*Drumrolls* It's Time to Meet Me

Hi there! I’m Alston Vas.
A 25-year-old from Mangalore, India and I currently reside in Bangalore, India (They sound like the same place but FYI-they’re 400kms apart).
I have a degree in Business Administration from St. Aloysius college, Mangalore and I’m currently working as an IT Team Lead, managing a team of 12 members.

Although work is fulfilling to a certain degree, 2024 was a year of ‘All Work and No Play’ and my creative side has remained fast asleep. Almost a month into 2025, I want to ensure I give myself and my hobbies enough time, have new experiences, make some core memories, and all in all keep it a bit more lively than last year.

My family back home is a typical nuclear family-my parents, a younger brother and me. Since moving out 3 years ago, my mom has adopted 3 stray cats as a coping mechanism which is unexpected from someone who claims she isn’t a fan of pets. I love animals- and that is not limited to dogs and cats. I had a dog for years- she was the sweetest girl and stayed by me till I was in my teens. Now, I occasionally enjoy the company of my mom’s cats and pet the few strays in my lane.

India is a very diverse country and almost every Indian is fluent in 3 languages or more. I speak English and Hindi (commonly spoken languages in India) along with Kannada, Tulu and Konkani (which are my regional languages). It might seem odd to have 3 regional languages emerge from one region so let me explain- Kannada is the state language, Tulu is the language of the city and Konkani is mostly spoken among the Catholics here in the west coast of India. Konkani is a derivative of the Portuguese language and further influenced by several other regional languages from India. I’ll stop myself from going down a rabbit hole on the origins of language and diversity and culture since it probably deserves an article of its own.

3 Years ago, I moved to Asia’s most congested cities, Bangalore. That’s a horrible way to describe it, right? The pleasant weather year-round does take the edge off it, but coming from a laidback city, the traffic was honestly a culture shock.

All alone in a new city, I was determined to make new friends and get to know the city better. Two months in, I made a friend who almost immediately got promoted to being girlfriend. It didn’t take long to know that she’s the one for me and I knew instantly that she would be my forever. Almost 3 years down the lane with her and boy I was not wrong!
She makes me laugh, she makes me feel loved, and I can confirm that the term “relationship weight” is very valid (Take it from a man who gained 17 kgs since meeting her). I could attribute some of that to her fantastic cooking and the rest to being fellow foodies that love to explore the newest food scenes in the city.

Here's what I’m passionate about – To live.
My dream is to live life without worrying about material things. To appreciate life and everything it teaches us. I love to cycle! I have a Cannondale Quick 6 hybrid and the joy it gives me to get on it and explore offbeat places is just unimaginable. I plan to focus more on road races since that has taken a backseat lately (and I need to get rid of the relationship weight).
Even as a kid, I was an explorer with my cycle and my friends, figuring out places without Google maps or even a cellphone.
My girlfriend and I have taken up a new year resolution to get more fit and active and I’ve secretly kept a 5k Marathon as a year-end goal. She doesn’t know about it because she gets overwhelmed with planning and tends to lose sight of the end goal. Wish us luck though!

I am passionate about music too and started playing the Keyboard when I was in 2nd grade, then moved on to playing the guitar. My love for music and cinema is a bit weird for a common man. I love listening to music a bit too much. I listen to the beats, then I isolate and listen to every instrument that is being played. I deconstruct the movies I watch by noticing the frames, the movements, the color sequence, the music used, the dialogues, the transitions and appreciate everything in it together.

Once I moved out from Mangalore, I began hosting get-togethers for our extended family whenever I’m home. I never fully appreciated my mum’s cooking before, but I believe her skills transferred to me and were then finessed by cooking alongside my girlfriend. These barbecue parties were an instant hit, and I became the designated Grill Master. I realized then that I love to grill, cook and most importantly, I love to eat.
I dream of opening a small restaurant someday which would showcase my Grill-Skills, featured alongside hearty appetizers and indulgent desserts by my girlfriend.

Over the years, I’ve changed my career from Airforce pilot to a Guitarist to a Chef and have considered being an Entrepreneur too. But deep down, I’ve always had a pull toward Photography. I’ve always wanted a professional camera, and I’ve kept trying to save up for one since forever. Last year in May, my girlfriend gifted me an iPhone 15 for my 25th birthday and I’ve been around clicking a few shots and trying to get better at editing. Hence, I’ll be using this platform to showcase my shots and well, basically take you guys along living my day-to-day life. You can expect quick day trips, multiple food recommendations, maybe some tasty recipes, and definitely a truckload of pictures for them all. Consider this your personal invitation to ‘Alston’s Journal’.

A massive shoutout to @bighungrypanda for introducing me to this platform. I cannot wait to share my life journey with you guys here and I’m super excited to meet and talk to you folks here. Always up for conversations!