Coal-ka-ta

This capital city of West Bengal, is beyond doubt the most populous city of the world! A nightmare to travel within. If one Cadell Road in Mumbai was not enough to be one way at odd hours of the day, Kolkata has several hundreds of em'. Enough to confuse me and I can proudly confess that I lost my way.

This reminds me of what some wise man once said, "Did you ever walk into a room and forget why you walked in? I think that's how dogs spend their lives. " I guess, in the city of Kolkata, I can say the same for the poor tourists who are taken for a ride by the cabbies. A distance of merely 100m which can be covered on foot within 5 min, takes a good hour long in a cab if the road is one-way in the wrong direction.

"The city of joy", as they call it, seemed to be full of friendly people all around. However, while most were willing to help, but very few able. I won't say the place is full of nicest of people on the planet, but the people whom I really enjoyed interacting there were the non-bengalis (sorry guys). I dunno if it was destined to be that way, but nonetheless, they were.

The tram took me a good century back down the memory lane (I didn't experience that in Mumbai, but have been hearing and reading a lot about it from the privileged lot of people who did get to be a part of the history way back in the 60's) and the Metro took me a good decade ahead. Worth every penny... ahem..... or rather shall I say paisa, that I spent there. The maintenance and upkeep is just remarkable.

Somethings which have an indelible impact on me are

1. Shoe polish by the roadside - a Bihari in his traditional Bangladeshi lungi, who ensured that my shoes sparkled, put in his heart and soul, blood and sweat for a mere 10 bucks. That's bread and butter for him tho'. Now I guess I shall feel cheated for all my money in Mumbai by those shoe-shine lads at the railway station. The sheen lasted for the entire week. The poor guy didn't realise he is killing his own business. I guess he needs to learn a lesson or two or better still watch out for some Chinese who might soon take over his business, by doing a shoddy job at one fifth the price. Also, I wonder why one never finds the locals shining the shoes. Hard to find a Maharashtrian do that in Mumbai.
   
2. Bar-b-q and Peter Cat. Restaurants. Old. Rustic. Good food. Poor ambience. Good crowd. Cheap. I like it. Prefer it over the thakela coffee outlets.
   
3. Park Street - for all the happening food and drink outlets, so also for the touts and peddlers of all sorts. Aisa kya hai jo park street mein nahi milta? You ask for it and you shall have it in minutes. Well for the moment, I am talking about books and memorabilia, don't get any ideas. (I didn't find any medicines here, wine shops open pretty early tho')
4. K. C. Das, the Rasgulla factory. Naah, its a signature restaurant. Serves only mithai and chenna sweets, along with the Kachori (they were jeera puris according to me) and samosas with sweeeeeeeeet chutney. For a moment I thought I was lost in Gujarat.
5. Victoria - magnificent structure, wonder what's there within - museum huh?. Need to see that on my next trip.
   

After all these days, I have somethings to complain. Where are all the Sushmita's and the Rani's gone yaar. There is a drought there. Or all those beautiful ladies are in Mumbai. Didn't spot any in the whole of the city. What a shame. Sheer waste.

The stay at the Park was one of the finest ever, supposedly the best five star hotel in the city but left a lot to be desired in terms of peace and tranquility, due to the on going renovation. So also the rooms lacked basics, which I considered of utmost importance, like sound proofing and vanity counter in the bath. Come on guys, five star deluxe is it?

Lindsay Street is a scary little street which reminds me of the Mirchi Gallie or Zaveri Bazaar, Bhuleshwar and the likes in Mumbai. Dingy place with tiny shops selling every lifestyle and clothing accessories that you can think about. Bought my pairs of essentials from there. Memorable hunting ground. Especially so past the 8pm mark.

