Amazing August....

Finally its here... starting 1st Oct. there is a Mumbai-Chandigarh direct flight... and I cannot wait to spend more weekends home... feels strange that I have been to Chandigarh all of 3 times the las year if I don't count my brother's wedding!

It's been such an amazing month...

1. Started off with a fun vacation... Ko Samed was gorgeous... the speed boat in, the national park and the turqouise cottages... very cute... I think I've had my dose of Starbucks for six months atleast...

2. Managed to spend quality time with the newest member of the family - shocks me how seamlessly we put the past and future in water tight containers! Thankfully...

3. Get to spend endless time with C without losing my balance... really helps in freeing up my weekend and using those flybacks...

4. Eating 'ghar ka' guesthouse khaana 4 days a week!

5. Got a pay rise!!! Always welcome...

6. Spilt the beans to my Mum... she's acting all funny now and I don' t know who else knows... but its funny and annoying at the same time figuring out everyone's stance... the person who's stressed out the most is gorgeous Aman...

7. My rakhees reached on time! Just on time I heard... I'm so proud of Vir... he sent me a snap with his gang and AK 47s... looks like its straight out of Farhaan Akhtar's sets...

8. Discovered tea centre... yes a lil late... but the plate of pakoras with chaat masala is so DU canteen... I am loving it...

My current study is likely to wrap up by Mid Oct at the very latest... lets see... have a chat set up for tom... and we'll take it from there... Feel more ready for long distance but always get cold feet at the last moment...

Looking forward to Shanghai... lets see if I can do a budget holiday... else I'll give it a skip and use the miles to Goa instead!

Finally 8th August

Finally 8th August..
After ECNR hang-ups
Misplaced tickets, dodgy FIR stories (which I did not have to go through)
Thai-quacking AVIS folks... we are off on our holiday!
Pick up Toyota Tiger 2 pax (checked the internet - some seriously shady min-truck type creature) drive to Rayong. Ferry to Ko Samed - diamond beach for a day and night. Friday night in Pattaya and Saturday night in Bangkok... loads of massages, shopping, banana boating, snorkelling and water scooters... I can't wait
Now its just the Mumbai traffic to the airport...

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We live in uncertain times. Go for the dessert first.

I know this is often heard - but it's been hitting me particularly hard over the last year... and going through this list its so apparent that most of the craziest/happiest/most fun times I've ever had have been with my school friends or family.... Even as I went on to college - it was my school pals that I was closest to & amazingly enough I managed to stay in touch and connect even twice a week...

Moving out from Delhi after business school was phenomenal in many respects, but I have'nt been able to create a similar microcosm of good friends. I do meet people and many more than I met in Delhi thanks to C - but they get lost somewhere between my market research visits, Mumbai traffic, out of town in-laws arriving, alternate weekend flybacks & the monsoon OR are they lost because I really don't care...

