Welcome 2010!

Just back from party at Jinie's place. Affectionate he is, no one can say no to him.. Disclaimer: Not many people know each other here, just a crowd of strangers, so dance and be merry.. The second perfect thing was the host whose house was actually used for the party.. He is the best possible entertainer anyone would have come across. Some people are so lively that they can infuse life is anyone who even brushes against them.. :D Music was coming from the laptop of host, a hut like dance floor.. Songs like Scilia, kajrare, punjabi numbers.. Ok!! i know there is no trend, but then who cares.. :) 2 hours of good fun and yes we have those cheers smiley happy pics captured.. a new year with unknowns and yet so lovely..

N, S.. I miss you guys as always.. You have been with me since my childhood, the years when we had no money for parties, no fancy clothes, no loud music, just the peanuts, gajjak, rajai, some games and lots of innocence and love for each other.. Every little thing made us happy.. You know what? Nothing can beat that. Right at mid night, amidst loud music, all that i could think of is those wonderful days.. Its not the perfection, its the little fun talks we shared, dreams we nourished and plans we made.. This year sees N in Los Angeles, S in London and me in Blore.. i am happy that we all have moved on for better in life, our plans did not go waste, but we should rewind and relive atleast one day this year. :)

Bye Bye 2009

My Dear Blog!! Love you, you have been the cutest of all things i value.. And as i bid goodbye to 2009, i want you to know that you will remain to be my fav. So, do you know what did i get on new year eve?? A t shirt "I will try to be nicer to you, if you try to be smarter".. A lovely yellow t shirt saying " happy fish"... A pink eye pencil and lots of other stuff.. How much i love being a girl.. :) I loved the year that went by, and i thank God for the wonderful moments he gifted me with.. I am sure 2010 will be even better, after all its my life, it has to get better and better and better.. :) And yes, i am heading for the party, else we would have had a nice long walk down the memory lane..

Sorry, i forgot to tell you about the earring!! they are good too.. give me loads next year plz... :D

Addiction..

They say nothing succeeds like success. It gives you the kind of high which diminishes all other aspects of life. But then how about someone who has always been on a high?? Is it not dangerous to face the fact that life is not always same?? I met someone like that today, who probably failed for the first time in life.. Totally unable to let go.. I somehow lost respect for all the glory around the being.. If you cant take success and failure with equal grace then you are not educated and you are not matured enough to lead and grow.. Life will never show same colors, it has to give fair deal to all, if the deal is tilted towards your side, feel good, but dont take it for granted.. Success is niether a habit nor an addiction, it can very well go as it comes.. Do your best and understand that sometimes others best might beat yours.. If you are anywhere near successful learn to smile and improve and grow, dont give up..

New Year Grows...

I was wondering what possibly could be the best things to do on new year??
- Travel - Visit some cool destinations
- Party - Choose the best party in town and just go and have fun
- Cake at home - This might sound boring to most, but this is how i spent most of my new years in childhood days, watching the new year programme on TV, cuddled in a rajai, cake and food and with papa.. Trust me nothing in this world can match the welcoming new year that way....

So, i start with Travel - one of the most favoured destinations in India on new year is Goa and 2 years back we went to a place called karvar near Goa to welcome the year.. Since it was slightly off Goa and we went for a camping trip, it was far away from madding crowd and an aamzing experience. The water came till our camps during high tide and the dance floor was right by the river side. It was awesome fun. Got to do with the people i went with and also the location we chose. Next year was ISB, and yes we did go to the cruise party(dont ask me where was the cruise:P), the ship had a dance floor, NO, it wasnt great, but we all together totally enjoyed what was on offer.. :) Though not on new year, but this jungle resort type of place in Dandeli could be another place to visit during new year.. The place is again established on river side and in general very calm and peaceful. Kerela could be a place to go to, but i dont know why, i feel its too talked about nd everyone is always there.. Next could be LEH, Ladakh.. wooooo.. i so badly want to visit ladakh.. Next Year, i am going there for sure..

Party- So, this is usually the most difficult part.. You want to stay in city, you dont want to stay at home and you dont want to go to a party which is not your type of music and which has cheap and drunk crowd.. Difficult choice.. Specially music can kill the point.. If the DJ is bad then you have almost spoiled your evening.. This happened with me once.. Some of the friends got booking done.. I followed like a loyalist.. I realized the music was bad, food was even worse and people were looking at you as if thats their only focus in life.. Finally, we decided to move out of the place and come back to home, watch movie in my friend's home theatre, ordered domino's pizza and talked our heart out about everything..

So, whats the safest bet?? I want to go back home and spend time with my family, play with my nephew and begin new year with people i love the most.. However, if that does not materialize, i would want to stay with my best pals and probably welcome the new year with them peacefully, does not have to be a fancy travel or party this time, i want to save these moments for life..

3 idiots!!

This movie is a must watch for some of the most cheeful moments. Best fun was, today was another day, when i reached the movie hall last minute with friends. I had got the tickets done online and the transaction was successful, while the money was taken from my account, i did not have th tickets booked. I have a simple philosophy in life if i have come to watch the movie, i better watch it. I just told the ticket counter guy, we need to watch the movie, whats the option and i just have 10 mins. The guy guided me to a person on front counter. I had a small round of negotiation with him, he directed me to a small gallery behind the cinema and i discovered that behind running of all the gold class and super hot malls, there are simple doors where people sit to make these operations smooth. On the oldest posible computer, he booked some tickets for an audi which was added last minute to adjust such goof ups. I was amazed at the customer service of PVR today.
I ran with the confirmation numbers got the tickets and we barged into the movie hall. After all the run, early morning wake up, the movie was every penny worth it. Amir khan was at his best and the humour was a total connect. All in all, must watch and yes please do goof up with systems, thats when you get to know what keeps the perfect systems running. I saw a lot of things which back the running of PVR, thanks to the goof up.

The Countdown..

So, this was a fun night.. nothing new.. as always, nandi, shiks, me and trust me aunty is spoilt since she has come here, she laughs her heart out with the crazy gang.. (Caution!! We can make a corpse beg to Hell Master to give him some life to laugh.. ) The topic of discussion was the fact that i had booked the ticket of movie 3 idiot for 10 AM on a holiday.. :D (Yours truly, you have to be sincere and on time when it comes to movies, akhir life mein har cheez time to time honi chahiye).. Well, the issue is - the movie is shot in IIMB, i like Amir khan( no, i am loyal to Ranbir Kapur and Tom Cruise, and.. OK!! I know i am using the word loyal, but then i like all, i always like all things without bias.. all goooood things i mean.. :P).. and then its supposed to be a fun movie.. I mean, its ok to getup at 7 AM on a holiday and watch movie.. Its all alright!! Why do you live and earn? ( I am not expecting the reply to be " to watch movies", but then something like that.. ).. But then i got into my serious convincing mode, such that anyone would ahve thought that the only motive to live is to watch this movie at 10 AM in morning, if you dont do that world will come to an end before 2012.. Shiks just gave up, knowing me she knew i could make a case around it and this probably is the best movie anyone could have ever watched even before its ratings came out.. having settled the movie part, we moved on to my relocation part.. I mean when will i go, what date, how, from where? Imagine! Did i ever think so much about life?? I will go, one day, somewhere, sometime to someplace from someplace.. The food has to be asian veg and yes i dont drink alcohol (thats kind of certain :P, some things i know, dont have to struggle with that) ..

By the end of the day, we all live to have fun and sleep with a smile, and i have seen that most arbit and senseless things have maximum value in life.. I know these days are may be last 15 days of my stay here, but i will live them to the fullest..

Here this day of my life is dedicated to my fav song these days - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTuY6JCsK-M

"Did you notice the Alisha's voice in this song??"

Change..

They say change is inevitable, a part of life.. I kind of understand it and adapt to situations.. But some places give you such fond memories that despite knowing everything you want to stick on to it.. Bangalore from may to dec 2009 is one such part of my life.. In Kris Gartner's style i would say, "this part of my life is called happyness". :) I loved my batch and everyone in it from the bottom of my heart for all the smiles and laughter which i so badly needed in life..15 of us from different IIMs and ISBs. No connection to begin with and slowly we became a part of life.. Lunch together, houses around, office discussions and help at every step. I have this nasty habit of asking the same thing 100 times, i am sure people thought that either i was dumb or i irritated them, but they took it with a smile.. Its getting over, all are moving out.. Everytime someone goes, i have this feeling that its all getting over and somewhere i wish i could stop it but then i know things have to move on..
It was not just the batch, nandini, Shikha, my neighbour, hampi travel group.. everyone just added to the memories.. The thought of getting away is quite challenging, the change i want to resist, but my mind says you need to move on in life.. Everyday night for one hour i struggle with this..I know things never remain same, but these were good times and you just want them forever.. Future's uncertainity is always difficult on us.. I know on papers everything about my future is good.. But i will miss the fun i had here, i am not sure if i will get so many people of similar mental level to talk to and crack jokes with.. My home which was always a weekend away for me, will be very far..
I am resisting a change which is good for my life .. everyday i just pray to God and think that some miracle will happen and same life will be replicated in my new location or he will just keep me here.. something.. God, "This part of my life is called praying to you, i really really leave it all on you as always.. "

The Love you case study!!