The city is always bustling with people at the Malls and the Multiplexes. Dunno where so many people come from or where do they stay. This ain't the floating population, nor are the locals. No car parking space even with a capacity of 1400 cars for a mall. Thats' huge traffic and I must say big business. The City Center sure was rocking. But better still was the Forum, for the crowd of course... did you think I went shopping in a mall in Kolkata? Please... last place to look out for .. and go shopping is a Mall. 22 Camac street brought back the feeling of the High Street at Lower Parel, the only difference being the building at Camac Street is much much more impressive with the grand metal entrance.

Marwaris? I guess they are the only truly national race in India. You keep a finger on the map of India and you find this community trading something in that part of the country. Woah. Thus worth a special mention here. They are spread all over the city. Can't miss them in this city can you. Two distinct ways of dressing, both of which can be easily noticed and both of them unique in their own way.

A drive on the Howrah Bridge and the Vidya Sagar Setu. Great fun. Cherish every moment I spent driving past by. A feeling best experienced. Can not be shared.

The premier show of Bow Barracks Forever, with the movie crew, actors, director, producers et al, was made all the more memorable with live performace by the lady Utthup. Hats off to that lady. What a voice! Wow. Got to see the new budding sen-sation close and upfront, wasn't Sen tho' - a Pal. Some unnecessary raunchy scenes made that movie a bit difficult to digest. Otherwise it was worth the time spent.

Good acquaintances, great people, caring-sharing attitude, that's what makes the city so special, and probably makes people refer to as the city of joy. I don't know whether I would return to this city, but sure would love to be there on a leisure trip for a couple of days (no more, no less).

A fairy tale

Friendship isn't always easily described. The Eskimos, they say, have a hundred different words for snow. Unfortunately, the English language isn't quite as innovative, though it has vast opportunities to differentiate meaning. Certainly, Love is one of those opportunities. And so, too, is Friendship. Well my fairy tale does not begin with the cliche "Once upon a time", while I don't quite recollect the date, nor do I recollect how it all started, but what started as a mere acquaintance out of sheer coincidence, has helped me find a friend. I guess its supposed to be that way… almost always! Ain't it? Let alone sharing my cell no., email ID, IM IDs, or accepting friends on my friends list on Orkut, as with the Ruffles Lays kid, I believe, "Mom says, 'I shudn't talk to strangers!!'". And I seldom do. So far so good. I have met many people on the internet, laughed, smiled, and even cried. One particular person, has touched me deeply... I just wanted her to know. I never came around looking for a single soul. But now that I found you I want you to know I had forgotten how to smile, how to laugh, how to be me I had forgotten the sweet pleasure of a heart filled with glee. I was intoxicated with life... work and family Never stopping for fun... it just wasn't there you see. Since I have found you... it's been a complete turn around I smile and laugh again... not much gets me down. I get excited when I see you on Yahoo! Wondering what it is today we will do... Chatting, laughing and the games we play You make my every day! Two people, destined to meet (I wouldn't wait that long for my enemy as much I waited for you), but the inquisitiveness of knowing the person, yet not knowing and never met was always lingering in my mind. The only driving force that kept me waiting and whiling away time under the scorching sun was certain questions which were unanswered. Yes while I do agree that things weren't as bad as I have projected them here, but they weren't any better. Yea yea, of course, who loves endlessly waiting after all? Mind you I am not complaining.  Human nature, eh! Hmmmm… here I admit that whatever it was, it was well worth the wait. While the appearance has got very little to do with it (I don't completely strike it off), I was more so intrigued by a rather basic and a simple question, "so does this person really exist?" or is it just my imagination about a non-existant living being. A case of a person whom I met in the virtual world and just lost my way from the real one. Then there was this obvious "what does this person look like?" popping-up. Staring at each "Taxi" as it went by the domestic barista aka CCD, I had already gulped down a couple of drinks waiting in anticipation expecting the place to be full by lunch time. The college students frequent the place for activities beyond just the appreciation of the brew (homework, gossip, bitching, conspiracy and what not…. all the stuff which I guess I have grown above, prove me wrong!). I guess this is where the gap lies. Something which I would put the blame on to for finding kiddies hang outs boring and uninteresting. By no means am I a kid now, or am I? Oh really? Yes I think so. And I can't help, but think about it, 'what am I doing here?' Falling in love over coffee? Young at heart? Informal? Like juke boxes? Traditionally Cafe Coffee Day has always been a meeting place. Why not meet up at the park instead (thats' not my idea either), sit on a bench, and have the industrial sludge (the coffee from a vending machine)? Don't know! Coffee is a culture and best appreciated when freshly ground. So there I was with a Devil sipping one of her own concoction, topped with yummy whipped cream. Well it was Devils Own after all! Had to be that wee bit special. Conversations and more of em', something other than the mundane studies. While we spoke about colleges for most of the time, I guess we can do better the next time we meet over a gateaux, pastry or something else from a bake-shop. Learnings from meeting – friends are special people. We can't pick our family, and we're sorely limited in the number of them at any rate. Society and mores (and often our own conscience) dictate we select a single mate. But our friends can be as diverse and infinite as the adjectives we choose. Our friends, in a very real sense, reflect the choices we make in life. As the Internet grows and becomes a part of our lives, it brings with it a unique opportunity to meet people we likely would never have met in any other way. And very often, those people we meet on line will become friends. Sometimes, very close friends.

