Day 1 – Chennai to Paris

I am writing this as I am sitting in Paris airport. It was a long flight from Chennai to Paris and I slept through most of it. I thought I’d have an interesting neighbour, but ended up with an Indian national settled in Paris and he was old hat! And a touch serious! So, I thought I may as well catch up on my lost sleep, considering that I was beating a deadline through the week, having sleepless nights getting approvals, travel documents, print outs of every discernible document that I needed (two copies each, lest one of my baggages doesn’t turn up when I land in the US). So, I slept through the flight.

We reached Paris an hour ago and as soon as we got into the bus, the modernity, technology, systematic approach to life in the wild west hit me rightaway. There was this bus that we had to board and reach the transit terminal to catch the connecting flight to New York. The manner in which the documents were checked, the way the bus was structured, the procedures followed to help the old people into the bus with specialized systems was just a glimpse of the attention to detail that westerner adhere to.

I got to the terminal, and after the security check and then baggage check (for a second time) by a hot French blonde, I entered the waiting area in the terminal. Clear-cut messages of the schedules of various airlines to various destinations in the world were the first thing that hit me inside the terminal. For the first time in my life, I noticed a public phone where I could use my own credit card and call anywhere in the world (I had heard of call collect and the usual ISD or IP phone, but this was different. telephonic model!)

I then scouted around the airport terminal across various duty free shop which were replete with the best booze possible (even a teetotaler like me could appreciate the variety on display!), scores of porn magazines, foreign exchange counters, a café that had the typical French toast, croissant and butter! Not to miss, the terminal was of course full of very good-looking women(charms of travelling!).

Well, as I am typing this sitting in this Paris airport, two Indian girls sitting next to me are speaking aloud about life in the US, life back in India, the learning experience, college education etc. While I am never one to eavesdrop, the volume of the voices of these two girls is so high that even if one doesn’t want to hear them, it comes and hits the ear straight!

Well, its another two hours for my flight. Let me scout this terminal a bit more and add to my international exposure?!!:)

Its Amchi Mumbai for all of us...7/11 or otherwise.

I hail from the Silicon Valley of India and have been an ardent fan of the way of life in the biggest metropolis in the country, Mumbai. I simply love that city, for its sheer magnitude, pace of life, accommodative nature, range of opportunities (land of dreams!) and immense will to steam ahead irrespective of whether there is a crash on Dalal Street or a bomb blast in the suburban train.

A lot has been said and written about the recent bomb blasts on 7/11 (India's own version of 9/11?), but I don't think Mumbaiites have the time or the inclination to fall prey to this dastardly act. I remember seeing the BBC news on 9/11 back in 2001, when the twin towers came crashing down. None of the footage there showed any bodies jumping , or blood-stained images, lest it dents the psyche of the American race, more than it already had. But Indian TV channels had a great story on 7/11/2006. After all,they don't get such juicy stories everyday! My God! The lifeline of Mumbai, indeed the lifeline that transports the people who run the financial capital of the country, had been hit. One of the TV channels even had a journalist on the same train, but on a different bogie to the one that was reduced to ash. And that made for terrific soundbytes and TRP ratings, by way of a "first-hand" account.

But, yesterday evening, I was witness to a couple of showpiece events on television, across two leading channels. One was CNN-IBN, with the effervescent Rajdeep Sardesai getting tough with a bunch of 6 panelists from Mumbai, while the other was NDTV. Predictably, it was the famous Barkha Dutt, again with a bunch of famous Mumbaikars on the panel and an angry audience to boot. As I was watching these two programmes that deliberated on whether Mumbai is a soft target and beyond repair, I found the same cliched answers by both panels on both channels. Topics ranged from anger of the average Mumbaikar, how there is no political will, how there is a collapse of the infrastructure in the big city, how there is no leader who can inspire the city, how gangsters, mafia, powerful honchos, bollywood threats run the city - 13 blasts in the last 13 years had made Mumbai city vulnerable.

It was amazing to see the cross-section of society in these two TV studios voicing their concerns, saying that they do not have the resources to run the city and its the job of the administrators. The famous 26/7 (why have we reduced journalism to dates?!) rains that destroyed the streets of Mumbai and paralysed normal life, was discussed threadbare. The point that 13 years have passed since 1993 and we still have not convicted the key accused in the Mumbai blasts was loudly echoed. And the city has been hit again and again since that dark day in 1993 - Ghatkopar, Gateway of India, Zaveri Bazar, Mulund blasts are as fresh in the average Mumbaikars mind as the the 7/11 bomb blasts are.

Looking at all these detailed analysis, I got the feeling that all of us STILL love the city of Mumbai, but are unable to come up with a solution to manage its scale and size. I also got the sinking feeling that we are scared deep down that the face of India in the international economic map is slowly weeding away at its firm exterior. While we may romanticise the famed Mumbai spirit and rightly so, I strongly felt that this time, we are sincerely and genuinely concerned that our own version of New York city is incrementally getting eroded in its own value. Sadly,the terrorists seem to have understood this gradual erosion and are hitting harder each time.

Yes, there is corruption, there are traffic bottlenecks, there is a sensitive stock exchange, there are major conglomerates in India and abroad with head offices in Mumbai. But Mumbai has a place in our hearts. Corporate honchos live in Mumbai, so do Bollywood stars and sports stars. Many influential people have made Mumbai their home. Some of the most famous journalists are from Mumbai. Why, even the great Pramod Mahajan, had the formative years of his enterprising spirit in Mumbai/Maharashtra. We have rags to riches stories aplenty in Mumbai, most notably, Dhirubai Ambani and the Reliance behemoth. The great Mumbai marathon exemplifies the Mumbai spirit. Leander Paes has made Mumbai his hometown for the last 6 years and has promised to host the Davis Cup again in Mumbai and for as long as he can manage it, till he is the captain. The last Davis Cup was won on the adrenalin that Leander received from the Bombay crowd. Financial analysts, investment bankers, lawyers, bankers, policy makers, central banks, commercial banks, dance bars, taxiwalas, hotel chains, upmarket socialites and a cross-section of the Indian populace are all based out of Mumbai. That is the fantastic accommodative nature of this great city i.e it can hold the poorest of the poor and the elitest of the elite.  This very diversity is becoming Mumbai's problem and possibly weakness.

The resolve of the city never to bicker down can negate the sternest of terror attacks. But, beneath all this, there is another Mumbai. One of chawls, roadside vendors, vada-pav stalls, mafia, underworld dons allegedly running extortion threats, a massive floating population that comes into the city in the morning and goes to neighbouring towns and cities at night. All sorts of people live in Mumbai. And it is in the greater cause of the growing city that we seriously need to look closely at this scare, inherent soul-searching that we have been doing in the last week. We seriously need to pay heed to this feeling that this time, maybe,just maybe, the surface of the Mumbai wall in its essence has been hit. And that is something, we cannot choose to ignore.

I do not know what the solution is. All I do know is that, I simply love the city of Mumbai. Everytime I go there from Bangalore, I feel like extending my stay by a day or two. I feel like seeing more of that city. I have gone in those local trains myself, from New Bombay to VT and even Churchgate .I love the sandwiches that are sold outside Churchgate station; there have been days when I have had them for breakfast and lunch. I love the speed of the city. There is something enigmatic that captures me everytime I touchdown at Santa Cruz airport. That look out of the aircraft window down into the Arabian Sea and over Marine Drive is something that excites me!

