So it all began from Denver on a clear Saturday morning. A malfunctioning phone charging point in the rented car, meant we got a free upgrade to a Volvo S60. Till then, I had only traveled in Volvo buses. But this, was pleasure to the ass!

Colorado is beautiful. The landscape is heavenly, and empty roads add just another level of charm.

This place, was our first stop: Steamboat Springs. It is one of the most famous Ski Towns in the US. At an altitude of 6500 feet, it is a very very pretty little town.

It was getting quite difficult to take pictures with so much sunshine. We literally had to grab any opportunity with clouds covering the sun!

Steamboat Springs is named so because one of the black sulphur springs here sounded like a chugging steamboat to early settlers. Thanks to some landscaping and construction, that sound has almost disappeared.

Even a town with barely 8000 people, had perhaps the best Indian restaurant I have so far been to in the United States. It was also the largest, the spiciest and played the best music inside (AR Rahman!!!!).

This is me and Patrik Da, in perhaps the one standard pose I click of myself wherever I travel! This, is Vail. At 8000 odd feet above sea it is yet another ski resort, highly commercialised, and built in a pretty European style.

When the snow is not enough for skiing, some other activities are biking, or golf…

Anando and Patrik Da, with the bigger da… Einstein Da!

A brilliantly worked out 2 days trip, covering over 500 kms and traveling over highways at an altitude of 11,000 feet, this was a superb trip. I cannot thank Patrik Da enough for this :) Btw, he calls me Anando… ask me why? He also becomes the only other person after Roshnai to understand my camera and take my pictures :)

Patrik Da, I could not capture the hours we spent in the Strawberry Hot Water Springs bathing and jumping around the hot water pools and the cold water river, or the awesome photography sessions we had by the pseudo railway station and in Vail, or those tiny little towns like “Bond” and State Bridge… but I can surely leave this blog to aptly end with this song… (click here)

Seen at the Millennium Park

 
Polish Rally at Grant Park. 1 of every 12 Americans is of Polish descent.

 
The North side of downtown Chicago, from Grant Park

 
Seen at the Millennium Park

Seen at the Millennium Park

 
People try to do different things and come up with some very creative poses that involve themselves and the Bean in the background.

 
But the really amazing ones are the “right-after-marriage” photoshoots at the Bean!

Michigan Avenue, The Magnificent Mile

Finally I got a day of no rain to visit downtown, and I could not resist visiting the Signature Lounge on the 96th floor of John Hancock Tower.

 
This is the view to the South of John Hancock Tower. The Aon Center and Prudential Plaza are prominently visible.

From 1000 ft above ground, this view is to the South-West of John Hancock Tower. The rightmost skyscraper is Willis Tower, a little off the center is Trump Tower (the second tallest building in the world having residences), and to the left is the Aon Center. Chicago is a city of skyscrapers, and some amazing architecture! For more on Chicago’s architecture, click here.

No likes, no dislikes.

No will to write, none to work.

No will to be awake. Sleep.

It’s hard to say that I’d rather stay
Awake when I’m asleep
Because my dreams are bursting at the seams

- Fireflies, Owl city

SGP: What all they show in the news these days!! I don’t like it at all!
RFB: Dude, you know everything about history, but nothing about the present! Watch the news!
SGP: Beta… History repeats itself…!
RFB: Haan theek hai, history will repeat itself, and you will become a monkey again!

Stree is listening to the conversation with interest, but also watching the news from the corner of his eyes…
A’jee-K’wale: Where were you when the bomb blast occurred?
SGP: Beta…!
RFB: Look at Stree… ask him where he was! Btw SGP, do you know how to make an explosive? How to make rockets? Ask Stree!
Stree: Dishkyaon…!
Chorus: Pocket mein rocket hai… pocket mein…

SGP: Abbe yaar tum log meri hi kyun lete ho har bar?
RFB: Hum log teri nahin, Stree ki le rahe hain is baar!
Stree: He he he! Dishkyaon…

A’jee-K’wale: Abbe, he is returning on Monday, right?
MGupta4: And even “HE” is returning on Monday!
SGP: Who is he?
RFB: Chiteej
SGP: And who else?
MGupta4: HE, whom you do not want to SEE!
A’jee-K’wale: He is enjoying ladyboys…
SGP: Ladyboys? Yeh Ladyboys kya hota hai?
RFB: SGPpppppp… Ladyboys… Lady+Boys=Ladyboys!
(think: Hansa/Praful/Khichadi)
SGP: Beta…!
SGupta: You are blushing! OMG!

SGP: Theek hai… I will see you all tomorrow!
RFB: Ofcourse!

History will repeat itself!
Aur hum teri kal fir marenge!

Btw, if you did not understand SGP, here are some pointers:
KGP = Kharagpur
MGP = Magarpatta
SGP = ?

2009 seemed like a long year… like it would never end. That is also another reason why I did the 30 Qs thingy even before the year ended. It is just not ending!

So it was yet another year filled with travel, however lesser destinations, and even lesser new places. Like 2008, once again I travelled to Chicago USA, and then also managed to squeeze a trip to San Francisco over one of the weekends. The stopover this time was at London, and British Airways was a comfortable flying option to Air India.

Like last year, most of November was spent in sadness, sadness with hope but of an eventual loss. Frankly speaking, I do not even want to go back to the beginning of the year and recapitulate the days. Overall, I did not find any great reason of extreme happiness in 2009. What I have realised is that there are a few things that can keep me happy in any gloomy moment, and those are good food, my motoscooter, and my D-SLR camera.

