Smile and Wave !!

I haven't posted on this blog for a long time. No inspiration you see. But events in the past few years from 2014 onwards have created an unrest within me. A need to get things out, shout out the frustrations and indignation that I feel festering inside. These usually come out as discussions and debates with my wife, but tend to degenerate into arguments (heated) and unsatisfactory endings. (which have to be taken care of in the bedroom). The wife thinks I take things personally and am of the mentality of my way or the highway, and as such am incapable of having a logical and unbiased discussion or debate. I initially dismissed the idea as absurd, since school I have striven to be liberal, equal towards all genders, castes, creeds etc., I couldn't have turned into a bigot surely. But, deeper introspection reveals the seeds are there and slowly but surely, I have started leaning more right than I would like to admit. Hence the post, get it all out, try to make sense of it a...

I have been wanting to "pen" this one down for ages. I was simply worried that it might not be right or correct to write this post. But I could not move on either, hence the long delay since my last post almost 6 months ago.  Finally i have decided to write this post down, first I need to get it out of my system and second, unless I write this, I wont move on and I so want to post more. It is said international experience changes a person. Exposure to other cultures and communities and people who live differently, in different environments makes one more mature. You see the wider scope of things, the problems other people face, their beliefs and perceptions. But does this really happen? It did happen to me, I guess, I started counting my blessings for having been born and brought up in India and for being borne into a Hindu family. This was achieved after a lot of comparison between what we have in India and the conditions/ situations / environment faced by the people I ...

About a month and a half ago. I returned from Harare. My stint was over and there was no chance of me going back to Harare. At least not with the same employer. It felt really wonderful to be back. Familiar sights, smells, roads, buildings etc. But a lot had changed. And I do not mean just the roads and buildings and the scenery, but myself. Since 2009, I have consistently been staying away from home. Delhi, Shimla, Dehradun, Chandigarh, Bangalore and finally Harare. Coming home after such a long time for an extended stay is a unsettling experience. As days went by I realised with great distraught that I had forgotten old haunts, shortcuts, roads, out of the way pubs and eateries. I was suddenly unaware of what to buy where and information did not come readily. It took a lot of prodding and head scratching to remember all of my accumulated knowledge of Goa. I had to travel many roads anew to rebuild the linkages in my head. Does this happen to everyone? I mean its so embarras...

Some times I really wonder how Mr Spock survived in the Star trek Universe in the company of so many humans. I mean, human emotions and their driven actions must surely always be an irritant to Mr Spock. And considering the fact that he was part human, I am sure it must have been a daunting task to control that side from expressing the frustration, anger and indignation at illogical human behavior. What an irony!! What makes me think of Spock here, is that I find myself increasingly in similar positions when concerns my fellow humans beings in my immediate surroundings these days. I am usually very calm and composed, avoiding conflict, unnecessary confrontation and that sort. This is due to the self awareness that I have a very short fuse and I am capable of serious stuff when enraged. But that is besides the point. What irks me most is why people have to form an opinion about my personal life. I have colleagues, I never ask or bother to find out about their personal lives except ...

Its been roughly seven months since I arrived here in Zimbabwe. Most of it has been spent working 15-18 hours a day giving rise to complaints and accusations of me ignoring my family, the wife etc. even leading to a time when my wife refused to communicate with me. While many a married man may find that a pleasant thought, I for one very much like my wife talking to me, because that makes sure I don't have to say anything, which is just as well since I usually don't have anything much to say or talk about these days except work. But it was all worth it. All the hard work, long hours and ignoring the family paid off finally when it came to cashing in my chips. The wife and me went on a holiday!! But planning and putting together the holiday was by itself a daunting task. You see, while I am in Harare, Zimbabwe, the wife is in Oxford, UK, also working also constrained by the fact the since she'd just joined in August 2013, there could be a problem getting leave. But al...

