Livestrong....

Reflections on 2006

2006-12-31T21:45:00.000-08:00

As a recap for anyone who just stumbled across this blog - I started out 2006 (and this blog) with 4 goals for the year; 2 personal and 2 professional. This setting of imperatives for the year is a tool my company uses to provide direction and are a set of measurable benchmarks to evaluate performance; and doing the same for myself ultimately turned out to be as helpful for me. So the upcoming blogs will feature some reflections on how I did for my goals for 2006, some high and low points for the year and my imperatives for 2007

Performance against 2006 goals:

1. Clearing CFA Level 2: Managed to do so after much heart ache and a lot of late nights after work and wasted weekends. So officially achieved this goal - but am still not sure what I achieved by getting it done. Since I do not want to change industries right now, and do plan on going to business school - what will the CFA ultimately get me? Am I getting into the herd mentality and pursuing this just because everyone else is? Am I giving up too much in terms of personal time to achieve something of questionable value? Will it add anything incremental over an MBA? These types of questions have convinced me that I will NOT take Level 3 in 2007, and will only complete it once I have a better idea of its role in my career.

2. Running a Marathon: This was my biggest disappointment for the year. I was not able to run a marathon. I did have some issues with my knee this year, but dont think this was the reason. The biggest issue was just drive, motivation and frankly time. I am not increasingly of the view that giving up on my health to accomodate more work is just not worth it in the long run - this general health aspect is sure to figure prominently in my 2007 imperatives

3. Getting Married: #1 achievement for the year - the first half of the year was consumed with preparing for the wedding; not going to take up much space to talk about this as enough has been said about this

4. Exceptional Rating: working on this; will only find out Feb/March

Coming up - highs and lows for 2006, and imperatives for 2007

2006-10-17T07:15:00.001-07:00

Pranav & Keya Wedding Reception Skit Part 3

Skit Video Part 3

2006-10-17T07:15:00.000-07:00

Pranav & Keya Wedding Reception Skit Part 2

Skit Video Part 2

2006-10-17T07:14:00.000-07:00

More on Hawaii later (whenever I can get around to it) -- in the meantime, check out the skit that our friends performed at the reception

Pranav & Keya Wedding Reception Skit Part 1

Skit Video Part 1

Aloha Maui!

2006-09-23T13:05:00.000-07:00

This is the first in a series of posts about our honeymoon on the Hawaiian island of Maui: read on to find out more about the wonderful 7 days we spend on this tropical paradise!

Day 1

“Spectacular”: can’t think of any other word that can adequately describe my first impression of Maui as we stepped out of Kahului airport. All the tiredness stemming from the long long flight from DC to Maui was washed away when we caught our first view of the breathtaking landscapes outside the airport.

Got our car (Soft top Jeep Wrangler), and headed out to the hotel – the drive itself was a taste of things to come: the single lane road was lined with tall palm trees and sugarcane fields, and hugged the coast giving us an awesome view of the blue waters of the pacific. Got to our hotel, and saw the view below, which told me that even if we did not step out the hotel even once, we
would be alright!

We had an early start planned for the next day, so we hung around the 2 mile long Wailea beach front, had dinner and went out like lights!

Unrelated thoughts...

2006-09-03T21:10:00.000-07:00

First -- Andre Agassi played his last match today; I played a lot of tennis as a kid, and many of us of my generation have grown up watching his antics, idiosyncrasies, but most of all the awesome brand of power tennis he played. So watching him limp off the court was in effect like watching the end of an era. His farewell speech, which did seem a little too perfect to be spontaneus, was neverthless very very apt and will probably pass into tennis lore for ever. I've got to admit, even though I consider myself to be as macho as the next guy, I was choking up a bit at the long long standing ovation that the NY crowd gave him -- yeah the same NY crowd that tramples over each other to get into the overcrowded trains: Anyways he's gone, as are all the other big names I grew up with -- the new crop of guys Nadal, Roddick etc. just dont seem to have the same charisma as Sampras, Agassi, Becker etc -- hopefully someone new will come along soon

Second, just finished watching "Crank" , which for me at least was the best movie of the summer. Finished watching it over an hour ago, and am still on an adrenaline rush. Its a very simple premise: Jason Lantham (the guy from "Transporter") has been injected with a chineese poison, which will shut down his heart, unless it keeps getting large doses of adrenaline -- think of it like a biological "Speed". So while he looks for the antidote, he does crazy crazy things to get the adrenaline rush (like having sex with his girlfriend in the middle of Chinatown with about a 1000 people watching; including a busload of japaneese schoolgirls -- yeah the short skirt and pigtails kind). Warning: lots of gore, nudity and foul language -- which obviously are all the ingredients of a must watch movie: GO WATCH IT!

