Mountains, Messes and Magic

I've been missing for 5 days from the real world when I was transported to this unbelievable space of white snow, bright yellow sunshine and green pine trees. I kid you not - when I entered 'Gulmarg' - it felt like something out of a greeting card you send people for Christmas. Just vast fields of snow, with snow capped pine trees with the occasional wooden roof showing through - the only thing missing was the smoke from the wood fire coming out of the chimney which was not visible due to the early evening fog that had already descended.

I don't know how to describe it but the gradual build up of snow to the full fields was a journey in itself. We landed in Srinagar and the route to our final destination skipped the town and went via the bypass which was barren barren land with trees stripped of all their leaves and patches of construction everywhere. Now people living in cold lands maybe used to bald trees but I personally found it a very distressing sight - the earliest I have ever travelled to cold lands is Spring in the states when trees are in full bloom so this was very sad to my eyes. And then the snow started, it originally looked like little patches of white strewn across the ground like next to the steps of the house or in the middle of the front yard and then gradually it spread to more and more places until finally at one point, all I could see was the white. It is an amazing view. I always thought I was a seaside girl, not liking the cold and all u see and loving the sun but the sheer awesome of the mountains is incomparable to the ocean. Don't get me wrong - I'm still a seaside girl at heart - I'm from Bombay for crying out loud but I gotta admit - the mountains have something!! Awe inspiringly beautiful is how I would term it. Maybe the beaches of Greece will have white sand and blue water to compete but I know that Goa lacks in terms of the beauty.

The experience was nice - we did this gondola ride to just under 14000 feet which was so high and breath taking - the panoramic view is unbelievable - I know when I'm writing this that it sounds very trite but these words would have been created to describe scenes like this - it really is panoramic because all you can see is the mountain range stretching on in the distance and it's hard to believe you are on the peak of one. I really understood the adjective weather beaten when you see Kashmiri men - their skin looks it - you know the 'gora gora' pictures they show you of the people is only till a certain age - after 30 their skin is weathered.
I builted a snowman [with the help of 5 other people; it was a team activity competition], which I was not bad at - I sledded which was fun - I walked uphill in the snow which was not an easy tark - the word to describe that is arduous! Actually forget walkingI skied up the mountain, walking in the snow is a difficult process by itself, the number of times people have fallen and lost their balance is innumerable - I did it thrice myself but I know people who swear they have black and blue asses! By the end of the 3 days, lying down was painful for some people,forget sitting.

One of the highlights of the conference was the KK showcase - man! that man can sing! He is just super - I cannot tell you how delightful he was - the day that I joined Sony, Kailash Kher had performed and I was overawed by him but KK is just as good if not better - I know many people preferred KK but I have a soft spot for the type of music Kailash Kher sings [Sufi pop] making me a bit biased.

The costume party was fun and I felt really bad about my costume seeing the effort other people other people had mad. Let me list some of the detailed costumes:

• Bart Simpson with the head
• Barney Rubble [of The Flintstones fame] with a head
• Fred Flintstone himself but no head
• Jasmine of Aladdin fame
• Aladdin himself [2 nos]
• Beast of Beauty and the Beast complete with Lion head
• Batman
• Goofy
• Pluto
• Thompson twins from Tin Tin
• Superman

There were a couple of issues tho - the beds were not good - the bukhari's [Kashmiri type fireplaces/furnaces] would die out in the middle of the night but by far the worst was the lack of running water at most times. The not taking a bath really upset a lot of people's equilibrium including mine as I think for most of us, the morning bath is a ritual which sets your day and having to do even the menial tasks like brushing your teeth, washing your face and going to the loo with bottles of water [even if they were mineral] is disconcerting. Basically I figured, Highland Park which is a heritage hotel [I think from the 'Colonial Raj'] is not equipped to deal with a group of 55 descending on it at a single time - they were really inflexible on timings be it for tea, dinner etc. Apparently, the Hill Top hotel down the road was better, I think it was newer so it had central heating and round the clock water - isn't that wonderful? Really I never thought that hot water would mean so much to my existence.

