To Mumbai...

This city has always treated me well... the traffic, rains, distances and rudeness indices apart(can't believe the survey, truly absurd if its higher on rudeness than new delhi)...

With all the chaos at home, teething issues at work and an amazingly complicated personal life - I still like to spend alternate weekends here, flyback early on sundays and make sure I enjoy every waking moment...

Work's going to get very exciting if the new phase starts... guess there will be more clarity on that before the weekend... one of our office directors spoke about the 'Mythical' animal ---'The Firm' on Values Day... I think I saw the first of the animal today show me a glimpse of the values it stands for and I am so proud to belong here...

Old favorites and new beginnings...

The wonder of friendships surviving in the strangest of circumstances, most awkward situations and the misery of long distance makes me smile even as the countdown to Monday morning begins...

Surrounded by gujjus and staying at a hotel whose breakfast buffet doesn't include waffles you are just about to resign to a sad Tuesday with the client and then the phone rings... you haven't spoken in two weeks... but he asks you to have an awesome day and meet him when you're in town next... no questions about your lack of calling, your plans for the week or demands on your time on the weekend... and you think it doesnt get better than this...

Its been a long day and Orix (McKinsey Car folks) forget to send your cab... so you book another one and its going to be another 45 mins... you miss all the football action and those bookings at Out of the Blue... so you sit thinking about the missing Martinis and the Fondue... and you get a call... so your closest friend from Business School who you thought you'd meet only at Solstice is coming to town... and then Orix calls and says the car's ready... weekend inaugurated...

And equally wonderful are the friendships that evolve and grow as I blog...

All matches for the day over... last orders in most restaurants taken... so you think about the new book you bought... and you could make the most of whatever's left of Friday night by curling up in bed with your book and some hip hop hustle on VH1... your new mates think that we could still get a table and place the last order... and you make good of the restaurant booking, the Fondue you've been waiting for and the three of you dig into the chocolate avalanche... its more than just the weekend beginning...

falling apart

Today's one of those days you want to stop rewind and delete...
Low on sleep...
Credit Card not fetching up for another 2-3 weeks...
Still at the Taj President and doing 1.5 hours one way travel...
Gujarat on the weekend...
That call at 7:40pm... and my world just fell apart...
Miserable things happen to wonderful people...
It's been raining since last night... hope my flights are on time...
Trying to concentrate on the mundane, but then what is mundane?
I don't have a good feeling about this, I don't think it will be okay in the end... and all I know is that it isn't fair... he never even smoked a cigarette... and he needs to spend the rest of life holidaying with us not under the knife or in chemo...
I hope the flights take off on time... will be in the only Home I know on Friday... Can't wait to meet him and tell him that I've loved him for 24 years...

Neon Tetras

Had a different plan for the weekend.. couldn't imagine spending it with so many of my favorite people...

So come friday night... distress call to FP... manage to get his attention and attendance at Wink... after some wine and complimentary sparkling shooters... Alcohol levels restored... It's all good... So the weekend begin...

Saturday 8:30 am - Try and sleep... the bed still feels alien...

9:30 am - Surface... sort laundry... yes... you need a system cleansing... so we can book with Juice

10:30 am - 2 buttermilk waffles and maple syrup... and one pancake and earl grey later...

11:00 am - Off to Juice...

12:20 pm - 2.5K down, 1 new hair cut, 3 super styling products (yes I am going to wake up half hour earlier and style my hair)... Big Smile

12:30 pm - Churchgate... Old Quadmate... Yups.. she's in the bath... so you wait...

1:00 pm - Yes Men and Menstruation have more than three letters in common... Yes we don't need them... Some more male bashing and a Dutch Truffle and a Toblerone Shake later we head out to kill some time...

1:25 pm - Aquarium... R does not agree to buying the childrens ticket... tries very hard to find a whale in the community tank... wander aimlessly in that hot sweaty place (constantly comparing it to the Monaco and London One)... avoid talking about what hurts the most... so you talk about how pretty the neon tetras are... complain about the humidity... discuss the sun and summer till you catch each others eyes and realize that the Aquarium is a bad idea...