Please don't kill this pulse in Mumbai, both for the Mumbaikars, and for millions of others like me, who truly LOVE Mumbai! Its AMCHI MUMBAI for all of us!

The expressions in plays/dramas and crowds..!

I have been going to plays in Chennai and Bangalore for a while now and it has been good fun. People are tremendously conscious of their attire, beautifully dressed for the occasion, and there is definitely a fair degree of sophistication in the class of society that turns up at these plays. The artificiality of the environment, the quasi-knowledge of many people in the crowd about the play, the daring dress codes that I have seen in these places are indeed very interesting to watch. 

The girls in the crowd at these plays have always been a feast to the eyes. Their idea of decorating themselves with resplendent attires, slam-bang deep colour lipsticks, revealing tops, and an artificial English accent to boot, is a combination that is pretty much the order of the day. The number of ooooooh's and aaaah's that I hear in the auditoriums make me believe that these women are reminiscing many other emotions that they might be used to. In reality, it is their real-time reaction to some spectacular performances by actors and actresses, who are practicing and displaying their craft, to a live audience. Men, for the most part, are much quieter. 

The time in the corridors during breaks is an even more intriguing experience. High society western English accents, women draped in expensive shawls and sarees, men dressed in very smart ethnic wear and conversations about the world flow through these corridors. Just as most people plug into a standard Indian palate of samosas with ketchup and a cup of coffee!

Not just that, these corridors are places of extreme public displays of affection. Endless number of men and women exchange tight hugs, beautiful pecks on each others cheeks, and immediately switch their conversations to world affairs, travel plans and the like. And not to forget, saying bye to each other, means another round of public display of affection! But the smiles that people have for each other, do seem to be genuine more often than not.

All this is good fun to watch for a single guy like me, who is interested in plays. It is not just the drama on stage that one gets to enjoy. One has even more fun watching grown-up men and women enact shows, far away from the stage!

Manmohan Singh - don't discredit the great man!

I have been an admirer of our Prime Minister,Dr.Manmohan Singh for over a decade now. He is the man who needs to be credited with our liberalized mindset these days. He has also been instrumental in getting globalization and pioneering economic reforms when India was at its economic nadir in 1991.

But the same Dr.Singh is drawing flak now, for his supposed "weakness" and "inability to be stern". While those accusations are arguable, one can never take the credibility and integrity of the man away. He is one of the sharpest brains in the country's economic horizon and a much needed one at that.

I get the feeling that Dr.Singh is first an economist, who chose politics to use his prowess for the greater cause of the country. And in that endeavour, he wins hands down. But, when the same professional is given the mantle of the Prime Minister, people are casting aspersions. That is not acceptable.He is not a natural politician. He possibly doesn't have the mass appeal of a Vajpayee or the strategic political skills of somebody like the late Pramod Mahajan. To therefore expect a popular PM is a fundamental flaw. One needs to look at the contributions of a leader to a nation. And Dr.Singh's stellar performance far outweighs the most accomplished political leader that India may have produced. It is no joke to open up currency fluctuations to a free market economy. It is further no joke to create awareness of economic reforms in a highly fragmented society. Dr.Singh has done this. And he is a respected economist and looked upon as a veyr knowledgeable man in the international fraternity. Let us not forget that he has enough and more experience in India's economic policies than most of the other criminal politicians that we have around us.

Just that Dr.Singh is in a situation, where he is unable to use his prowess in finance and economics in the political seat of a Prime Minister these days. That is asking for a huge shift from the man. He has never been the headline hitting man. He is quiet by nature, but no less steely. Political considerations and coalition politics are slowly creating windows of opportunity for people to target the man.

Let us not do that to a man who has been one of the jewels of India. If we cannot find a full-blown politician as areplacement or give the political climate in the country a clear, majority mandate, let us at least not discredit a great man!

The magical Muralitharan

I read the papers this morning that the genius of Muthaiah Muralitharan did the honours in wrapping up the English batting line up in their own backyard. While there have been enough aspersions cast against Murali over the years, what stands out is the courage of conviction in the man. I mean, an attitude of, "let the world say or do what it wants. I am going to be the master of my art", takes tremendous will power and confidence in one's skills. And its no mean feat to scalp over 600 wickets in test match cricket, when the entire Lankan team was a one-man bowling attack for all these years.

Hats off to a champion, who stuck to his guns and proved to the world that if you are good, you are good. Sooner or later,people will realise!

Mumbai trip- day 1

I had been to Mumbai for the May day weekend.At the end of it,I realised that I needed another weekend to recover from this long weekend!That is the pace of the mega metropolis that I was hit with.

The sights and sounds of this big city can be pretty unnerving for the mellowed souls.Such is the expanse of humanity and speed of life,that I didn't even realise how my three days were spent.

It was a great feeling to touchdown on Mumbai's CST airport on a Friday evening.I still remember trying to figure out the way to a cabstand, and like with most metros around the world,this one too had a system.More importantly,it worked!I hopped onto a cab and as we exited the airport terminal,a cop readily stopped us and asked me something in Marathi, which obviously was Greek and Latin to me!The cabwala helped out and at the end of the "translation", it transpired that the cop wanted to know just where I was headed.All I needed to say was Powai!:)

Anyway,we got onto the Western Express highway, which was to be my first glimpse of a city in the grind i.e.every single pebble and slice of mud was dug up right along the way from the airport to Powai.It was amazing that my cab driver actually managed to keep the relic Fiat car on its four wheels,what with oscillations at every 5 feet on the street.But I actually was enjoying it.Very soon,as we hit the exit into Andheri,the typical Radio Mirchi channel came on.I just smiled at the cab driver and told him to increase the volume.Reason?There was a Kishore Kumar special going on and I just loved the combination of a long cab drive and a Kishore da special.

As the cab chugged along,I transported myself into Kishore land and just reached a trance,only to be woken up by my mobile phone!My cousin wanted to know where I was!!:)Anyway,told him that I was in a cab that was hanging on for its dear life and should be home in some time!Poor guy,he had cooked some authentic north Indian food for me,that too without garlic!Just the way I like it!Of course,I followed up this call with a quick buzz to my dear Mumbai friend in Andheri,and fixed up a lunch date with her the next day!She is the famous tall girl that I once wrote in my article on www.arun.zine5.com!:)

Finally,made it to my cousin's place at 10 p.m., only to discover that my cousin hadn't returned from office.He belonged to the breed of Mumbai professionals who drove early in the morning from Powai to Nariman Point and drove back the same distance,when people were just retiring for the day!Anyway,caught up with his wife and was chatting away to glory with her, with my stomach grumbling.I was starving!We had dinner!

I got up at 9 a.m. the next morning and met my cousin for the first time in a year.Had breakfast and walked down to the pool in the apartment complex with the whole family.Two year old kiddo jumped into the pool with her mom and screamed and smiled and then never left the water!She was so adorable and cute!:)

Of stock market crashes and emotions

So,the Sensex tanked more tan 800 points today.Big deal is my reaction.The game is just the same as with anything in life.Nothing is permanent,nothing is elusive,and nothing is what it is always believed to be.There are going to be cycles of ups and downs in every walk of life,and the stock market is no exception.