2 out of 4!

2006-08-16T21:12:00.000-07:00

Referring to the genesis of this blog -- my 4 goals for the year ; here's a mid year check in:

1. Getting Married - Done!
2. Clearing CFA Level 2: Done
3. Running a Marathon: Reset my own expectations, now aiming for the 10k portion of the Marine Corps marathon
4. Exceptional Rating at work: working hard at it!

getting married in a few hours !

2006-08-05T05:29:00.000-07:00

..... And I don't think its sink in yet , and it probably won't for some time now.

Today is going to be extremely hectic, and will be the culmination of the six months that we have been planning this thing ... Hopefully everything will go well

If you asked me a week ago if I was looking forward to this day , my reply probably would have been that I was looking forward to this day getting over soon , but in the past few days as I have seen my family from all over the world getting together , I now wish that this would never end !

Apologize if thus post is all over the place , I am in no state of mind to blog !

D Day - 6

2006-07-31T20:35:00.000-07:00

Today was a strange day; was feeling tense all day thinking about everything that could go wrong, and imagining worst case scenarios -- and to think we will probably go through all this again when our kids get married!

On the bright side, all the wedding spending is earning me so many rewards on my cards, that i should be able to sponsor my travel plans for the rest of the year with them!

Only 4 days from tomorrow!

D Day - 7

2006-07-29T18:11:00.000-07:00

have exactly a week to go for the wedding; everything is mostly in palce except for a last few last few arrangements that need to be made. Today was spent in printing out wedding programs and placecards and picking up Keya's dad and bro from the airport.

With about a week to go for the wedding, everyone is asking me if I am getting nervous, or getting cold feet (my dad) or telling me that my life is over (guys at work) -- I am actually really looking forward to the wedding so that we can cross this milestone together. More so, I am looking forward to getting over with the wedding, so that we can have some time for us as well. Wedding preparation in the US are so stressful for the bride and groom, that am sure many marriages break up even before getting across this step!

Anyways, am going to try to update this blog daily for the next one week to chronicle my last days as a bachelor!

Endurance is...

2006-07-29T10:46:00.000-07:00

Even though my goal to run a marathon has died a quiet and expected death, I cant help but feel inspired by this dude, whos going to run 50 marathons in 50 consecutive days in 50 states - awe inspiring -- check it out

http://endurance50.thenorthface.com/

Sister14 is on the web

2006-07-15T19:15:00.000-07:00

Finally, Sister14 is on the web

http://sister14.wordpress.com/

This is a group of buddies I am closest to - we have managed to be a "Band of Brothers" even 4+ years after graduating from IIT-D;

Have been meaning to do this for some time now...

2006-06-27T21:03:00.000-07:00

...actually update my blog: its been a long hiatus and a ton has happened since the last post. Yes, the CFA is over - I dont really care how I did (not well) because only now do I realise that I was giving up a lot in terms of time with friends and family chasing after something that has questionable value for me in the long term. Anyways, am glad that it is over and I can finally get on with my life.

Wedding preps are on in full swing. We've pretty much wrapped up most of the big stuff, and now only have to figure out the details. I must say that this entire process has been a lot of fun throughout, and I do not regret our decision of getting a wedding planner at all. I think the biggest plus for me has been that Keya and I have found out a lot more about each other during this planning process, and I think our marriage is going to be better because of this - and of course we will always have these memories; I mean 10 years down the line, we will probably still be laughing about the all the times we have been asked the theme for our wedding!

Keep watching this space for more updates on the wedding. I will now continually be asking for suggestions (e.g. menu items, any new songs we should play). BTW: if you've been invited for the wedding, pls RSVP!

Finally got my life back!

2006-06-08T21:33:00.000-07:00

CFA is over!!! and thats all that matters

Setbacks...

2006-05-07T20:05:00.000-07:00

couldn't find a more apt tittle for this post; which as some faithful readers (err...reader) have pointed out, comes after a slightly elongated hiatus. Have been neck deep in work for the past few weeks, and have not had time for anything else; CFA, running...Keya: somethings gotta give - work/life balance needs to be a bit more life and a little less work...

