerland, giving glimpses of neighbouring france.All major signs are in french.Let me give u a simple example, Zurich airport is called Zurich flagafahn whereas Geneva airpot is called Aiporte de Geneva!!!During our city tour we visit the United Nations Organisation., Travelling is by trams .Geneva houses all international organisations like UNESCO,UNICEF, REDCROSS. The boatride in lake geneva is very calming and serene.
Geneva has lots of people on the streets with restaurants on the streets, people enjoying life as it comes. There are shops lined thru the streets.This was the day when the city market was on, local people open shop to sell all their mercahndise, we ate churros on the street they were very delicious yummy.Geneva is urban ,it has historical buildings too. Many french style villas and chateaus, marriage of old and new.

On our way back we visit the Chateau deChillon which is in chillon.Its a 15th century castle made out of stone completely and restored very well. The perfect freach castle with many towers. Amazing how huge stone vaults constructed without the technology of today!!!We take the Glacier express to zermatt after this. the weather is sunny and windy too. we reach zermatt @ 5.00pm . Its on a height and its cold up here. Small hillstation , with small streets lined by small souveneir shops, this is the most popular tourist destination around. Its a small place though, its getting dark early on.

Nice article about business and innovation…

http://www.strategy-business.com/press/enewsarticle/enews121205?pg=all

Today I read a blog entry by Neha: http://neha16.blogspot.com/2005/12/i-feel-good.html
So I started thinking about some of the special moments of my life so let me start writing few of them over next few days…

To start with let me tell u about Hitch club. Majority of my schooling and college was done in mumbai. I use to live in Navy Nagar, Colaba, Mumbai. I had a huge friend circle. Lot of people in NAvy nagar knew our group. I think the first person I met in our friend circle was Bhau(Brijesh). He is one of my best friends. It is difficult to keep in touch with him now as he is in India and me in US..:( Then I met Peri(Perminder) and David(Devendra). Then the group kept growing. Beri(Barun) is another close friend. It has been ages since I spoke to him. But he is really close to my heart. I think I can do anything for him. He is so good. I think he has gone thru a lot of tough times in his life. We use to celebrate our birthdays together my birthday is on 7th May and his on 13th May. We use to celebrate both together over that weekend. Then I have to mention Sadhu and Bali. They look so similar everyone use to think they were twins..:) They use to tell everyone in our college that they were cousins(actually that is not true). Then the journey kept going met Daggad(Sanoj) he is mallu. He is so good. One day he came to our fav “PULIA”(details later) and said in Hindi “Kal raat ko mereko bahut Magarmach kata”.. And we were on road laughing….:):):) We had to explain him difference between Magarmach and Machhar…:))

Then there were lot of guys if I start writing about everyone I can spend days… So let me mention few more and as we progress I will tell you about more characters… Kdia(Kuldeep) is another character. He is a ghutna(Jat bhai). HE has special love for Dogs… IF he saw one he would carry a cricket bat and run behind him…:):) There were just too many stray dogs in the area and he lived on 1st floor..:):) So they never let him sleep… So he use to take revenge…:):) Other than that there was Secs(Prashant) he played cricket as a lefty and righty..:):) Then others like Bhaisaab, Chunnu, Ranjit, Abhitab,Bakar, koya, taks so many more…

But what is Hich…. SO one day Peri, David and Bhau were sitting at my house and Swapnil(My bro) had brought home fighter toads comic and peri was reading it and there was a alcoholic character who use to say hitch every now and then… Peri and all of us liked it so much that we named our club as Hitch club… Nothing to do with the movie Hitch… We were shocked to see that as movie name…

Soon Hitch club was famous in whole Navy nagar. Everyone knew us… We use to play volley ball, Cricket, Football, Kabadi… We use sit every day evening on a pulia(concrete bench on side of road) and chat for hours and hours on nothing. Every day between 7:00PM to 9:00PM. That was best time of the day… Every sunday was cricket time… Bhau was captain of one team and Sadh for other team. The teams were also kind of predefined only difference was Bakar. We use to try and send him to opposition team…:):) Bakar(Ashutosh) he use to talk a lot. Man he had stamina… We use to ask him to field on the boundary still we could hear voices….:):):):)

Good old days of Hitch club… Talking abt hitch club there are some permanent members like me, Bhau, peri, david, beri, Sadh, kdia… and then there are some visiting members and there were some non resident hitchs, mainly shippy guys who joined merchant navy…:):)

I think this post has become too long.. Enjoy….