Summer Capital of India

Ya I am talking about Shimla... My trips most of the time are quite random, unplanned, adventurous... unconventional...finding the quaintest spots on my own but this time don’t know why I wanted to be a tourist and be left to everything the place had to offer ... so just set off with my husband... We flew to Delhi like a corporate couple these days and then from Delhi to Kalka by train... it was a n over night journey but was so easy chilled out... I was really excited about the train journey its always made me remember of old days when an outing way snot complete without a train journey... the sound of the train... the swaying of the passengers, those vendors en route it just completes the feeling of a holiday sans the corporatization and service standards... I feel like an Indian chutti... reaching Kalka at 4 in the morning and one cool sardarji cabbie taking us to shimla... we fell asleep on our way up the hilly mountains... and reached shimla at 6 n the morning. We checked into one of the oldest hotels in shimla on mall road the Clarkes... so British...

while I was all set after breakfast to tread the slopes of shimla it reminded of all north Indian hill stations... one mall road with lots of shops and food stalls alongside... then it reaching a town hall where people gather weekend after weekend pretending to enjoy it like it offers something new every weekend??? One little post office... one tourism office which tells you all you can do on your holiday. One rooftop restaurant that serves authentic Indian cuisine and attracts all the newly married couples as a perfect photo spot.

I surrendered myself completely to observe people just while they found their happiness in shimla. Most honeymoon couples clicked their pictures in the local dresses and that was such a big attraction...
we decided to visit kufri as well and it was amazing to see cartels of horse owner with riders who were paid peanuts to trudge horses to lots of kms on a hilly stony path to see snow and come back... the site was quite beautiful but so much torture to humans and animals... but on way to kufri what amazed me was the influence of bollywood there were 6 yaks and they were named after bollywood celebs... like kajol & ajay... sagar & sweety, kareena and shahid... and the owners of these yaks screamed " arre kajol or ajay ke saath photo le lo" dus rupiya only, 10 Rs only sir" I did not wanna stand next to yak and take a picture but was amazed at human intelligence to generate revenue options...wow
We returned back from kufri and on our way back I filled my lungs with fresh mountain air and was happy to just surrender as a tourist and do all the things that are created by man against the backdrop of nature to create a revenue generating opportunity...

Tech Infidelity

Before you get judgemental and think I'm suffereing from it, take a step back and think aren't you? Technology has just made life so easy and everything and everybody so accessible for us. Until yesterday we yearned to be connected today we switch off our cell phones to be disconnected. Ya and these days its not one but 2 cell phones that you are dealing with. I know people who dread that one phone and are already struggling with the second one. Do we want to be connected all the time? Are we insecure if we are not connected? Probably yes, if I am not around someone else will do it... ya proabably someone else will... but thats the choice one makes that how much do you want to let go off? This connectivity syndrome is what is leading to more and more couples stretching themselves over time zones trying to accomodate all that they can, to ensure they are " Connected". Over a cup of chai and the daily tabloid i read these interesting celeb Q&A's where they ask you, things you won't leave your house without and most of them say my cell phone. Some say my Ipod, there has to be technology... Some questions go if you were marooned on an island who would you be with? And the answer goes my Ipod. The role that these techie things play in peoples lives is amazing.
People earlier struggled with people then came work and now its technology. Its amazing how we dont realize how gradually from a balanced life we gradually changed our preferences. Earlier one of the spouse was working and the other created the balance. Gradually our greed and the need ensured that both the partners work. So we sliced those 12 hours of togetherness further to 8 hours of togetherness. Then came technology where those 8 hours of togetherness are also sliced and has come down to probably 6. Earlier we dreaded that if we as a couple do not spend enough time together he/she might look outside the relationship and be involved with someone else, then came the extended working hours where people distinctly spent less time together and hence proximities at work started to rise. But now that's passe, today probably there is no time for the first two but i make time for the third.
Often wonder what is that lends people to tech infidelity, probably the need to be updated, cause today every interaction is an opportunity to cast an impression, the more abreast & updated you are the cooler you are perceived to be... Or is it the need to 'fit in' or technology gives me the space I need... ya the battle for space... or is just so informative & accessible that I want it... Ya may be it is. Today everything is a click away so all my acts are probably governed by what Googles top 10 search results are...Why do we wake up and want to see the news like the world collapsed while we were asleep, or we need our IPODS' on, while we are at our morning walk. Probably Google sends me more sms's than my husband does.
And ofcourse i cant forget the Blackberry...its like the world at your fingertips... a spy gaurd your bosses installed in you in the name of seniority and a must for managers. I check my blackberry when i wake up, while I'm brushing, while I'm in the loo... just when i finished my bath(how some people would wish it was water proof) while i'm driving... over lunch... during meetings... while fetching my children from school... while playing with them in the garden... over a family dinner... in the midlle of a dance... the list doesnt end.
Our lives are governed by ringtones and sms tones... ha ha ha ha... never thoght it would get here... So my friends its not another person who is eating into your spouses time... its that ringtone thats the intruder.
Technology is great... I love it but if you really love it learn from it...
Learn to switch on and off...