2:00 pm - By the sea... sit and stare at the waves... sit and hear the waves... 2 pepsi's later... she talks about life's compensatory model... I nod... She still wants to fight it... I just want to fight...

3:30 pm - National Anthem...Ron Howard's rendition... k...

6:15 pm - It's finally over

6:50 pm - My first local adventure... really not all that bad...

7:25 pm - Bandra... Mocha again... k... this time its a safe chicken panini... catching up with batchmates from Business School... feels good... feel ancient.... feels not so good...

10:10 pm - Cross the road across the Ambassador, get into a cab... headed to my room...

10:20 pm - Lose Keys

10:23 pm - Find Keys

10:30 pm - In my PJs... sitting in front of the TV... watching Headines Today... 3000 people dead in Indonesia... just like that...

Neon Tetras are beautiful fresh water fish...

Simran Says...

I've been meaning to post for so long... Life has been pleasantly hectic and has kept me occupied for most of last month...
Perhaps beginning now is the one time where I will constantly say, feel, do and think new things... as exciting as that is... there are some things that never change...
the rain the evening before you leave for a new city which makes delhi look so beautiful...
the lump in your throat when you tell your friends that you need to leave
that call from sapera when you least expect it and most need it, the one that figures out what you shouldnt be up to..
meeting someone and realizing its really too complicated..uhhh... k... perhaps not for another 2 days... and another... and another....
road-runner fetching up from half way across the country so that your first day at work has some awesome memories...
my blah blah! small talk gel... and f'dbad asking in all earnest, " are you not going to make your hair?"
the big smile when you realize complimentary breakfast just got a whole lot better coz of that waffle and maple syrup
those 15 mins before you check in and realize that you should have had that conversation a long time before...
... And some of the things that I need to get used to...
booking my cab with Orix on time..
learning to sleep without 1 hour marvin counselling coz there is no more intercom solution
dealing with the temporary insanity of all mates getting married
accepting that there must be a reason for all this madness

Fantasia ~ Bonbini Aruba

My posts are long overdue… life has been simply amazing for the past 2 weeks… Inebriated in Goa… Poignant in Gachibowli… Welcomed in Delhi and now the gluttony in City Beautiful…

I had promised a few friends a day by day post of my holiday… but I think I’ll refrain from that and just focus on a few of my best memories…

So 2nd of April… after 3 hours of packing and 3 weeks of shopping for the perfect tankini (assiduously google image searched by fellow inebriated betelguese citizen) the nine of us were on our way to the airport… on a scheduled “Is everything okay?” check by our citizen… we are informed that the bass is too much… controls adjusted… life, the universe and everything is under control… or so we think…

The airport beckons and so does the ATR… some of us have problems with the size of the aircraft... others just want to tell you that the plane flies as the surface area of the wing on top allows air to travel slower than… you nod your head in agreement for the lack of any contrary argument that your non engineering segmentation-target-positioning consultant brain can offer…

It does get more pleasant… after all it was my best holiday ever… and some one promised that the next ones will be even better… so we reach Miss Angelina… we stop en-route at the cabbies house and I see my lil baby under Jesus… and I know that my trip is blessed… I would have to thank Kimosawi for choice of resort… not a bad deal… guess FP is right… you should laugh about these things… else they leave a mark…

Baga, Calangute, Candolim, Sialom, Anjuna… Baga was the best… so I just kept going back… the highlight… ordering the pompfret… running against the waves… losing my sandals… finding them again… running back to the beach some n melon breezers back… and having the best fish in town with a soggy Gandhi… those plastic pouches… oh so handy… and let me stop here… before you think I’m to be reported for obscene content…

