The Move from Columbus to McLean (Jan 5, 2013)
This move ended the five and a half year long memorable stay in Columbus. This place, with all the people I met there, will always remain close to my heart. Thank you Columbus for everything. Will miss the journey called "PhD."
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| "Don't Go Aritra" ---neither did I want to go |
Having said that, its a new beginning at McLean as I enter the professional phase of my life; a new journey awaits me there.
A weekend trip to Smokey's (Jan 2013)
The Great Smokey mountain is a nice and quite place. Located in the state of TN this place offers a great retreat from the daily chores. The National Park at the Great Smokey Mountains offers a lot of hiking trails, several waterfalls, and many photographic opportunities.
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| Great Smokey Mountain |
This trip to the Smokey Mountain brought back many memories. I visited this National Park back in 2008, and this was my my first adventure in US, and was my first hiking trip. It's always fun going back to this park,
Back to Columbus for Saraswati Puja (Feb 2013)
Every year the Bengali students at OSU arrange a Saraswati Puja on their own. This was started in 2008, my first year at OSU. At that point it was just a impromptu decision at an adda: "let's do Saraswati Puja." It was a very homely thing then, and was limited to a few friends. I had the privilege of being one of the first time organizer. Then I have seen it grow in scale over the course of 5 years and being hijacked by newcomers. This puja till 2014 had always been a very nostalgic thing for me, or rather for "us," where "us" means all who started it. But then, I guess there was a sense of detachment: a feeling that you are a guest at an event which you and your friends at one time nurtured and expanded. Anyway, that's not the point of this blog, so no point in going there.
The Saraswati Puja of 2013 marked my next return to Columbus. It was in the month of February. It was overall a nice feeling to be back among friends, and of course you get treated with yummy Bengali delicacies.
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| Saraswati Puja 2013 |
D.C. visit by friends from Columbus (Apr 2013)
DC has always been a place of visit by all. It was the month of April, right after the cherry blossom. This time some friends from Columbus planned a visit to D.C. They stayed at my place. It was my first time visiting D.C. downtown with them, first of many more to come.
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| Inside Metro, on our way to D.C. downtown |
Just like many other first time experience, this was a messy and unorganized trip. The first day we drove to D.C. and got stuck with parking blues. The next day we took the metro and it was much better. Overall it was a fun weekend and I would hope some of them can make it again.
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| At the National Mall, D.C. |
The 4th of July Weekend
The fourth of July weekend was pretty happening. Ria (now my wife), her sister Neha, and their mom were visiting me. The weekend started with a day spend in the D.C. downtown area. It was a lazy outing, seeing some of the famous federal buildings, including but not restricted to the White house, and the Capitol building. It was the fourth of July: how could we have missed the fireworks at the National mall.
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| In front of the White House |
On the morning of the fifth of July we headed for New York City. However, we spend the entire of the fifth at the Atlantic City Broadwalk. It was late at night when we finally reached our hotel at New Jersey, about 65 miles from the New York City. The next morning we headed to New York and visited Madam Tussauds, Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, and the Times Square.
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| Madam Tussauds, NYC |
A perfect weather provided an excellent view of the Manhattan skyline. We finally headed back to D.C. that night after spending the entire day in New York; it was about 6 am when we reached home.
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| New York Skyline |
Re-uninon with close buddy after nearly 3 years
My mom was all set to give me a visit at the United States. It was my neighbor and friend, Sanju, who was planning a trip to USA with his family. That allowed me to plan the trip for mom, and align the dates so that she doesn't need to travel all alone, her first flight journey, and that too a pretty long one. It was nice to meet Sanju and his family at New York after a long gap of nearly 2.5 years.
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| With Sanju, at NYC |
First US Trip for Mom (Aug - Sep, 2013)
Some glimpses from Mom's stay at US .............
New York City: It all started with a halt at the city of New York. She landed at the John F. Kennedy International Airport on July 26, 2013. Even though she was jet lagged, she was super excited and the excitement won over the jet lag, and we visited places at the New York City on July 27 before we headed back to McLean on the 28th. In New York we visited sites like Madame Tussauds, Time Square, Statue of Liberty, Rockefeller Center, etc.
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| Observation Deck, Rockefeller |
A walk on the Brooklyn bridge, and a view of the New York skyline was something that you cannot miss in New York. The weather throughout the day was bright and sunny.
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| Dolphin show |
A Weekend at the Niagara Falls: A visit to the middle east of the United States is never complete without a visit to the Niagara falls. It was my third visit to the falls, though not my last one. Mom was very excited to see the breathtaking waterfalls. It was a surprise for her and she didn't know, till we finally reached there, that we were heading to the Niagara Falls.
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| Cave of the Winds |
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| Observation Deck |
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| Air and Space Museum |
Although it wasn't my first visit to the downtown area, however it was a different feeling to be in front of the likes of the White House with mom.
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| In front of White House |
We had some friends that weekend who were visiting us, viz., Jaideep, Taniya, Aditi, and Pranay. It was good time spend with mom and friends, not to mention the homemade Indian delicacies.
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| With Jaideep and Taniya, in front of White House |
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| With friends, in front of White House |
Columbus, OH: A visit to Columbus can never be ruled out of the equation. This is the place where I spend the first five years of my life in USA. There are lots of memories associated with this place and I made some good friends here, well not to forget that this is the place where I met Ria, who is now my wife :)
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| With friends in Columbus |
A visit to the Department of Statistics at the Ohio State University was mandatory, and the Columbus trip, or for that matter mom's entire US trip would have been incomplete without visiting the place that transformed her son from Mr. Sengupta to being Dr. Sengupta.
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| In front of Cockins Hall (Department of Statistics, The Ohio State University) |
Durga Puja (October, 2013)
Time to take a short trip back to Columbus for the Durga Puja .......
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| COBCA Durgs Puja 2013 |
Diwali (November, 2013)
It was time for yet another weekend trip to Columbus, this time for the Diwali party ...........
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| Kali Puja 2013 |
Trip to India after 3 long years (December 2013)
Some glimpses from my stay at Kolkata:
- After a long time I finally got to attend a wedding. It was time for a reunion with some relatives whom I haven't meet for ages.
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| With my cousins, at the wedding of another cousin sister. |
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| With close buddies (l-r) Me, Dilip and Sanju |
Family time:With Mom, Jui, and Dad (top to bottom), at my home in the city of Madhyamgram (West Bengal, India)
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| With Mom |
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| With Jui |
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| With Dad |
- Flying back to old times: Known for its "adda" sessions, Kolkata has lots of "theks" to offer. This is the one close to my heart, and has been an integral part of my growing up.
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| Para-adda |
- With Arindam at Flurys: Flurys is the legendary tearoom on the Park Street in Kolkata was founded in 1927. It has European traditional confections in offering and attracts people of all ages. It introduced the city and many generations to authentic Swiss and International delicacies.
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| With Arindam, at Flurys |
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| New Year Eve, with Family |
............thank you 2013 for all these wonderful memories.
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