Clearing CFA seems to be really far away right now; have only about 3 weeks left and am only halfway through the prescribed portion - I also missed all my scheduled runs, and am in worse shape than I was when I started the marathon quest; the wedding preps are in the dumps, with me not being able to make decisions on even the smallest things...things not looking too good..

On the positive side, this is an ideal situation for me to embody and prove the spirit of my life motto - " When the going gets tough, the tough get going" - I know, I know - incredibely cliched and cheesy; but I think it it a powerful message, and reinvigorates me everytime I think of it. Another one along similar lines is - as the yellow band on my wrist says "Livestrong", which is probably the pithiest, strongest and most motivating word which I have ever come across.

Hopefully, I can "livestrong" for the next few weeks and give the CFA a good shot...

Running for hope...

2006-04-15T21:42:00.000-07:00

Finally got around for setting some intermediate milestones for the marathon; a very apt one at that - am going to participate in the 9th Annual Brain Tumor Society 5k "Race for Hope" on May 7th in D.C. The proceeds from this race will be directed towards brain tumor research (www.curebraintumors.org). Apparently Robert Pinkard, the guy who organizes this race lost his business partner and friend to the disease, and has been championing the cause ever since. I'm participating to do my bit, and also to meet the survivors who are going to be running. Dont know why I am looking forward to this opportunity so much...but I think it should be fun and inspiring to say the least - I am always humbled by the experience of folks that fight this affliction and win; our daily everyday troubles seem so minor in comparison....

As always, am fully equipped as well - went to this speciality running store this weekend (www.runwalklive.com) . I had no idea that such stores existed - they fitted me for shoes that compensated for the overpronation in my foot (!!) i.e. something to do how my arch rolls inwards as I run or walk. I had no idea that selecting the right pair of shoes could get so scientific - just shows that you learn something new everyday !!

As an aside - I heard that Amir Khan was cosying up to the folks agitating for the bhopal issues. I hope this is not a publicity stunt on his part (the DVD for Rang De Basanti is conveniently coming out while all this is going on). Actually, on second thoughts, even if he is not sincere, it may not be such a bad thing - he is bringing a ton of publicity to the agitation, which is always good.

Visit http://www.studentsforbhopal.org/ to see how you can help

I'm sorry baby ....

2006-04-10T19:52:00.000-07:00

I truly understood the meaning of "love at first sight" when I met you 16 months and 6 days ago; ever since then we have been inseperable - through thick and thin, through the best of times, through the worst of times youve been by my side, quiet, understanding and without reproach. You've been my reason for waking up every morning, you've been my reason for looking forward to the weekly commute from Richmond to Northern VA, you've been my reason for wanting to come home every night. I have known true bliss in your embrace

Alas all good things must come to an end - you were too "high maintainance" for me, I couldn't keep up with your demands - it was too stressful and was taking away my peace of mind.

So I sold you - sold you to the highest bidder despite fully realizing what that makes me. I couldn't face you after that, and slunk away without saying even a final goodbye!

My RX8 - hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me

PS - Tushar, sorry for the blatant plagiarism - but I thought it was quite apt

Finally some validation!!

2006-04-05T08:02:00.000-07:00

Finally got some validation that the promotion process in my company is working - 3 collegues just got promoted - two who should have been promoted a long time ago, and the other (my former manager) who deserved it more than anyone else I know. Congrats guys!

Moving on to other stuff, I am currently reading "Ultra Marathon Man - Confessions of an all night runner" by Dean Karnazez. Till I picked up this book, I thought the running the 26.2 miles required to complete a full marathon is one of the most grueling tests of human endurance, which is precisely why I wanted to run one myself. Dean Karnazez shattered that notion - by a long way. This book has introduced me to a world where there are people that run more than 350 miles at a stretch , run marathons just to warm up and finally as Karnazes is planning to do from Sept'06 - run 50 marathons in 50 days in all 50 states. Amazing - one can not help but feel inspired by this man's story. I almost felt like going for a long run last night as I was reading this book, and actuall resolved to go running in the morning..

...except I overslept and missed an important meeting in the process!

In terms of wedding prep - I think we are going along fine: we've booked a DJ, spoken to a decorator, will be speaking to another one this weekend, booking hotel rooms in Hawaii. Obviously tons of things to do, but am not feeling stressed at this point.