That gives you a brief peek into my week which ended with a rather nice meeting in Delhi which should translate into some good business achievements. I landed in Mumbai at 12, reached home at 12.30 after an exhausting 4 days and what's the first thing I did? You guessed it!! had a hot shower! I am also sunburnt only my face since that's the only part of me that was exposed but like in a triangle of like my nose and my upper lip area. Go figure - if anyone can explain why that shape, please tell me since I used a sun block as well - SPF 50 that too.

P.S. I collated all the pictures now so if you know me, they should be up on facebook within the next 24 hours!

I could not get sleep last night which explains the previous post and post that I continued surfing a long while. I have been interested in finding out about fashion marketing courses and I finally took the time to study the website of the Parson's school of design and they have this fantastic course called the AAS in Fashion marketing which is an accelerated course for people who have been to college etc [which would be me considering I come armed with an MBA] but get this! the course costs $50,000!! Now I'm reasonably sure I like fashion and I would like to work in it, but a 20 lac loan sure?? I'm not so sure!

Which again brings me back to my constant dilemma - I don't hate what I do but I certainly don't love it but I don't know what I would love to do - I don't have a vocation - calling nothing -I like clothes - check - I like movies - check - I like writing - check - I like life - check - I like TV - check but there is no underlying force which says to me 'Get off your lazy ass and do this! NOW'.

My issue currently is I'm going to be 27 this year, this is the last year possibly in which I can say , I chuck it - I'm going to give something a shot never mind the money never mind the life etc etc. Post this, I hope I will be planning a life with someone in addition to what msn entertainment insists on calling them 'ankle biters'!! So I don't think I will have the inclination to chuck it all up and do soemthing completely different. This is it, people, My make or break year - I just pray I have the guts to follow through. I have finished my 3 years of working post the MBA which is the goal I had set for myself and now the world is my oyster. It helps that I was not adequately commended at work making it that much easier to distance myself and look at other options.
If anyone has any thought on what I should do, please let me know. The things I am interested in are reading, travel, fashion, movies, television so if you know of anything I should move into please share it with me - money is a slight issue but not enough to stop me - no matter how much I make, I seem to be broke in any case so let the money flow out!

Time and Tide wait for no man

I had decided to not write about the minutiae of my daily life here - and keep it as a record of my views and opinions of which I have lots but I have had such a hectic 2 weeks - I have not had time for any views/opinions of my own or any thought for that matter.

It started with a trip to Delhi maybe over 2 weeks ago which resulted in me chugging out proposal after customised proposal for the rest of the week. Then suddenly appraisals were dumped on me which did not go well in my opinion. I had a fantastic year numbers wise as I have mentioned before finishing my annual target 2 months before schedule but was really pulled up in my appraisal - One for lack of meetings/calls/business generation , second mainly for my lack of systems and processes and thirdly for lack of enthusiasm and zest. On the other hand I was praised for my interpersonal skills in 9 areas of work but when you actually check the scale I have 9 strengths and 11 weaknesses so....

Then Valentine's day happened which was an unmitigated disaster - I can summarize by saying that after at least 12 years of cribbing about not having a boy on Valentine's day - I still spent the evening at home.

Then came the meetings in Bangalore followed by rounds and rounds of meetings with agencies since we have a slew of launches and novel events happening on the work front. So the last couple of days have been spent customising proposals for these especially since Come Monday - we leave for our annual conference in Gulmarg, Kashmir for 3 days where apparently they have not heard of the concept of mobile network at least not Vodafone!

Following which, I go from there straight to Delhi for a very important client meeting so really stretched myself over the last month but the feeling is good - at least the constant feeling of lethargy has left but the dissatisfaction with my choices remains.

Gulmarg, Kashmir is a high point to look forward to - random people I have met in planes, trains etc have told me that it is fantastically beautiful!!Having never been so far north - furtherest I have travelled has been to Rohtang pass from Manali, where the snow was like ice, I am looking forward to the experience and hoping I don't freeze my ass off since it's -5 degrees during the day. Another point to note is that the theme party this year is 'Pixie dust' and we all have to come dressed like Fairy tale/cartoon characters. My original choice was Sneezy, one of the seven dwarfs since you could seriously call me that but too boring, Super girl was also a choice but Wednesday seems easiest since you can still bundle up and not have to bother about the cold!