Experimenting on the menu… such a wonderful idea… never thought I’d enjoy squids, prawns, pompfret and more fish so much… and the wine… that’s another story… so thank you… and thank you again… and another thanks for the game of pool… and my apologies if you feel a pit in your stomach when you hold a cue stick again… but a lil birdie told me that you got only one shot for that foul… you took two… and missed all the other chances… perhaps…

And how can I forget Tito’s… if you like hip-hop… then go there… do it two nights in a row… it only gets better… and use those coupons… and just when you think its over… there’s November rain… and you can always re-charge with a banoffee… that stuff for 30 bucks… its incriminating to miss it… do that three nights in a row…

And you know what… leave the Lobster and Cabana for the next time… you can always do that at Aguada when you’re not on a student budget… and there’s more than milkshake on your mind…

PS: Chandigarh’s lovely too… I’m currently inculcating a taste for wines… still experimenting… some crabs… some Southern Comfort… got a lunch planned for tomorrow… until then… the MBA signs off

Shades of today...

This one's for all those who feel Buster's house will never be the same again

... from the warmth of yellow to the comfort of blue and to the safety in pink and death in black. Some days just come to make you realize how fragile we are... I will miss B for ever... but I am thankful that M could meet him the day before. I am thankful that he saw 596 16A reasonably constructed. I am thankful that he had an uniterrupted good night's sleep. I am thankful that he enjoyed more cuisines than some humans do. I am thankful that he could give the young Mr Boots a fight and a fright at 91. I am thankful that he came into our lives in the July of 1994 and gave us so much to smile about.

And for all of you... Buster's house will always be the same

Those Significant Others

3:01 PM, 40 degrees centigrade, Behavioral Finance, AC 4 LT

Those Significant Others

An Absurd Gentleman

So estranged from all that is life, lives in opposition to all creation... Can find specks in voids... Heart of 24 carat gold... and the purity doesn't end there... My Bumble Bee...

The Eternal Optimist

While not blogging, she spends most of her time in and out of love... her latest is likely to feature in all Business Channels next placement season... Doesn't give up and refuses to crib... My Crisis Resolver

Tonto and the Lone Ranger

Faithful companions... He just comes through when you need him... Even the Lone Ranger needs Tonto by his side... My Kemo Sabe...

Iso Metric Intellectual

A series of short run curves define the long run curve, don't try and draw the long run curve... let it happen... 32... Love his prescriptions... My co-Dark Horse...

Inept Wile E. and his struggle with Road Runner

Distracted but obsessed... his classic luckless chase formula is in need of urgent modification... and now he is often found taking prescriptions from my co- Dark Horse before he sets foot on Goan shores... a little goofy... always a cent percent hilarious... My 'Tell me why?' live source... tells you how the rain comes, how the motor works, the fridge cools...

The Thompson Twins

United in their vision of hatred towards 'Class Participation' grading, Teaching Associates and all the tenets of Murphy's Law which leave the duo aggreived... They are often found looking for food and coffee in the Student Villages at 4 am... Classically academically inclined... Mostly perturbed... Sometimes Aggravated... but always there... My 'Comical' Colleagues

Just some of those who make a difference...

... Or forever?

The terms whizzing past me... Can't believe it's final week... Am excited about baking in goa but I am so gone miss some people here... But a regret will remain... If only I had been a little more responsive and responsible the current wouldn't flow that way... Again... The fatalist in me tells me that it's better this way... But I'm finding it hard to convince myself with this excuse...
Would it ever have been any different? I don't know... And now I never will...

On brighter notes... One of my close friends just got the shift he was looking for and will be re-locating to his favorite city soon... Guess good things take time... And something's forever and a little more...

Sizzling Brownie Sundae

Been an awfully strange week after all two people acting strangely makes for very strange situations... but today seems better and brighter... am going to buy Dad a gift... haven't bought a present in ages... except for of course that thing I can't own up to... lol...

So here we are... last 2 weeks of School... then it's Goa for some (us), Kerala for some, Bangkok for some others all in the name of some serious dis-orientation...

