The Electric Slide

The clubs decided to close by 2am. So, we had to make due with Ashwin's place. Here we are doing the electric slide at 4 in the morning. 

Singing their hearts out...

Neel, Nick, and Saamra are trying their best.

 

Friends in Mumbai

Most of you know my great friend Ryan, who I used to live in Park City with. Well, one of his best friends from Northwestern is a guy named Ashwin. (On the far right.) Well, I have started travelling every month to Mumbai to hang out with him and his friends. We've all become very close friends. In this picture, you can see Nick, Zeenia, Saamra, and Ashwin singing karaoke at Jazz by the bay.

In the picture below, we have Nick, Farah, Saamra, and Zeenia all at dinner at Indigo. The restaurants in Mumbai are every bit as good as any place you'd find in NYC. In fact, Mumbai's real estate prices are second only to NYC, and they are not far behind. The city is a melting pot of people from all over the world. I know you New Yorkers have a lot of pride, but this city is double the size, with close to 16 million people.
 

Dandia

Real Dandia! 

Tryin

Trying my best! 

Reg & Matt

Regina and Matt chillin out. It was exhausting doing the various dances. Not to mention, it started at 8pm and went until 3am. Literally, people were dancing for 7 hours straight on a huge grass field. It was one of the most cultural events I've ever attended.

Matt was here for 6 months with me. He currently works in the Dublin office. 

Dandia Dancing

This was actually called the Garba. It precedes the Dandia which is the dance which involves two sticks. 

Gettin Ready

Aradhana and Regina are getting warmed up for the dance. I contend that Aradhana isn't really Indian. First of all, she can't handle spices at all. She is unable to ingest anything unless it tastes like bread. However, she can speak some broken Hindi...so, maybe I'll give her some props for that.

Then there is Regina. The Filipino who married a star studded Indian drummer named Rohit. He lived with us here in Hyderabad for 9 months or so. He did a tremendous amount of volunteer work for the community while he lived here. 

Maya

Maya has quickly become one of my best friends. She may have the biggest heart of anyone I've ever met. Whenever anyone enters our office, she is the first one to greet you. She will do anything for anyone to make them more comfortable in Hyderabad.

Additionally, Maya and her husband Satish have ana amazing apartment in Hyderabad with a large terrace. Many of my Friday or Saturday nights are spent on their rooftop hanging out and talking. It turns out both of them were philosophy majors as well. In fact, Satish is a Philosophy professor at Osmania University. Needless to say, we have a lot to talk about. 

Dandia Entrance

Nick, Neel, John, and I headed off to the Dandia festival. This is a large festival that happens yearly in October in the state of Gujarat. However, Gujaratis all over the country celebrate it wherever they reside. So, we went to the one in Hyderabad. 

Sri Lankan Sunset

 

Sunset swim

Salim and I decided that it was amazing to be in the ocean at sunset. So, we made it tradition to swim every night at this time of the day. Heather did a fantastic job of capturing this all on film.

The one great thing about this beach was there was no wildlife. For me, that was great news because I am terrified of sharks, or any wildlife that might eat me. The locals told us that the Tsunami crushed all of the dwellings for the smaller fish, so there was not really a reason for sharks to be nearby. 

View from the deck

Here is the view from the pool deck of the beach. The weather was in the 80's the entire time we were there. There was slight cloud cover as well. It could not have been better. We went with a large group that included:

Neel
Arod
Heather
Salim (Big Bald guy)
Nick 

Pool in Sri Lanka

We stayed at the Taj Exotica Resort in Bentota. This resort was hit by the Tsunami in December of 2004. The hotel's top floors escaped unharmed. In addition, the beach is south facing so it did not get hit head-on. Nonetheless, on the way to the resort, we say boats 40 feet long inland at least 200 to 300 yards.

Here, Neel (my roommate) is hanging out in the pool. The swimup bar was one of the main attractions.