As far as CFA is concerned, things are reaching a head now - if I dont start studying in earnest now, I will probably not be prepared to take the exam. Whats motivating me even more is that given the roughly 1-2 months it takes for the results to come out, I will probably get the pass/fail decision around the time of my wedding - and definitely dont want a "Fail" to cloud the festivities!!

For info on the "Ultramarathon man" check out http://www.ultramarathonman.com/

Its hard out here for a pimp!!

2006-03-26T18:41:00.000-08:00

Saw the movie "Hustle and Flow", and the tittle track has become my new theme song - On the face of it, it doesn't seem like this would have much relevance to my life, or my goals for the year - but the lyrics are very profound (to maintain the PG rating of this blog, am not going to reproduce them here), and convey a message of rising above all odds and achieving your dreams - in fact the very last line of the movie is "Everyones' gotta have a dream"

This weekend saw a lot of activity in terms of the wedding planning - locked down a decorator and a DJ. We went to meet the decorator at her home and were asked questions like "what is the theme for your wedding" and "what color napkins do you plan to have". I was at least all at sea, and got increasingly tense that we had not been doing our homework - but as Keya pointed out to me later, we've got all the big stuff done, and we have enough time for all these little things to fall in place.

The other eye opening experience for me this weekend was going to see an actual wedding reception as guests of one of the DJ's who we had shortlisted to perform at our wedding - he had called us over to an event that he was doing. I have never been to an indian wedding reception in the US before, so had no idea of what to expect - I was really impressed with the decor and arrangements that had been made, which did nothing to alleviate my already heightened stress levels from the meeting earlier in the day. Anyways, the DJ was good, and we have decided to retain him for our event even though he is more expensive than some of the other options we had shortlisted.

Not much to report in terms of the other goals - did a lot of shopping for running gear - running shorts (why are they so short??), IPOD case, sport earphones - now if only I can run more regularly!

So far not much progress

2006-03-18T18:30:00.000-08:00

Goal 1: Getting married - So far we've taken the biggest decisions as far as wedding planning is concerned; chosen a temple (Durga Temple in Fairfax), and a hall for the reception dinner (Hyatt, Arlington)

The temple was relatively easy to pick, as there are only 2-3 to chose from in this area, and I've always been partial to Durga; the reception hall was a whoooole different story...we looked at about half a dozen, called about a dozen more, laughed, cried, got totally stressed out but finally were able to settle on one that we liked - actually I liked (since Keya could not come to see it with me before we signed the contract): We went to see it today, and she didnt hate it, and actually loved it , so whew!!

Now there are only about a million other lose ends to tie up: guest lists, invitations, catering, decoration, makeup artists, travel logistics, honeymoon bookings.......you get the picture, we're not out the woods yet; but so far so good

Goal #2: Clear CFA Level 2: Have not had much time to study so far, but am planning on picking up the pace from this week: if I dont do it now, I'm pretty much sunk.

Goal #3: Run a marathon: Mixed reviews here: am running more than I have ever run so far (~4 miles), but on a treadmill: running outside is going to be pretty different, and I am going to start that now. Goal for next week is to continue running, but also look for a running group which I can train with; and also laying out a schedule of intermediate distance runs i.e. 5k's, 10k's etc.

Goal #4: Excel at work: Pretty big set backs to this one last week - can't believe Hurricane Katrina is still making my life miserable 6-7 months after it struck...whats funny is, I wasnt even in LA or MS at that time; but I'm the analyst responsible for my company's Katrina policies etc. so am plugging away. All in all, a bad week; my senior manager pretty much told me to go home and take a break

In other news, found out that a close friends Mom has cancer; for all those reading this post, In case you didn't know, my dad is currently undergoing chemotherapy for a brain tumor right now...so I was able to empathise with the feeling of utter and total helplessness my friend must be going through right now...as I was in the same position about 5 months ago...Hang in there buddy, and dont hesitate to ask for help...

This is what it's all about

2006-03-13T21:19:00.000-08:00

This blog is meant to chronicle my attempt to achieve my 4 goals for the year - yeah I know, its a little late for new year resolutions - but hey, this is what it is, and hopefully being forced to post updates on my progress will actually encourage me to make some! So here goes - this is what I am going to be "lazerlikefocuss"ed on this year:

1. Get married : Current Status - done the toughest part , have found someone crazy enough to marry me

2. Clear CFA L2 - Current Status - still recovering from L1

3. Run a marathon - Current Status - Lets not go there

4. Get into the top bracket in terms of performance ratings at work - Current Status - working on it