It was an amusing discussion with an old pal. This guy's dad was in army and he was a to the core flirt since probably he was born. :P.. Suddenly, he calls me after some 5 years and says i love you.. I thought it was some time pass trying to call, i said ok, thanks for loving a stranger, makes me feel good.. HANG ON, GARY!! xyz here.. :D.. Oops, why dint you tell me years back that you loved me buddy? Not that i would have liked to acknowledge it even then, but you would have come out of this nasty habit of joking at an early age.. Hee hee, turn around, i just saw you in spencers, i am standing 20 feet away from you and seriously i love you.. AWEEE... no for this surprise i love you too.. It was after years that we were meeting and it was a surprise to the core..
Got talking talking talking.. Flirtoo always has many stories to tell as if there was a huge queue of women ready to die for him kinds but in the end he is always single and ready to mingle. Well, nothing had really changed in his life, he had some 3 girl friends when he was studying in IIM and then when he started working 3 more and finally he was still single and ready to mingle.. :D I said Boss what goes wrong with all the women, they just cant stand you beyond 2 months :P?? (OK, he is fun loving, i can crack such jokes with him :)) He thinks for some time.. He goes, yaar this looks like a case study to me, the i love you case study.. I say i love you to 100 girls, hit rate is lets say 10%, conversion ratio is lets say 2% and then in the end final result is 0%. What should XYZ do to get a final result??

Idiot, what did you do in IIM? Wasted your life? Try and understand the customer segment, your sales pitch is always good, the services and value add part is zero.. With history of 100 gal friends you look like second Tiger Wood in making.. The case is solved, the final result might remain zero for the rest of your life, give your humbling past record which scares me to death..

He totally nodded his head and bought me an ice cream for all the gyaan.. (Ok, i get paid for all my arbit gyaan like a true MBA.. :P).. The love you case study was solved and i am so happy, i have a old lost buddy in town.. :D

Difficult to let go..

There are some things in life which become an intergral part of life and even before you realize you just know that they are difficult to let go. One doll that i bought assuming i will get a rank 1 but i got a rank 2, you know how much i loved it for years?? My cousin broke an eye of my tall doll and me, generally known to be a non violent and non controversial kid, just gave him two tight slaps and did not know if even that was enough to cover up the loss. :P The broken doll stayed in my home till i went for my graduation and no one dared to touch it as they thought this could awaken the hidden violence in me. :D
Similarly, my best pals, i love them. Everyone knows i love them, and i never thought why and when that happened, i just know that sometimes it hurts to see them off on airport. Its not something new, i have been accustomed to letting go, but now i realize that with all the efforts, sometimes it is difficult to let people go.
Family, dearest to me. I have been away from my home for years now. Everytime i have to visit home, i am excited just the way my 4 year old nephew is and till date something within kills when i board the flight back to work.
India, i have been born and brought up here. I love every struggle involved, every problem at hand. Thats been my way of living and life for years now. Its time when i might have to move and i just know that its so difficult to let it go. I remember crying when my cousin broke the eye of my doll, dad consoled me and told that he will get a new one. I said its not about a better doll or new doll, i have invested time and love in it, it hurts to leave somethings you loved so much. Dad understood, he got me a 100 dolls after that, but the hurt doll never lost its place in my home. He always kept it at top and told me there are somethings difficult to let go and its good to come back to them. You dont leave things when you find better ones, you only love them more because they have made themselves imp enough in your life to let go.

The runs between happening and not happening. The desire to do and not to do is a hairline difference. Sometimes, all you know if life is," i will give everything my best shot and till last breath" and you just know that if you want something you want it. You know the target and rest everything will find its way. I saw a lady scolding her kid few days back in a super market and typically using the word "Stubborn". I had been watching the kid, particularly because he was cute and i liked his attitude. He was observant and with cautious thinking and using rationale he picked up a box of chocolate which he thought was small and should not be an issue for his mom. However, for all good reasons as per her mom he should not have had chocolates. :( He kept quite for sometime and then lay straight on the floor with chocolate in hand and focus to eat. Mum scolded him again, this time he took the chocolate out and put it in his mouth with eyes sht as her very well knew that a slap was coming his way. :D.. I dont know, people may call him stubborn, i totally loved it. kids have this undying power and focus and they have fool proof strategies to attain what they want. As we grow, we just lose the so called "stubbornness" to get what we want. I think this hair line journey between happening and not happening is decided by the element of wanting it till end sometimes...

No solstice for me.. :(

This is my first solstice after passing out of isb. I could not go. It was my biometric test for London visa. I hate international travel and locations and everything about it. :( I dont know what i have mised, i would have so loved to be back on campus and among my people. Never mind, one of my batch mates who could not make it to solstice as well decided to make things better for us. Aur kuch nahi to movie sahi.. if not the cool DJ and dance floor then a dinner may be.. ISB, i so totally love you, it hurts when i have to let go of you.. :(

Boredom at its best.

What do you do when you have to go for a party when no one is your age, you have no common topic to talk about and you just know what you had so many better things to do than sit here and look in air??
Well, you dont really have a choice. Ok, things start getting better, there is music, and though i wont say i love cricket, but even that looked interesting to me. I finally thought i should just explore the business model of the place in question and see how things work. And last but not least, when ething else fails, all hopes rest on food. :D
Things were not that bad, there was a very desi dance floor, loud boxes of music, DJ no one will dance with in general, but then it all looked so heavenly. And i saw a huge gang of ppl, OK, they looked equally bored, but then better off. Dancing as always was awesome fun and kind of took away some frustration out of life. I came back home, tired, changed clothes and hit the bed thinking what was it all about? Sometimes, you just wish you could rewind the life and start living it all over again and could take better decisions like not going to the party and looking in air.

Funny..

It was a sunday and i had to buy some urgent stuff. I had almost working weekend, so by the time i gathered myself, it was 6 o clk. I headed straight to the market. While coming back i took an auto. The auto driver seemed to be diving like formula one racer, missing hits by an inch and though generally i dont get scared, but so many times i survived Yam's land that finally i told him, "Bhaiya, dheere chala lo plz.".. HERE is the killer, "MADAM, mein pehle ambulance chalata tha, aise hi chalata tha, dheer nahi chalta, marne walo ke pass time kaha hota hai itna".. I did not know what to say.. I shifted myself to the center of the auto and kind of wondered why the hell did i have to choose him of the trail of autos infront of me.. On lighter note, i totally enjoyed the roller coaster ride..

The land beneath my feet..

This is one off cases in life.. The land beneath my feet was just swiped away in a moment.. I was speechless and for one of the few times in life i did not negotiate and question because person infront was brutually honest.. I did not know what was it all about but i could see the strength of character and determination which i thought exists only in books.. Honesty and passion to do something in life which was not something i had seen in many.. I realized that you might have never had tea all your life because you dont like it, but then there will be some people who will not ask you for it and say this is all i have to offer you and you will know that this is something you cant deny because thats really all that anyone could ever offer to you..
I was asked my a frend to help a frend setup some new venture.. I am not a pro, i thought i will be just one brain added, but i will try.. The discussion went on for 3 hours.. During the discussion i just realized that its so much fun to talk to honest and passionate people.. There is a balance of opinion, there is acceptance and challenging.. And then there is so much of care for every word and learning and denial.. I was not working for a multi million dollar firm with no value for time and effort, i was talking to a human who has dreams and then the person realized that i had been sitting for 3 hours and all that was on offer was tea which could be prepared.. I was asked for tea and i know i dont have tea, but i could not say no, there were no vending machines, will this person make tea for me?? Yes, no work is small and no human is less than special.. As i was handed over the cup of tea, i realized that it was the most precious drink i have ever had..
Time for me to be ruthless.. What if you FAIL?? I dont work to fail and frankly failure does not know me.. I graduated from top b school in world, worked for the best firm, took a call on taking my own path, not to faill.. If i were to fail all these people would not have taken a chance on me and you would not have spent the time that u did and if you were to fail i would not have talked to you for more than 10 mins.. trust me we cant fail.. we can only do well or very well.. HMMM. they look like words to me, data?? Market?? The person opened the plan and i saw the kind of details which left me aghast..
Who did i meet? A character from a novel, or was it a real human? I have not seen such strong elements of confidence, intelligence, honesty and humility in one person at such a young age and with accomplishments to die for. I just realized, there are some people who will take away the land beneath your feet, not with the fancy things, but sheer stroke of honesty and no frills to offer.. Hats Off !!

The Ad campaign i will love forever..

I am a marketing person, ok i know i am sales but i love creative stuff and i can proudly say that my advertising classes in ISB were fun and class apart, thanks to prof for them.. Now a days whenever i see ads, i try to see which part of human phscyche is it trying to address and whats the creative bit in it.. Recently smart and wit advertising has come into picture... I remember how much i loved to watch the fevicol ads at one point of time for the simple humour that it carried..
However, today i want to put forth the links of "Kuch Khaas hai hum sabhi mein" , yes you guessed it right, these are the lovely Cadbury ads which brought dairy milk to every household.. Amazing is how they matured their ads to cover all age groups and connected the product to spirit of life and trust me they remain to be one of my favs till date..
Here goes the links :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_2EEuW4r-w&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDuUIww9AIU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQBbT4t7l4k
http://www.youtube.com/results?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzlWQw7kJFo

And even this wasnt bad:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=womx9GYLVD0

Some ads will stay for ages and years, and yes, they are just emotional ads.. There is no science and logic involved. :)

Where life = Money!!

