Memoirs of a Driver

2006 has been different. A year of traveling, meeting family and friends, and a lot of “first times”. This is a recollection of the fond memories of this year.

January saw me complete a whole year in a company for the first time. In February, I saw myself having fun with my nephews in Texas. March and April were the best months of this year. Nothing is better than living a life with family in India. I saw myself visiting more places in a month than my 21 years at home. April was also the month of my first new car. May was more laid back but for the first time in my professional career, experienced a promotion. Of course, May was well-endowed with a share of traveling in my new car within California. My first experience with ‘white-water rafting’ came in the same month.

June was a month to relax from all that happened through the first half of the year. Of course, June was the month I had my first blog in this world of bloggers. July saw a third trip to the Grand Canyon and Sea World, this time, with a friend and his visiting parents. Towards the end of July, there was a trip back to Texas for a friend’s wedding. For the first time, again, I was part of the wedding party as an Usher, wearing a tuxedo for the first time and maybe the only time in my life. August was too short to notice, but even in that short time was a ‘first-timer’, a trip to a WTA tournament and watching not one but two games in person. A power game from Serena Williams was followed by a game from home girl Sania Mirza.

September started off with a trip to the northeast. A visit to Philadelphia, New York and Atlantic City started of a frenzy of traveling towards the end of the year. October saw a return to the northeast and a long drive through the colorful woods of New England. The drive covered nine states, nearly half of all the states I have visited in the U.S.

November was a third trip to Texas for more fun with my little nephews. December started off with an annual office party. A first time at a stand-up comedy club was as much fun to me as it was for Todd Glass when he picked on me and my co-workers for his jokes. The following week featured another two first-timers. One was a live football game at San Diego with the Chargers beating the Broncos. The other was go-cart racing - a short but fun period. The travel wasn’t over yet. An annual get-together with friends, this time at Atlanta was probably the best way to end the wonderful year. But wait, the year isn’t over yet. Weekend of Christmas was the first time I got to experience skiing. With a few more days still to go this year, more things are yet to come. With my friends set to visit for a week from Christmas day, I will be experiencing yet another ‘first-timer’ in the last week of the year. I, with my friends, will get to experience for the first-time, a bowl game between Texas A&M University, my alma-mater and University of California @ Berkeley in San Diego.

Gig’em Aggies! Beat the hell outta Cal.