My parents are none too happy about this tho since Kashmir is still a hotbed of terrorist activity and why take chances? I don't think the freezing temperature helps it much since we all know how well I react to the cold. But as my mother admits, if you gotta go, you gotta go - not much safety in traveling by the good ol' Mumbai local either - remember the bomb blasts in July '07? My neighbour Sanford was just going about his daily life when it was abruptly over. I know people who have been in the London underground just before those attacks. Nowhere in the world is safe - just ask Petra Nemcova who lost her boyfriend in the Indian ocean Tsunami in the super popular holiday destination of Thailand. I agree, no point taking unnecessary risks but even when you don't take them, death calls. I reiterate, if it's your time, you will get taken.

P.S. - the old saying as a title seems apt, no?

Easy like sunday morning....

I had a brilliant weekend - I only exited the house twice - one of which was to see a movie which was quite good - American Gangster - I love Ridley Scott! The movie had Denzel Washington+Russel Crowe so I was expecting a very hard hitting depressing movie about the Italian mafia but I liked the move because of it's human elements - how a black man rose to practically control some of the 'family' - his ties to his family - how to run a business and how to build a brand 'Blue Magic'. One of the scenes is mind numbing where the destruction and havoc drugs wreak in a person's life is shown and it is contrasted where the dealer/distributor whatever is praying with his family at Thanksgiving lunch and the rest of the world is wasted on his business. The end to the movie is also well done where the 'honest' cop leaves his job of black and white to enter a world of gray since where the lines are not so well defined - it is easier to cross and not admit it to oneself! Imagine turning in a $100 million - I don't know if I would have the courage to do that - the principle yes - the courage - I hope!

Post this, we went to Blue Frog where Jalebee Cartel was playing - Now I must mention last time I went to this place which specialises in live music - I was excessively bored with the jazz musicians and had sworn to not enter it again - me not being a major proponent of the live music phenomenon. but this was quite good - I liked the sound and it was a very pleasant evening.

On Sunday, I left the house to go to church which ws the only exit unless you count going with the father in the car to buy food for dinner. I read a Georgette Heyer ' Frederica', then I re-read bits of the last Harry Potter, then I saw ' One fine day', then the end of 'Wedding Crashers', then the end of 'Prelude to a kiss', then the end of ' Dhoom 2', then the end of 'Desperate Housewives', then all of 'Brothers & Sisters' - in between texting the boy about all the various people he needs to be like George Clooney, the Marquis of Alverstoke, Aragon - king of Middle Earth. I finally knocked off around 3 but I am feeling refreshed this morning.

I think I need the vegetating a bit to recharge myself espescially after the hectic kind of week I have had -rushing to Delhi for the day, missing flights, appraisal, the realisation that only money will make this job palatable and the fact that I need to figure out if I seriously want to move to the retail sector and that too only in fashion!

Dreams - Version 2.0

I remember what I wanted to blog about....A senior office colleague is looking for a house to rent since in Bombay rents are skyrocketing and his current landlord wants a 65% increase in the rent and double the deposit! We digress - so anyway...he went to look at a house which another colleague was staying in who had in turn taken it over from another colleague. This is a very nice large one bedroom house - a bit close to the helicopter airpads but still nice. He was dissuaded from taking said house [which is quite reasonable as well] by the Big Boss who states the house is bad for relationships. Reason being first colleague who stayed there took the house as a newly wed and remained in the wedded state for a very short space of time. The girl who took over the house also went through a very bad patch with her husband - Big Boss has also decided the house where he lived with his ex-wife is also bad for relationships. I don't buy this funda - I agree some spaces can bring you negative energy but I seriously believe that a person's positive energy can definitely deflect and dissipate it!