Done in bold
Bought everyone in the bar a drink
Swam with wild dolphins
Climbed a mountain (You mean those school trekking peaks right?)
Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
Been inside the Great Pyramid Held a tarantula
Taken a candlelit bath with someone
Said 'I love you' and meant it (A bit too often actually)
Hugged a tree
Bungee jumped
Visited Paris (Though I need to go again)
Watched a lightning storm at sea
Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise (Get to business school & you’ll know what I mean)
Seen the Northern Lights
Gone to a huge sports game. (Straight after Class 12 – the India-Pak game at Mohali)
Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
Grown and eaten your own vegetables
Touched an iceberg
Slept under the stars (Many times in Bikaner when my Dad was posted there)
Changed a baby's diaper (For Mehtaab when his Mom was hospitalized for a month)
Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
Watched a meteor shower (With my grandfather)
Gotten drunk on champagne (Oh yea… plenty at my graduation ceremony at LSE with my aunt & granny)
Given more than you can afford to charity
Looked up at the night sky through a telescope (One of those school sky watch thingies which were really the most affordable date options around then)
Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment (In RDG’s cabin in last year at VVS when Pranay began cycling)
Had a food fight (Just last Saturday)
Bet on a winning horse
Asked out a stranger
Had a snowball fight (In Mukteshwar…)
Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
Held a lamb
Seen a total eclipse
Ridden a roller coaster
Hit a home run (Softball counts?)
Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
Adopted an accent for an entire day
Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
Had two hard drives for your computer
Taken care of someone who was drunk (Enough chances)
Had amazing friends
Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
Watched wild whales
Stolen a sign
Backpacked in Europe
Taken a road-trip
Gone rock climbing
Midnight walk on the beach (Really and rumoured-ly)
Gone sky diving
Visited Ireland
Been heartbroken longer then you were actually in love (That’s just me)
In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
Visited Japan
Milked a cow
Alphabetized your cds
Pretended to be a superhero
Sung karaoke
Lounged around in bed all day (Every other Sunday)
Posed nude in front of strangers
Gone scuba diving
Kissed in the rain (Goa, was it the rain or the waves… there was lotsa water in my mouth)
Played in the mud
Played in the rain
Gone to a drive-in theater
Visited the Great Wall of China
Started a business
Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
Toured ancient sites
Taken a martial arts class
Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
Gotten married
Been in a movie
Crashed a party
Gotten divorced
Gone without food for 5 days (3 days)
Made cookies from scratch (From ladybird’s My First Cookbook with Dad)
Won first prize in a costume contest
Ridden a gondola in Venice.
Gotten a tattoo
Rafted the Snake River
Been on television news programs as an "expert"
Got flowers for no reason (8 carnations at Hard Rock – just like that)
Performed on stage
Been to Las Vegas
Recorded music (For some annual day crap )
Eaten shark
Gone to Thailand
Bought a house
Been in a combat zone
Buried one of your parents
Been on a cruise ship
Spoken more than one language fluently
Performed in Rocky Horror

Mind the 3 mm gap

Sitting in watching Doogie-Howser and stuffing myself with gelato - I was pretty sure that all the doc. would say is watch your posture, do some exercises. Posture change and exercise done - all would be good. Dancing on saturday, rafting on 16th and driving classes daily.
Then the reports came - dessication of discs? loss of lordosis? left neural foramen? thecal sac?. Hours of googling later, terrified and hopeful the visits began.
It turns out posture change and exercise done - dancing by next month, rafting after the monsoons and driving classes after 2 weeks are all workable.
There are only three times in my life I have been so terrified.
Once when I was at Rockland and saw my grand-dad after his diagnosis
A few months later when I was at Max and met dad after his stroke
Now when I was at the clinic and had the MRIs against the lit screen
Can't help but feel that I am so underprepared for 'real' life... flap at the mention...
Comforted that there's a guardian angel watching...

Murphy's favourite

Never on a sunday (in May)
8:00 AM - Wake up and get ready for a wedding
9:00 AM - Late for breakfast, skip it.
9:15 AM - Re-do hair as Mom doesn't like it
9:30 AM - Re-do hair as Grandmom doesn't like it
10:15 AM - Noida, Sector 37 gurudwara gate waiting for baraat. Temperature nears 42 degrees.
10:50 AM - Baraat stops dancing, band stops playing. Hot, sweaty people hug each other welcome.
11:10 AM - Eveyone assembles in Gurudwara, enjoys the cool air conditioned draft.
11:11 AM - Power cut
12 NOON - Congratulations! Beta, ab tumhara number next
1:00 PM - Successfully move all baraati's to lunch venue
1:01 PM - Queue up for the margharita
2:00 PM - Endless margharita's and bloody mary's distributed to all aunts. Finally my own one
2:15 PM - Still unable to taste the tequila
2:16 PM - Grab a table
2:25 PM - Head for lunch
2:30 PM - Give up and decide that lunch at 3 PM is a better idea
2:31 PM - Table is gone
3:30 PM - Start goodbyes
3:45 PM - Start goodbyes - Part 2
4:15 PM - Walk out
5:00 PM - Reach home
5:15 PM - When will we get to see your wedding?
5:20 PM - You remember the Uncle and Aunty who came for your 3rd birthday party when we were in... their sister lives in Manchester and her husband's nephew works in London.
5:30 PM - Your shelf life is reducing, you have 2 white hair now.
5:45 PM - Ek coffee mein tumhara kya jayega
6:00 PM - Leave for airport for a 7:40 PM Jet
6:25 PM - 2 mins from airport
6:26 PM - Decide to try for 7:15 PM King F
6:28 PM - Amex emergency confirms availability, cannot book
6:35 PM - Walk to King F counter, cancel Jet to get refund (Refund only if 1 hour before)
6:37 PM - King F systems closed 2 mins. back
6:38 PM - Jet puts you on hold
6:40 PM - Jet systems closed
6:41 PM - Near tears
6:45 PM - Start walking to other Terminal
7:00 PM - Purchase 8:30 Jet
7:10 PM - Jet Lounge
7:20 PM - Pick up food tray
7:22 PM - That is not the complimentary counter Ma'am
7:30 PM - Munch on cold pasta
8:00 PM - Go for security check
9:15 PM - Board flight
9:45 PM - Flight takes off
11:45 PM - Flight lands
12:00 AM - Meet C
12:15 AM - Amoretto hot chocolate and blueberry muffin
12:20 AM - Maybe I'm not Murphy's favourite
12:35 AM - Giggles and gossips continue
12:45 AM - Staff want us out
1:00 AM - Back to the guesthouse
1:15 AM - Today's Monday already!