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To, The Prime Minister…

ToThe Prime Minister…

This is just to say that I would not like to pay any more tax in a country where I do not get the benefits of the investments that we make. In a city that is always in news for the undying spirit that it exudes to all calamities and mishaps that it faces repeatedly.

As a citizen of this country I do not feel why things happen the way they do… I do not understand why illiterate people are part of the parliament, why politicians are richer than most intelligent & successful companies put together. Why a name that is nominated for the esteemed post of the president is a name that is not associated with any good doings or development or progress related issues but to scams & frauds.

Why no deadlines are met. Why can’t we follow a strictly corporate approach to this problem of being a backward country? We may aspire to be the most sought after nation that is so handicapped and crippled by the people who run it and abused by the people who enter and live in it.
As leaders of the company why can’t we look up to any of the politicians today and say that’s the person I want to be like? Why cant we meet the targets set. Why can’t be people be sacked for non performance. Why are our politicians not stressed about meeting their budgets/commitments? Why is that their children get free of cost funds/ loans from the costliest universities and a common man has to mortgage the ‘punji’ of his life to ensure basic education of his children?

Today ask any citizen of this country especially from Mumbai and ask him if the city of his dreams has eased any of his struggles. We pay the highest interest rates, highest tax rates, highest duties & charges, highest rental rates but what have we got in return.

There is just no ownership of the illiterate ministers who are hired in your cabinet. All the public expects from you is corruption, corruption and some more corruption. Simple facilities like public toilets cannot be used by a common man. They are used by the beggars and the neighbouring slum dwellers. When you land at the Indian airports to get a taxi, it takes half an hour. The taxi drivers fleece the customers asking them to pay them more as they have to wait for hours in the line and have to pay the cops to get into the line and get a fare. So at every stage it’s the common man who is paying for the corruption that you have induced into the system. There are fines & taxes for the common man but not for the politicians & cops who eat maximum paan and spit on the road or sometimes even pee on the road, who do not pay any tax but eat into the taxes & project fees. We can illustrate more examples that you could possibly read Mr Prime Minister!!!

There is a certain amount of elasticity that anything can support after which it will break. We refuse to stretch any further until are questions are answered and accountability is generated. If you think you guys are incapable then please let us know we would be more than willing to join politics and let people have the right they deserve.

Hope you have answers to the questions of 1.3 bn Indians!!!


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Discovering India!!!

A sudden plan, a great adventure, lots of unknown people. This weekend was a great or rather a different one. I went to Rishikesh, to pursue my passion for adventure sports. A trip influenced by quick decisions of Gen Y and booming economy that lets you spend guilt free. One on way to Rishikesh we passed though UP with the trademark Indian roads with potholes that can comopletely jam your back and ensure you cant sleep en route. The drive to rishikesh ended into a beautiful cottage on the banks of the river Ganga. The morning dawned with rays of sun beaming through my room and asking me to breathe some fresh air. I thought to myself when was the last time I felt so good, rejeuvenated, so full of energy rearing to go. The white sand the cold water a funny guide all made it a great trip. On our way to the 26 km rafting trip there were so many learnings of how a pahadi guy could speak more languages that I could. While rafting with so many groups of people from different countries he had learnt or rather figured out his way to communicate and ensure inspite of the language barrier, people what have a great time and would go back with lots of memories. He not only taught us how to raft but also broke a whole lot of inhibitions... he said a really nice thing...here it goes... Its often ok if you dont know how to swim but never be afraid of the water." While we went along with a few small rapids, some big he shared with us how adventure sports is not only about friends together or family together having a great time...but have become great corporate training grounds. From team building, to potential gauging, we can design activities with whatever message you wish to share. (Who ever said great innovations come only from board room meetings). Towards the end of our rafting trip we all jumped into the cold waters of the Ganga, shedding all our inhibitions, surrending ourselves to the calm waters, oblivion to the world of mobile phones, blackberrys, and all technology that remotely connects us to problems.
Our beautiful trip ended with a feeling of achievement...thrill...like all materialistics minds complete VFM...
On our way back it was a rather quiet journey...with the peace and the calm that made me sleep like a baby...and a feeling saying There is so much to India!!!left to be explored...