Last week was a bit tough on my physcal self. I had 20 mins between a meeting and getting somethings sorted. I decided to run 2.5 and get the work squeezed in the 20 mins. Everything worked out well, just that while coming back i fell on stone stairs, had some scratches here and there, but dint bother till they started showing two days later.
Worse was thursday evening, i started getting some slight eye infection in my left eye, again i dint bother much, but it was paining too much by friday mrng. Not being from bangalore, i usually go to this brand hospital chain for any of my issues. They recently opened a lavish clinic near my home and having too much work on my plate, i thought i must just get started with treatment without making it worse. I enter into the clinic and the lady cuts a bill even before asking me what was the issue. Anway, i pay. She puts me through a high heel fashionable doc and i am like wow, docs used to be smart but now they are glamorous too. The lady turned out to be hollow up above in her head. She checked my eye and told me that i had some severe issue and i might loose vision etc. I am usually cool headed, things did stike me once in head, but i just took it heads on. I said ok, so whats it? She said i will refer you to the biggest hospital in our chain, they will hospitalize you for a couple of days and if things work fine, you will be good. Now, she was getting over my nerves. "BOSS, i asked you a question, what is the problem??". She said i am refering to senior doc. Things will be fine. "Hang on, its just one eye, i get that as per your observation i am gettin blind by one eye,BIG DEAL, chill. I need answer to my question what is it?" She gives me some explanation and asks me to take it as urgent and meet senior doc immediately. I go out and ask the receptionist and she says the earliest you can get is next day afternoon. THAT WAS IT!! I was like Boss, why the hell did i pay to this idiot doc, she dsnt even know what is wrong, she refers me to a hospital in your chain, where again i need to pay a huge amount for a disease which none of you knows about AND above all, you have put anaesthesia in my eyes inplace of antibiotic, my eyes have been tossing between the tables for last 4 HOURS. GET LOST!! In meanwhile they tried very hard to freak me out. You should call your family, get your clothes packed, hospitalization is must. AND all this while, i am like, give me a break, i am not creating an issue out of it till i am sure that its going.
I called up my colleagues who is from bangalore and asked him, so who is the best eye doctor running private practice. I take his number and go to this doc. He looks into my eyes and says, eyes are good, dont worry, nothing major. Its just an infection. Stay here for 30 mins, will monitor which medicine works for you and you can go. I was like, "no hospital? And i thought i was getting blind?" He said NO, no hospitalization required and you are not getting blind. You need to take good care of your eye till it says i am fine and come and show me again tomorrow or may be just call me. We will see again in 5 days. I was stunned, i narrated the whole story of previous doctor and hospital to him, he just smiled and said, some people have equated life to money. There is no harm, but doctors job is to tell people they are not dying because he is there and not that they are dying even when he is not. The doc said that what hurts me is the fact that incase she thought your eyes had serious infection, she should have atleast put a doze of antibiotic in it, she dint, which means your eyes did not get treatment for 6 hours despite things being so serious as per that hospital's staff. Then he told me, why do you go there? Because its big brand, because you think they charge good money so they have good doctors?? I said i just know that i have visited that place thrice, and i see a pattern now. Last time i went was when i caught cold during swine flu scare days, the doc was again an idiot, she told me to take her experimental medicines for 2 days and incase i develop any kind of breathing trouble i should not see her, instead go to the main hospital of the chain and see some doctor. That time i questioned, why dont you do the tests now?? why wait for 48 hours to die?? And why should i go to someone else who has not treated me for 48 hours when my trouble is increased.

All i know is that Manipal chain is becoming ridiculous. They have converted medical business into money business. They should call their spokes blood test clinics, throw out all idiot doctors who are good for nothing and even worse is that their spokes use their brand and refer you to main Manipal for every treatment you take because i think they get some commission on referals, but when things go wrong, they say we are separate from Manipal. Good facilities and services without qualified doctors does not make brand, its a medical business. If your spokes mess up with my life, your main hospital does not get business even if your idiot spoke refers me a 100 times to you.

Here i am, with perfect eyes, its been 48 hours of proper care and medication at home, no hospitalization, and i can just tell all, that dont look at "cure and care" clinics, they should be renamed as beauty clinics. Go for doctors and not brands. When it comes to life, you give to a person who is responsible and not a brand which nourishes 100 idiots under it.

There is something about people who fly.. :)

The week that went by was awesome in some sense. I met almost all the people who fly. I met a friend of mine who is a pilot in kingfisher, then my best pal and a another pilot friend.
I love my friend who is pilot with kighfisher for some very intended reasons - a) She is always smiling, come what may b) she is always positive come what may c) There is too much life all around her.. We just decided to stroll on the MG road and try some kerela delicacy.. She was in Bangalore for some flight simulation trainigs and as always she did not want to leave the city without meeting me.. As usual, she sorted a lot of questions which keep lingering on my mind..
Next day was my best pal, he is not exactly a pilot, but owing to his fancy job, he keeps flying almost every 4 days.. There was this huge stock on talks i had, that i dont like to work beyond 8 hours, that sometimes i feel i dont know what am i doing and what i want, that there are a 100 things i have no clue about.. And as always he just puts it all on rest by saying that nothing is worth the lovely smile on your face, so if 8 hours of work is what you want, 9th hour is not you.. if you dont know what you are doing, just dont bother doing it.. :) as always i feel pampered with my pal around, because all things have just one solution, nothing is worth your happiness.. Not that good words solve anything in life, but sometimes thats all you want..
Third was this dude i met while coming back from delhi last time on airport. He is a pilot and we ended up talking and hence becoming friends. He flew to bangalore and like being a good frend he called me and said we should meet. We had a long discussion on how he flies and whats it that he njoys most in his profession and why did he want to be a pilot. And then he asked me, "So, why MBA? Why sales? What's you?".. For a change i had nothing to speak.. i was smiling.. i just said, "You know there is something about people who fly.. I fly like you do, in my own world..I am free... I am an MBA and sales because i like to fly, but then there are multiple things that i see from height, which look upapproachable to me, i feel good that i am above all that, but someday i will just fly down to touch them all.. thats what i am.."
We both laughed at my confusing explanation, but then i insisted that it made a lot of sense and in the end he agreed that there is something about people who fly, and that the thrill to move up in life gets distracted when you look down in life, but then you just know you have taken off and someday you will go back.. :)

An amusing evening..

So, yesterday was Mr B's party. For those of you who dont know who he is, he is one of the 15 of us who joined sales in my org, a financial maestro and in general someone who gets what he wants, dont ask how and why because thats just him and no one asks him such lame questions.. His answer is tujhe mil gaya na, shanti rakh, dont get into the details.. :D
It was his house warming party, he has gifted a house to his parents. So, S, Kunal, Kajal, N, S, dada, and yours truly went for it. Basically, we go for all the parties and sometimes force people to give parties. The house was damn cool and its beautiful. But the point was the collection of all of us on friday evening. So, Kunal, Kajal and me, non drunkards get to view rest all jokers. I am shit scared of people who drink, may be because no one in my family drinks and i havent seen many ppl who are drunk. Yesterday was some fun, people were trying to tell me that they are harmless and that they dont get high, so i can be fine. So, i have no idea what is the calculation of drinks etc, but all of them were out. They say people's true self comes out then they are drunk and i can say for sure that all 15 of us are damn cute. Mr N had an issue that despite being intelligent, IIM, handsome, he has no queue of women who follow him(he always thought he will pick one of millions who will die for him once he is out of IIMs :D), apparently all others joined him and said its the same, it seems they all thought women will die for them, but the kinds tht die they dont want and the kinds they want dont look at them. This discussion went into analytical details with mr N taking the lead. It was indeed amusing on how N would say my woman and Sid will correct him everytime by saying "men- women". :D
And then Mr S was no where to be found for an hour or so, eone thought he was either talking to his girl frend or wishing his to be mum in law bday, but B found that he was fast asleep on bathroom floor, which much convincing people told him tht sleeping on bed is as comfortable as bathroom. He agreed in the end and slept off. I have no idea what will be his life, as he has garcefully missed the to be mum in laws bday. Anyway, he is usually sincere, but yesterday despite all best intents he missed it. :D
D with his eyes closed was extremely unhappy with women who have been giving him all lame reasons for not marrying him, the best was, "even a gal working in BPO says, she cant leave her career for me, someone please tell is this a career?.. :D" Sid brought the focus on dada, he has been exploited by women in general, listen to what he is going through. The fancy job, good money and foreign land, nothing seems to be exciting enough for women anymore. He has given up. He will now concentrate on selling and not think much. And D closed his eyes to go through the past cycles of exploitation.
Mr Sid who had a gal frend, now does not have one anymore, he is out in market, no wonder he keeps on correcting N, wo"men" not wo"man". :D He has no clue what life has in store for him, but currently because his gal frend can not adjust and is not willing to go to europe with him without a job, he can only look ahead, but then there is nothing in vicinity which he will realize soon. :D
Then starts the discussion on horror scope, the women N likes does not have enough numbers in horror scope and the ones with numbers whom his family likes, he dsnt like. :D Mr N is not happy about the pool of gals thats available in his community, suddenly eone is jealous of Mr B, apparently his community has more educated and smart women. Mr B takes the whole issue in his stride and smiles, probably trying to say, the pool is big, but the women in my pool marry outside pool, i am single and always ready to mingle but... :D
Suddenly Mr N turns towards me and K and goes, you are successful and blah bla blah, your pool is even smaller. You dont want to marry average guys, you want handsome, educated, successful, basically someone like me.. I give high 5 to Mr N for his self praise and without entering into discussion, ask him to continue...
Discussion moves through multiple rounds. Me, kunal and Kajal smiled through it and enjoyed it all.. Issue is no one knows what they want, they want it all - Intelligent, smart, educated, homely, working and non working at the same time, want to go abroad on H1 - still working, family pleasing, good dressing sense but should not ask for money.. everything.. What they fail to understand is that if a woman is all the above, she has to be a superwomen and she would not bother about their education, money and looks because she will herself have all and multiple options to pick from.. GUYS!! High time, correct your goals, or just keep your aspirations high and keep pursuing.. may be some day your sales pitch will fly and u will cut the deal... :D

The Liar's Poker

I picked this book as it is supposed to be a must read for all b school grads. Not many years ago for all the finance grads Ibanking was a job to watch for. I was always a strategy student, even when i did not know what it meant :P. I understand finance well because it is a part of day to day life and somehow the complex products never made sense to me because by the end of the day the monay making in financal markets is a case of arbitrage opportunities and i dont think any structured book can teach it.