Found my Password to this Lost space :-)

Too many things happened too soon.

Brother (finally) got married in December '06, pffffff. Long wait for his wedding day, almost about a year... when everything got finalised. So obvoiusly there's a new addition to the family. :-)

Exam results appeared (I say that, cos we had appeared for the exams and now in the middle of no where exam results appeared in FEB, SEM 2 Results followed by the Sem 1, waah re Council). As expected, I cracked the exams and topped in both the semesters :-). (Beyond doubts!! That's reinforcement)

More exams, more tensions in life beyond the college. Worried about what I would do to keep myself busy.

Most of the time I spend on College Campus, like DJ from RDB, associated with the Institute for 7 years now and counting and been there on campus for 5th year now. My Mom just like his (Aamir aka DJ, RDB), Mitro (what's her name, well... yea Kiron Kher) saying 'Why don't you do something worthwhile in your life?'

Inspired, back with new enthusiasm, I started applying for jobs. Already had many offers in the pipe-line, but the very reason as to why didn't take up any of them for so long simply meant that I wasn't interested. But of course!! (today I am glad I didn't, else I would still be stuck somewhere asking, 'How may I help you?') Hotels, restaurants, airlines, ..... urrgghhhhhhh...... NOOOOOOO. Operations is just not my Cup of Tea. That's the place where 200% of effort that you've put in equates to 10% in the eyes of your senior. Eekkksssss.....

CONSULTANCY - The way ahead.....
What awaited me was more of a dream come true. As with the case with my first job, I was eager to explore the unexplored. Experiment, analyze, delve into, dig out, probe, seek, sift, and more importantly tour and travel :-) Got it all at one place with agreed terms and conditions. Am I glad :-)

Here I am, Jr. Consultant, working primarily on Hospitality, encompasing Hotels, Restaurants, Travel, Tourism, Entertainment with probably a bit of Retail and Real estate. Lets wait as time unravels what the future beholds for me.

In a week's time, I leave for The Park, Kolkata. My first ever stay in a 5-Star Deluxe Luxury Hotel, (exceptions as usual: 1.without my family, 2. without the hotel being a client I am serving). W-O-W. It's an all expenses paid trip to a place where I need not bother my self 24 X 7, no obligation towards the Hotel that I stay in. The very thought in itself is LOVELY. I have my space.

Life feels so much upgraded. From the drag in operations with hospitality, to being a consultant. A boost to my self-esteem (ego still lies burried deep inside the stomach of mother earth, did that while I was in college).

