Visit To Shimla

There was official work in Shimla, for which we (me and my colleague) had to go from Delhi. My colleague was keen on driving his own vehicle, so we decided that we would meet in the morning at a common point and move on from there. We had to reach Shimla by 3 pm, so we decided to start at 5.30 am from the Karnal Bypass. I had to start from my home at 4.30 am, however, the taxi driver came late and I finally left at 5.00 am. My husband accompanied me till the Karnal Bypass, which we reached at around 5.50 am. So, off we started to Shimla at around 6.00 am.

We got the car refueled from a very well hidden CNG station. I wonder, why the station was not on the main road, which would have been easier for the riders. And the approach road towards the station was also full of potholes and extremely narrow. After refueling, we headed back to the highway and had a good drive till breakfast beckoned.

My colleague suggested that there is a wonderful dhaba at a place called Murthul, where the paranthas are to die for!!! The time would be too early for breakfast, around 7.00 am, however, since I was up from 4.00 am, I was already hungry and looked forward to the paranthas. We stopped at Pehelwan Dhaba at Murthul. The paranthas were good and these were served with fresh home made white butter, curds and pickles. Frankly, I find the paranthas at "More Than Paranthas" (Spice Mall, Noida) and those at Chatore's (Shoprix Mall, Noida) better than those at Murthul. But, none the less, the ambience at a dhaba is hard to beat. We washed down half an aloo and half a paneer parantha with steaming cup of wonderful tea. My colleague wanted to have more, me too wanted to have more, but I was wary of my stomach going for a toss, so did not dare to have more.

From Murthul, we set off and drove non-stop for the next three and half hours. We crossed Sonipat, Panipat, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Ambala and Chandigarh. We took a break at Pinjaur where we had some more food. From this place onwards, the hilly roads would begin.

We started off again and now the road had quite a number of twists and turns. I really appreciate the driving skills of my colleague, how was driving at a good speed but very safely as well. Another colleague was to guide us from a particular place. However, there was some miscommunication, and we were about to take a very steep road going downwards. The road was so steep, that it was not visible at the horizontal level, when we were at the top. We took a step on it and my colleague thought, that we would not be able to get the car back if we go down this road. We again had conversation with our third colleague and he advised us to come back the same route. We finally met and later learnt that the steep road went straight into the jungles.

Our meeting proceeded well, and we were free by 6 pm. We did some more networking and came to the hotel where my colleague was going to stay. We had some tea and hot pakoras there. I had planned to go back the same night by bus to Delhi, so decided to do some shopping at the Mall Road. However, my colleagues informed me that all the stuff comes from Chandini Chowk and I may get things cheaper there. Also, the woolen stuff was priced as steep as the branded shops, so I did not buy anything. I tried hard to buy something, but could not buy anything.

Finally we had dinner at good restaurant, and it was time to bid adieu to Shimla. The bus started dot on time, it was quite comfortable and stopped at two places in between, which I dont recollect. I reached Delhi at around 6.30 am and reached home at around 8.00 am.

Although the trip was hectic, I loved every bit of it and look forward to going to Shimla/Himachal Pradesh more often !!!

Rain here and rain there

It has been a few months since I shifted to NOIDA/Delhi. The rains here have been very disappointing. I miss Mumbai rains, where the rainy season has sizeable amount of rains. Over here, if it rains for one day, the next few days it will be all hot and humid. Also there are more of flash rains rather than the incessant tipper-tapper of the Mumbai rains.
Also, Delhi does have the rainy holidays. In Mumbai, at least two or three times, there is a rainy holiday as the city comes to a standstill with the floods and traffic. The corn-on-the cob is here but without the rains!
Rain here and rain there are different!

From Cancer To Aspergers – Bollywood has it all!

Time and again Bollywood has turned to human diseases to churn out hits which ring the boxoffice cash counters. Schizophrenia (Karthik Calling Karthik, Aankhen, Woh Lamhe), Asperger’s Syndrome (My Name Is Khan), Progeria (Paa), Amnesia (Ghajini), Alzheimers (U Me Aur Hum), Dyslexia (Taare Zameen Par), Autism (Apna Asman), Mental Retardness (KoiMil Gaya) are some of the recent movies with a rare disease background. Although all of these are mind related, bodily related problems such as Deafness & Blindness is also combined with Alzheimers in Black. And then again Cancer (Anand, Dil Ek Mandir Hai, Mili), heart disease (Kal Ho Na Ho) have given heart-wrenching, cash rich movies.

