Surprise party by the kids!

It was 4pm yesterday, on May 2nd, when I fell asleep while browsing and watching TV. I had finished watching a mafia movie with a sad ending and was dreaming some crazy crap about it. Yes I always get dreams from things that happen thruout the day...

In any case..so it was my 29th birthday yesterday and my mom threw a surprise party for me with her friends - a group of around 10 kids 5 to 10 yrs old. These kids started banging on my door when I was dreaming and I almost felt that i am in middle of a fight. I woke up, opened the door and the kids shouted -- "SURPRISE!". It was a surprise - i had no idea what had been happening for last 2 hours. This is the second surprise party for me - the first one by Maryam and Aman was incredibly good.

So here are few pics below and the rest are here. It was a fun party and I had a great time celebrating my bday with these kiddos. Oh I sound like 29 yr old now...

Walking down the memory lane!

Supposedly photography wasnt as easy when I was growing up as it is now.. hard to believe in this age of digital cameras..anyhow..I finally dug out a few pics from some old family albums here at home. Goddamn - how cute we were - me and my sis! ok me - not that much..but still...



---YAY! me and my sis!




--- My sis 2 yrs old



--- My sis 9 months old!

I am pimpin'

So here is an email I wrote trying to get my sis an arranged marriage...goddamn! its a whole different world...but hey what it takes to find the mr. RIGHT for her! its sad that she doesnt know about it...

Respected Dr. Gupta,
I am writing to you with regards to your advertisement in TOI Apr 29th looking for a doctor girl for your son (I presume).

My sister, X Gupta, is a beautiful 27 years old, very fair, 5'4" tall, sensible, sweet and a wise girl. She has completed her MBBS from ZZZ and aims to pursue her residency in USA. She has completed USMLE Step 1 and 2 and is in the process of taking her USMLE Step 3. She was born and raised in Lucknow and is convent educated. She has a very charming personality and at least I would say she is the best sister in the world :)...

A little about our family background - My dad, AAA, is a well settled businessman in Lucknow. He is one of the leading dealrers of BBB in JJJ for the last 10 years. My mom is a housewife and has been our caretaker and a perfect mom. Both me and my sister have always respected and cherished the values we have attained from our parents. I myself am a Computer Engineer - B-Tech from MMM, MS from USA and have been working there for the last 4 years. Currently, I am settled in New York.

We are actively looking for a groom for Ruby - someone who comes from a good family and preferably is a doctor. As X aims to study in USA we would prefer the groom to be working or studying there. I am sorry that I dont have a soft copy of my sister's bio data, so I am writing as much details as possible in this email. Your advertisement in TOI seemed to us like a good match and we hope the details above would interest you.

We would love to talk to you over the phone sometime and it would be great if you can email us your phone number. In case if you would want to call us, our home phone number is - XXXXXXXXX and my dad's cell is YYYYYYYY. I am currently on vacation at home until May 7th and would be back in New York after that. I could be reached there at ZZZZZZZZZZZZ after May 8th.

Thanks a lot for your time and we hope to hear from you soon,
--Vineet

Good!

Good is a new upcoming magazine published every 2 months or so. they claim to be the magazine for "People who give a damn!"...not sure how accurate it is to what is in the magazine but maybe I dont give a damn...anyhow, I liked the last 2 editions a lot. I read the recent one in the flight on my trip back home...sweet home!




A little bit information about their editorial spirit - they are much more artsy than other newsie, corporate, glamour or sports magazine. here is a graphic statement from their recent issue - "Each issue, GOOD asks an artist or group to set the tone for the magazine with a visual interpretation of the theme." .. The images for the theme of this edition are pretty funny...esp the one with a road sign which says: "Ignore this sign"...

GOOD's story on north korea is pretty interesting - it almost felt like that the contemprary way of life there follows a very static thoughtline which is centered around the politics in the country. Even the religion is more like a political theory called Juche. Juche means achieving true chaju ("independence").

The article on Decongestion of streets in several European countries by encouraging people to use bikes is a great example of how in modern day life problems can be solved by masses adopting a simple solution.


Transperancy section exposes some interesting numbers like korea.com was sold in 5.5 million dollars by a a Korean-American Lee Hee-Joon to the ISP Thrune tin South Korea. Or sex.comwas sold in 14 million dollars to Escom.

** Daylife gave me this "Juche" idea center. Wiki does have a better picture of it.