Had a sizzling brownie sundae after long yesterday.... piece of heaven for Rs. 129... has an amazing ability to make everything right... :-)

Can Eyes Be So Big?

Can eyes be so big? I guess when they want to say more than words, see more than now, dream more than the real, feel more than they deserve and hold more than what is theirs'... The answer is Yes... For some the answer will always be yes... you might not get to the perfect time space co-ordinates and the 'yes' might never manifest, but it doesn't change a thing...

My World

A trip to Food World add strawberries, cooking chocolate, fresh cream, vanilla extract, fruit cocktails, raspberry jelly, custard and frozen yoghurt add Two and a half hours in the kitchen add eight hungry souls = One happy Simran
Could have done with some thank you's, but then that's not what friends are for...
P.S.
New season on wisteria lane... Something to keep me going till Sunday...

Stories of ISB, Hyderabad and beyond...

Week 1 is over... well almost... I still have class in the afternoon. In a way I am glad that the year is coming to an end as I really feel the need to move out of this simulated environment... It gets stifling after a point...

These words might be harsh but nevertheless, all of last week after screaming "grow up" for the nth time... I realized that an MBA can get you so far... and some of the abysmal maturity levels have me and a certain friend genuinely concerned... but then again... I guess there's nothing new about these revelations, they've done ok so far... and hopefully will be with those who understand them in the future in places life takes them beyond these four walls....

Simply Brain Dead

Brain dead... Term 8 is so very boring and my schedule of 2:30 to 7 doesn't help... Need to bid for a few courses tomorrow to complete my credits and can't seem to work out the clashes...
Have finished jhumpa lahiri for the week and have graduated to rowling... the only thing am looking forward to is the break where some of us are headed to Goa...

For my friend

It's been a week of trashy movies, great dinners, long walks to the jungle in the scorching sun, endless cups of elaichi tea courtesy sarovar and some jhumpa lahiri...

Feel a lot better about a lot of stuff... one agenda remains unfinished... Guess good things take time... some need to wade through 500 yards of shit to come out clean on the other side... apologies A.D.

Chin Up...

Placement season's in full swing... Great to see the buzz on campus... If everything wraps up by Friday... can head outta town... Took some time off... caught a movie, some chaat and bought a book... It's amazing to realize how crucial others' happiness is to us... but there are perhaps even more crucial things... like keeping your chin up...

Comfortably Busy

Life's really gotten too hectic with placement prep, cases, revisions and the dirty pink paper... So here we are... 350 people... on a random walk through jobmathics... But, I'm coping far better than I thought I would... I'm actually sneaking in fun... The pace actually makes me forget the facts of the case... comfortably numb to all that should really matter... There's really two eventualities, one that I will be so far away that the facts will blur and fall into the redundant and immaterial... the other that I will feel so far away and not me but the facts will stare back... but for now... it's all good... I'm busy... I'm happy... and even a bit excited...

Biggest Gift

Life in the past three days has been so hectic, so tiring, so much fun, at times exhilirating... at times sad... but above all real... Said two goodbyes with a very heavy heart... got some good news... got a reality check... got some perspective...

As I said good bye today, I realised, I will always suck at them... life will always teach you things but there are somethings you just don't get better at... Tonight feels weird... just like last night... but, it will get better... and one day you wake up again 'alive' and that's when you do justice to your biggest gift.

Of the Cinderella Hour

One day... 10:00 am - Pricing Exam, 3:00 pm - Lunch and obedience, 6:00 pm - Did it actually happen... Accept it for its 'glam' appeal, 8:00 pm - Amazement does not cease... neither does the homesickness, 10:00 pm - Safety Inventory, Cycle Inventory, Set Up time... give it to me as long as its not graded, 12:00 am - Cinderella hour, Cinderella indulges in CSR with a mission... Mission Impossible... nah... 1:00 am - Fervent chatting with quadmates with coke and full-house, 2:13 am - pleasant interruption... Amazement does not cease... Just of a different kind...

New Years!