Anyway, getting back to book, YES, this is one of the most interesting and hilarious read. I love the mind of the writer, the way he has seen all the characters around him and brought out the vanity of the whole game. He has talked about the fall of mighty Solomom Brothers, the arrogance of its employees and what led them to failure. I somehow miss the failure bit and i get attractd to the risk taking ability of Solomon guys. The writer has the most fun filled explanation on every decision and every character in the bank. He has projected himself as a young victim to the tyranny of his arrogant fat money making bosses and how he was fooled day in and day out till he learned the money making game and adjusted to the non existent culture of the firm. He has in most simple langauge explained the fianancial innovation which led to loss of billion dollars in the market. I like the character sketch, the innocent eyes of a young guy who enters trading floor and how he watches the ruthless trading floor aspiring to be one of them, but not knowing how and also doubting if he will be able to survive the game.

A very interesting read, you will remember humour for lifetime. Its intelligent, subtle and you can just relate to writer and laugh at it. I loved it. This is a good writing by Michael Lewis and i totally give him star 5 for his sense of humour.

So, what do you think??

Hmm.. So, i havent talked about my childhood gang for long now. One of the ganster has this very very sweetly irritating habit of turning towards me and asking, "So, what do you think." (Ok, if you are wondering whats so special about it, he knows that while the whole explanation was on, i was in my own world, i wasnt listening to it.).. Ahmm.. Umm.. Yep, its gud yaar. Hee hee , "Whats gud?" Errr.. "The stuff you just talked about." "Hee hee, which stuff?" ( OK, i am not deaf, you were talking about some long term plans and all and life and stuff, i will be creative , dont worry, here's the "stuff").. "The stuff about thinking and being serious and about what one wants and not want, you see it all makes so much sense. The serious thing." :D "Hmm.. so whats your opinion on it." ... :P "Yep, you make sense dude and now spare me, you know i wasnt listening, dont get after my life, nothing new about it".. "Hee hee, how do you manage to watch a dog so diligently while such a serious thing is being discussed." ... :P "Errr... umm.. dog is also serious.. it deserves attention, just because its a dog, you cant ignore it. And you think your talk is serious and not the poor dog, just because its an animal. "(OK, i had no clue what was i speaking, but i can be really convincing when i get down to it, you see... :D).................................................Long Pause till 3 of them burst into laughter....................................

Here was the killer, the what do you think guy, "I know dog has every right to attract and probably dog and his attention seeking character is a really serious matter which i will sort with it. I understand. However, i fail to understand why dont human get importance in life, what is it that dogs bark have and human talks dont have. Why does barking dog get more attention than talking human?? WHY? Just because he/she is a human?? WHY?? "
............................................ :P
"Errr... i dont know.. may be.. but trust me being human is not all that bad.. dont start aspiring for a dog's life.. i lost the discussion mid way, so kind of started ignoring it and admiring dog.. but i do think, what you think is right about the stuff that you talked about.... " :D

Talkathon!!

Ok, now i am going to boast about the extra large friend circle that i have. Did i tell you my dear blog that i love to just talk and talk and talk, so i am basically branded talkative, but there is nothing much i can do about it. Thats the basic need for me. I survive on talks and people say i can talk to stone if nothing works out.
So, when your problem is talking, you come across some interesting discussions and you kind of wonder whats the point. I go for these walks at night for 30 min which is very dear to me. If i manage to catch hold of someone to walk with me, i happily do away with the ear phones and music. And i usually get some new people. As and when you walk with people for lets say 4-5 times, eone has a story to tell, sometimes about work, sometimes about relations and sometimes about aspirations. Aspirations have no end, i think eone should have it, but at the same time they should not take away your sleep. Just live life. Work: there is always a lousy, idiot, who makes life hell for all, so just chill, he/she is not worth being given so much importance in life. Relations: OK, this is one discussion which has various flavors, some are interesting. First is : his money, my money .. in my home all money is eone's money, its been like that for years and its difficult to tag whose is it and youngest at home is pampered in kind.. i like this.. ( OK, i know i am the youngest.. :P)
Location.. we all are earning.. hmmm.. But why?? anyway, who ever thought about it.. After all Geeta said,"Karm karo, fal ki iccha na karo, so keep earning, dsnt matter if 10 people work in 10 different locations, spend double the amount and fight everyday.. by the end of the day eone is earning.. I am amused.. :D i am also earning, but then issue is everyone else is also earning, so its not something unique to spend an evening thinking about..
And then there are loads of things which come out and i keep listening to them and thinking whats life all about by the end of the day? Is it about the million dollar deal we ran after in morning? Or about the lunch that i had with my colleagues? or the friends i made who just happened to be mine? or the family that waits for the time i see them? Do i have complains? YES, i am human i have reasons and complains in everythng that exists in the way it exists and thats what makes me do better in life. Issue is not that people have complains, issue is that there is no mindset to resolve. And there is bigger ego to protect from any kind of resolution to creep into life. In all my walkathons, i hear the same complaints, there are same characters, there probably is a solution, but then that will kill the stories of my walkathon, so i am not interested. :D

The Pursuit of Happyness!!

This is one movie i find awe inspiring. The story resembles some stages in my life and i can just see that hurdles make victory so worth living and there is always a reason which makes you stick on. Life is just the way we look at it. There are people who will have everything and they will still crib about life and then there are people who have nothing but they still keep the smile on. Someone told me once, Happiness is my state of mind and but for me no one can challenge me. :)
I have these various mood swings when i watch the movie, the story of rags to riches, of hopes, of efforts, and of times when fate takes away every scope of hope. I particularly love the dollar note tht someone borrows when every penny matters and how when time turns every penny comes back. Life does test us many a times, but yes the part is, there is always a part of life called "happyness" which waits for us right there. The strong and the persevering ones reach the destination. It is indeed a pursuit. This is one movie which makes me emotional and i love the fact that babies love you without conditions and sometimes all it takes to reach the sky is someone's unconditional faith. :)

Bhai Dooj - A day of experiments

This was a Bhai dooj i celebrated after long. Bro had this long list of food that he could eat "if" i cooked. I thought i must oblige him and this was day for Italian dinner. It took me some 4 long hours to bake pizza, cake and Calzones, but it was good. Hmm.. i am a decent cook and cooking is awesome fun provided you get paid for it either in cash or in kind. So, as usual my CTO brother have me fair deal. Thank You bro, i totally love cooking for you and somehow i experiment on you, but you are lucky that things just turn out good.
So, cheers to our Italian dinner and yes Noni gets a gift no matter what, so according to him it was baby dooj, so he should get a book or gift too and being the darling of the house (he is well mannered and decent baby), he is granted all his wishes. :)

My Performance Appraisal

Why am i becoming so fearless with every passing day? I love what i do and i do what i do. I have just stopped thinking on what not? There is just one target i see in this time and i am on it, nothing seems to be detering me. I have got this bad i dont know i want it and i will get it kind of spirit in me. I am not willing to look at anything which stops. I just know i have learned this from my nephew, he is focused about what he wants in life. But then i was wondering, what is giving me all this- i have never bothered about my CRRs all my life, i dont care about money (i make sure that i get paid my worth) and i dont care about job. I work for something else now, i have found my motivation and love.
I work for the 400 people in my account who smile every morning and feel good about themselves because they can earn. I work for those 200 people called customers who use the work that my lovely 400 people do for them. I work for my mind which loves to think positive and progressive and i work for my self worth, which should increase with every good that happens to poeple i love. I just love what i do because all these 600 people think i can think for them, talk for them and they trust me that i will take right decisions, do right things and make their work better with every passing day. At this point in life, i cant see anything but change and change and a change which should make all 600 people who are mine free to think and fly. I know change is never easy, i might fall flat, but then i am fearless and i can just see the focus. I just know that if one day these 600 people can feel any better, i would have been the star performer, i have found my appraiser and goals. :)

Long ago papa told me once that i dont know what dsnt work, i dont care, i just know what must work and also at any time many people work at same thing, some to make it better, some to stop it, whoever takes it farthest wins it. Have the hunger to do and rest everything will be taken care of.

The One Sided Talks.. :)

Hey
Hello.. how r u?
I am gud.. did u know?
w..
The thing that i was telling u the other day?
w..
Forget it.. here are some things i think we should do..
l..( i wanted to say "like")
Trr trr trr.. what do u say?
A..( I think we should rethink - i wanted to say this)
Ok.. so, let me do one thing.. since we are fine with it.. let me call you in 2 days and see whats you take on it..
u.. (um.. i am not sure if i am fine.. i wanted to say this.. :D)
It was nice talking to you.. now let me call u in 2 days..
aa.. ( two days for what?? )

This is an excerpt from a telephone conversation with a person i interact for work. So, person thinks he talks, but he just speaks without listening. So, while the person thought i was perfectly in line with what he said, i wasnt. The call came again after 2 days to take update on work and today i had decided to speak..

