Being a Super Hero

Everyone has his favorite, be it Batman, Superman or Spider Man (or maybe even Monkey Man!). Little children are amazed by their strength! They wonder how they can lift mountains or are simply amazed by the gadgets on their utility belt or wish if they could swing from building to building (or tree to tree :D). When they grow up a little, they start to understand what is right and wrong, and the the reason behind the fights, but they still don't realize what the heroes go through. In my opinion, being a super hero is one of the toughest roles one can play in life, no matter how many super powers you might have.
I have always been a child as far as super heroes go. I love each and every one of them and even when I am 24, I still follow shows like Smallville, Justice League and Avatar! Take Clarke Kent for example, a teenager who grows up in a small town, Smallville. Before he knew that he had super powers and that he was from the planet Krypton, he knew that he loved Lana Lang. He does not tell her about his true identity because he is afraid that she might not accept him, which I consider stupid. If you really love someone, you should be honest and have faith that the person will understand you and love you for what you are. Of course, loving someone does not guarantee love in return, but I don't see any reason to keep the fact that you love someone from the concerned person. As they say in Friends, "...it is always nice to know that someone loves you!". But every one needs someone to assure him of this and if you can't tell anyone your problem, if you don't even have someone to share your thoughts with, it kills you even more. That's why I am very happy whenever any super hero finds someone who knows his true identity. Wasn't it wonderful when MJ found out about Peter's secret and let him know that she would be there for him, forever. But it couldn't last, because as Peter's uncle Ben had said, "With great power comes great responsibility!". Lana Lang dies when Clarke tells her about himself, trying to protect his secret, and Clarke has to change the past to keep her alive but he loses his father in doing so. Batman cannot be with Rachel, because Rachel knows that Gotham needs him more than she does. So does MJ, and so does Lana. They can see that the world needs its super heroes, but are unable to see what they need. The Green Arrow loves Louis but has to go away to fight for justice but Louis never finds out why he left her and Oliver has to face her hatred, even though he knows that he loves her and so does she! In Batman's latest movie, we see how Batman has to decide if he should continue his fight or not, whether Gotham needs him, deserves him or not? In Spider Man's last movie, we see Spider Man alone with his thoughts on the top of a sky scraper, with no one to talk to. Even he gives up being a super hero in the second movie. Today, I know that being a super hero is not only about punching bad guys and saving people; it's also about saving others when they don't even realize it, facing the uncertainty and doubts within oneself alone and being utterly selfless. Yet, any person who sacrifices his needs and desires for the well being of those around him, is a super hero for me and deserves love, respect, appreciation and a little understanding! You might be wondering why I am rambling on about the love stories of super heroes. It's because Avatar has ended, with Ang and Kitara together! I used to not like Kitara, but in the last episode, she kisses Ang and I was elated because it was the beginning of a love story, I knew, that would last.

Dreams

It's the best place to be. Everything is possible. I am flying! There's my happy place, the same garden, with lots of trees in odd shapes covered with yellow and orange leaves, the sun shining bright above me, cool breeze rustling the fallen leaves while I lie on a thick carpet of lush green grass, with friends, family and loved ones around me. The river is as blue as is the sky. Life is good, with no worries and only beauty all around me! But why should this be restricted to my dreams? Beauty is everywhere, all I need is to look for it and I will find it. Or is it a dream?

I ♥ NY

That's New York, the Big Apple, the financial center of the world, home to some of the biggest organizations... the city of life! I admit that this is my second visit to this beautiful city, but the first time I was around, I was very busy, had a lot of other things on my mind and could not appreciate what this city had to offer, but the last 3 days, with nothing to do, I have been really living it up :). I was greeted into this city by the lovely bright sun, with its dazzling rays lighting up every corner of the city, as if effusing life in the alleys, the roads, the buildings, the people... everything! A taxi ride with open windows, the cool breeze hitting me at 100 kmph, tall buildings rising beside me, as if trying to touch the sky... by the time I reached my apartment, I was brimming with happy feelings, knowing that life is good, and everything will be great! My apartment also turned out to be really beautiful, up on the 30th floor, with huge windows (read lots of sunlight) and a clear view of the Empire State Building (I don't have nice memories about ESB and am still of the opinion that Rockefeller Plaze kicks ESB's ass!). Due to the up-market locality, the only problem I face is the lack of simple run-of-the-mill grocery stores. The absence of plain salt is still haunting me, due to which all my culinary expertise has been put on hold sine die. The first 2 days, I roamed around the wide and beautiful criss-cross of streets and avenues, window shopping and catching up with old friends. Also was overjoyed to receive my first salary, and to hear my dad request earnestly to not worry about money anymore and enjoy life ;). I and UD went out to Little India, hoping to catch up with everyone else, but finally ended up walking from 23rd street till 48th street by ourselves. The next day we found out that everyone had a different meeting point in mind and had been roaming around New York city looking for others somewhere else, altogether. Next day, we made a more detailed plan, specifying the exact meeting point, down to the table, in front of which restaurant, and at the crossing of which 2 streets! This amount of hard work resulted in me and UD (again the first ones to arrive... yes, we are always lukhkha) being joined by Shetty and Katy. Ecstasy!! We went on to have lots of $1 beer in Greenwich village and nice Italian food. My awesome jet lag is also helping me wake up at 5am, on my own, with ample time to get ready for my training, which is also turning out to be more fun than anticipated and quite different from what was expected (will write next about this charity day camp at Staten Island, part of DB Orientation). Since I've arrived, I have been sipping the love this city has to offer and am still thirsty for more. Yet, the next few days will be even more amazing because New York City is going to be blessed by something much more beautiful than itself, or any other thing in this whole world!

