30 days to 30...

Yes...you read it right...in 30 days time, I'll no longer be in the 20s. I'll "graduate" into the 30s. Oh My God!!!!! 30 YEARS. Nearly 40% of my life over and done with. I will no longer be known as a young man. I will be now known as middle-aged man. WOW!!!! Its scary. Really very scary.

A look back at my 20s and its been a wonderful joy-ride. Passed out of college after a great struggle, taking a 3-4 month break to study for the CDAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing) entrance exam, staying up at night to complete assignments at Yashwantrao Chavan Pratishtan - the C-DAC centre. And then came a string of my-firsts.

My first job offer,
my first job,
my first pay cheque,
my first resignation letter,
my first lay-off,
my first foreign language course,
my first domestic flight,
my first international flight experience,
my first overseas trip,
my first tryst staying away from home in Vienna,
my first cooking lesson,
my first trip to Rome and Pisa,
my first drive on the German Autobahn,
my first trip to Munich,
my first SLR camera,
my first important work project,
my first long term overseas assignment,
my first trip to a Formula 1 grand prix,
my first trip to London,
my first drunk makeout,
my first "fling" with a german woman,
my first trip to Amsterdam,
my first visit to a strip club,
my first Lap-Dance,
my first trip to Salzburg with my dearest engineering friend,
my first date with a CDAC friend for new year
my first love....my dear lovely car....my Indica,
my first project in Bangalore,
my first night out in a Bangalore pub,
my first trip to wonderful Paris, the visit to the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre,
my first "ditch" of a friend whom I promised to meet in Paris,
my first Oktoberfest,
my first sleep-over at my German friend's place,
my first official trip to Alsace on behalf of my client,
my first "bold" decision to return home instead of opting for a Japanese assignment,
my first start-to-end project commitment,
my first car break-down at the end of the Mumbai-Pune expressway whilst on my way to celebrate New Year with very close engineering friends,
my first official trip to Manchester,
my first crush on an office colleague,
my first upgrade to Business Class with Air France,
my first exposure to product management,
my first motivation to do MBA and get into a B-school,
my first negotiation about my salary,
my first trip to USA,
my first gajar halwa,
my first discussion with my bosses about moving into business development,
my first GMAT score,
my first BLOG post,
my first paper presentation on messaging technologies,
my first paper presentation award,
my first long term US assignment,
my first B-school interview call which I did not attend,
my first house in Mumbai (which was always my dream to own one),
my first trip to New York,
my first New Year Celebration outside India,
my first car rental in the US,
my first car driving on a US freeway,
my first solo client-presentation,
my first Starbucks cappuccino (it was to become an addiction later - the triple venti wet cappuccino)
my first DP in the US with all my dearest engineering friends,
my first visit to Disneyland,
my first visit to Las Vegas,
my first 7 hour overnight drive from Fort Lauderdale to Tampa and back,
my first visit to San Diego,
my first lay and that too in a car parking lot,
my first trip to Miami to watch a basketball game between Miami Heat and Cleaveland Cavaliers,
my first visit to watch a tennis match - SonyEricsson open in Miami,
my first drive to Key West,
my first manager promotion,
my first date with an american woman,
my first Linkin park concert,
my first 10 hour solo-drive from Kansas City to Milwaukee covering 10 states,
my first hindi movie in an american movie hall,
my first visit to Universal Studios,
my first visit to Grand Canyon,
my first manual transmision (stick-shift) car drive experience in the US,
my first trip to Gatlynberg, Tennessee,
my first 2-day stay in an old 19th century log-cabin which seemed nearly like a ghost house,
my first visit to Singapore to spend some time with my dear engineering college friend,
and finally.....
my first ever "ice-breaking" conversation and meeting with someone whom my parents had chosen as my "the-one" but me being myself...getting cold feet and not wanting to go ahead with the "alliance".

The whole of my 20s has been very exciting, wonderful, amazing. I couldn't have asked for anything better than what I got. I will always fondly look back on these firsts and cherish them forever.