What’s in a name?

It’s been over a year since I have a new identity. A name that I couldn’t possibly identify with, may be didn’t wanna be associated with (it was then), a name I wouldn’t react to when called out for. I remember my unique surname in school was my identity. The unique bit was though it sounded like a Maharashtrian surname, I was a gujrati, though the Maharashtrian bit really helped at all government offices. I remember seeing my name on the school & college notice board for all my results and all my years of growing up and now with a new name I just feel…

But like all humans I got seasoned into it. I saw a whole lot of people who stuck with their identities but lost their individuality a whole lot of people who changed their identities but could not let go off the I.

Even I had to take a call what I wanted to do. While technically it makes sense to change your name, passports, ration cards, other documents so you face less grief from our government but I was still reluctant. There was this feeling of being cut off from the roots of a big tree that always protected me all my life to a new sapling whose foundation I have to lay. I don’t know if it will offer the same protection as the big tree.

None the less I got my name changed soon after marriage but I think it was only on paper and not something that I wanted to be associated with. But today after a year it’s different, may be because I’m more confident of my roots in my new environment as well. Because like any confused 25 year old I’ve understood that marriages are not about letting go off you but building a better you. It’s not letting go off you as a person but taking on what you miss from the other. Some people keep both their names; I think that is also a great idea but rather long and a little confusing for people around.

Today I have a new name and I’m ok with it because I know it’s only adding to me, I guess if I didn’t believe in that I wouldn’t be able to accept it forever.
Don’t accept till you believe in it and it will always work!!!

Noise to some & Music to the others!!!

Yesterday was a really hard day at work, actually not the best days at work. I was coming back from work at about 9.p.m. tired after traveling for an hour, dreaming of things that I wish to achieve but are a little far away, Thinking of things that have slipped away on my journey uphill.
Actually one of those days when you talk to yourself, talk to god, question him for his doings, and ask him what’s the good in the bad… While I was getting off the bus there was this loud music playing on the roads. And I said to myself why is there yet another procession and people causing traffic jam in Mumbai when the city is already so jammed. While I was crossing the roads there were these people I don’t know what you call them but who pierce sharp objects through their body and carry out a procession, why they do that I don’t know, like people are not hurting enough.
As I crossed the road, it was amazing to see how people after a hard days work were stuck in that traffic jam and wondering when are they going to get home. Some were in big cars and some in small. Some in cabs with their loved ones, holding hands, looking into each others eyes, oblivious to the blaring noise outside.( Love not only turns you blind but deaf also!!!). Some sitting in the car enjoying the music in their car. Some looking out like Mumbai cabbies do and wondering why this guy in the front is not moving? Some working on their laptop or reading. A guy actually doing nothing caught my eye, he looked at blank space and was may be thinking… of what’s gonna happen next… is he gonna make it, not make it, will all the problems pass by, will it ever dawn, can he quickly see what’s in future and come back to present to decide his next move… it was one of those times in the day when all that’s in the subconscious mind comes rushing in and blanks you out completely…
After I crossed the road I saw a little kid on the street maybe about 2 years dancing away to the procession music and enjoying it like it’s the best thing that happened to him in the day. May it was the best for him… but for me he was the best thing that happened in the day. Just seeing the joy on his face made me feel…
Life’s tough but not bad…

Oh! one last time

More often than not we say "ok honey from tomorrow, tonites the last time". This is the statement you hear most often from your loved ones, colleagues and ya your conscience...

How many times have you woken up to go the gym and said to yourself, I will definitely go from tomorrow, let me sleep the last time today, A husband tells his wife I will quit smoking from tomorrow, let me smoke one last time today, when your colleague makes a mistake and tells you alright this is the last time I'm doing this, I will be careful from the time hereon.

Does that one last time come, do you really quit the next time, are you honest the next time... these are all questions you wish we could answer but its really weird, tough and ya sometimes impossible...

Time is too short get up and go to the gym today tomorrow is always late... stop smoking today... tomorrow is too late... make no mistakes today...tomorrow maybe too late...

The most important time is now, you never know if the same circumstances will exist tomorrow, you never know if the same people will be there tomorrow... the most important time is now.

It's the only time you have control over...so don’t procrastinate today...instead act today...

Do all things you always wanted to do… go by the country side... sleep under the stars…go to ladakh…learn a language… bake that perfect cake… play a musical instrument…sing a song to your girlfriend…tell your parents you love them…read the gita to your grandmom whose eyesight has now gone blur…be a horse to your kids who always yearned for your time…help an underprivileged child…

Do it now, tomorrow is too late!!!