Currently, I teach a poor batch of bright students, part-time. I consider them poor because they are being robbed in terms of the quality of education that they are getting for the monies that their folks have paid. I consider them bright becuase they have managed to secure the best All-India rankings. Commendable. But doesn't that speak about the degraded quality of education in other institutes, well think about it!

Some of the students are really adorable and I am almost in love with teaching. It reminds me of my good old college days. I teach all what I feel they would need in a long run process as opposed to the usual text-book or OHP wrote learning.

Enuf for now. Getting late. Need to pack my bags.... off to Kolkata.

Catch up with you real soon.

Adieu

Egg-jaamm

Finally it was the morning of May, 5, 2006. The day had dawned and I had to appear for my much awaited egg-jaam.... I mean exams. The 1st Sem exams for of the Master's course.

Day started by me searching for a small the bag to hold all the implements.... arrrghhhh pen, pencil, etc, I was too scared and quite tense too, since I knew that now I could type faster than I can write and was wondering 'Why can't we just type our answers and submit them online'. Yea yea whatever. In a government Institution. Well whatever the case, that was not the right time to think about all of this since I had to write the exams anyway and there was little that I can change. More appropriately 'NOTHING' that I could do about it. :-(

Exams were to begin at 1400hrs and so I reached college at noon. An appointment with the Dentist in the morning also ate up some time, which I am not so sure what I would have used it for.... probably finding (discovering) some topics for the first time. Good that there was this appointment in the morning. I was not quite relaxed since I didn't bother myself with the last minute reading.

After reaching college, it was time for a pleasant surprise. No Roll No.'s. I was like WHAT ?? No Roll Codes ?? Then are we gonna write our names on the Answer booklets like in primary school ?? What on earth is happening? Our enrollment numbers / registration numbers were also not going to help.

As the exam time drew closer, we were assigned our Roll Nos. (with some thinking and complex codification exercise). Relieved!!!

The answer booklets were familiar, but I had last seen them only in April 2003. That's 3 years ago...... ahhhhhh..... painful..... not because of the results that time, but the amount of scribbling that had been done in those answer booklets to score marks. Started answering the papers and on completing only one single answer, my arm started paining. Eekkkksssss.... everything had to happen. Not used to writing for too long after completing one side of the first page, the next page was simply illegible. Anyway I had to continue, 'The Show must go on'. The six-monthly natak for deciding..... I am not so sure what :)

I scampered through the paper and utilized the complete three hours for writing all the answers as I usually do. There I was a satisfied student at the end of a really loooong paper, which appeared extra long due to the sheer time gap between my bachelors degree and the masters. Nonetheless I was satisfied with whatever I had scribbled.

Weekend Masti! (March 25-26, 2006)

EVENT 1
With Zanzu

The beginning of Saturday, March 25, 2006 was quite ordinary. Woke up early and was greeted with some usual back-offs from the usual artists. Well not exactly how I wanted it to be, but nonetheless, it happened. Was expected. Glad that all of it happened early in the day, so that the rest of the day was not ruined.

Spoke to 'Bevdya' who called me KHAVIS for still being in Mumbai and not in Pune as promised, but he seemed to be ok with it since he too was in college with his friends having some usual dope of fun and games.

Then came the interaction with Vintya and Jandya. Spoke to them several times just to understand what exactly was their POA (Plan of Action), but to my dismay there was nothing concrete decided till then. Anyway I knew for sure that all of them would be in Pune by evening by hook or by crook.

In the mean time as this interaction took lot of time, Mr. Late happened to reach Dadar station before I could @ 11am sharp (9.30am was the scheduled time though.... but still reaching there before I did was quite a commendable thing!! Cheers). Amidst some kind of confusion headed straight towards Kalyan where we attended Zanzu's sister's wedding. It was not as easy as it sounds, since Mr. Late had conviniently forgotten the chit on which he had written down the address. Hmmmmm .... so there we stood @ Kalyan Station Platform No. 4, no idea whatsoever what needs to be done.