There are some more movies like Krazzy 4 (Mental Illness), Shaadi Se Pehle (Cancer), Chup Chup Ke (Deaf & Mute), Pyare Mohan (Deaf & Blind), Naina (Blindness), Phir Milenge and My Brother Nikhil (HIV/AIDS), Sadma (Coma) etc. which may not have become runaway box-office hits but have some major illness as its backdrop. Some other films like Beti Kromi have used miscarriage as its backdrop. In Luck, dextrocardia – a situation in which the heart is situated at the right is used to save the hero!

And this is not the end; following the success of these kinds of movies there are more coming soon – Nana Patekar is making one on autism and there is one on bipolar disorder in the making. So what is there in medical conditions, which makes it very attractive to the audience?

Firstly, medical conditions cut across all the barriers and can be a part of any human life: be it the man in the limousine or the man on the street. Everybody can perfectly understand the situation and empathise with the sufferer.

Secondly, medical conditions, most of the times are caused by the nature. There is no logical reasoning as to why it happened to a particular person. Hence, if we take a relook at all the above films, the unknown disease films had a better hit rate. Cancer was little known in the seventies, while today it is very well known with a proper diagnosis/cure available. Mental disease cures are still at large and hence these hit with the films now-a-days. It is more of curiosity and the fear of unknown which drives the audience to the theatres.

Thirdly, medical conditions unleash a host of emotions – like love, grief, fear, anger, anxiety, compassion, frustration etc. Most of the audience must have experienced these situations and felt the emotions. Emotions help the audience to relate with the story increasing the films’ ratings.

Finally, medical conditions provide an opportunity for the human will to succeed against the destiny and science. The stories tend to give out strong message on human willpower, which can be applied to any living condition!

Medical conditions will remain as a part of films and novels as many times it is a case of “Life inspires Art” and portrays the inherent strengths of human beings. Bollywood has evolved and will continue making movies using medical conditions in an innovative manner!

The New Nest

A few days back, when I was hanging out clothes to dry in the balcony, I saw that one of the gunny bags there was splattered with sticks and knew that pigeons were trying to build a nest in our home. Being very repulsive to pigeon droppings and all that shit, I took all the sticks to throw them away. However, I thought that pigeons must have spent so much time collecting these, so in order to help them I kept all those on the edge of parapet.

Two days later, at night, when I came to hang out another set of clothes, I watched to my surprise, that on another box, a beautiful small white egg was lying on bunch of sticks. And, now I could not do anything about it...I have to live with them :)

Every alternate day, I check their progress. Today, the mother-pigeon was sitting on the egg, and was not even concerned about me coming so close to her nest. She was determined and not frightened at all!!!

This is the first time, that I am seeing a nest, an egg and the incubation process. Am eagerly waiting for the baby pigeon...if it had a birth certificate, it would have said:
Place of birth: On the box,Balcony,B47,NTPC Township,Sec-33,NOIDA.

Well, the above address is where we currently are. We, meaning me and Alok. I quit my job in Dec 2009 and shifted to NOIDA with Alok to build our first nest :)
I needed to have all the experiences, so I thought, why not quit the race for a while, do what I want to do, and then a year later, I may or may not join back the race.

We were alloted the Quarter No. B47, and on the first day we tried to wash it clean. It was like a clean canvas and I could paint it the way I like it. There was a medium sized drawingroom, two bedrooms, a very tiny kitchen, a small passage and a balcony. It was more than sufficient for the two of us and I was glad, we did not have the C-type, which are still larger.

We first bought the very basic necessities - two mattresses, pillows,a hot plate, 3 glasses, 4 spoons, a sauce pan, a bucket&tumbler and al electric rod heater. On these we lived for one week and next we had to go to Mumbai for my cousin's wedding. There we bought a lot of things from my favorite Dadar market. We packed all those things and asked a Mover & Packer to transport these along with my things.

Once we were back, we went on a market research and a shopping spree. Internet, fully automatic washing machine, TV, 4 chairs, double bed, single bed. Then again a lull in shopping. A few days before my brother's arrival - we bought a lot of utensils, booked a gas connection, got a cable connection and then Dada(big bro) arrived. Mom had packed in a lot of things, including a pressure cooker, some pearl-pet bottles and many such useful things. The things from Mumbai also arrived and one of the bedrooms got converted to a store-room.