Hey
Hello
So, how about the work?
Which work?
The work we discussed the other day?
Discussed? I wanted to discuss but that never happened..
We did talk..
What did i talk about?? I dont remember speaking anything.
You did..
What??
Ummm.. Something..
What is that something? did you let me speak?
Umm.. hmmm... yeah.. so whats your opinion?
Let me know yours first and then we will talk..
Ok.. and i will make sure that i listen..
Thanks!! :)

Whats your Rashi

So, i wanted to watch a movie tonight and somehow got hold of "Whats your Rashi". Needless to say its a baseless, storyless movie. The storyline is pretty funny and makes no sense to me. There is this dude, who kind of knows everything and is flown back to India for marriage as his family has to pay back some money, so he should get married. :D And then there are 12 characters which showcase the sun signs and their attributes. The story just moves around money and a guy and this trail of women who agree to buy the person on sale. As ridiculous as it sounds, its out there for public to view.

ANY GOOD MOVIES PLEASE?? Ok, i will watch great debators next.

The Change Agents..

What are some of the factors which contribute to what you want to do in life. We all tend to be always in confusion about what we want to do. When we have good job, company and no structure kills, when we have good companies, too much structure kills. Sometimes we have both, but personal life goes for a toss. Loads of things always create an arbitrage opportunity based on which firms have people moving in and out. HR gives it a fancy term – Churn rate. Employees call is – A smart move to save the career. The idea finally behind all this is that it’s the opportunity created by imperfections and gaps at both end and in the game organizations usually don’t lose the base performers, they lost the smart ones. Of late I have started believing that after a stage in your career, from top its all about keeping the think tank of organization alive at all levels. Reinvent, question, challenge, think and change what is not working. Don’t become comfortable. Most of the large companies in India have controls and structures in which they normalize all performers as work force. The think tank becomes old, at some point stops challenging and institutionalizes everything thinking when they are gone structures will take care of everything. They miss one important point in life – CHANGE. When nothing is constant how can processes be constant. They have to change. Everything has to change, more than processes, these firms need “think tanks”- the people who are capable of changing with time and transform the processes to succeed. The Challengers. The Performers. The Creators. The Destroyers. The Innovators. The Leaders. The Managers. Have you identified them for your companies? If you are concerned about the next gen leadership for you companies, invest in people, know them, grow them, else your companies will die with you. Time and change will outsmart your processes and you will be a old juggernaut carrying loads of past. At the top of the pyramid - INVEST in people because they will make systems to suit time and need.
Is knowing people all that complicated? We are all humans and all levels and stages in life, we have some basic questions answered for us, by us or by the situations we fall in. Just know the people you want to keep and try to invest time in answering some of these questions for them. See if they fit the “Think Tank” needed for surviving in the industry. If yes, fit into their needs and retain them for that long lasting organization that outlives you:
· The basic DNA – You like process? You like challenges? You like structure? You like innovation?
· The way you like to be treated – Self worth – I believe I have mind and I want to use it, I like to be paid for it or I like to earn the same for myself.
· The Personal factor – There are people who make me happy, do you care about that part of my life? Is there a human element, do you accommodate me? I don’t care about anything as long as you pay me and give me growth which I feel compensates for everything else.
· The field that interests me – Domain – I don’t like to think about medical industry, I am supply chain, I like to think big, long term and I am pro at execution, give me free hand in kind of people I want. Do you care about what I want?
· Am I successful? I might be doing what I feel I like to do, but am I better than my peers and are my results showing that my skills match my interest? If not, I am doing someone else’s job.
· Can I make an impact? Can I speak up my mind? Am I heard by people at all levels when I think I can make a difference?
· Does my level of integrity and moral values match with my org?
· Do I get the recognition and name for what I do or am I being missed in the political or beaurocratic system? Am I one among millions?
· Does the person I m reporting to, deserve my services or it has to be other way round.
· Will I grow with age or performance?
Have some questions answered for those top 10 people in your org and work towards giving them a professional fit, put them through challenges that they will love to handle and been recognized for. The organization will have the feet of its own to stand on. I think despite all the people, process, and technology talk that I have heard in my education, I would put people at top. If they are right, process and technology will fall in place. So, next time when someone talks of churn rate – know at what level, if it’s the think tank, the org is probably dying.

New Clothes!! :)

Not that this is new, but sometimes you just love all the clothes that you buy. So, mummy is in town and i am at the heights of being pampered. Good food and good clothes + lots of stories, i am back to my childhood days. Today was amazing that way. We dint really go to buy clothes as i thought i had loads of them (though i thought i had got bored of many of them). But then i saw a peacock blue colored dress and i thought i should have something nice for my diwali wear. Ok, so thats comes in and then i try more and more clothes and Neha and mummy go on approving all. This is good, this is smart, this is cool. So, if not everything atleast some is mine. After trying all my clothes for nth time, its time for me to say gud night and dream about them. And yes, now i need to plan outings where i can wear them.
So, when Noni( He is 4 years) wears a new dress, i pick his dress and say wow, you have Mickey on it, this is lovely red in color, so one fine day when i was getting ready to go somewhere, he said wow, you dont have Mickey on your dress, but i like the pink color. :)

Interview with CEO's - Harvard Business Review

Wait for this review too.. :)

Lance Armstrong- Not about my Bike..

If you have any bending for autobiographies, this is a must read. The story talks of character, strength, willingness to live and if you love sports, you just hang in there, Lance has an amazing way of getting into the details of cycling without making i too complicated for your comprehension.
The books is about the cycling champion, who is detected with cancer in third stage, as science would call it, there is lesser hope, but there is willingness to live. Lance has given a heart touching narration of his life and fight with the dreaded disease.
BTW, this hero dint just come out of disease but rose to be the champion again. They say "Its all in mind", Lance just did it.
This is one of my favourite autobiographies. I like the spirit of survival and revival. The way life of a cyclist is described. Also, if you thought he had planned his aim in life, nope, you are wrong, he just had one option, he took it and focused on it, thats how he was a champ. There is just one thing special about the heroes - Never say Die! :) A must read life story.

Questions..

"So, what do you love the most in life?" - My frenz and her endless questions..
Ahmm.. Umm.. Everything thats mine. My mum, my bro, my bhabhi, Infy, my pillow, my bed, my books, all my frenz.. Everything.. So, ok, i missed Noni, i love him the most. :)
"Why?"
You have to know him to love him. He is crazy piece of creation. Our love started when he was born, he was this lil thing, pink and small eyes and he looked into my eyes and smiled, i was like Boss, till date i was the youngest at home, now you are born, so you have to be loved a lot. And then we all found him very exciting. He was dirty, always awake at odd times, all 4 of us at home were always tired of him, but he was happy to see us all in this condition. I remember how much i loved his smile that at times i would run from office early to play with him and he also waited for bua to come. He only becomes better, he is innocent and he loves you for everything that you are. I learn a lot from him. So, one day Mr Noni was struck in an elevator with everyone, the door was half opened and the opening was enough so that he could be given out. He was told that you go out with watchman uncle and as the elevator will be lifted up, all others will come out. He dug his head into Bhaiya's shoulder and said i will not go Papa, i will go with you. He dsnt know the desperation for life and death. He loves to talk and talk about everything that he sees and imagines. He has a long list of things that i can get for him when i visit home during vacations. He knows that corner of bed on which i sleep and knows that it belongs to bua. Basically, he loves and he loves me so much, that i just know that i have no way out. He things i am his age, so he can shout at me, teach me things and its cute when he teaches me good habits from his books. So, you can see, i dont have a choice. He ensures his space, rest all fit in theirs.. :)

Coorg - The Scotland of India

To pursure my love for travelling, it was time to see the so much talked about Coorg in Karnataka. As usual the gang of Kunal, krishnan( The usual ones) , Peeyush, Kapil, Shaiku and Kapil's mum headed towards the journey. We started at 4 AM in morning and reached the near abouts of Madikeri (Capital of Coorg) around 10 AM. We had no bookings done and we just went into the wilds with no plan. :) So, then started the hunt for the right plan to spend two days. We had two cars and hence the liberty to drive to all impossible places. We started with the Abbey falls.
These were lovely and water split all over in air as if it was raining. We moved from Abbey falls to the most wonderful place i have ever seen - the Tal Cauvery - Origin of the river. The drive to Tal Cauvery is absolutely wow. Given we has three boys to drive, i had the liberty to watch the greenery and lovely sky. The way up was like walk on the clouds. We reached to the top of the hill and it started raining very heavily. The clouds touched us and we were taking shelter under the doors of the temple. After some time the rain stopped, we took the stairs to the holy place and then we all saw some 200 odd steps into the sky. All of us got excited at the site and went for the ascent. The view from top of the hill was lovely. There were lush green moutains all around and there was too much beauty that i will fail to capture in words.

Our car was the last one to come down from the mountains. It was dark, raining, scary and we all were wet, but we loved every bit of it. We reached back to Madikeri, had food (Food wasnt the best part of the journey though) and slept to wake up at 7 AM in morning and search for Mukkodlu (Rope bridge) falls and then many kilometers into beuatiful wild in search of an arbit waterfall. Peeyush traced a snake and krishnan was a feast for many leeches. All in all nothing scary and life threatening, but there was sound of river water and nature at its best in all directions.