Frantically making calls to Zanzu but to no avail. He must have been busy. (Isn't it like.... obvious??). The stars seemed to be really powerful for us that day since they bestowed upon every bit of luck which was required to reach the marriage site. After a brief interaction with his folks, Mr. Late got the address and we headed towards the hall in a Rick trying our level best to speak Marathi (FYI - Mr. Late works with Air-India and now speaks English better with a heavy Brit/US Accent, than the native Marathi). We made it to the marriage hall a good hour and half late, but the more important thing was that we were there. Against all odds we had made it to the destination, dehydrated and drenched in sweat.

After munching down dozens of Gulab Jamuns along side the regular Paneer-Mutter and Bhindi and assorted accompaniments, we headed back home. Already tired, only half way through the day, we somehow managed to board the right train at the chaotic Kalyan Jn. Returned home at about 5pm. called up Prabs at 6.15pm and he asked me to meet at EPR Station.

EVENT 2
Vikky di Party

Cell phone battery had drained by the time it was evening. Speaking to one and all through out the day was quite a task. Left it at home for charging (missed a whole lot of calls :( ). Went to EPR where I met Prabs. After meeting it was decided that we go to Chembur in a bus, but instead we took a train to Kulla to meet others from the usual paltan, viz, Taks and Peshwe III. After a good 45 min wait at probably the worst possible station (you have to see it to believe it) in Suburban Mumbai we all finally met at P#3 Indicator ke niche. Headed straight to Vikky di Party where the music was tuned in for the entire mohallah and not just for us. I must admit that the music was rocking, but it has now left me partially deaf and with a sore throat trying to communiacte with people there.

We waited and waited for Vikky (who again has a reputation similar to that of Mr. Late)Finally showed up by 9.15pm when the party went underway. After a couple of round of drinks and snacks being circulated with blaring music in the background, we all desperately tried to speak to each other. (Ex-Shaw's are always a great to speak to since one gets an idea of the outside world, a world beyond Bawa's which very few people who work there have ever dreamt of. Yea yea... Whatever!)

After shaking a leg, now to add some spice to the entire event, the cops turned up. I was so damn sure that they would, since the music was surely going to pierce their ears as well. Prabs and I had our fair share of the Mutton Biryani and mutton offals before we left from there. Not waiting any futher for an untoward incident. Peshwe III left with Bajirao III on their Pulsar for Vikhroli and so did Prabby and I.

Dodging a cars on the busy Eastern Express Highway, Prabs and I finally made it to the bus-stop, one piece, safe and sound. Only later did we discover that it would have been much easier if we had taken the SUBWAY. Damn....., I can never undertstand why can't we find the subway when we need it the most! Is this the case everywhere?

EVENT 3
With the Keku's

DAY 1
After a tiresome day all across the distant and central suburbs of Mumbai, I woke up at 4.18am. Very frankly could not sleep all night with the fear of not being able to get up on time for the Intercity Superfast Express train to PUNE. So now that I had loads to time. Sat for the routine check-mail, forward/reply stuff and fixed other things before getting ready to leave. Reached DDR Station at 6.21am for a train which leaves at 7.00am. The next 40min which I had were quite fun since just before this Intercity thingy leaves, there's this Tapovan Exp which leaves with characters traveling on-board the train for a remote hamlet in MS. I wonder why the train is scheduled at 6.25am for the unheard-of place for people who act funny when in Mumbai trying to do things ordinarily they won't. You have no idea what this city can do to people. Dadar ... busy as ever flooded with Bhaiiyas at any point during the day gives a person a fair idea of the exploding Mumbai population. Anyway

Boarded the Intercity after a brief chaos as usual since the bogies didn't quite come where they were announced they would. I promptly found my window seat and gathered myself for a good sleep on my way to Pune.

