A State of Bliss

by on 28. Dec, 2003 in Everything

So I am back in St. Louis with absolutely nothing to do, having successfully signed the lease for a 2-bedroom (2 bath) apartment on the 15th floor in the Riverside building. All this means, of course, that I am currently on the lookout for a roommate to share this absolutely gorgeous apartment with.

I will allow myself a small description here in the hope that a potential roommate is actually reading this: the apartment has a fantastic view of the Manhattan skyline and is very spacious (something like 1300 sq. ft.) with nice bay windows which let a lot of sunlight in. Newport is an amazing locality in that the commute time to midtown Manhattan (where my office is – near Times Square) is usually 30 minutes (door to door!) and enjoys amazing facilities. All stores are less than 20 yards away from the building and even the awesome Newport mall is right across the street on Washington Blvd. The locality is very posh and even features a top of the line fitness center. What absolutely had me sold was that the PATH station is barely a minute away from the building – so getting into Penn Station in Manhattan is a mere 15 minutes! There’s of course, also the ferry and other forms of public transport such as the Hudson-Berger Light Rail (to get around NJ). For more information, please see this.

Now that I am done with the marketing of my new apartment, onto other things that I have been upto. For one, it is a nice feeling to have absolutely nothing to do. Ever since I got back, I have been spending time watching movies, doing some shopping and surfing the Internet. I would also be busy packing for the India trip but for the slight change in plans – since my work authorization card (known as the EAD card) hasn’t arrived yet, I cannot leave the United States and hope to legally re-enter. Fortunately, the 90-day period ends today so I am getting myself the temporary work-permit on Wednesday and then making my way to India on the first available flight.

The other day I was conducting my usual round of searches on long lost friends from high school. I have tried to, for a long time, locate a bunch of friends whom I used to enjoy being friends with back in school. Sadly, I didn’t get far this time either. My favourite method is to use Google but unfortunately, this method draws a blank most of the time because these people I am looking for have virtually no Internet presence (mailing lists, web pages, nothing). Yahoo’s people search is really no good either. So I decided perhaps mentioning them here on my blog might help.

Here’s a list of names in no particular order. If you know anything about any of these people, please, please let me know!

  • Sumant Balakrishnan : went to school in Hyderabad (HPS). Brilliant chap. Did engineering at JNTU after which I have no idea what happened to him.
  • Soumya Lakshmi, P V : classmate in 4th, 5th and 6th grades in Niraj Public School. She was good fun but I lost all touch when I moved to HPS.
  • Sandeep Reddy, M : fellow computer geek from HPS. Was one year my senior. Came to the US for his undergrad. We had some good times writing programs together.

I’ll post more names as I remember them. Most of these names pop up when a specific memory from my childhood flashes past my mind and I wonder what that young boy or girl is doing now. Sometimes it seems hard to imagine them in any form not wearing school clothes and getting all dirty playing at school :-) I am sure catching up with them is bound to be very rewarding.

So that was the update for now. I am going to go back to enjoying this wonderful state of bliss – dreaming about New York City and wondering what it has in store for me; reminiscing about the 2 years in St. Louis as I drive on the same streets that saw me own my first car; thinking about the times how Vignesh, Vidya and I came together in St. Louis (after 4 years at IIT) to keep a wonderful friendship growing and how sad it is that we are going our separate ways again. I don’t feel too sad though when I think about all this. I only know that life goes on and all you have to do is hold on for the ride!

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This post was written by who has written 136 posts on Things Ravi Pratap Is Up To.

  • IMMOFF

    just wondering, what is this temporary work permit, dont you have to wait till you get your OPT?

  • Ravi

    It is the OPT I am talking about. Just that since the 90 day period is up and the EAD card still hasn’t arrived, I am entitled to get a temporary EAD and start working before the actual EAD arrives in the mail when the INS finishes processing it.

  • IMMOFF

    its good to hear that you can do sucha thing, i am assuming you get this temporary authorization from your international students director?
    are yo usure abt this, as they always insist that you cannot sart work till you have your EAD from USDOJ

  • immoff

    also, just wondering if you had any tips as for as applying for OPT was concerned

  • Ravi

    Hi Immoff.

    Yes, I am very sure about this. The problem seems to be that in most cases we seem to be a little misinformed.

    For instance, most people I came across told me I was stupid to defend and then go to India – they told me it was safer to still be a student with something to do in the university on return. That’s bunkum. You are perfectly allowed to re-enter the country as long as you have a valid I-20 (endorsed for OPT) along with the EAD card and a valid F-1 visa.

    As for the temporary EAD, it is issued by the INS itself. They have this system where if a case has taken more than 90 days and is still pending, the person can get himself/herself a temporary EAD card issued from the local office and start working. The actual EAD, of course, arrives later.

    Tips for OPT:

    – Apply at least 3 months in advance of the date you plan to start working or leave the country. For instance, if you plan to start working on Jan 1, make sure you apply by Sep 15.

    – If you have an offer letter, have it faxed by your Intl office to the INS guys. That *greatly* speeds up the process

    – You can choose your own date for when the OPT becomes active i.e date from which you are allowed to be employed and the 1-year countdown on the OPT starts.

    – Generally don’t take risks with fragile things such as the OPT. If you don’t have your card in hand, don’t fly out of the country. Period.

    – Take your time to switch to H-1. While on OPT (since you are still on F-1), you pay lesser taxes because of the nature of the tax treaty India has with the US for students.

    That’s pretty much it for now.

  • immoff

    Ravi,
    Thank you for all the information
    i congratulate you, first on the job front and second for this website of yours.
    I think i figured out who you are from the pitures,
    just wondering whats up with the hair? :-) >)

  • http://rkc.negative273.com rkc

    Congratulations on all the changes coming your way. The apartment sounds great, and I’m sure you’ll have fun in my favorite city.

  • Ravi

    Thanks Ron! I am very excited about New York myself :-)

    Immoff: what about my hair ? ;-)

  • immoff

    i cant say a whole lot about the hairdo, a female confidante of yours would probably do a good job at that, but it kinda looks 70ish, or 80ish, like a birds nest, its like you flip channels and suddenly you can see some 70s or 80s show