Blog by Awal Eesh Singh

Get set for Happy New Year

2008-11-09T06:47:00.003+05:30

Here's how to wish a Happy New Year in different languages:

Chinese (Cantonese) - Sun nien fai lok
Chinese (Mandarin) - Xin nian yu kuai
Danish - Godt Nytår
Dutch - Gelukkig nieuwjaar
Farsi - Aide shoma mobarak
French - Bonne année
Gaelic - Aith-bhliain Fe Nhaise Dhuit
German - Gutes Neues Jahr
Hawaiian - Hauoli Makahiki Hou
Hebrew - Shanah tovah
Hindi (Indian) - Nav Varsh Ki Badhaai/ Naya Saal Mubarak Ho
Hmong - Nyob zoo xyoo tshiab
Indonesian - Elamat Tahun Baru
Italian - Buon Capo d'Anno
Japanese - Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu
Norwegian - Godt Nyttår
Pilipino (Tagalog) - Maligayang Bagong Taon
Polish - Szczesliwego Nowego roku
Portuguese - Feliz ano novo
Romanian - La Multi Ani
Russian - S Novym Godom
Spanish - Feliz Año Nuevo
Sudanese - Wilujeng Tahun Baru
Swedish - Gott Nytt År
Turkish - Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun
Welsh - Blwyddyn Newydd Dda

I hope this helps you to make new friends!

Thanks,

Awal

Destination Nainital - Run to the Hills

2008-05-28T22:04:00.008+05:30

Hi Friends,

It was last day of the week. I was sitting with one of my colleagues and he said "Let's go to Nainital!". I wasn't sure how the plan would take shape, but I was sure enough about my commitment to join him, and right away, I agreed. In next few minutes, he got the cab booked, budget estimates laid out, and called up a couple of colleagues who agreed to join us.

On the way to the hill station, we stopped by at a motel for lunch. After five hours or so, we could feel the chill in the air as we neared the hilly areas. Dark thick clouds had conquered the sky. We halted our cab in the middle of nowhere and clicked pictures with us sitting on middle of the road.

We hit the destination at 9 pm. Finding a comfortable place to stay was fist thing on the Agenda, and it didn't take us long to find a perfect hotel for us. We dropped off our belongings at the hotel and rushed to a nearby restaurant to satisfy our starving bellies. Next, we came back to hotel and enjoyed the IPL cricket match!

It is usually hard for me to sleep for hours at a stretch, and especially away from my own bed. I woke up at 5 am and found a beautiful view of lake from the window. I put on shoes and took my camera to the roof of the hotel. I enjoyed those moments of my meeting with the nature - one on one.

When everybody woke up, we went for sight-seeing around Nainital. Apart from boating, we enjoyed the view of himalayas from the peak amidst of beautiful weather, fog and clouds. We drove down from Nainital to Jim Corbett national park. We had thought that we would get to see the wild safari but we couldn't get any booking for the same. We decided to head back towards home. On the way back, we witnessed the beauty of forest, heavy rain and amazing scenery. By 11 pm, I was back home!

Thanks!
Awal

Wah Taj !

2008-03-24T09:38:00.001+05:30

Recently, I visited Agra with my colleagues over the weekend. We hired a Santro and hit the road to Agra at 11 am on Saturday. The first stop was Akbar's Tomb. Next, we visited the marvelous monument of love - The Taj Mahal. The best part was the view of Yamuna flowing behind the fort.

We departed from the Taj at 7 pm and got a hotel booked. We were so tired that we ordered the food in the room, ate and slept. Next morning, we took off for the Agra Fort at 8 am. We had our breakfast at an eatery outside the fort. We hired a guide which actually was a good idea as he helped me to click the good shots of fort and thus I could be the part of the pics.

After about an hour, we left the city and found a water park called Dolphin along the NH-2 highway (just outside the Agra city).We had loads of fun in the water. The slides were amazing, the food was good and photographs have come out fantastic.