Its been  2 months since I have begun my new adventure in Zimbabawe. Contrary to popular belief, its a thriving society, with kind, good natured albeit greedy people, striving to get back on its feet after the economic meltdown a decade ago. I thought the going would be tough. Its much more than tough, its brutal, but I find myself enjoying it. The pressure, the multitasking, developing people skills, the responsibility and the the multiple roles that I am playing here seem to give me a rush, the same kind of rush that I felt when I was working my own gig at Goa in 2006-2008. But, in this rush, I seem to have forgotten that I am now a married man, that part of my free time, all if possible, belongs to my family. So engrossed am I in my work, that I am finding myself thinking more of work and less of the family I left back home. Is this normal? Is there something wrong with me? What makes one forget some things while remembering others? What makes ME, remember to call up every ...

I used to find it unfair at the way, men and women have been stereotyped in my country. If you are a man and a stranger, people wont trust you easily, wont have faith in what you say. Any crime will automatically be attributed to the man etc etc. While in case of a woman, ah things are different, non one will believe a woman can be distrustful, or conniving or a cheat. Its only after she has done that, will people wake up. But as I have been moving around North India, working with different people from different walks of life, varied levels of income, education levels etc etc. I have slowly but surely come to realise that the general public are not at fault. Most of the men I have met are such disgusting people in their personal lives, one peek and I feel ashamed to be associated with the guy. No matter what their education, why do so many men show so much disrespect to their wives. I mean, even the present times, she ha to serve these guys food, hot of the oven/stove ans she has...

Another year, another summer, but this summer is like no other I have ever experienced before. Its my first summer in Chandigarh, where I spent my summers before is a long story and a different place every year :) It has been a very interesting summer so far. While the winters were cold and the general environment in my apartment complex / colony peaceful, as soon as February arrived, and the temperatures started to rise above chilling, our colony suddenly seemed to come alive with strange noises at night. No longer were my nights filled with silence and peace. The source of the noisy intrusion? Air Conditioners! Believe it or not, as soon as the temperatures climbed to above 20 C at night, the general populace began to feel the need to start their air conditioning. Frankly till the end of March, I did not even need the fan at night. But, then of course, in our country who am I to point such criminal waste of energy. The response I expect is I have money, I am paying for it, what...

I am in a very thoughtful mood today. Recently returned from a 2 week holiday, just joined office and yet to get into the daily grind. Still in the holiday mood. A holiday which I can only describe as a trip to paradise. No. it was no exotic location, in a foreign country with azure seas, beaches, (down boys, no scantily clad girls either), none of the stuff that we have been conditioned to expect when we imagine paradise. What is this paradise then, which I experienced? What is paradise for that matter. I would define it as a state of mind. When I planned this holiday in Dec 2011, (No fear, the story doesn't go that far back), I had no idea it would be so much fun, no idea of the hassles and haggling I would have to endure with my boss (it was quite trivial actually), had no idea that it would be over in  flash, and would leave me unsatisfied and wanting more. Anyway, it was a 2 weeks well spent, in the company of friends, family, some of whom I haven,t seen in over a...

The title is the amount of time that has roughly passed since the evening spent in Shimla, sipping coffee with my stuff all packed and thinking about the new job and the life I was going to begin in Dehradun. Sitting here in Chandigarh, I am trying to look back at all that has transpired in this time. Trying to make sense of it all. Moving to Dehradun was fun, I found new friends there and helpful colleagues. A landlord who treated me like family and a house with a view.  It was a good time in Dehradun, work wasn't exactly great, which is why given the choice I opted to relocate to Chandigarh. But that will come later. Around this time I found a lovely companion. Some one who really tests my self control yet with whom I can lose all control and be myself, no façade or masks.  A person pure of heart, witty, sticks to her guns like glue, shares my passion for reading, hates pink, and most of all likes me for who I am. I wouldn't have it any other way. In Dehradu...

A much delayed post. But it could not be helped. To write anything, even a post, one needs to be in the right mood, have time ones hands, finally have access to an internet connection, working personal computer etc not necessarily in that order. A little over a month back, I had the opportunity to go to Goa. Home sweet home, there is no place like home etc etc all those sentences came flooding back to me as i sat in the plane from Delhi to Goa. The occasion was Diwali and all the family, my family that is, was coming together. That included my brother, mom and dad, my in laws, my sister in law and my wife. It was wonderful to have the family all together. Makes one realize exactly what and how much one misses when staying alone.  To count the material stuff; well good fresh fish for one, I stuffed myself literally, home made food, having beer or drinks, the beach, the warm humid climate etc. Bliss! But it was the non material or qualitative stuff that mattered t...