When I checked my watch it was 10.20am. Man was I late for the 11am wedding ?? Alas! I sure was. Anyway I took a rick to Sajan's place in Mayur colony. Harrowed by calls from mom, dad and bevdya, phone ring going every single minute, I somehow managed to keep calm. Reached there and changed into a formal set of clothes in a jiffy for the Big-event. To my surprise we were well before the final warning (IIShubh Mangal SavadhanII), SO I HAD FINALLY MADE IT ON TIME! YEAH YEAH YEAH ....... no bounds to my joy.

But others were nowhere to be seen. Met up with Bevdya and CD who were the only souls I knew besides Sajan. CD had been transformed into a MAN. I say that because when I had left the colony in 1998, he was just a kid , that too one like me! (here it is not implied that I too have turned into a man, but I am a youth today and still sometime before I become the COMPLETE MAN like CD who now looks like he's well settled in Pune with a family of four). Had a brief chat with Bevdya before others turned up. Kushti, Rutoo, Vintya, Bail and Bandya all were in a few moments. The first of the lot. Others who were sloshed, were finding it tough to make it to the hall on time. After sometime Sarvya and Jadya (the B'day boy turned up) and things started looking good. We sat and spoke and made merry, as we waited for the last batch of people to come-by.

Met up with Vasu Maushi and was surrounded by teachers. Was reminded of those good old days in school. Great fun! Had to rewind a great deal to quite figure out the who's who of St. Hawk's School, but then managed it successfully. There was no doubting it either ways. Suddenly there was this chalk board and teachers teaching all sorts of subjects from languages to science to everything under the sun (revevant from the textbooks of course)

Spent some time with Keku, the only time I spent with him on this trip. He was obviously too busy attending to other guests, other friends and his relatives (being specific here). The gang was too occupied staring at chicks (or should I say there was only one as per most). Yes she indeed was gorgeous, well she always was and am sure she will continue to be. She had everything right for a guy to be mesmerized and fall for. Having seen too many like her in the city of dreams, I felt rather odd hanging around with my gang and soon shyed away from the lot. However, to say the least, caught a glimpse or two to know why exactly everybody was after her :) All I have to say is, guys please stop doing this in public. I know exactly how you feel, but kindly stop getting yourself into an embracing situation especially when it involves beautiful cute little mama's with their parents who can get you into trouble back home rather easily if need be. So please for God's sake.... STOP IT!!

After lunch (a lovely Maharashtrain one that I was longing to have) had the hyped AMAZING!! Panhe recommended by none other than Bevdya. Good stuff. Good show Bevdya. Cheers. Headed to Sarvya's place where we rested our bones as we lay gazing the roof.

In the specially cut-out for school pals, made it across the city to reach Koregaon Park - Pune's hub for the show-off's. Supposedly a COOL place to hang around (but frankly I never thought so). Don't want to hear any Puneites ego here, but sadly it doesn't really rock. Anyway there's no debating that since no other place in Pune does either way :). What mattered most was the company, which was the best, so the place according to me really did not matter. There we were at Burger King! Had loads of fun. Yapped and yapped endlessly, continuously chomping on the Burgers masked with tonnes of mayonnaise along side the conversations. Spoke about the journey so far (in life) so also where it was headed, however from here we headed straight to some Hookha Lounge Cendenza... or whatever, which had traditional seating with mattress and traditional ambience with bamboo partitions and loads of mosquitoes. CD had been lured to pay for the Burger bills which he fell-to and promptly did that. Back at the Hooka Lounge, the dude DJ (if there was any) played the same songs over and over and over again, and Bail (aka Himesh) was being forced to sing. He didn't quite seem interested, though he didn't mind it either. A photo session and much grave topics there, it was time when we said goodnight and parted from there.