Slowly and surely, the house was getting transformed into a home. In February, my inlaws were coming over, so we cleaned up the store-room, added two single beds to it and the mattresses and lo and behold ..the guest room was ready! For the 3-4 days, my inlaws were here, the home really felt like a home. With so many people filling up, having wonderful conversations, 3 women in the kitchen (which I initially had thought gets over in 5 steps) and drawing room filled with conversations, I was really happy! And the day Yash (our nephew) was here, it was mind-blowing! A child really can do wonders to the atmosphere.

On a Saturday, all of them went away, one-by-one, and we were left alone in our new nest. We hope, this nest sees a lot of people, friends and relatives, who add colors to life and make life a thouroughly enjoyable experience!

P.S. - With the mention of colors, wish you all a very Happy Holi!
Also, hope that I write more often, rather than a blog-a-year!

After a long time..

I am writing on my blog after a very long time. And in the meantime a lot of things have changed.
I started my job at E&Y TAS in May 2008, saw the markets tumble and saw them rise again! In between, got married to Alok, who was with me at NTPC Korba, and is currently posted at NTPC Kahalgaon. We have rented out a place in Mulund and I am experiencing another facet of life: staying alone in a house in Mumbai, travelling by Central Railway (standing for 40 mins daily in the morning!) and also the pleasure of going back to Mahim(parents' home) occassionaly (once or twice a week!!). Alok and I meet once a month, either he comes to Mumbai or I go to Kahalgaon!
Right now I am in a introspection mode due to the deep dissatisfaction I have with the kind of life I lead. Would need some time to get out of this! I am sure I will come out as a better person.

Taare Zameen Par - My take on it

Never had a film had such a deep impact on me in the recent past. It is an amazing film and everyone must watch it. The gist and the meaning of the film is not just appilcable to dyslexic children, but it is applicable at every point of life. Everybody is special in his or her own way. Why don't we accept it and respect the person? Why do we try to make everyone into a rat and put him into the ratrace?

The movie traces Ishant and his true potential is dicovered by his art teacher Nikumbh. When we are children we are pushed into doing a lot of things, whether we like it or not. In the film, Youhan was the best in everything. But was he happy? Did he really want to do it all? In the tennis finals he lost and his father is ashamed of his child, the person who excels and does his best everywhere so that father's ego is satisfied. Isn't this all what we faced and is it not true that we will do the same to our children? Push, push and push them to excel and not enjoy, to win and not celebrate.

At the premier B-Schools, all are pushed into getting the best job, highest paying jobs by their peers, seniors, relatives and nearest family members. Maybe even the student wants it, but is he/she capable to get it? Is it worth all their worth? Won't they be more satisfied in doing something they like? Thankfully now people are realising it and have started the placement holiday window.

And it is not just about doing things for yourself. The film also encourages to help others as much as possible. Take out some time for others' happiness as well. Try to understand their problems and offer a supporting shoulder if not anything.

A great film. Must watch for everybody.

The Walk

Today I had gone to Core House, which is Professor Sunil Handa's office. it is a seven storey building in gray with dark glasses. we had gone there for our last session of LEM over there. While returning back I thought why not take a walk back to college. I had walked back half the distance two-three times before so thought I would do this as well. Ofcourse i had no idea how much time it would take but I was in no hurry to get back to campus! I guessed it would take half an hour or so.

On leaving the compund, I turned to left and walked down the road. A nice small clean road. At its perpendicular road I turned to right. There I observed one strucure which was constructed very differently. I guess it must be a Vimal Patel structure, as it was in concrete with the curves. It was done very beautifully. Cars were parked infornt of the structure. I could not find out what it was used for, just by observing! Another lane another building. This too had very different structure and was colourful as well. this was when i started comparing buldings in Mumbai and Ahmedabad. In Ahmedabad the buildings are very colorful and also the shapes of the structures are very different, which is not the case in Mumbai. Then I realised that even in Surat, the buildings were very colourful and and of different shapes. So what is that which makes the architecture of a region fundamentally different from that in another state? Is it due to the culture of the people? Is Mumbai more business-minded than Ahmedabad or Surat? Do people in Surat enjoy having pleasure with business? I will have to study the cultures more closely to be able to comment on it. Perhaps it is the state culture.

