Howdy! Let me reintroduce you to...

..ME!

That's right. I have been off blogging for a long time now. Exactly 3 months to be precise. Why, you'd ask. I honestly don't have a reason. I have many excuses though!

I have been in US for almost 11 months now. Things have been pretty interesting here (in both good and bad ways). Maybe I took more time to adjust to the new environment. Being on H1 visa also has its own perils. Since I am starting off in US, my credit history is still in its infant stage. This becomes a hurdle everywhere. The auto loans are high and the way banks accept you as a auto loan customer makes you feel they are doing a big favor. IT returns are also interesting here. We, as a family, went through the highs and lows of first time filing. The process is good but what made it bad was our tax consultants - "Newwave Tax Consulting"! It seems they were under an offshoring contract. There were tax "experts" sitting somewhere in Hyderabad doing night shifts. By the time their offshoring contract expired, I was not done with my tax filing. They just stopped responding to my emails and calls. When I narrated this incident to my colleagues, the first thing they told me was "not to go with Indian offshoring companies when it comes to US tax". Although, I must admit I was slightly offended, but it made sense to me because it happened with me! I then found a "credible" tax consultant (also from Indian origin, we are everywhere!) here in US and he ensured the rest of my experience remained smooth. As a result, I had to pay consultancy fees twice. Anyway, lesson learnt the hard way.

The above mentioned experience is just one among many and is in no way an excuse not to blog. I was so preoccupied with life here that I lost the urge to write something. I feel bad to say that I 'lost the urge to write'. But hey, you always come back to the things you love the most. So, here I am!

Image courtesy - https://i.ytimg.com/vi/eBh7zkxVF3A/maxresdefault.jpg

A lot of things happened while I was away sorting my own stuff. Under normal circumstances, I would've blogged about them. IPL came and went. Pretty boring this season. Leicester City won the English Premier League. That's right! 5000-1 were the chances bookies had on this team at the start of the season. If you had bet on Leicester City with such odds, you would've been a millionaire by now! Leicester proved that costly players are not the recipe for on-field success. But EPL will never learn this lesson, am sure. Copa America came and went. The team I was rooting for - Chile - won again and my man Alexis Sanchez won the player of the tournament. Then came the Euros. I was rooting for Germany. They lost the semis. I was rooting for France. They lost the finals. Damn! I am an Arsenal fan, but if this trend (of my team losing) continues, I would follow all other 19 teams this EPL season. 

In Indian Cricket, Anil Kumble became the national coach. A very good decision coming from the BCCI stable. Ravi Shastri's spat with Saurav Ganguly was portrayed as a case of 'sour grapes'. Shastri did a great job as a caretaker. But now its time for India to have a full time coach and take the Indian team forward. If you follow Indian cricket, you'd know we are batting heavy team and relatively light in the bowling department. If I had to select a coach, I would've selected someone who's a bowling legend, had been through tough times and emerged victorious, a credible person who commands respect of the entire dressing room. Also, one who's not too old and comes from the previous generation. Two names come to mind - Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath. I would have been happy with either but am not sure if Srinath is keen to take up this role. That leaves Kumble and he's what he got eventually. I am happy.

When this was happening on the field, some cleaning was also happening off the field. Supreme Court decided to go with the Lodha Committee recommendations. BCCI now has no other option but to clean the mess they have created and ensure Indian Cricket fans get to see Cricket in its purest form and more transparency in administrative matters. If you were an ex-Cricket fan, maybe this is the time to return to your original love!

Personally, its so good to be back to blogging again. I feel like a newbie in the blogging world again. Maybe taking a break is a good thing (it eventually turned out well for Ross and Rachel from F.R.I.E.N.D.S).  

More from me soon.