Headed straight to Shreemant Dagdusheth Halwai Mandir. Sought his blessing of the LORD and wished that everything come true for everyone (the standard prayer now-a-days. It’s been long that I have stopped being selfish and asking for personal favours to the Lord:) ) Headed back home where we all collapsed chatting in the drawing room. Soon everyone was fast asleep by 2.00am. Indeed was great fun all day! Packed with activity, satisfaction was guaranteed.

DAY 2

There it was Day 2, got up early, received calls from teachers (the current one's) and college-mates, who wanted me to hit the college by 12 noon (which somewhere down within I knew I never would). I was very keen on attending lectures though, but later remembered it was the most boring lecture of the teachers with the problems with the langauge of Englis. A PG from IITTM with horendous language to whom I can attribute my spelling mistakes for life!. I decided to stay away.

Had misal at Chandani Chowk from where we parted our ways and headed back home. After having a couple of Neera's at a Neera Vikri Kendra in town, we sat near right outside Talyat la Ganpati as we waited for Rut's to complete his family visits.

To say the least, I had the most memorable time in recent years. Especially so with my friends whom I love being with, the most! Kudos Keku for getting us all together. Thankyou one and all for being there. Thanks Sarvya for all the hospitality! (I must admit and not forget that as well! Good Show)

I haven't mentioned quite a few people up there, and trust me it is indeed intentional.

In the past 8 years, (mind you that's a really long long time by any standards) things have changed drastically. To list down a few,

the +'s

1. What a group.... truly amazing company with like minds and similar topics to share.

2. Loads of fun, frolic and laughter. Took off all the stress (if any :) ) and today feel rejuvenated.

the -'s
1. the focus has now shifted to getting sloshed rather than making merry.
2. priorities have changed (they had to) and now friends seem to have taken the back seat and made way for newer one's who are more important than the old one's. Chalta hai... chalaychech
3. Some people behave in a different manner. The approach was absolutely, totally worth forgetting. I mean every bit of it. Such lackadaisical attitude is totally disheartening. In one word PATHETIC.
4. Saw selfishness at its best especially so after the final year campus placement interviews. Humans are supposed to be selfish, but I could never imagine my schoolmates being so selfish and inconsiderate!

I hope you enjoyed reading it all. Please draw your own inference. Ideas given above are totally mine and are intend to harm anyone's feelings. In my opinion of the entire trip was extremely good. Do not ask for any clarifications as to who's who and what is what.

I hope to meet them all again and that too soon..... the way they are or changed for good. I like being with them anyway, always and forever !. :)

Cheers!!

2006 is here

As I sit and start writing my blog in February 2006, I think about the few days which I have spent with my friends whose company I enjoyed thoroughly. The month of February this year has been eventful and rather different in many ways. Exciting as it was, well there was a lot to cheer about too. I explored and discovered the lighter side of my life (something that I enjoy doing) and am more than happy that I found it sooner than later.

My career has taken a turn this January (just a turn and not a U-Turn) when I switched from my job as a project implementation and a training guy back to studies to pursue my post graduation in Hospitality Administration after spending good 2 years and 8 months in the industry. The ride from the institute to the industry and back was quite bumpy, nonetheless an experience in itself and I must admit wasa great learning experience. What I learnt in the 3 years working can and would never be comparable to any learning in such short timespan.

It all started on a very beautiful note this year since I was with my school pals on the new years eve where I was away from the booze (which I seldom do) and peaceful and serene surroundings with some music playing in background on the busy Mumbai-Goa highway. Had some food which was not quite worth a mention, but the company, I sure enjoyed. We are friends right from pre-school, middle-school and high-school and know each others from the time we started recognising things around us. The New Year's Eve, well spent, at a place away from home where there is no mobile phone coverage for hooligans to bother you and the SMS beeps to irritate you was quite a bliss not to forget the loud thumping noise and deafening music at the parties elsewhere in the city. So there it was, as we all were discussing our school days and the journey thereafter, since we all met after a really really long time, the New Year just dawned.

I spent the night at one of my dear friend's place and left for home early in the morning.

2006 is here!