On the way there were earthern ware vendors with beautiful diyas and pots. Had they come only for Diwali or are they here always? I think I have seen them before as well, so they are here permanantly. So many buyers were flocking there to check out the diyas and buy them. Then there were so many common place shops, like kirana stores with notices like 'Goods once sold will not be taken back'. The store owner looked unfazed whether his store would survive or not, while we at our B-school spend hours discussing and preparing reports on modern retail gobbling up kirana stores. Do we really understand the ground reality? Are we relying too much on theories rather than checking the reality?

Well I started writing this post a long ago, but finished it in bits and pieces. I dont remember much of the rest of the walk, however it was few of the pleasantest moments I had. I was alone to reflect on things and observe things. I could enjoy the common life which people live outside our hallowed campus walls. Well such is the human nature, one loves and wants what one does not have and once we have it, we want some other thing. And life goes on!

Dear Sir

The contents are penned by a batchmate of mine, a fellow LEMmer, Vikash. It is very good, hence sharing with all.

sadaiv swayam pe vishwaas rakho
kabhi lakshya se peechhe na hato

sir, this aint the end nor is this gurudakshina
this is just a token of love and appreciation for giving us prerna

u made us realize, and definitely, we will do great
please accept this from LEM class of Two Thoudsand and Eight

Jinxed post

I was trying to write a post on the Ganesh Festival we celebrated at our campus. I wrote it almost entirely yesterday night, did the 'save as draft' and went off to sleep.In morning to my surprise and shock I found that there was no draft saved. I again wrote the whole thing.. half way through I was wondering how to add photos, one click on the 'back' button and the whole post disappeared again. Can somebody help me? The help function does not help. Guess the post is jinxed and am not to post it!!

The SunTemple at Motera

On 16th September, we went to the Sun Temple at Motera, which is 102 kms away from Ahmedabad. Divya,Sonam,Rashi,Shruti,Shubha,Katyayini and myself : seven of us were out to see some beauty carved out a thousand years ago.

The night before, all of us slept late or did not sleep at all. I slept at 1.30am, Rashi and Divya too slept around the same time, Shruti and Sonam did not sleep at all. Shruti was just coming from her placecomm treat when we all woke at 3.30am and found that Shruti was not in the room!! We all had to bahte really quickly as the car (a Travera) was to come by 4am at the main gate. Divya got loads of chips and water from CT. By and large Rashi, Divya, Shruti and Sonam planned the whole trip and executed it well.

We all trooped to main gate but the car was nowhere to be found. Rashi called up and the driver had just woken!! He came in 15-20 mins, and we hit the road. I sat at the back(my favourite place) alongwith Katy(Katyayini) and Shruti. We had a great time discussing gossip. Nano(Sonam) was sitting in the front and doing a good job conversing very sweetly with the driver and keping him awake.

We reached the Sun Temple well in time. There was a dhaba outside. Some of us had tea there. It was the best tea I had in Gujarat. (It reminded me very much of the Amarkantak trip and tea!). We went walkiing a small distance to SunTemple. There was a local old man, very keen on showing us around ofcourse for a fee. But we did not mind it as we had come to know and enjoy the place. He said that there was some time before sunrise. So he showed us the temple.

There are three parts of the Sun Temple, the Surya Kund, Sabha Mandap and Guda Mandap. Surya Kund is stepped tank that was named after Sun God It has beautiful carvings and 108 temples at various spots all inside the tank. Sabha mandap is the hall in front of the actual temple. It has 52 pillars. Each pillar has exquisite carvings which tell stories from our mythology. Guda Mandap is the actual temple. The story goes that there was an idol inside which had a diamond on its head. When the sun used to rise,its rays used to fall on the diamond and the whole Guda Mandap would be lighted by the reflected light of this diamond. The King of Gazni took away all the treasures including the idol and diamond from the temple. There is a secret passageway at the side of the temple, which leads to an underground tunnel, which then opens at some distant location. Kings in the earlier period would escape in such a manner from its enemy.

There is a small Shiva temple besides the Guda Mandap. The whole area has a lot of greenery. We went right to the bottom of the tank of Surya Kund. We took brillant snaps at all possible places.