I do not understand the hue and cry that is made about the singular movements of the stock markets.Ok,its a great avenue to get rich,but I somehow feel that cyclical movements of markets can still be understood and controlled.But there are many other events in our lives that have no repair or remedy,if its as impactful as a 800 point crash on the Sensex!The sooner we learn to rationalise this difference between the "man-made" world and the "internal world of a human being", the easier it will be for us to look at life beyond fund portfolios and ROI.At the end of the day,while it is important to make money,it is possibly more important to learn to be happy and exercise that learning by actually being happy.

Rebirth of my weekly column

I never believed in rebirth till recently.The editor of my website where I have been writing for the last 3 years wrote to me saying that another set of editors have agreed to take the website ahead and keep the show going.We had to stop the website for the last few months due to the pressures of logistics and demands of individual professional careers.

But when I received that email that another couple is going to run the show now,I felt relieved.I almost felt that a part of me had been reinstated after having taken a sabbatical!!:)

Great to be back into the writing mould now.I will now have the excitement,worry,tension,thrill,and romance of figuring out ways to write newer things every seven days.Should keep me on my toes though!!!:)

The essence of Bangalore

I went home last weekend.It was a mesmerising feeling to get down at Cantonment station for a few minutes,sit on the bench on the platform and inhale the fresh morning air.It was a divine moment that I just did not want to end.Those few moments made me relate to the old saying that there is nothing like home on this planet.The aroma of the morning,the freshness of the early dawn,and the early morning birds and crickets around with there tweety-beety sounds were an exhilirating experience.And in the midst of all this,the early morning tea was perhaps the most blissful moment in the last fortnight.

Hats of to the simple things in life.They matter more than any of the so-called "big things".I am convinced of that.

Tamil Nadu Elections

I have been living in Chennai for 15 months now and the election fever has been brewing up over the last 3 months or so. But I am amazed that in a highly polarised politcal framework in India, Tamil Nadu still has to choose between one amongst two alternatives. Maybe that is good in a way, as the voter has limited options, unlike elections elsewhere, which have some unknown parties making tall promises.

In its own way, the political climate of Tamil Nadu reminds me of the two party system in the West. People will vote only if you can deliver there (though that may not always work in Indian conditions!).But at least, the voter is sure about what he is getting by casting his vote in favour of one party over the other. We have therefore seen tremendous competition in this Tamil Nadu election, with both parties (DMK and AIADMK) trying to woo the voter with numerous freebies. I recall a question that one of the journalists covering these elections posed to a political leader i.e.” Have you worked out the economics of these freebies?". Fair question, I thought. But it was obvious from the politician's facade that he couldn't care less, except ensure that he completed his mandate of getting his quota of the votes. Freebies are a very temporary way of getting people to vote. Just like a blue-chip stock, the inherent value of a political party to deliver is what will help anyone in power sustain durable advantage and contribute to the development of the state. While that may be the view of the educated lot, I guess the same may not be true of everyone else. I may be wrong there, as a number of the rural folk these days, yet, the chances of wooing them with freebies are higher.

But I must say that these new IIT guys have caught my attention. They do not have the bandwidth and resource pool of the bigger political parties in the state, but they sure have created ripples of things to come. There have been many conversations in and around Chennai where people do not question the intent of this young brigade and do see them shaping up into something substantial in the coming years.

I just hope at the end of the day, the party that comes to power does something concrete and delivers. I wonder if corporatisation of political parties is a good idea. This might just bring in more accountability and transparency in their operations, both pre-election and post-election. This corporatisation issue might be of interest to the journalist fraternity, especially in these days of "panel of experts"!

Finished five years work ex today

I don't know how I am feeling right now.All I know is that I finished five years post PGDBA work experience today.Its been one big,interesting journey.From days of being clueless,to managing nightmarish bosses,to working with peers and seniors who taught me the ropes,to meeting client expectations now,it sure has been an interesting journey.

Possibly the biggest lesson I have learnt in these five years is to have a peaceful sleep at night with a clear conscience.I am glad that I have managed it unfailingly in this early part of my career and there is possibly nothing more satisfying than a good night's sleep - however bad the day may have been!:)And trust you me,there have been some really bad days.But the good far outweigh the bad,so I guess I will take that.

I will never forget my first year out in the big,bad corporate world.Was hurled into assignments that I was clueless about and hardly had any navigation path.Didn't know what to talk,how much to talk,what is politically correct,what is politically incorrect,what to divulge,what not to divulge,how does one manage holidays,how the boss is not always right even though he may claim to be,etc.

Its all been a great learning experience.Especially,living alone in a different city and standing on my own feet has been nothing short of a live-MBA in itself.I call it a live-MBA,because of the real-world lessons that living alone has taught me - cost management,budgeting,time management,people management(landlords,servant maids,autowalas etc),resource management,skills development,multi-tasking,overdelivering after underpromising.

But the sheer freedom to do things my way,learn things the hard way and be better off from the experience has given me the confidence to make the full utilization of my persona in exceptionally tough times.These lessons should keep me in good stead for the rest of my career.

Leaving for Bangalore amidst the Rajkumar chaos

The news headline went on and on about the end of an era with the sad demise of Dr.Rajkumar in my lovely hometown, Bangalore.And the flip side of the death manifested itself into violence in this erstwhile pensioners'paradise.I felt sad that my city had transformed into such a violent city.It wasn't ever like that before.Sad.

Anyway,I had go board my train back home to Bangalore.And the train was choc-a-bloc.Not death of Rajkumar or any other factor was going to dissuade Bangaloreans from going home for a nice three-day break - away from the simmering heat and humidity of Chennai.Not to mention, folks like me are not going to miss the opportunity to enjoy some sumptous home food!:)

There were a few people who boarded our bogie without tickets.All of them looked like ruffians to me.The ticket collector warned them right after the train left Chennai Central that the police and the railway authorities will come at night and as these unauthorized travellers to disembark from the train.That threat went on deaf ears,with a couple of the unauthorized travellers exchanging a quiet word or two on bribing the officials to get past them,when they arrive.Hmm..so much for corruption seeping into the system.

But I was awoken when I heard animated conversation in the dead of the night, as the train sped home!The railway authorities had arrived and so had the cops.They were in a long dialogue with these unauthorized travellers for the best part of 30 minutes.Nobody could sleep in the bogie, as decibel levels were high.But I was pleasantly surprised and glad that the authorities had their way.They managed to get these unauthorized travellers to alight at the next station, and asked them to board the unreserved bogies,where one doesn't need a ticket.And all this without any corruption but purely on the merits of the case, with was a lost case as far as the unauthorized travellers were concerned.Even bribing was not talked of eventually!

I guess some things are changing.Am glad!

Catching up with my greatest boss ever!

Wow! What an evening that was!I went to visit my old boss at his office a couple of evenings back.I was meeting him after a good 3 years or so.Felt so,so good and meeting him convinced me that there are indeed some fascinating professionals in the corporate world. The poise,the charm,the professionalism,the scale of achievement and his overall persona had always impacted me in the most positive manner possible i.e.inspirational.While I have never been the type who has wanted to by like somebody else, this boss has always been so inspiring to me, that a lot of my professional standards have manifested themselves from the grounding that I received from this amazing man.