Thanks!

Lohri - Rekindle The Holy Fire !

2008-01-16T21:35:00.000+05:30

It was January 13 again, the time to see off the winters and welcome the summer by celebrating the holy festival of Lohri. It's a typical North Indian festival with fun and frolic.

We celebrated it outside our house with families of a couple of friends. The holy bonfire was ignited and we showered the mungfli, reowdi, makhaane, khajur in the fire. Then, we started dancing to the music being played in the car stereo and people from neighboring homes joined in. Soon, a dhol wala came in and the masti was at its best.

After the dance session, we sat around the fire for dinner. We baked pappad on the hot coals that remained off the wood used for fire.

Thanks!

Fetch a Sketch !

2008-01-12T21:25:00.000+05:30

It was a usual dull Sunday morning and I was thinking of the options to make this day a better one. Voila! My creativity knocked at the doors of my intellect to suggest me of sketching a portrait.

Next question was - Whom I am going to sketch? Again, the decision cam quite easily. The President of the organization where I am currently working was here in India for a short visit (He is based at California, US). Without a second thought, I was ready with pencil, sheet, and the accessories to create his sketch from a photo that I had clicked at the Annual day Celebrations.
It took me around 7 hours to complete the sketch. Whenever I create a sketch or paint something, I always get skeptical of the outcome while I am right in the middle of doing it. So, I have got a solution for this problem of mine - I take a couple of breaks of 15-30 minutes each which refreshes me and gets my mind and body together again.

My President was impressed when I presented it to him and that's all an artist hopes for.

Thanks!

So Shall You Reap !

2008-01-10T00:32:00.000+05:30

Hi Friends,

What do you call a day when your happiness is at peak? The answer is "The Annual Party" at my office. Dec 4, 2008 was marked to become one of the memorable days of my life. With a Rewards and Recognition ceremony in the afternoon, and a sizzling Dance Party in the evening, the day could have offered nothing better.

In the awards meet, I was rewarded for my performance in the sleeves of a Project Manager at my organization. I got a sweet soft toy and money!

Later in the evening, we went to Chicane, a popular pub in Spice Mall, Noida (NCR, India). It was the time to raise a toast, grab the smokin' hot servings and shake a leg with the colleagues. As we rocked the party, the delicious food offered respite to our hungry bellies and craving tastebuds.

It was all smoke, music and the tinkling of glasses. At amidst all that, we freaked out like animals showing their gimmicks at the circus. Here's my pic at the party.. I am looking like an awsome dude.. ain't I :-)

Thanks!

My Techie Santa Claus this Christmas

2007-12-22T10:48:00.000+05:30

Friends,

Christmas has always been a busy time.. naah.. not for me but the Santa Claus. The fat old man is so occupied with delivering the gifts to the kids that he doesn't pay attention to the needy grown-ups. But hey.. I can't live anymore waiting for the gifts coz my wish-list is multiplying everyday - Plasma TV, Home Theater System, Handycam, another Car, another Cellphone, bla bla bla.

I think Santa Claus would take ages to start fulfilling my wishes. So, I have got a customized Santa Claus - a techie one.. You see the pic?

This is my desk at the workplace. I decorated it myself - the stars, bells, trees, colored paper, snow (made of cotton-wool), and the cap ofcourse on my techie Santa.

Now this "Santa" machine is gonna get me my gifts. How? The more I work on this machine - the more I earn - the more I spend - the closer I get to completing my wish-list. So now you see the logic.. right?

Wishing you a Merry Christmas 2007!

Upside down on Thanksgiving!

2007-11-24T08:52:00.000+05:30

Friends,

I spent around 5 minutes of my life either being Upside Down or being tilted towards one side of my body on Thanksgiving day! And the credit for all that goes to the amazing rides we had at the Entertainment City Amusement Park in Noida (New Delhi, India).

We were about 50 colleagues, and had non-stop fun from 3 pm to 7 pm at the venue. I am spell-bound if you ask me to explain how it felt going upside down and bearing the jolts of a quick twists & turns of the rides.