However the sunrise was a dampener. We went there so early to see the majestic sunrise. But then the day was cloudy and that area has a lot of trees on horizon and also is not much on a height. So I guess it is not a very good spot for Sunrise view. After spending an hour or so, we decided to get back. On the way we would see the stepped-well, which is a famed stone well. The stepped well was a great place. although it had a very different kind of stink, the carvings there were amazing. It looked more or less like the ones at Sun Temple. Me and Rashi did some precarious ledge-walking, but it was fun. There were small arches with a little space inside, probably used by the watchman. We used them as photoframes, all of got our photos clicked there.

On the way back we stopped at an eating joint, to have some parathas and Amul Cool milk. Shubha (who is US born and brought up) had a great learning time the whole trip as we told her all we could about India,Ahmedabad, IIMA and many more things. Most of us fell asleep while coming back.

I saw a power plant on the way and my heart skipped a beat. There it was so close, my fisrt job,my first love!! I craned out my neck to see as much as I could.

We reached the campus back by 10am. We all were sleepy and exhausted but were thrilled by the trip. It was great fun in the car and also the places we went to were amazing. All in all a wonderful trip to remember.

Thanks to all, D3Basement and Katy!!

Ganesh Chaturthi

Tomorrow is Ganesh Chaturthi and I am feeling so good about it. Although I am not a very religious person, Ganesh Chaturthi brings out all the excitement in me. It has more to do with the festivity of it than the religious content.

Actually when I was at home, Ganesh Chaturthi was not that exciting. Modaks were the highlight of Ganesh Chaturthi!!Making them is tedious but then its worth all the effort. And then Bombay used to have so many Ganapatis. We used to go to Aatya's and Kaka's place for Ganapti. It was one more occassion for a family get-together and it felt better. I always wanted to have Ganapati at home, but then it was not possible at home. I liked the decorations part of it. It would have been a fascinating outlet for my creativity. But then it was not done.

When I was at Kawas, the first time I was out of home at time of Ganesh Chaturthi, I was wondering whether to go home or not, but then I had just returned from a long FTA trip. So I decided to stay back at Kawas. And it was a very good decision.

Date Sir told me about the celebrations that would take place. Barlewar Sir was also very enthusiastic. When we reached the pandal, there were so many people. Deshpande Sir,Kale Sir, Vaidya Sir, Kurpe Sir, Sirasao Sir,Maneji and all with their families. Seeing all the people working together, the women and children in bright festive dresses was such a nice-home like feeling. All welcomed me. I was initially very uncomfortable. I knes only the menfolk with whom I had worked in plant, but here all women were sitting differently. I also was with them but didnt know what to talk about. But then slowly and surely they all made me feel at ease and I was very happy to be chattering away in Marathi.

We had a great time all five days with aartis in morning before going to plant and in evenings. All made many different typical Maharashtrian dishes for the prasad. I had modaks as well!. And then on the Visarjan day we had unlimited fun. We went around the township singing songs and calling people to join us. Finally in a truck and a bus we went to river Tapi. There we had the final pooja. And we said our adieus to Lord Ganapati. After the 'visarjan' we had some snacks, spent some more time on the beach. While returnig we played antakshari and finally we had coffee in the same pandal where we all together had spent the past five wonderful days.

I found another family at Kawas. The first was my batch people, Field Hostel II people, next was my department, Electrical Maintenance and now this Kawas Marathi Mandal.

Ganapati Bappa Morya!!!

Back at the campus

After two months of summer internship, am back at the campus..to my old dorm, room, friends, mess, campus and everything.
Time flys by so very fast. As I was setting up my room I realised I had covered two calender pages!!!two months just gone by!!
Some ten more odd months to go, and then am back to the real world..
No this is a point of debate, how does one define the real world?Some feel this is the real world, some feel the other way.
But for me the real world is outside the campus!

My first post!

Many questions and many ideas.What to write?How do I write it well?Should I first put in this or should I first put in that?

This is like a new noteboook back in school days, neatly labelled and covered and wondering for which subject should I use this notebook.

In four more days I will embark on another phase of life, the second year at IIMA. A year down the line, I will be one of those chosen 300-odd MBAs from the premier B-school in India.

So presently am just looking at starting with the second year.Fourth term begins.