My First Day as a Permanent Employee :)

Today began with me waking up at 5 in the morning, shockingly, on my own. For this great feat, I will have to thank the concept of time difference :), but I definitely wasn't happy to see the Rain Gods back in business. When I do get the time to write about NY, you will notice that it had been really sunny and warm the past few days, a combination that always lifts me up! Still, once out of bed, I had a leisurely bath, the importance of which I have understood only after my recent struggle with body odor (read CCU to JFK... Could Have Been Better), filled myself up with corn flakes and milk, and headed out to work. Since I had enough time to reach the office, I experimented with the NY subway, trying to figure out the shortest route to office. I did manage to do that, thanks to my decent spatial intelligence, but realized only after having deciphered the red, blue and green maze that is NY subway, that I have to go to a different place from tomorrow. For this, I would like to thank my not-so-decent logical intelligence! Anyway, once I reached the office, it was great to see that they were serving breakfast. There were cream croissants (like in Europe), coke et al (like in US ;)), muffins (like any other place) and lots more. It was ironic that I was full from my own breakfast, but I made a solemn promise to myself that I would make up for it in lunch time! Had to indulge in 'PC', IIMB lingo for "polite conversation", which is laughing at others' jokes even when you don't get them, and asking questions or discussing things that will never ever affect any of us! For example, when I asked a Chinese guy if he had a family in China!! How was it of any use, I am still perplexed. Had he been a girl, and a hot one at that, then it would have made a lot of sense, I agree ;) hehe. Anyway, once the paperwork was over, we were told that we were free to scoot, which we did happily :D. Thank God for small mercies! Another half cooked plan for the evening was conjured, and we left for our homes, spread out across Manhattan like radars in a war zone!
Having missed out on an excellent opportunity of devouring free and yummy food, I decided to cook something myself. When I took out the potatoes and tomatoes from the refrigerator, I realized that that particular shelf was a deep freezer and now my tomatoes were sounding like stone, and bouncing off the floor if dropped! And of course, the pinch of salt was still elusive. Hence I came up with my latest masterpiece: a lunch of strawberries and carrots! Talk about healthy food! They have been under running water since the last 15 minutes, to get rid of the ice around them, in them... hehehe.. and my letter 'g' is also bugging me a lot, since it has merrily stopped working since last week. Hence, I think now its time for me to have my healthy yummy food, while you read this and comment on it :)!

Ghar ka Khana...

Today, in the evening, I had plans to go out and watch Wall-E or Kung Foo Panda. Unfortunately, I landed in a grocery store and ended up buying stuff worth $40! (which is a lot). Atleast I got a lot of exercise by lifting the 3 kilo bags (yes, there were 2) across 5 blocks. Having worked so hard, tonight, I had to eat at home... and so I decided to stick with the simplest menu... scrambled eggs with bread.. Yummy! ... the only problem was that, in the $40 worth of shopping, I had forgotten to pick up $2 worth of salt. I wondered, how much difference can a pinch of salt make?... Turns out, a lot!!! :D

P.S.: If I have to keep writing, what do you expect?? ;)

Next up...

...heading out for lunch, but when I come back, it's time for NY, the Big Apple, to make an appearance on my blog!

CCU to JFK... could have been better!

It feels good to be on ground, and I don't mean it in some metaphorical way; I mean it literally and you will believe me if you have been flying for 22 hours straight, with a small break of 2 hours in the middle, i think, only to remind you that you are a human and not some alien scanning the Earth and looking for the perfect spot to attack! But frankly, Lufthansa did not impress me much.
At the Kolkata airport, the lady at the check-in counter started quizzing me as if she was an Immigration Officer... "Business or pleasure? Where will you stay? For how long?" First I thought she was just trying to be friendly, but when she asked me to show her my offer document, I thought it was very strange and beyond normal levels of inquiry at a check-in counter. Still, I was glad that my luggage was within the weight limit and hence, did not care for the FBI level investigation.
The air hostesses were cold and definitely not beautiful. Some of them looked like men, with their strong German jaws and 6 feet plus body sizes! And they had their hair done in piggy tails, which reminded me of the "always ready to fight" women of Gaul. The situation was exacerbated further in the second leg of the flight when a fat German kid had happily taken my window seat and, I guess, was looking forward to enjoying the view. However, I pointed out to him very blatantly that that was not going to happen ( I practice being aggressive everywhere nowadays ;)). Then began our cold war... the 'elbow pushing' in the common hand-rest, the deliberate 'waking the other person to go to toilet every half an hour' (that was me!)... and the rest. However, I could find no response to his master weapon, his body odor! Yuck! I had moved so away from him, the pilot could easily have mistaken me to be sitting outside the plane! Yet, I would not budge from my seat and finally tasted success when the kid moved to some other seat. Yes, he got a window seat elsewhere but this should not take anything away from my victory! Anyway, without any more incidents, the flight was finally over I was overjoyed to feel the bright sun, once again, shine on me!