Its been an absolutely fantastic year so far. Its been mostly good, with certain downs and lows, but on the whole good. I spent 2009 and 2010 largely alone, in Delhi, Shimla and Dehradun, away from friends and family, except for the occasional visit to Goa and the long long vacation in December 2010. 2011 is not so, its like my loneliness has been done away with Mukta entering my life. And that too despite the fact that Mukta is in Bangalore and has been here at best a total of 20 days all of 2011. Hell, she hasn’t even been to the Chandigarh house yet, but I am not alone. I have had the immense good fortune to have mom spend almost 4 months with me this year. This counting the time till September 22 that she intends to spend here. Nonetheless, it has been fun. I would really hate to see her go back to Goa. I am hoping Dad would join me here instead. Its so wonderful to have your mother around, it can be slightly stressing at times, what with the number of controls one has to exert ...

Although this may seem a plagiarised title, it is apt for what I have been feeling lately. I had the pleasure of a holiday without ever leaving my home these past few days. My family was here, all of them under one roof. Although the entire family was together only for a few days, the members all arrived in batches, which means my holiday started way back on 16 th May with the arrival of my mom. On 11 th June, dad and aniruddha arrived, adding to the fun and finally on 17 th June mukta arrived, completing my family. It was fun. My family was together after 6 months. It really gives one a sense of satisfaction to spend time in the company of your dearest ones. Whats all this got to do with the title. J For a few days of happiness, Aniruddha coordinated his leave, Mom stayed with me a month, dad came all the way from Goa to Dehradun for just a week. Mukta dropped everything and took off for a few days from Bangalore to be with us. I contributed to the pool by taking a few half d...

After a very successful Industrial Expo and accolades coming in from all quarters, it was time for the entire team to unwind. Somewhere during the period prior to the expo I had become a part of the team, sort of accepted, either that or the guys were just being nice to me or may be there is some other vested interest that I have not yet imagined. Whatever the reason, I was invited to join the team on a week end holiday. I must confess to planting the seed for the holiday. All I did was suggest to my colleagues that since the expo is done with and very little to do immediately, that we take his opportunity and the available weekend to check out Dehradun’s first and only multiplex. The guys were not too interested as no good movies were on. It dawned on them that they hadn’t taken their families together for an outing in a while and so it was decided that a weekend overnight trip was due. After much deliberations as to the appropriate choice for the holiday, Asan Barrage was decided. ...

To fully understand the scope and the scale at which this expo was being organised, I need to describe some stuff in detail. At the risk of boring the reader or sounding extremely egoistic, I might delve into details here and there, but will try to stay on track…. Our team in Dehradun consisted of 3 officers, a senior director and a peon. There would have been 4 of us officers, but as I mentioned before one of us had left us in Feb 2011. To help out with the more menial tasks like correspondence and telephonic confirmations, we had also hired 3 temporary staff. One of them, a girl, had been on the team since Sept 2010. Two of the boys were students of MBA programs. These 3 people were the team which was corresponding with all the invitees, sending mass mails and calling up those who had been mailed. These poor devils were making about 100-150 calls a day. The girl from the trio was also looking after the Exhibitor contact list, generating the database for mass mailings and also ge...

In continuation of my previous post, I am describing here the events that all added up to the Industrial Expo 2011. It may not make exciting reading, but as an experience, I want it to be documented. While the government with whom the expo was to be partnered decided to pull out, we were busy weighing our options. In defense of the govt. they could not help but withdraw. The code of conduct was in place and the election commission had not given the go ahead. Nobody expected the expo 2011 to be considered as violating the code of conduct as it was a strictly B2B show of industries, no consumer stuff included. It was only due to a letter by the local administration of Haridwar (to whom we had applied for permission)that we thought of getting endorsement from the election commission.  There were 2 options available to us; one, go on with the expo as planned without the participation of the govt and two, postpone the event to a later date after the elections in Haridwar so that t...