This bundle is so niche just some alien concepts I’m fond of. :)

On a slow Monday morning My good friend Krishna, the happy-go-lucky counterpart of Newly Wedniggles, dishes out his dating advice over gchat Also a shout out to my friend Meera Patel who also suggested the same

Krishna: shreena and I agree that you are a funny and good hearted guy, and it's time that we get you a girl.

Me: ok...what are you getting at

Krishna: I would suggest setting up a profile on match.com or something 

Krishna: Shreena and I can make it?

Krishna: it will be our birthday present to you!

Me: a dating profile as a bday gift? I don't know how I feel about this

Krishna: no!!! haha I have many friends who have met online and I think it's better than dating people from work.

Me: dude...I don't think HR would even let me send a winky IM to the girls at work here...

Me: but what would even write??

Krishna: Neil Shah PhD attorney at law. Neil Shah PhD EIT that's all I would need to put.

Me: But i have neither of those credentials...

Krishna: and all the girls will flock to you and once they find out the PhD is a typo BAM! too late GOTTEM

Me: wait...is this how you got Shreena?

Krishna: no....I got shreena by completely ignoring her 

Me: So your advice on my dating profile would be to completely fabricate my qualifications and then ignore any girls that are attracted by said lies

I was asked to write/document the romantic story of Krishna and Shreena (my favorite couple from Newly Wed Niggles)--this what I wrote down (and imagined 2-3 more pages) before Shreena calmly told me that there was NO WAY she could use this as official testimony.

I met Krishna Punawsi at the University of Texas at Austin during my sophomore year of undergraduate studies. At the time I was studying Mechanical Engineering and enrolled in Dr. Adela Ben Yakar’s Fluid Dynamic class. As a college transfer to the University of Texas at Austin, I found did not know many students in the class and out of spontaneity, I decided to sit next to a rather tall Indian male, who I would later call one of my best friends, Krishna Punwasi. Midway through the class we both realized that we knew very little about the complex homework assignment that Dr. Ben Yakar assigned and we both decided to meet the following Thursday to study.  I’d like to say that Thursday that Krishna and I mastered the nuances of the Navier-Stokes equations and other fluid dynamic phenomena, but through casual conversation about sports (we both had a rather indifference to anything but Texas Football), the great uniter that is beer, and our native homes of Houston, we grew to become the best of friends. While our Fluid Dynamics class was finished in a short 3-4 months, Krishna and I stayed best of friends and bonded over many pints of beers, countless late-night food runs and lazy-days sitting in his apartment, contemplating what TV show to watch. While Krishna can be a rather serious and calm individual, I knew that he had a tendency to panic about things far ahead in the future, i.e securing a job for the “rest of his life”. I still remember vividly the anxious panic Krishna shared with me when he wasn’t able to find an internship and the cool, liberating relief when he finally was offered an internship at Air Liquide’s Paris office. Throughout the summer Krishna and I traded google-chat IMs on a daily basis; it was part of my daily ritual at work and we kept each other in touch about the developments in each other’s lives. Then, I remember this distinctly, Krishna was absent for a few days and missed our daily conversations—he returned a few days later and sent me the few immortal words.

“Neil, I met a girl”.

Krishna described Shreena as this “beautiful and brainy” Indian girl that could talk for hours about “interstellar light-years” and then share a pint of ale. I knew Krishna for 2-3 years by now and it was rather surprising to hear him so enthralled and star struck by this Shreena, who I have to admit made me jealous for stealing my precious best friend’s time. For the rest of our summer we continued our daily conversations but we spent talking about Netflix, our beloved college pub Crown & Anchor, and now Shreena—Krishna sharing with both nervousness and excitement about their Bastille Day barbeque, her Desi family back in Leicester and their shared love of Kronenberg 1664. I truly knew that something was special when Krishna Punwasi, a rather risk averse individual, announced that he would take the rest of his summer off and tour the European countryside with Shreena.

I finally met Shreena, at the start of the semester, when on a double-date with my girlfriend at the time. We met at a small romantic diner called Romeo’s, a dimly lit Italian restaurant with roses on each table and a waiter donning a black tie. From the start I could see the instant spark and connection between Shreena and Krishna. Krishna perused the wine menu, he was a never a wine guy, but after Paris he developed a taste. Shreena playfully commented on the different Chardonays and Merlots, referencing the summer they spent together, while Krishna, never an overly touchy guy, delicately held her hand. Shreena left for the UK but I knew from their love that their bond would not falter; Krishna who wasn’t too tech savvy, downloaded Skype for voice conferencing and bought a fancy new Blackberry to make long distance calls.

On a few special days after work, I get to go to Gare du Midi (Zuidstation in Flemish).  While it isn't the most glamourous spot in Brussels, it does have one very unique feature: Eurostar!

The Eurostar has three major hubs, and Brussels just happens to be one of them (London and Paris are the other two).  So when I come to work with a bag on a Friday, my coworkers already know..."Going to London this weekend?"  

A l'heure

Taking the train to London is super easy.  The process really starts online when I'm booking my ticket as I need to make sure that my seat is right next to the "refreshment car."  After that, the next step is just getting to the station.  You still have to go through Border Control and security but it's not nearly as intense as flying.  In fact, when going through security it's hard to tell who is on break and who is actually working.  Once you've crossed through all that, there is a nice little cafe with Stella and Leffe on tap to help pass some time before the train starts boarding.  

Once I get on the train, that's when the real party starts!  Eurostar is high speed, which means that it tops out at about 190 mph.  If you've ever been on a train going normal speeds, it's pretty shaky...so you can imagine at 190 mph, I get to start reliving my childhood inside a moonwalk!  That experience gets coupled with several trips to the bar where the staff serves up some classy canned beer and packets of mini sausages.  So between playing in the Eurostar bouncy castle to taking frequent trips to refill my beer, most trips to London start with Shreena asking,"Are you drunk?"

Anyway, after only about two hours, the train starts to slow down and the nice conductor comes on the loudspeaker and to tell me that I've arrived in London town!  Then again in three other languages...

Shreena's Here!

Gare du Midi is also fun even when I'm not travelling to London.  The reason is because that's also where I go to pick up Shreena when she's coming to visit me!

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