That time of year...

It's that time of the year...my first ever actually, where you manage the complex optimization exercise between location, content, people & pain to come up with where you get staffed. I've already had enough. I have two more weeks to go on my marathon first study - content is pretty much wrapped up, just 2 weeks of blitzkreig flights in Gujarat.

Its so friggin hot in that state - thank god for Swati Snax...

Been expecting it for a while but now that we’re in April – May seems a reality… Now that might sound like the most obvious statement ever but I hope you feel the unfortunate shame in its arrival’s close linkage with my departure from Bombay, especially when:

1. I finally know Shivaji Park from Prabhadevi
2. I can change cars by pulling over on real flyovers which are not necessarily highways, but could be highways
3. I have seen every second movie even in Apsara on Grant Road
4. Stylist at my favourite salon accommodates me without appointments even on a Sunday afternoon
5. I finally moved to the room from where C could spit into SRK’s backyard, that is not its only qualification… the breeze is to die for…
6. I know all the places in the city (which do not resemble palika) where you get 8-in-1 dvd’s for 110 bucks
7. I have discovered Swati Snax in bombay
8. I can walk to a church where all your wishes come true

Leaving on a jet plane

All my bags are packed, I’m ready to go
I’m upright in the team room, just eying the door
I hate to have to work (read write verticals) before I leave

But the day is working, its early morn
Far away, even C is pissin’, he’s late to pack
Already am so on a holiday, I need weights to hold me back

So kiss me and smile for me
Call me and tell me dinner’s near
And promise that you won’t be late

‘Cause am leaving on a jet plane
I know there’s full 12 hours to go
Oh boy, I hate to wait

Since Jan, there’s so many times I’ve thought this is great
And so many times it gets even better
I’ll tell you know the best is still to come…

Every place I go, you’re pretty much there ;-)
Every song you sing, you sing for me
When I come back, I’d better see the change in the orkut thing

So kiss me and smile for me
Call me and tell me dinner’s even more near
And promise that you won’t be late

Barr House, Matheran

This last weekend a bunch of friends & I decided to take one of those 52 weekend getaway breaks to Matheran & I would highly recommend it to North-Indian folks in town....To imagine that I've stayed here for 8 months and not taken a weekend break to this picture pretty hill-station which is all of 1:30 hrs away...

Its the perfect country living meets the thick woods for the sloths & the no-cars, no mall road meets the treks for the enthusiasts...

We started off & the car 'allegedly' starting giving trouble in Thane... just for a fraction of a second I thought, "There goes the weekend holiday..." but its impossible to go wrong with your A team...

What I find awesome about this bunch of folks is how stress-free they make your holiday... so finally there is no agenda/crisis quota for the day... Its ok to pack your trekking equipment & not go for a trek... Its ok if you need to change your room half-way through the holiday... Its ok to go to Echo point if you planned to go to Sunset point coz. your legs are hurting ... Its even ok if you realize that you forgot to pick up the keys when you reach the car-park some 4.5 kms away from the resort...

And you know its not one-sided when you're already debating if the Hill Fort, Kesroli would be a better option than Glasshouse, Rishikesh...