So a few things happened this year that have and may in the future change the way I perceive the world around me. Many lessons learnt. And this time around, I have resolutions for the coming year, generally I don’t – at least I don’t remember having any for the past 5 years. So where do I begin? As one of the teachers who taught me used to say – “Let us begin to begin with the beginning…”

Rule #1: There is no court of justice to make you feel better
If you think someone has ill-treated you, told you a lie or simply hurt you, stay calm and forget the person. If the person is very close to your heart, ignore such a behaviour from that person, bury the facts deep in the ground or throw in the dustbin. Start fresh.

Rule #2: Do not let people tell a lie to you
Injustice comes packed with everything else that you get in life. People tell lie for various reasons, but mostly it is to save their own skin. What I would do better from now on is stay away from such people! I was very hurt recently when someone told me point blank that I had told a lie, when the fact was the other way round.

Rule #3: Life has to move on
With life, comes death. Some go early, some late. My family has taught me that life must move on no matter what. What matters is how you move ahead, than how you look back and wonder what happened!

Rule #4: Never reach on time
Till date I have been in some of the most embarrassing situations for myself, for reaching places anywhere from 15 minutes to 120 minutes in advance. Add to that the delay at the event or the arrival of the person I am waiting for, and those are the most boring times ever. So, if I go on a date, I would reach 15 minutes late, and if for a meeting (outside work) would reach 5-10 minutes late.

Plan #1: Be disciplined
Most important discipline for me would be eating habits. A strict diet with healthier options is my first resolution for the coming year. Discipline in other habits would also be regulated.

Plan #2: Be gentlemanly
I do not want to give another chance to the few people who pointed fingers at me. In other words, do not try to mix relationships with people. In an organization, all are your colleagues. Outside, everyone is a friend. People including me, often make the mistake of communicating informally in formal settings, or formally in informal settings. The internet has tried its best to bridge the gaps between formal and informal communication, but that itself is one of the biggest problem maker.

Plan #3: Be quiet
If I do not like something, I am not going to express my dislike.

Plan #4: Travel and Blog
I plan to travel to more new places and blog more often in 2010 than I did in 2009. I do not like to say that ‘I did not get time to blog’, because I know, it is not true.

So those are a few boring rules followed by a few boring plans… Next December I want to see those ticked off. Can you help me with those? Well no! They are for me, and I shall accomplish them.

Budday less than a week away, reminds me I am growing old. Hair are grey or gone! It would be number 25. Lets see! Ciao in 2010.

And this is for 2009…

1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before? So much shopping?

2. Did you keep your new years resolutions, and will you make more for next? I dint have one but I will make one for 2009.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Yes.

4. Did anyone close to you die? Yes.

5. What date from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? November 24.

6. What was your biggest achievement of the year? I did not achieve anything this year.

7. What was your biggest failure? Health.

8. Did you suffer illness? Yes.

9. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed? Idiots :).

10. Where did most of your money go? Shopping!

11. What did you get really, really, really excited about? My Honda Activa, and the Canon EOS DSLR!

12. What song will always remind you of 2009? Speedy Gonzales.

13. Compared to this time last year, are you happier or sadder? Happier.

14. What do you wish you’d done more of? Traveling!

15. What do you wish you’d done less of? Eating!

16. Did you fall in love in 2009? No.

17. How many one night stands? Let me have one please!!!!

18. What was your favourite TV programme? Indian cricket!

19. What was the best book you read? It is a magazine: Down to Earth.

20. What was your greatest musical discovery? Coldplay.

21. What did you want and get? Bibimbap!!!!

22. What did you want and not get? Some more happiness.

23. What was your favourite film of this year? UP! Snipe Snipe, Nice Snipe, Clap Clap Clap!

24. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I do not remember what I did. I was 24.

25. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? I do not know what would have been that one thing.

26. What kept you sane? My hobbies.

27. Who was the worst new person you met? There were a few.

28. Who was the best new person you met? None.

29. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009. A blog post on the same is coming up shortly.

30. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
I was just guessing, at numbers and figures, pulling the puzzles apart…

Stree: Bass bass, yahin pe rok de
RFB: Gatcha!
Stree: Do I need to sign the roster?!!??

Sometime before that:

Rickshaw: Raja, raja, raja… %#@%@ @^#%$%#@ @# #@%#2
Stree: Appu Raja!
RFB: Really? Man, you have awesome memory!
Stree: \m/
RFB: Does it sound like that? I think it is some marathi song
Stree: The words are not the same I think, but it is Appu Raja
RFB: The music sounds different too!
Stree: Yeh, but it is Appu Raja! It is just like that!

Sometime before that…

Mgupta4: Are you leaving?
RFB: Ye ye!
Stree: Ok guys, I am leaving too. Marathe, lets go!
RFB: I got my phatphati.
Stree: You mean, Ducati??
RFB: Yeh, a 100cc Ducati!! Do you want a lift?
A’jee-K’wale: It is called a ‘ride’, not a ‘lift’!
RFB: Like, ‘pillion’?
A’jee-K’wale: \m/
RFB: Gatcha!
RFB: Lets go Stree!

Sometime before that…

RFB: Stree, Stree… Hey Stree…
Stree smiles across the glass divider
RFB: How about this: “Stree, Stree, Nice Stree”
Stree: What?
RFB: Have you watched the movie ‘UP’? In that there is this little boy who goes around the old man’s house searching for a snipe, calling out – ‘Snipe Snipe, nice Snipe, Come out Snipe… Clap Clap Clap!’
Stree: Yeh!
RFB: So how about: “Stree Stree, Nice Stree, Clap Clap Clap!”
Stree: I will give your supari!

Question: Who had the last laugh?