There are three of them actually,out of which this guy is the tallest.All three of them are scintillating exponents of professional excellence which any average Joe or motivated gradudate can look up to and pick up a pointer or two.These three guys have weathered many a storm for a long,long time and have established their credentials very firmly in their clients' eyes.Its amazing how they discover newer and newer ways to deliver client satisfaction by maintaining the highest standards of excellence fathomable by a human being.

Anyway,to sit down with them, in their swanky new office,in the big boss' cabin, sharing a nice,long conversation,interspersed with some munchies and tea, was an exhilirating experience for me.I mean,clients value these guys a lot and their time is or paramount importance to the outcome of any of their engagements.And to have sat down with me,after a long,hard day at the office,and spent the best part of two hours made me feel on top of the world. Not because I was sitting with these big ticket people or something, but just the sheer manner in which they gave me their time as friends,catching up on old times, checking with me on the current state of my career and my plans, some of the recent experiences abroad etc,just made me feel so,so,so good.It didn't feel like a boss-subordinate talk at all, but was more like that of a bunch of senior and juniors engaged in some quality time with each other as friends.Just made me feel very good to be recognised on the merits of my own case by them as well.They were very happy to see me after a while and to observe the moves I have made since I started off with them in my first job.

I am glad that I had these three wonderful men as my mentors when I started off my career five years back!Just seems like yesterday that I was there!:)

Davis Cup & Leander Peas - the romance continues..

I had one of the best Sundays in 2006 yesterday.Sitting back in my living room and enjoying every second of the mesmerising passion for tennis and an Indian victory,sure had its lessons embedded in it.The passion,romance and thrill of watching Leander Paes guts it out against the toughest of opposition and under the most extenuating circumstances was an abject lesson on how a human being can really overcome every obstacle that comes his way.

The pundits would call it strategy i.e. losing the fourth set miserably(6-0),just so as to regain momentum and time for the medicines to bite, and eventually going for the kill on the back of sheer passion,adrenalin and crowd support,not to mention ability.Yes,that is what happened at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai yesterday,as India beat Pakistan in the Asia-Oceania group,Davis Cup finale.

Hats off to Leander.Few professional sportsmen can boast of integrity and passion while going about their work.To add such passion,energy and a never-say-die attitude with one's back against the wall, was nothing short of inspiring!The reverbating stadium,and the congregation of the Indian team around Leander was proof enough that he is indeed the solitary torch-bearer for Indian tennis.And the tears that poured from his deepest corners showed what passion and will to win actually means.And it was not one of those artificially,glycerine-initiated tears whatsoever.Those were tears of doing anything for the country,with a sound mix of ethics,passion and sheer grit.

Hats off to a great champion!Proud of being an Indian,indeed,Leander!Very,very proud!

Why I think the ISB crorepati is hogwash

It is amazing how the traditionally most secretive element of a human being's professional life is being publicised to this degree.Media pundits have hailed the Indian School of Business today for creating the first ever crorepati from the ramparts of its hallowed turf.But hang on,let us not fool ourselves anymore about this "big-ticket" placement.

While there may be merits in the case of such recruits, we must remember that these are more the exception than the norm(possibly a fractional percentage of the entire workforce or employable workforce).That said, mere receipt of such placements is no index of a human being's capabilities,as there are scores of professionals who have done and are doing yeoman service in their respective streams.

If there is talk of a balanced media, I would be happy to see features and lead stories of people who have done exceptionally well without any of these overly glorified degrees. Having graduated from a business school myself and having been part of the consulting world, I can safely say that there is more to life than a fast-paced, jet-setting job with a skyrocketing salary.

The question to be raised is, have we reduced these business schools to assembly lines of hype? Or are we still a race who values the teeming millions who have done wonderfully well in life, despite stints at such schools?Get real...

20 hours with my greatest friend!

I will never forget the 20th of March, 2006. It was a red letter day in my life.

The occasion was my old, school friend's marriage with his sweetheart. Super happy for them! But the greater thrill for me was in meeting my childhood friend after two years and spending the best part of two days with her at that wedding. It was enthralling and magical to experience unadulterated, natural and deep human connect, and straight-from-the-heart for nearly 20 hours. 

There is no parallel to the speciality of the feeling when such close childhood friends meet after some time. The enthusiasm levels rise, the pace of the heartbeat quickens, and pulse rate automatically accelerates. There is genuine happiness that emerges from the core of our being and that happiness cascades across every part of our existence - even if it is for a few hours. 

Those deep emotions and state of happiness can only be experienced and can never be explained adequately in any language. Simply because, the emotion is directly correlated to how special she is to me. I literally grew up with her and she is such a core part of my being even today. The times spent with her always touch my heart deeply and the incredible set of lifelong memories that we built with each other are immensely treasured (by both of us!).

I keep hearing about the word 'quality time'. I think I know what it means now because those 20 hours will be something I will cherish till my grave. From freewheeling conversations, to teasing each other, to laughing together, to going down memory lane and to simply enjoy the extraordinary bond that we still have for each other - those 20 hours had it all.

She is the greatest friend I have ever had the privilege and fortune of having in my life. She will always be somebody who I will treasure till my last breath.

The irrational journey from girl to bride and guy to groom!

This is not an attempt to draft a manual of the processes involved in upgrading a girl to a bride or a guy to a groom!Its that time of life when every relative I have and every remote associate in the family has an opinion. About what else, but my marriage! While X wants a homely girl, Y presents the case of a daring girl, and somebody else showcases the candidature of a girl with a good mix of modern and tradition. Some girls are qualified,some are not so qualified (who decides this, by the way?), while others are not up to the mark(questionable again). And then, there is the other issue of family background et al. Are we on a "hunt" here? Or are we trying to make the best use of the available talent pool in the matrimony market? Or, are we trying to quickfix the situation?

While I am still enjoying my freedom (with a multitude of girlfriends and in NO hurry to make an immediate choice just for the heck of it!), I am actually wondering why this concept of unification is paid so much attention to,in our country. Why the Mittals and Saharas of the world blow up so much of money and have pompous weddings of their children? Is it an index of happiness? How is it that the attendance of VIPs, is supposedly deemed to be proportional to the degree of happiness experienced by the duo who are getting married? What has social status got to do with a marriage? Why can't a guy and a girl love each other like there is nothing else in this world? Why are we reducing these opinions to class, sects, sub-sects and such man-made demarcations? And pompous displays of wealth is NO index of happiness.

Thankfully, I am lucky in that, whatever X or Y may say, I get to take the final call. Thank god for that and thank god for having such broad-minded parents!!

In a lighter vein, I find the process of this bride-hunting very funny (at least in the arranged marriage route) - two families meet based on the documented evidence of a horoscope (which is generations old by the time the guy and girl in question are of marriageable age!). There are pleasantries exchanged between the two families. I think this meeting is a classic behavioural test more than anything else i.e. everyone is at his/her best behaviour and putting his/her own best foot forward. And in broad-minded families like mine, after the initial pleasantries between the two families, the guy and the girl go and sit alone and have a long talk.