PS: Its not ok to take work calls near the lake & its all on camera

Better than valium...

Long hiatus... and we're back...
Can't really say work's kept me busy but I've been guilty of not finding any time...
Having been through school in India, pre-medical entrance coaching, honours in Economics, an MSc. & an MBA - sleep has never meant more than 6 hours at a stretch... But now thats really not enough...
I've been struggling to sit awake & upright... if it were not for the arctic air conditioning, I wouldn't have survived even through review meetings...
And so I planned my holiday...
Its the first holiday after New Year's & I'm really looking forward to it...
Raghini tells me that there's not too much of a trek that I would manage as there's a 4.5 km walk from Dasturi to the resort... but I'm really keen on an active break...
And if its worth it - I'm picking up one of those weekend getaway books...
Now I should pack & tuck in early... Night night
Cupcake

Flick the switch

Stagnant friend circle

Undeserved airs

Rusted social skills

"I'm really not fussed "- "I don't give a shit" attitude

What am I becoming? And where did this start?

It was a rude alarm this morning - but as I went through my phone book I realised that I have let so many people just drift out of my life... There's friends I called who received my calls after 3 months and genuinely thought that I might be in a bit of a spot.

That's true.

I've never been that one person who you come to for bear hugs and pour out your darkest secrets, there have been times & people who have thought that I'm stuck up only to realise that I'm plain shy - but I have been fortunate to meet people who've stuck by long enough to know me... unfortunately as you grow up - people don't have the luxury of time and soon you find yourself in the 'spot'.

Now this is not a very nice 'spot'. When you're in this spot - you need to look up the year book to remember your batch mates names, you have a mate's defunct number but he's moved 2 jobs and switched 3 service providers, you read about your friends weddings from the Alumni digests, people don't recognize you coz. you straightened your hair and worst of all the 'On the rebound hottie' can't find your number coz. you never sent out those welcome spam mails...

I know its not all that complicated - I need to flick the switch but its going to take some effort. I'm sure today is going to be a disaster, but I'll be plugging away...

Wrong racks and yellow bed spreads...

10 Things I thought I'd never do on a weekend & would love to do the next...

1. Hit the Mango sale on its first day and kit out next season's clubwear only to slip into a long skirt for the evening
2. Trek across to Chembur, be Sunaina and wax eloquent on walnut wood... M - If you receive a chest of drawers next payday - its Santa's lil angel cleansing her conscience
3. Go to a home store when I live in a guesthouse and the only hope of furnishing a new one isn't even a Horizon 7 initiative
4. Go to a new age garage God-apolis
5. Step out for a movie with Lindtt and a cube of cheese to stop enroute at Bachelors for strawberries with extra cream- patience and hey... that's a 2-D horizon 1 initiative
6. Read an op. manual for a home theatre system and taught functionalities of a universal remote...
7. Put the lights off, switch the lamp on - put on Casablanca and drift.... Thanks Natasha...
8. Sip a mugga hot chocolate without SD... wow, I'm missing him... kya kare control nahin hota hai
9. Getting the 'O' and the 'B', 'L','E','R','N' in my favourite chocolate...
10. Wish for tomorrow to be the weekend again so that I buy those 2 cables and watch a mindless action movie while the wood vibrates and the noise grows on you...

PS: Never felt better about being compared to a yellow object in its wrong place with a Rs 1399 price tag. And C: If it was in the right rack - there would be a stock-out and you'd have to settle for less than perfect :-)

Absolut Goa

3/4 Oz of 24 hours of futile frenetic driving to get to NH17 via Goa
1 Oz of diamonte's dazzling the dance floor
2 Oz cows high on grass
1 shot of tortuous torchlights - talk about unnecessary inventions
1 tsp of peanut butter toasts in the German Bakery
Pinch of being happily unmarried
2-3 tbsp of Tito's unrivalled banoffee
A dash of the winning shot at pool
With a squeeze of amusement for the gardener & his family

Think of all the stories you can now tell your grandchildren while simultaneously shaking vigorously for about 1.5 hrs till you collapse.

Served best with red thai curry - heard Lemon Grass does a nice one...

Whats your cocktail?