From there we moved to Dubare - the rafting and elephant site. This was kind of ok, i had done rafting before so level 2 was not an attraction for me given that it deamanded 4 hours of our total 6 hours in hand before we headed for Bangalore. So, while Kapil and his cousin statyed back for rafting, we moved for Chicklihole Dam and Harangi Reservoir to watch the dams while we drove to the Monastry. I was seeing a monastry(Golden temple) for the first time. It was grand and btiful. I kind of liked it, thought it was not something spectacular as i had heard of the one in Dharamshala.
This was the end of our one and half day trip to Coorg, we were driving back to Bangalore. Peeyush drove us back real fast, he is always the level headed one, concerned about the safe and timely arrival of us back to our destinations. Peeyush will head for canada in sometime, Kunal and Krish will head for US and i will head for UK. Work is splitting us apart. We have spent some of the best times in Bangalore, searching for food and travelling. We intend to continue this bit of life ever later. So, since Europe is pretty, everyone has to come to europe trip before i go and visit them in US. Its always been fun to be with frenz and new locations always leave these uncertainity in mind on will i get the same people again?? :)

Sangam Gacchami

Some of the best words i learned in last four months... These are the words i was taught in a course i did in art of living. It was a course on meditation, there was a lot that i learned in the 3 days. There was a lot of peace and positivity and then there were teachings to trust all and be kind to them. Most wonderful words which i needed to say to all strangers were -

"Sangam Gacchami - I will walk with you and i belong to you..."

These words are magical. When i feel that someone does not trust me, i just say these words silently in my heart and smile at the person, they work.. :) Its a soul to soul connect that all humans share, but we tend to grow out of these as we move in life. Smile and leave all apprehensions, understand that everyone around is yours and you will walk with them till one of you lay horizontal under ground. Often we make things complicated in life. If only we learned to forgive people and live in present, life will be less complicated. There is nothing called future and past is what we create from our present. We should learn to be humble and thank the nature for everything that is given to us. The moment you start questioning yourself on what did you do to deserve so much food, beauty and love that nature gives you, you will know that you have been blessed to be born and you must live this life fully, every moment of it, without cribbing and working towards making it better.

Thank You God, i think i have been fortunate to see the best in life in everything that comes across me and i know i will always be given the best because i will work towards it. Life is what we make out of it. So, next time when someone shouts at you or looks at you with distrust, just smile and say "Sangam Gacchami, I am human, i am a part of your soul and i will walk with you. Do you recognize me?? " :)

Whats life all about?

This is the time of my life when allocations have to happen. I will get my geo and like all i am also excited about whats going to be mine. In the process of geos, suddenly i was told of an opportunity and i was interviewed for the same, things went fine and to an extent i was ok given that reporting and work was structured, and there was a lot to learn. But then this was opportunity created by time, i was keen to introspect why was i replacing an MBA who has worked hard for two years and has been phenomenol in earning a 100 Million dollar deal. I wanted to know and i wanted to talk, so i just went ahead. As life will have it, there was this world which was falling apart, and somewhere the job, central London and 2 years of work just did not make sense. After listening to her story, i was speechless for sometime. I just knew that hats off to the lady and i also knew that sometimes everything in life just looks small. One of the days in my life when i just knew that i am human and any opportunity which time creates might not make me happy unless it keeps all in that time space happy. Suddenly i dont want to replace her. Its her fort, she has built it, i want time and life to give her the due. I was left thinking, why does life test us and test us so badly at times. People say business runs, decisions happen, but then in the end everything else will go away, what will remain is the spirit of being there when you are needed the most. I dont know about the geo and i dont care, but I made a very good friend today and i am sure we will remain friends for rest of my life. As it is in all my work life, i have earned friends, everything else comes in CV which will stop making a difference some day in my life.
So Friend!! Cheers to life and i am sure you will just pass this test of life as you passed IIMs and many more. :)

My Dream is to fly, over the rainbow so high!! :)

So, i cleared the much dreaded internal certi, SIGH!! I cant even tell how much i hate studying what i dont want to study, but i just manage things somehow. I was happy and as i walked out of the exam hall, i just got nostalgic. At ISB, it was common for us to slog for 20 hours, but every slogging was celebrated with a dance party, was it missing from my life? It was a week day, if i suggest the same, the idea will be dropped even before it takes off, but then i want to go dancing. Thats one thing i love in life, ok, this is bangalore and not ISB, so may be you dont have an option to dance till wee hours in morning , may be they dont even have the dance floor as big as that of ISB, the DJ and the lovely people. With a very sad mind, i thought i will probably manage with my aerobics class, but thats not enough, i love everything about my class, but its not dancing. I miss the loud music, large group, arbit steps and dancing till feet hurt.
There is one song which i will always think of when i will think of dance party at ISB, almost everyone enjoyed the emotions and ambitions involved in "My dream is to fly http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43zQ7A13DGQ&feature=related" and it was a part of every party. Till date the song just fills the energy and spirit to be ISBian and crack the world. Usually i move on in life, but some days in life just pull me back towards the last one year. I love you ISB and i miss you so much at times. You just taught me to live life to its fullest, that sometimes i just see the vanity in being out of you. :(

Fever or Favour!

So, this week i was down with fever. For a change i just decided to give myself some rest and peace of mind and give my body the much needed rest. I realized how much rest deprived i was. The medicines induced me to sleep and no sun and dust just made things good for me. After three days when i saw myself in mirror, finally i felt that the color of my skin which had like gone 5 shades darker owing to my travel and no sleep was back. I felt happy as i watched andaz apna apna and all sort of comedy movies and i think it showed on me too. Best was when i met a friend of mine and she said, you always look better after you have cried or fallen ill, i think its just about doing what you want to do at times :D. Anyway, while everything else has improved, i feel very weak, weak enough to avoid walking long distance and i dont know how will this go. I guess i will have to eat domino's pizza to cover up for this. Yippeie!! God! Was it fever or Favor?? ;)

AOL Advance Course..

I spent this weekend doing nothing. I was online for almost whole day and i dont know why. I wanted to spend this weekend without purpose and i decided not to go out. This was good eye opener to me. There are so many things i realized just because i had time to think about them. I realized that i have to visit home, that there was so much work pending in terms of cleaning my almirah which was left unattended for a week now and then i realized among everything else that i do, i am missing me. I need some peace and more time for me. I know i cant keep quite for even a minute, but then this was missing from my life. I have heard so much about the advanced course that i just took a decision to go ahead with it. It did not take me more than 5 minutes in morning to decide to take a leave and enrol for the course. I did the basic course while at ISB and i quite liked it, but what i really like is the ashram near Bangalore. I have been there as visitor many a times and always had the desire to stay there for sometime, away from city, away from work and just think good, eat good and be happy. One of the decisions i feel happy about. I know when i come back on monday, i will find the whole world new and peaceful. Somethings i must do because they just get a better me out of me. :)

Just a thought!!

As simple as this might sound, the question just left me speechless. I happened to enter into online web discussion with 5 of my closest friends. I have a panja club which exists since i was a kid. We all are the best of friends and by God's grace, all of us have completed our education from best of places. Our circle consists of five of us from INSEAD, LBS, Harvard, ISB and Wharton and today when we look back at things, we just smile at our childhood stories. Lots of things have changed, but through all of these we have remained together. We just thought we should talk and see what is the final take on life now that we have the neccessary tools to take it heads on. Among all of us, i have always been the least ambitious and follow my heart kind of person. I never topped my class, never tried to do anything which my heart did not approve of. Rest everyone is pretty much focused, ambitious and i must say that they have done best in whatever they have done, so have i. It was time to take the account on life.
Everyone had lots to tell. As the discussion turned to me, i was speechless, i just knew that i was happy or may be i have always been happy and i never thought why. I said i am happy and everyone started laughing, tell us something new Gary. I was like this is all i know about life. I just do what i feel like doing, i went to ISB coz i wanted to, i studied marketing and strategy coz i wanted to, i just took the time heads on when it came to job and adjusted with somethings, but then still i am happy because there are so many other things which cover up. And what else can i think?? If i am being asked what will i do 2 years down the line, i dont know or rather i dont care. I just know whatever i do, i will do in style and live life to its fullest. So, the news is that i flunked in one of those internal certification in my company coz i dint feel like reading 210 pages at the cost of movie or may be a walk with friend. People laugh, they think i cleared ISB and failed in internal certi, but yaar thats me. I never did anything i did not like to do, whats new, i dont care. With a loud laugh, everyone said you are just you and sometimes we wonder what makes you do everything so well in life despite your attitude to take things light. I dont know if i will do well in life or not, frankly it dsnt matter, in the end i must sleep peacefully and must have time to enjoy life.
Incidentally, all of us feel the same way. A friend of mine has now taken up social venture after working in high profile Ibanking job, another is a free lance consultant, other one has left job to do some free lance writing and yes we do have a fighter who owns a venture. In the end, what did we all do? We followed our heart. I just happened to ask the venture guy, so how many times did you use excel? Almost always, but in the end i follow my heart and it works, rather every time i do that, i think of you and smile. :)..
Sometimes, we all just wonder, whats so complicated about life. If you think something is right and if your heart thinks it is, your mind will put everything in it to make it right. Most of the decisions in life are not as complicated as we make them. I always feel that a decision taken with open eyes is as good as decision taken with closed eyes, in the end its all about how you work towards making it right. So, the thumb rule is- there are no plans in life, no one knows tomorrow, do what you think is best today and be open to face what comes next. I used to think a lot, but now i just know that anything that comes around me has to be good else it cant come this far. I know here is an element of arrogance that i carry, but then i just know that everything even remotely related to me has to be good else it could not have managed to find me. :)

Innocence at its best!!