This conversation is the most interesting bit i.e.two human beings, brought together by the documented evidence of their candidatures (which is again based on somebody else's estimation/calculation),trying to make the most of the meeting. They try to be themselves, but are not possibly themselves at all. The conversation can go either way - drift, or end up as a chatter. Now,chattering away to glory can depict a false sense of interest! That is something not too many are aware of i.e.two individuals,meeting for the first time, if talkative, will have a lot of conversation going! (My friends call me a flirt and I talk a lot with girls! Doesn't mean I go after every available singleton on the planet -m arriage is special stuff, please! At least, for me!). Now, such conversation can be no index of affinity! On the contrary, the meeting can bomb, with both the guy and girl not knowing what to talk, or one party doing all the talking and the other sitting as an ardent listener. That has its own dynamics, as some guys like quiet girls & vice-versa, but outgoing people like me would much prefer a girl who has a brain and uses it to voice her opinion with her mouth! Don't need dumb ducks here, please! Not me, at least!

Finally,after the "talk", the families bid each other goodbye, with the cliched,"we will get back to you", and as soon as the guy and the girl are back on their way back home, the parents shoot the missile question:"What do you think?". BOOM! Ah! One meeting, and one has to answer a question that would impact a lifetime (thank god I know to say no!), what one thinks in bullet points that have just two options - yes or no! (Ok, exceptions are there to this, I know). Hehehe, had that been so easy to answer, I would've married some 20 times by now, as I like so many of my friends who are girls!! But that is a totally different ball game, will write about that some other time...

I cooked today for the first time!

Wow! What an experience to eat your own cooking! There is nobody to complain, critique, comment, moderate or opine. Just gobble down what you make with your own hands and feel on top of the world about it!

Well,well,well. Today was my debut in cooking (a la,a debut in a cricket match!).I used a cooker with my own hands for the first time in my life. The thrill and tension were working in conjunction as I eased rice into the water-filled cooker. The tension mounted as I awaited steam to emanate from the insides of the cooker. The whiff of steam took a good 2 minutes to make its appearance. That time was enough for me to wonder what the tantrums of the "bzzz" sound meant!

Slowly, the steam surfaced and I struggled in placing the "weight" on the cooker stopper. Its amazing, such a small piece of "weight" controls the entire output of the quality of the rice. No "weight" and the cooker risks getting blown apart!

I stood right by the cooker, till I heard the whistles. It took its own time and I got impatient in my count, but had to stand by the cooker to listen to the whistles. Mom had instructed me that 3 whistles is the bare minimum! Well, finally, after much waiting, the whistle blew at the top of its voice and I turned off the cooker.

But hell, I had to wait another 15 minutes before I could sample the colour, texture, look and feel of my first adventure with a cooker. I went and had a bath to circumvent the 15-minute wait!

Finally, got ready, returned to the new cooker (which was no longer spotless) and removed the whistle and the top lid. There it was! Bright white cooked rice, staring me in the face! What an exhilarating feeling it is to cook your own rice!

I walked through IIT Chennai last evening!Wow!

I went to the IIT Chennai last evening.I don't know how others feel,but just like I had read in books,I felt at peace with myself when I entered the campus.Now,I am not a science student but,even though I am from a different stream,the power of the place hit me a wee bit.The rustle of the trees,the cold breeze blowing across the lanes,the serene atmosphere.It was amazing! I recalled Chetan Bhagat's famous book on life at IIT,Delhi, Five Point Someone,and was picturising all the antics described in that book,happening in the Delhi campus of the type of institute that I was walking through,for the first time in my life.

The sight of a senior student standing in front of 6 absolutely tense students,explaining some scientific phenomenon is a sight that I will treasure for eternity.The boy was standing in a jeans and long shirt,explaining some theory with immense passion,fire in his eyes and terrific commitment.Six juniors(they may have been classmates of his,I'm not sure)were sitting in a bench in front of him,absolutely glued to what he was saying,scribbling notes and marking points on their books.This was bang in front of the famous Central Library,a building where one can spend a lifetime and still not be done with all the reading in the world!I remarked to my counterpart,that the library could pass off as a software company - that's how smashing an architectural masterpiece it was!

Many of my friends in the engineering world have told me that life in IIT is an experience and one gets immensely nervous on just entering this hallowed turf of the science world.I guess the trailer I experienced last evening is what they were referring to!

I have walked all around the IISc in my hometown,Bangalore.And that I thought was a mesmerising experience.The walk through IIT yesterday was even better!

I am proud to be an Indian!Jai IIT!

A nice,serene 28th birthday!

A really nice day today!After a really long time,I had a nice,serene,relaxed birthday!

My room mate ensured that I had the traditional surprise on a birthday,by waking me up at midnight and making me cut a cake!!Its been 7 years since I cut a cake on my birthday!The cakes were yummy!Customary calls at midnight followed from friends!Two lovely girls were the first to call me and wish me!Felt great!!Few sms's flowed in as well!Felt nice as I lay down to sleep at 1 a.m.

Could hardly get up and run to office in the morning.But old friends will be old friends.My oldest friend(I know him since 1989!) woke me up at 7 a.m and wished me.The phone kept ringing and sms's kept coming,so I decided that I may as well get up.Logged on to the net,checked email, got ready and then headed to office.

It was a low-key thing in office.Not much publicity, prefer it that way these days, compared to the jazz in previous birthdays.I still remember my 16th birthday.It rocked!Abou19 friends called me over to a restaurant, and the tallest among them smashed a cake on my face to euphoria surrounding him,with everyone going gung-ho and wishing me in public!It was a serious high!And I share my birthday with a lovely,tall girl,who graced this planet 1 hour before I did,in the same year!And on that 16th birthday she was around as well. Girls sure get their way around - nobody smashed a cake on her face!Anyway,that was a high,once upon a time!

This time around,I was cooped up in office with absolutely no mood to work.Lots of pleasant memories of past birthdays came flooding back.Felt great to recollect them all!A handful of my counterparts in office wished me in office.At lunch time,I decided to invite my team mates out for a snack/treat in the evening at Amethyst.This is one of the most cosy, upmarket coffee shops in this city of Chennai!Everyone readily agreed!I booked a table for 7 of us immediately,as more often than not,this place gets flooded with cosy twosomes!

We left office early and reached the venue at around 6.15 p.m. after beating some maddening traffic.Settled down around a nice,round table and didn't quite realize how the next 2 hours went past.Had some terrific,freewheeling conversation with the entire team with everyone at their enthusiastic best and out to try some new dish or the other.One of the guys around was the solitary non-vegetarian and was initially feeling very awkward.But he retained his courage of conviction in non-vegetarian food and hit a lovely sandwich!The rest of us placed our orders too and it was seriously the lightest birthday I ever had.Out in a corner table, with a small bunch of nice people,away from the pressures of the office,away from deadlines,bosses and clients,seated in the open,on a lovely breezy January evening!Wow!(Almost a perfect setting to go out with a hot babe on a romantic dinner!).

As the evening progressed,I sensed that my companions were up to something fishy.And my gut feel came true,so to speak.They surprised me with a cake!A terrific,plum cake!Slurp!I cut the cake in suspended animation as it was very breezy in that place and we found it tough to keep the candle alight.Managed it finally.My companions thrilled me when they offered to treat me,rather than the other way around.Now,that was a first of its kind for me!

We then split and I got off near home and walked home.Was still not convinced that the day was complete.So went out with my room mate to the most authentic north Indian food joint in Chennai city, Bombay Halwa House.It was simply awesome.The dishes there were not only inexpensive but also of incredibly high quality.Just too good!I gulped down the cold buttermilk with some masala mix and dived into the exotic menu there.The roasted papad there with green chutney rekindled memories of my trip to Jaipur last January,where I had the greatest Rajasthani food till date!