For that matter, my argument is all these people with bad relationships, they all work in the same office space - how come noone has realised that space could be the fault for all that's wrong in your life? In fact, this is something that was pointed out at the very beginning as soon as I joined that the number of divorced people in this office outstrips any others that I might have met. This is not to say that I have not met divorcee's, just not so many in the same sq.foot space! And there are people with bad marriages as well - people who have split and and are now trying to make it work, people who have decided to live seperately for work reasons - I mean all these can be tied in to a single office space - is anyone using that as an excuse? It's very convenient to blame a location as a cause for discomfort espescially when it's so difficult to look for that cause inside you! Another theory that I have which is actually a world axiom is that like tends to like - which explains why all the strong minded, strong willed people come together in a single office space and have difficulties in their relationships! I don't know the reason for half the divorces - heck! for a single one but I do know from seeing the very successful marriages in my family [they all are - it's scary sometimes!] is that your spouse needs to be paramount in your life - not a part of your life!

P.S. Office people are also obsessed wit Vastu and Feng shui - with dots all over the office and my boss facing a particular even though there is not space for him and his laptop. I discovered this image of perfect office vastu...we don't fit in and this is why there must be dots all over to correct the imbalance - the things people will do!

Let's pretend....

I've had a very hectic weekend - I really worked the full day on Monday and Friday, Saturday I trudged to town to meet the boy - Sunday was brunch in Juhu for Farewell of GM - who really is one of the vertebrae in the backbone of SBMG - then back home to change and back to Juhu for the engagement of ex-friend* who is marrying my ex-boss! Obviously Sunday involved a lot of alcohol from afternoon onwards and many types ending with Red Wine in Mahesh Lunch home - Monday was spent at Karaoke night at Soul Fry for a personal send off to GM which was more alcohol down the gullet resulting in a mild hangover this morning but have to go for old old friend shaadi in the evening. Luckily boss moves down south for 2 days so expecting a break there!

However the reason for this post is, last night, while drifting off into slumberland, I thought of a million things I wanted to write about, from my theory of how everyone is pretentious, as in everyone has pretensions or aspirations to an ideal state and they project their lives or personalities to reflect that. Some people are intellectually pretentious - where they aspire to be literary minded or above the common man mindset. Others are socially pretentious where they need to be the centre of attention and so on and so forth - and the question is what pretension can you live with? I find it extremely easy to live with intellectual pretensions and at some level it challenges me and I find it amusing as well sometimes! The pretension that I cannot live with is the supercilious - my life is better than yours or worst - I want your life pretension which involves styling the same, creating the same relationships etc!

I had thought of a million things to write about and as usual, my mind is blank as I sit in front of the screen. For once, I would have like to have a day when I have much to spout that I think would interest people and not just my friends who would know this shit in any case!

* definition of ex- friend: one who does not tell you she is getting married to your ex-boss and you have to hear about it from a third person!

Pho anyone?

It is final - I is going to Vietnam in July! My dirt cheap tour starts on the 19th and is for 9 night and 10 days post which we are going to figure out when I can get to Angkor Vat in Cambodia as well - in for a penny, in for a pound!!

So my very exciting tour looks like this:

Day 1: Hanoi

Day 2: Halong Bay

Day 3: Hanoi

Day 4: Hue

Day 5: Hoi An

Day 6: Whale Island

Day 7: Whale Island

Day 8: Nha Trang - Saigon

Day 9: Ho Chi Minh city

Day 10: Saigon


If you look very closely at the map, you can see I pretty much cross the entire country!
But I just checked ticket prices and it is going to ki-ill me!! Apparently the cheapest ticket without including airport taxes etc etc is Rs.40,000!! My god - I can't even imagine what I would have to fork out if I was paying full price for the tour. What I need to do is find a buddy ticket type situation so that would practically work out to be a free holiday - is anybody volunteering?? please...pretty please...with pink icing and a cherry on top? I am also thinking I might do a LCC from Bangkok to Hanoi - since I know I can get a cheap flight to Bangkok from here so that's a thought. If anyone can recommend anything and please remember, budget travel is the key thought here!

I'm really excited though...after ages, I'm going to be doing a never been there before kinda holiday - it's always fun evenn though I know just before I'm due to leave, I will be behaving like a chicken and saying 'do I need to go? Really Really? ' . I hate leaving the safety of the house you see for faraway lands unknown and yippee - they speak french in some parts so me and R should be able to make do!

A friend of a friend had visited Vietnam late last year so I'm going to ask her about her experiences - if anybody knows anything that they would like to share with me - please go ahead!