But it was fun.. real fun! We also got to shake our bodies at the beats of the Hip Hop, Hindi and Punjabi music. We were all over the dance floor and you could see the Micheal Jacksons, Elvis Presleys and the Mitun Chakrabortys of today within us.

We freaked out upto the last minute in the amusement park, the last thing being a mini-photo session. Finally, we called it a day and realized that we had exhausted a lot of energies.

But I would say that the day has actually re-charged our batteries, given us a break from the monotonous work routine, and loaded us with a new zeal!

I look forward to Christmas-cum-New Years' Party now! Will keep you posted.

Thanks!

My Favorite Mug is no more!

2007-11-20T17:48:00.000+05:30

I am Virgo and not a Sagittarian. But I have been using the Sagittarius Mug for the last 3 years. This Mug has been declared Dead today. I mean, when I was served milk in some other Mug, I was informed that the Sagittarius Mug is leaking now.. Alas!!

God! I am very attached to all my belongings. Though, this mug came as a Gift to my Brother, I started using it for my daily dose of Milk. So, for the past 1100 days (and more), I have been using this Mug. On weekends, I used to get up early in the morning and prepare hot milk for myself. During tea parties at home, while all the guests were served in the regular mugs, I was always served in this mug, and hence it became my identity.

I used to be a keen collector of my old belongings and my mom never liked me storing all the scrap. "It's not vastu-friendly!" she always said. So, now I have tried to change this habit. I no more keep all the broken, torn and faded items of mine, but somewhere in the bottom of my heart, I always wish if I could store all my old things.

Today, at this moment, the mug rests in peace in the trash bin. I pray that I get adapted to my new Mug soon.

Thanks!

Trade Fair 2007, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi

2007-11-18T21:30:00.000+05:30

Hi Friends,

At around 1.30 PM, we headed towards Pragati Maidan to see the much awaited Trade Fair. The parking space looked like a body clad with jewels of all colors and sizes. We rushed out of the parking to save ourselves from being choked by the dust.

We collected our tickets from the booth and found a long queues of people waiting desperately to enter into the Fair. We had no choice but to join them. After 15 mintues of wait, we made it to the Entry gate. We were asked to switch off our cellphone while we pass though the security checks.

Finally, we were in. As expected, crowd had penetrated into every bit of space available. Everyone was in a jubilant mood. Men and women, boys and girls, kids and their toys.. the scene was absolutely joyous. Music and dance competitions were being organized at some of the stalls which attracted many onlookers.

We had pre-planned that we would visit the tech booths only. So, sticking to our plans, we enter into the Techological Innovations Booth area. After that, we proceeded to se some more recent gadgets on Display. Next, we moved to see some international art and craft on display. We could feel our legs tiring by now, and we knew our next destination.. any guesses?

Foooood Court !!!!

There we were.. amongst all kinds of flavors. People were engrossed in enjoying the delicacies of various tastes. Spicy, Indian, Continental, Chinese.. you name it and they had it ready to serve you. No doubt, it was teh most crowded area in the whole Trade Fair. I preferred to something light.

By the time we were done with the food, we could hear people saying "Moli aa gayi kya?" The famous girl Moli from the Sa re ga ma pa (I think I got it right!) was the talk of the hour as she was going to perform in the evening in the theatre. As we crawled towards the exit, we enjoyed the lake-side view, the musical laser show, the army band playing orchestra, and ofcourse, the people from all the caste and creeds of India.

At 7 PM, we were ready to step back into our car. This once-in-a-year event got an entry into my Blog and another day of my life passed on smoothly.

QUIZ:
Now, it's the Quiz time folks!!!

Guess Who was with me during my visit to Trade Fair. Options are:
1. My Brother
2. My Family
3. My Neighbors
4. Someone Special

Leave your answer as a Comment. I will get back to you with the correct one. Thanks!