So, this his how Noni looked every afternoon during the two months i spent at home before joining my new job. Needless to say, he is the best!! :)

The Hampi trip!! :)

One of the weekend getaways of mine. This time with Shravan and gang and yes Shravan did not create a DDLJ scene on the station, he was before time for the train. :) So, we had this new set of people, DPS, Malik, Baily, Trupti, Shravan, GB and me. We became freinds in train and rest is a history. From playing Uno in the top berth of train to distilled water and crazy jokes, the whole journey was fun. I slept soon, only to wake up in mrng and reach the destination. We headed for tungabhadra dam with crazy heavy bags , but the whole ascent was some fun. Then we moved towards hampi and stayed near the famous temple. Afternoon was dedicated to Mango tree restaurant. This place is a beauty, you are made to sit on stair case facing the river and food is served. The calmness and serenity of the place just leaves you enamoured. Next, we headed for the remains near temple. These were some rocky mountains with small temple and water body up there. We came back and Shravan treated us to the local Mandekari. :). We had our dinner in an equally exotic place called Garden paradise. The cuisines availabe at this place is Israeli, English, South India and North Indian.
Next day we took a guide and took some 3-4 kinetics to travel around hampi with a guide. The remains are spread over 25 kms and as you wade through the roads, you get the feel of old city and you feel you are relving the era. Huge stony architecture, large markets and water bodies, everything is so ancient and speaks of old times. We were fortunate to see the shooting of some serial which was being shot in one of the temples. After whole long day of discovering the magnificience, we guys decided to move back. We were dead tired and we reached station just in time. Please dont forget to buy some handicraft from this place, they are really exclusive and cheap.
I will call hampi river side goa. Lots of foreigners, care free life, variety in food, its all there to stay. The color of life is all so visible and it does not come at huge cost. :)

ISB class of 2009 ... Moments Lived! :)

Little Italy!!

This time it was long due Bday treat for Kunal, Sachin, Krishnan and Kajal. We decided on nice Italian food and hence Little Italy near forum. Mr Sachenn was the menu decider and he is good at it. Kajal keeps a fast on monday, so she was hungry since morning and food just did justice to all our hungry souls. The best lasangne and Nachos in town for sure. Kunal got a nice bday cake with "gans" written on it and hotel staff got the cake on stand and also played the birthday song for me. I was happy and its always fun to celebrate some special moments in life with people who stand by you. Be it the silly jokes, the long walks or cribbing about all the hurdles in life, these people have rendered me their ear and sometimes all that matters is this. Thank You pals, i know i am lucky to have good people around me and hence i thank God that i was born. :D
Place - Little Italy
Cuisine- Vegetarian Italian
Rating - Absolutely amazing italian food
Ambience - Average
On your pocket - average 500 per person
MUST GO!!

Green Tech- This is Brand Garima .. :)

So, i start with the Green Tech business ideas from Business week.. Awe!! I love business week..
http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/07/0714_sustainable_planet/1.htm

Ebony- My fav dining place in Blore

A perfect bday eve- just the close friends, roof top and watch the world go by. This year the party was at Ebony. Its nothing new. Those who know me, know that Ebony has been my favorite since ages and years. So, this year again, i wanted to celebrate my birthday in style. However, the weather was not very supportive, when we started from home, it was drizzling, we thought we will have to sit inside and hence miss on the spectacular view from 13th floor. However, we decided to sit outside and for the pouring to start. It drizzled for sometime and stopped. The weather was lovely, the ambience was perfect and drizzling just added to the fun. We went for Italian this time, while i can vouch for the pasta, i cant say the same for lasagne in Ebony. Stuffed mushroom was not bad, but all in all i wont say that one should go to Ebony for food, its the feel of being on the top of the world. :)
Place: Ebony, 13th Floor, Barton Center, MG Road
Prices: 500 per person atleast
Ambience: Amazing
Food: Multicuisine( Average)

All in all- I love this place.. its serene and on top of the world.. :)

My Bday!! :)

Bday is the best day of year is what i have always felt. Its a special day. Since childhood i enjoyed the colorful dresses and importance that i have got on this day. I feel i am grown up, but still birthday excites me. When i look back, i have some very fond memories of this day in my life. Some faces i always wanted around me and then some which got added. 2 years back i had the most wonderful bday of my life, i got this huge red rose bouquet which a friend of mine delivered to office. I was embarassed as i had to carry the same from main gate of office to my desk, but i just knew that roses were lovely. I looked at them all day long and wondered how special could a day be. Some years in life just remain imprinted forever. Last year was ISB, study group was my partner. And this year i just know i added some lovely friends for the special day.
Thank You Smriti, Nandini, Neha, Kunal, Krishnan, Kajal and Puneet for making my day special and givng me some fond memories. Thanks Nimish for being the first one to wish my bady for two decades now. Thanks Sahil for all the lovely pranks and flowers that make me feel special, Vikrant for the smile and bear hug. Sachin for the most beautiful text message and hearty wishes. Teena for keeping the lazy self up till 12. Ajay for fast forwarding my day coz keeping awake was difficult. And to all who were with me tonight to make my day start with a smile. THANK YOU!! You all make my life worth living every moment.

Shit Happens!! :)

This is about some very very strange moments in life.
So, i was walking past a crazy road and a bike rider stopped right next to my leg, that was the day i could have lost it. I was like, BOSS, toot jati to?? He was like toot ti kaise madam, maine bacha liya na.. I was like OK! Chill... Sometimes things just happen...
Then i went for this crazy trek and happily slipped from this cliff, in a very sad about to die condition, i looked at my friend who was holding me, i was like Buddy, i have always been proud of the fact that i am healthy and stuff, but gravity is pulling me down.. Bbyes.. he was like hold, S**t happens, you will be out, just try with me.. And i somehow came up, my frend has this huge cut on hand and i haven't got a single scratch.. So, somethings just happen..
I come to Blore, i get my email id 24 hours late, and my laptop 48 hours late and what not (Includes Unit and geo).. I was almost in tears and then i got a call from my frend, so Cheekoo, howz life?? I said ething is just complicated, i dont know what to do.. And then he goes.. Listen, somethings just happen, take a chill pill, go to the swing and watch the moon , you said your home a nice garden and walking area, good things in your life huh?? :D.. I went back home, went for a movie, had nice food and swinged watching the moon.. So, somethings just happen..
This was my famous run on Heathrow.. So, i had to throw some chocolates as my luggage was 5 kg extra.. There is a huge process to throw stuff and it was near London blast.. I was last one to security check in and i ran through the aisle like there is no tomorrow.. I dint know which door to take till a collegue walked out in DDLJ style and said come this side.. This wasnt it i had lost tickets for my connecting flight to India from Zurich.. So, i sit in Zurich and search endlessly in my bag for the tickets.. I get it in some lousy corner, but by then i have just lost it.. BOSS, why me?? So, my colleague smiled and said because if i were in your place, i would have given up at Heathrow, you fight it babes, you just fight it.. Things happen to special people.. :)
So, this was the time in my life when i had to give my high profile MBA admits right after grad.. With those tears in my eyes, i was like i have to give up what i always loved?? And my frend said coz there is better in store for you.. When i got my ISB degree, i just knew that life never takes away anything from you..
If i look at all the things, i feel why somethings happen? But then i know that S**T happens and thank God to them, you are just a different person, coz that gives you the confidence that even if you are out in fire, you will just be fine... I think i dont fear anything in life anymore.. Somethings just happened to make me everything that i am and everything that i will be.. :)

What i learned!! :)

So, this is what i learned from one of my colleagues.. "Life is never 100%, wherever you are, live it, start thiking when it falls below 70%, till then chillax.. In the end dont forget, nothing is more important in life than happy faces.. " :) As simple as this may sound, these probably are the best words i have ever heard.
Thanks Accent Boy, you will be remembered always for this!!

Yercaud

220 kms from Bangalore is this scenic place called Yercaud. Some of my friends and me decided to head for the same on weekend. We started at 6 AM from Bangalore to stop at A2B road side restaurant for breakfast. After some photo sessions, we started for salem, the ascent to Yercaud starts from Salem. Yercaud is around 30 kms from Salem which is known for its steel plant in India. The way up was amazingly scenic. The city was left behind while we trailed the multiple hair pin bends to way up. Finally, we reached to a lake and we knew we were there. We decided to trek to water fall which was on our way. This was an extremely steep and slippery trek. I stopped mid way despite all the hand holding by friends, while some of them went all the way down to see the waterfall. We then proceeded for lunch at a local place. Dont forget to eat the good sambhar in Tamil Nadu. :)
We then started the hunt for hotel, which was impossible given the crowd in city. We just managed to convince one hotel guy to give us two rooms after 9 PM. As soon as some arrangements were done, we proceeded to the lake for boating. K and K pedalled the boat while me and Kajal had a great time viewing the dear and other boats around. After a good 1.5 hour in the boat, we decided to step out and check into the hotels. We started way back with the cotton candy and rice puff road side delicacies. Back into hotel, we kept our luggage and walked our way to a south indian restaurant for dinner. The food was again simple south indian dosa. We walked back the long trail in dark night and slept like there was no tommorow. We had decided to get up at 5, but that never happened :), so the next day was long walk to Lady's point. This is a place from where one can see entire Salem. It was a beautiful point. The road goes up to another view point called Gent's point and then further up to Children's point. Its a wonder to see the world go by from those points. We then entered into Rose garden, a huge garden with varieties of flowers. By the time we came back to our car, we were dead tired. All we could think of was food and now was the time to try something North Indian in a nice place. We headed for the "Forest Lake" hotel. It had a large buffet spread and we all hogged on food. After hours of sitting on luch table and enjoying the ambience of this beautifulo place, we came back to hotel, packed our bags and started our journey back home.
Place- Yercaud
Distance - 220 kms from bangalore
Type - Hill Station
Feel - Average
Weather - Not very cold
Good change and nice to see Salem from top.