Anyway,finally got home at 11.15 p.m. checked my mailbox and crashed at midnight!

So ended a nice,serene birthday!And the best part was,I did not miss my old girlfriend.Thank god I've moved on in life!

Bitten by the writing bug!

Its bitten me now.Hard and deep.I want to write now.I've always been a very expressive person.Never realized that expression,passion for life,and innate interest in writing and engaging in a conversation can be harnessed to reach higher levels.Maybe even carve careers.

I am right now in a writing-related job,where I write about technology markets!I think I need to make the most of the emerging boom in the media.Do something about my passion to write.Do something about my flair for expression(No,I am not blowing my own trumpet here,I just have genuine interest).

Let's see how it goes.The seeds of interest are sown.Need direction!

A year of recovery-2005

It would be safe to say that after a very long time,I had a fantabulous year in 2005.It was undoubtedly,a year of recovery for me.

The highlight of the year was surely my first ever trip abroad.The experience of the US across three months,opened up my eyes and horizons into a world beyond anything that I had experienced previously.

Three days in 2005 defined the year for me.July 22 to July 24.I visited the world's melting pot,New York!It was the realization of a childhood dream for me!I had seen the world famous Times Square and Statue of Liberty on TV,way back in school.I had dreamt of seeing the tall skyscrapers,of experiencing the happening events in the greatest city in that part of the world.I had dreamt of seeing NY city from the top of Empire State Building.I wanted to see the museums there.I wanted to get into teh hustle and bustle of NY life and experience the subway there.I had dreamt of getting my own caricature done(I got a portrait!).OH!How I had dreamt of all this,way back in school- a good ten years ago!And to have actually realized that dream,gave me a kick like nothing else.The pinnacle was the incredible Broadway show that I managed to get discount tickets and attend!Ooh!What a phenomenal experience!I was in a trance at the end of it.And to watch Times Square on a Saturday night,from the Broadway balcony,with scores of people,fun,frolic,lights,action and a fever pitch in the atmosphere,just got me mesmerised!Will NEVER forget that evening at Times Square and the stupendous professional performance of all the actors in the show,Fiddler on the Roof!I never knew that Broadway actors were legends in their own right,and very deservingly so,if I may add!It was a TRULY GREAT evening for me!!I felt on top of the world that evening,that's how special it was.Even now,the strands of hair on my wrist straighten,whenever I think of that exhilirating evening!Wow!

Even though its been more than 5 months since that visit,my jaw still drops whenever I recall those 3 days.What a scintillating experience!Wow!I guess,my friend in New Jersey would be cursing me a wee bit as I hardly let him sleep those few days.But then again,I am sure that he will appreciate the fact that it was the greatest experience for me outside India till date and it was something truly memorable!

For a long time,I had been crippled with failures,not necessarily due to my own faults.But all that changed in 2005.I reaped the rewards of some good work,got some amazing opportunities that I had never even attempted earlier and of course,got a fair degree of exposure in working in a globalized world.I would have to credit my professional interest and sustenance to my stupendous boss and team mate.Many of us are blessed with great jobs,some of us with great money,while others may be engaged in path-breaking work.But I would trade a lot of those glories for the peace of mind,fantastic integration within the team I operated in.It was an experience to work with such a fine American Director and professional team mate.Will always remember my team mate in the US for helping me with my ways around that country,as I was a total novice when I went there!My US trip would not have been what it ended up as,if not for the terrific co-ordination,assistance,and enthusiastic co-operation from my team mate there in more ways than one!

I guess,even otherwise,I diversified my interests during the year.Read many new books and did some serious writing.Hell,I started my blog in 2005!!Now,that's something incredibly exciting for me!

I suppose the start and end of the year said it all.I started the year in a most disastrous condition,following a break-up with a fine girl after 11 years.From those days of cringing and being subjected to emotional trauma to the end of the year symbolised with some internal peace and a complete resurrection of my own self, was one hell of a journey between extremes!I think I would suggest to anybody who has a break-up,to give himself time(can only speak for a he here,but I think the girls can pick up a pointer or two as well!).No point in forcing the recovery process.It will get nobody anywhere,most of all the person concerned.Am glad that I have recovered now!Hell,even had a birthday party of a very,very,very close friend on Dec 30 and I had a blast of a time there!

There is a great confidence that is now embedded into my system,following a rebuilding process after string of professional failures and a personal disaster at the start of the year.But I think,I trained myself.I worked on myself like a project,slowly rebuilding myself,inch by inch.There were many times during the year when I used to climb a bit back into recovery and then go crashing down into depression even deeper.But then,I realized,its all about a will to get on with life.I have only about 70 years on this planet(excluding accidents or sudden occurrences for a sec!).27 of that 70 is gone!So,it does not make any sense to me anymore to bother about things and people I do not control.Makes eminent sense to me to bother(COMPLETELY)about things and people that I have in my life,can do something about and enjoying having in my life.No point wasting my presence on the earth with things and people that are not there.These were hard lessons that I discovered as I worked tirelessly on my recovery process.Am glad that I have some very firm lessons now to guide me through the rest of my life!

35 lakhs CTC for a little workex!

My jaw dropped today.And in ample measure!

I had gone to attend one of my relatives' kid's first birthday.And the kid's dad is just a month younger than I am.He is working in a top-notch consulting firm in Bombay and we were catching up after nearly 4 years.It was a pleasure to chat up with him and his wife,and of course play the fool with their kiddo!

As conversation went along,the topic shifted to that of careers and career moves.My jaw dropped wide!This guy told me that one of his colleagues had quit recently to join a software company at the entry level at a CTC of 35 lakhs!A whopping 35 lakhs!That's the kind of money most government sector employees get when they retire after slogging for 35 years!And here is this chap,with close to 4 years work experience in the consulting world and hitting this jackpot at 35 lakhs p.a.That too, at the ENTRY level!

Damn!Why is the software world making life difficult for the rest of us.Its pretty ridiculous.These kinds of compensation structures make the entire concept of a career redundant.Employees in other industries will struggle to cope with the disparity in income levels.Cost of living will automatically go up, because the market will work on the assumption that there is demand,ability and willingness on the part of some sections of society, to pay premium prices for goods and services.But then again,my argument is,there are scores of people,the vast majority,who are not in that kind of an income bracket and will not be able to sustain this type of ridiculous inflation in the cost of living,for NO fault of theirs!Just why,pray why,is the software industry screwing up everybody's lives?After all migration from other industries into the software industry in roles of a domain specialist is not the ONLY alternative for people unable to cope with such crazy disparities!Hell,this guy didn't even have 5 full years of experience!

Gosh,I hope India does well,but what I hope even more is that India takes EVERYBODY along with it while doing well.I just hope the vast majority are not left behind!

Ganguly.....gangling Ganguly!

Well..well..well..!Yet another opinion on the on-going Ganguly drama.Its amazing how one game,one individual at the centre of the game can bring the entire nation to a standstill.Politicians,former cricketers,filmstars,opinion makers,journalists,and not to mention the teeming millions of cricket fans are on tenterhooks,as to what is going to be the fate of India's most successful captain ever.In my books,I guess,Ganguly is not just the most successful captain,but very close to being the greatest captain of India(my vote still goes to Kapil Dev on that!).