Noni and Bua :)

So, this is about the love of my life Mr Noni. He is 3 years old and can sell the world for a toffee. He is the one i play with all the time since i am jobless for sometime and i just cant get over him. So, this baby knocks my door first thing in morning and touches my cheeks to ensure that i am alive and in his house, so that we can play. I open one eye and look at him and then he laughs out of excitement that he has a friend to play. Mr Noni starts with watering plants , sometimes with his papa, sometimes with his bua. He is too talkative and observant, so beware he will know each and every word of the discussions held infront of him. Now a days Noni has holidays, he starts with identifying some wild animals in his games and then more often than not, we are done with all the games in 2-3 hours. Then is the time for cartoons( Yes, i know all the cartoons in this world now:)), dont even ask the number of questions he will ask you while he is watching it and then he will sit in your lap and hug you and kiss you for answering all the questions so that you dont get irrirated with him. :)
Then you have to run after Noni to make him eat, you see food is not something he thinks is important for life, its all about playing. Not to mention he will copy his bua in everything, from the cream to gogs to the way she drinks water to the way she laughs. (Alright, i am someone's role model). After this is the time to take afternoon nap and time for Noni to swing between rooms and beds with his milk bottle in hand till the last person in home falls asleep and he has no choice but sleep. He has been told that all cartoons sleep in afternoon and poor baby does not know that thats not the case. (Are you not in love with his innocence? :) ) Then is the time for bua and Noni to take their water bottle and big ball and go to the big park infront of the house, he makes me run like there is no tomorrow and he ofcourse thinks that his bua is his age. :P
So, Noni has been my day and night for hols and i know that i love the time i spend with him. Kids are just too innocent and at times you just know you love them. After he scolds me , sometimes bites me at my nose, sometimes he gets angry with me, sometimes even i get angry with me, but then all this lasts for a moment, for somewhere both of us know that we love each other a lot. I used to wonder what is the craze for a toffee all about till i saw his insecurity towards the toffees he holds. I have learned that sometimes all it takes to be happy is an ice cream and then he tells me that when you want something you just go for it without any egos. So, when i tell him i will not talk with you, he just comes and sits in my lap, holds my face, looks into my eyes and says, lets play, you dont talk to me, i will talk to you, i am getting bored. Love you Noni, the time i spend with you is the best time of my life. :)

I have a dream...

I had an amazing discussion with a guy from air force over a cup of coffee sometime back and i will never forget it for the rest of my life. We were walking back from somewhere and we got talking. I always knew that these people are stronger than the civilians in their mindset and approach and i have always learned a thing or two from them. So, it was my time to learn from him. He told me about adventure and thrill in air force job and how he overcame his fear. (I told him that i am scared of heights at times and i feel i will fall.. :P)..Suddenly the discussion turned to women in general. I will never forget the words in which he described women. He said that every women on the face of this earth is stronger than him and he has seen it well in Srinagar. He told me about an incident when a woman actually threw herself in burning house to save her child while the entire batallion waited for the fire to extinguish for them to act. He also told that women in general are sweet and kind yet strong when it comes to exploitation and then about how they are moving ahead in life in all aspects. There were many incidents he quoted which made me realize how right he was. If you observe the world around you, you probably are the most gifted one.
I told him about how my dad always dreamt that i should have an individuality and how i should participate in every debate and have an identity of my own. I remember him evaluating everything in life rationally. It was never a case that i am a girl so i must adjust, or give up on my dreams, instead he always promoted that it must be a game of equality, else it will never stay. It was fun to think through the life in general. About how people reacted at every step and decision but i just did it. And it is a fact of life that i am proud of being a woman and i would have never wanted to be on the other side of the road. I know myself as an adamant human when it comes to my self respect and certain decisions in life. All thanks to papa, for just letting me be and telling me that in the end what matters in life is happiness and suffocation never gives one happiness.
He gave me a dream years back. My feet were not strong on groud and i was scared of public speaking, he told me that his daughter can never lose a debate. I participated in 34 debates after that and never lost one. He told me one day that he would love to see me as an MBA coz he thought i had his kind of attitude in life- Fearless , i was his daughter, i should not die with average degrees in life. He said he wanted the best in life for his daughter, because he had a princess and i know that for the rest of my life i will be his princess and strive for the best whatever it takes. I have a dream and i shall live it. :)
My air force friend told me that i have probably inherited the shine in my eyes from my dad and i shall live every dream of his. Thats just what makes women the best in this world and i am one of them. Thank You Pal for the best compliment ever!! :)

Travelougue- Dalhousie, Khajiar, Chamba, Kala Top and Back... :)

This time it was off to hills.

Gurgaon-> Pathankot -> Dalhousie -> Khajiar -> Chamba -> Kala Top -> Pani Har -> BACK One of the most scenic places i have ever been to. Since my nana was very fond of travelling to hills, he has always owned a home in one of the hill stations. We have homes in Mussorie and Shimla and i have some fond memories of my childhood spent there. I have been to many of the well known hill stations, but Dalhousie is absolutely the clear winner as of now. Its scenic, its peaceful and right there in mountains. However, the best part of my journey was trip to Khajiar. This is truly the Switzerland of India. I went for zorbing and trust me its was scary inside the huge ball, and i hurt my nose and got some scratches due to jumping into the ball wrong way. :) I went for the horse ride with Rajendra Kumar and his horse John. The 2.5 km ride was full of wonder ful trail of longish pretty trees and lots of grass. I was told about the movie 1942 a love story being shot there at some point in time. We walked down the lane to find out the apple orchards, the train was wonderful and can not be expressed in words, there was a view of snow clad mountains in back and greenery everywhere.

We headed forth to Chamba after this. Chamba is a commercial town of himachal. It was large and crowded. We settled in a dhaba for rajma chawal and saw the museum. There are many temples which one could visit. After this we headed back to Dalhousie and walked down the street to see the subhash chandra chowk and then subhash bowli which is known to have cured SC Bose of TB.
Next day was our trip to Kala top which is suposed to have wild life sanctury, but there is no animal. What is interesting is the 3km walking lane thorugh jungle with scenes i had never even dreamt of in my life so far. It was prettier than any imagination. We reached to a rest house which was stationed among the hills, i was told by our guide RC tandon that butterflies fall in bundles in this place , such is their population and liking for this place. It was one of the breaktaking views. One of the places i want to go and stay at sometime in life may be.
This was the end of adventurous exploration. Now was time to relax and explore Dalhousie, we went around in market searching for Pizza and shopping for family. The whole place was so serene and beautiful that i did not want to come back. Sometimes in life you just wonder what exactly is a place made of and how lucky are the people who get to stay there. Looking at the snow covered peaks in distance from the balcony of my room, i just wondered if beauty had any other definition. :)

Dance part 02 :D

This time its is Ahista Ahista from Bachna aae Haseeno and its a totally lovable song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTeXREBzUng
So, we are a gang of 6 for our classes now. I am suprised at the mix of age and professions which i get to see in my dance classes. And particularly fun is the fact that we are turning out to be the best batch in the institute. Yo, way to go, we are quick and we have a very good synch. Unlike most batches we have practiced extra hours to bring the weak and slow ones to the speed and we rock, totally. Its lovely the way we get each one of us to work. And the grace with which all of us just come together as one. I am learning a lot of people's skill right there while having fun. And i think i am making some friends for life, as we really dont have anything to give and take but for fun and encouragement.
My new friend is a lady who was in HR for 16 years before she took off from work to finally look at life differently. We have a nice 5 minute chat everyday before we start jumping on the tracks. She is warm and friendly and she was the HR head of my dream company. We laughed at how crazy i used to be about retailing and finally came into IT. She thinks i can rock any industry i get into. (Ahmm... She is in love with me, so ignore her confidence in me) ;)
Then there is a girl who can not move and twist her hands due to some problem, but she probably is the best when it comes to feet. :) The boys in gang are some teenagers, who generally have fun and who probably are the quickest to pick the steps.
Our instructors are totally adorable. While one is slow and perfect, the other is like a jumping jack who can not slow down for anyone, but he is just too much fun to follow, he challenges your confort factor. Good gurus, as i am not just learning the formal dancing techniques, but if i follow it properly i can choreograph many more dances than what i learn.
So, everyone loves what they do, there is too much of fun and entertainment and smile. I think one must pursue hobbies in life, these are things which you dont do for any purpose, you just do it because you feel for it... I always enjoyed dancing on tunes and this is the first time i decided to give it some serious focus, i think i enjoy it more than any degree, any subject and any position and job i have ever had. So, to the second learning i loved.. :)
Aahista aahista
Mujhe yakeen ho gaya

India Unbound

This is an interesting non fiction which gives a very realistic view on how Indian economy has progressed post independence. I had loads of aha moments while reading it since i did not know quite a few things about why India took a slow path to prosperity. While the country was freed from britishers , it was then put into the hands of Nehru clan whose ideology gave birth to useless PSUs, beaurocracy and no tolerance and acceptance for free prosperity. The transformation era started with Narsimha Rao government which let the wings to the aspirations of the budding entrepreneurs by abolishing license raj and opening doors for FDI. The writer has narrated the story as he has seen during his lifetime. Gurcharan Das, who is an accomplished executive, writer and a free lancing consultant writes about the economic transformation as experienced by him. The incidents in the book are realistic and one can relate to the hardships faced by the entrepreneurs in India during Nehru clan.
All in all the book is a very interesting read. I was hooked to it and i enjoyed it. The story is sequenced well and personal experience makes the work more lively. The writer is a big supporter of capitalism and free economy, the current economic crisis might put him under scanner, but he makes sense and i do endorse that capitalism is the way to life. Prosperity spreads prosperity, may be a little bit of control is needed, but not the one that Nehru envisioned for India. A wrong leader can ruin the nation and we just held one for 2 decades.