But I have to say that Ganguly changed India's outlook to modern cricket like nobody else did before him.His aggression,ability to manouvre the team in distant geographies,boldness to take on the cricketing powers of India head-on and showing statements of intent at every available opportunity created tremendous amount of thrill for many cricket lovers.I mean,Mohinder Amarnat earlier went to the extent of saying that the selectors are a bunch of jokers(how rightly so!).But Ganguly,took off his shirt in the Lords' pavilion and showed the world that he is here to win.More importantly,he LIKES to win and won't tolerate anyone coming in the way of that.

Its difficult for me to be dispassionate about Ganguly.Sourav won't be Sourav if not for his emotion.And that,more than anything else,has sent the adrenalin racing across the country.The cricketing powers are facing the wrath of the fans purely because,the former India captain gave all of us reason to be passionate about India.Yes,India and passion go back a long way,but on the cricket field,nobody epitomised it better than Ganguly.Hell,I get emotional on and off many times,but my pulse races when there is a game of cricket on featuring India.

I hope people learn some hard lessons from this entire fiasco.I have seen instances where corporate managers don't give promotions thanks to their individual idiosyncracies.Or for that matter,politicians and their famous 'promises',which never see the light of the day.But its purely inhuman to treat a man like Saurav Ganguly like this,because,he gave no quarter and asked for none.In the bargain,he provided all of us with tremendous entertainment and passion.

I wish the selectors were not so cold.If anything,they need to be thrown out like Ganguly ripped open his tshirt at Lords.Wonder if these 'bunch of jokers' will learn a lesson even then....!

Peter Drucker dead

I felt miserable on reading this just now.The man who I admired during my days of b-school is no more. Peter Drucker,95,breathed his last.Like so many of my ilk,I was always awestruck by the magical simplicity he brought to the otherwise,seemingly complicated world of management.I never got lucky to attend any of his seminars,but his thoughts and his books taught me some lessons in life,not just in management.I used to have long conversations about these theories and how relevant they were in the current context,with my good friend,Goutam,who was an equal fanatic about Drucker. And his interviews were even better than his books!Clarity,simplicity and sheer common sense epitomising every phrase he uttered.39 books in 7 decades may appear to be small, but the impact of these books will last long after today,when Drucker was taken away from us.Thankfully,he never had any ailment.

Sad,sad,sad!Its a colossal loss to the world of management.And I am not for a moment stating this with the coldness of a diplomant!No way!Peter Drucker is no more!Gosh!

For me this great Vietnamese lawyer turned management thinker will always be the quintessential man, who saw tomorrow.I am not going to have my gala Saturday night tonight.Its the least I can do for a man I truly have immense regard for.

Busy day, but incredibly,incredibly lonely

Loneliness hit me today. And hit me very hard. Just don't know why and where it came from. I had a rather eventful day, what with my first visit to my good friend, Gopal's house, lunch at Sukh Sagar in Anna Nagar, gift shopping for Vidya and Akhila's upcoming birthdays', organizing a surprise cake for Monday,talking to Divya Ravishankar for a few seconds, bowling at SnowBall in Nungambakkam in the evening with Zubin,Gopal and Vidya, brief visit to Marks & Spencers,long chat with Gopal and Zubin at Coffee Day at Ispahani Centre, and rounding the evening off at Rangis(Chinese).Had some amazing entertainment as Gopal outlined his travails with his boss.

Returned home at 9.45 p.m and felt incredibly lonely.A great sense of solitude and a feeling of being left alone, with nobody to care for me, hit me hard.I have lived alone and lived in different cities for a while now, but when these bouts of loneliness hit me,I am still not able to take it. However mentally tough I may claim to be, and however much I may be fighting it out to make my life, there are times when I feel incredibly lonely and have this urge to feel wanted. To have a feeling of being loved. Of wanting to belong to somebody, to have somebody to love and pour myself into completely with not a care in the world. Its in these moments that I lose control of myself. I have still not hit the alcohol bottle yet in life,and I won't ever get down to that.But what do I do to conquer loneliness?

I usually am busy all the time, either at work or pursuing other interests. But however busy I may be,I do not have an answer to tackle loneliness and to fulfil this feeling of wanting to belong.To be cared for,even if just for some time.I sink.I feel miserable.I just plain feel lonely.I am not able to handle the pain.I scrolled the address book and phone numbers on my mobile phone and I discovered to my horror that 95% of my friends are married or are with their respective parents and would not be in a position to talk to me so very late at night.How do I tackle loneliness?What is the point of having associates and numbers on the phone book,if there is nobody to fulfil loneliness?I felt miserable.I didn't have a treatment for myself to handle this.

Anyway,I should be fine tomorrow,hopefully.But increasingly,I have begun to feel that the void of loneliness can never ever be fixed by merely being busy.And being merely successful doesn't help either,to fulfil this need.

Weekend of movies,pizzas,idly,noodles,sleep,music,and a great book!

I had the best weekend in a month.Did nothing except spoil myself with some things I haven't done in a while. My project got over on Friday and after a while,got a full weekend all to myself!And for a change,the weather in Chennai was good,almost reminding me of the lovely weather back home in Bangalore!

Friday night,got home from work early,and went with Atul and Venkatesh to Murugan Idly in T Nagar.Dived into a sumptous idly with 4 different types of chutneys and some sambar.Followed that up with a crisp dosa!It was hot and awesome,especially in that AC room in the restaurant!Once I gulped down the dosa,it was time for the best sweet in this place, the sweet pongal.Wow!It just melted in my mouth,touch the deepest corners of my taste buds and but naturally left an indelible taste in my mouth all the way back home.Wanted to eat another one,but I was stuffed as hell by then!

Anyway,back home,lazed around,chatted on the phone for an hour or so!This is the case without having a girlfriend in life,I shudder to think of the hole in my pocket if and when I do manage to find a girlfriend..oops!Anyway,while I had the time and my own company, made a sincere attempt to catch up on the lost sleep of the last month,thanks to my deadline!Did very well at that!Saturday was lazier!Got up at 10.30 a.m. or so,was still groggy though!

Called up my good old Infosys friend,and decided to get to her house for lunch.It happens to the best of us who live away from our homes - the mere hint of home food is enough for us to fix up weekend visits to friend's houses,however distant it may seem!But this girl is a nice friend and called out an amazing menu for the day.So it was literally,a day out with good food and some good fun with a good friend!Reached her place,chatted away to glory all day long,browsed the net,and then dived into the lunch she had made.Wow!Slurp!Too good!After lunch, sat back and played scrabble after nearly 5- 6 years.The old hat was still working!Managed to reek in 165 points in 45 minutes!Made a decision to buy the latest available Scrabble from any store in town and get back to a game I so adore!Like they say,books,words,old habits and dogs are more loyal than a girlfriend!!!!!!So,my old habit of playing with words had still not left me.Infact,realised that I had recently gotten hooked on to Su Do Ku as well - so more word play!Good,old loyal companion!!!

Anyway,got back home and there was no electricity.I really freaked as I was sweating immensely,thanks to this Chennai heat.Not used to temperatures beyond 35 degrees celsius back in Bangalore,so can't really blame myself!There was no sign of the electricity returning,so decided to walk to Landmark in Nungambakkam.The singular mission of my visit to this mega store was to purchase the book I've heard rave reviews about - Five Point Someone.And I am glad that I found the book at a discounted price!Picked up a book by Michael Dell as well,where the man himself has written about the making of Dell Corporation!

Atul called me and said that the movie Chocolate is on and that Manik had managed to get tickets for us.I said,"Let's go", keeping up the tradition of a movie every Saturday night,ever since I got back from the US on Aug 9!Atul came to Landmark,while I waited in the long queue(they had discounted prices on,remember?!)and finally left for the movie hall at 8.45 p.m.Stopped by Sarvana Bhavan and dived into our customary 14-idly dish!Wow!What a piece of genius- 14 idlis in one plate!

We then caught hold of an auto and were royally transported to Triplicane,which was about 4 kilometes away from where we were supposed to alight.Ignorant about the distance,Atul and I walked all the way to the theatre,and eventually sinking into our seats,puffing and panting for breath.Trust the Chennai auto guys to take you for a ride!Damn!

The movie,Chocolate was lovely.Gripping,confusing,excellent actors,beautiful script,hot babe,exotic locale in London etc etc etc.The climax was the best part of the movie!

Got home at 1.30 a.m.after another drill into our pockets by the Chennai auto guys!And so began an animated conversation about movies,standard of movies,b-schools, u name it!Manik, Atul and I in engrossing conversation.I had by then flipped the first few pages of Five Point Someone and it gripped me.

We were still not done for the day!3 p.m. maggi noodles was a bright idea that struck Manik.We were hungry as hell, and had Atul,the expert chef with us.So,needed to make full utilization of our resources!Maggi noodles,with chilli flakes as a topping and ketchup to boot - wow, how is that for a 3 a.m. snack?Or should I call it breakfast?

Tired,sleepy,yet energetic for more, we finally slept at 3 a.m. I didn't realise what was happening till the doorbell rang at 7.30 a.m. and at 8.30 a.m.Just momentary glitches in my sleep!Eventually got up at just past noon on this lazy,Sunday afternoon.Anyway,there was no deadline to chase,right?

As I completed my early morning(well,noon actually!)chores,my roomie,Manik showed the newspaper to me.There was a weekend deal at Pizza Corner.I amusually not a very big fan this joint,but this offer looked interesting.And it eventually turned out to be great.One veg pizza,garlic bread with stuffings,and a coke with endless quantities of chill flakes and sauce and seasoning was too good to resist.Also,been a while since I had junk food!Just had idly,dosa the previous night,so something different was welcome.Ordered the pizzas for home delivery and got ready to attack it when it arrives.

Cracked Su Do Ku for the day as we waited for the pizzas,and I dug into my new book,Five Point Someone.It was getting increasingly intriguing and I was beginning to love it.All credit to my roomie,for recommending this book to me.

The pizzas finally came,and we were famished by then.Simply dived into it and ended up over-eating.But hell,it was a pizza and we needed to do full justice to it!Enjoyed it and for a change,the stuff from Pizza Corner was pretty good.Once we were done with this,I got ready and walked to the Taj Coromandel.A Singapore education fair was on and I just went in, to figure out some stuff from some of the leading b-schools there.Nothing too revealing beyond what I already knew from the internet.

Got back home,and that's it - sat down with Five Point Someone and saw it to its logical conclusion by midnight.Gripping book.Amazing,real-life story.Fantastic plot,great drama and passion!It was a journey for me into life in engineering colleges,especially IIT.

Finished the book,gulped down some left over garlic bread from the afternoon meal, and crashed!

I guess it was not a very happening weekend in terms of outings etc,but sure did what I wanted to do after a long time,with all the time to myself!Felt good!

Ah,I felt lonely today!

I really felt lonely today.Had completely stopped thinking negative etc,but today was a bad day.Lots of things came rushing back.It shouldn't have.But well, human emotion is something that no individual controls,it just comes.And today it came.Like the tsunami.I felt miserable.But I have learnt to handle myself in these moods.

As it is,I have been working the hell out of my life in office,chasing this deadline for the last month.I am glad that its just around the corner and that I will be taking off on vacation soon!

But today was bad.I came home tired,absolutely zonked.For the first time in many,many months I felt lonely.I longed for a partner to just sit in the hall and talk and talk and talk.To immerse myself in the depth of a partnership with a mature human being.I didn't want to think of career,life,x,y or z.Just wished there was somebody at home to receive me,instead of my chairs and tables and fans and AC.I am usually the first to hook onto the internet,but I didn't touch my brand new laptop today.No mood.I didn't want to stare at a blank machine again that doesn't respond.I longed for some care today,somebody who would respond.It got lonely.

And I went to see the movie,Salaam Namaste....which was about partnership.About oneness,about unification,about building a life together...gosh..it made me even more lonely.

I just slept after that...

The movie, No Entry

Hilarious!Guffawed away to glory for 3 hours without stopping!And ended with a mild stomach ache,thanks to the laughter that this movie brought out in me.Nothing great about this movie,just the manner in which it was taken.So cool,so uncomplicated,yet driving home a point.

Its been a while since I guffawed like the way I did this evening.Atul and I reached Sathyam theatre in Chennai close to two hours in advance.As it is,its usually tough to get tickets for night shows in Chennai these days,more so for a movie of this nature,that too on a Saturday night.We got lucky!We managed to get tickets just as the hall was about to get HouseFull!

Beginning the movie with a popcorn in hand,I discovered that it indeed takes a long time and serious work to make people laugh.Which is what most of us these days have forgotten to do,thanks to the pressure-cooker generation we live in!!Laughter!Ah,that sublime,natural phenomenon!

Lovely movie!!Anil Kapoor,Lara Dutta,Fardeen Khan,Salman Khan,Esha Deol,Celina Jaitley and Bipasha Basu - all of them were just great and carried out their roles brilliantly!

Must see at all costs!Great evening!

Amethyt,Chennai!

That was a lovely evening!Really was!I had heard so much about this famous,historic restaurant cum coffee shop when I came down to Chennai from Bangalore earlier this year. Never got the chance(nor the appropriate company!)to go here.Finally,the opportunity came by,on this lovely,breezy August evening when one of my new friends agreed to wriggle out of her office and spend time together!

Well,I guess that was my first "little date" in Chennai!There is this wonderful lawyer girl I befriended a few months back in one of the online networking sites. And we hit it off rather famously right from day one!A friendship built over endless emails and sms' was about to fructify in personal interaction at one of the most famous joints in this big southern metropolis(I know this is sounding like a news report,but just for added flavour!).

I didn't know the route to Amethyst (am yet to explore Chennai in full measure!) and asked people in office.Got directions,with a few girls casting chuckles as they told me how to get there!Finally, left office at 6p.m. and got to the venue at 6.20 p.m. Walked around the building and digested the exotic ambience inside.The historic significance of the building(it was a Rajasthani king's palace once and had tons of photographs in the main hall even now).As I waited for my lovely lawyer friend,the carpets,the old bulbs,the neatly designed sofas,the terrific interior decor,the garden outside,the old walls.....ah....just struck me very hard!Never knew that such a lovely place existed in Chennai and thanked my friend for recommending this place for a special evening with a friend I was about to meet for the first time!

Eventually,as I was waiting in the main hall,my friend walked in and called me on my mobile.I didn't know it was her till I heard my name being called.Turned around and saw this incredibly busy looking girl,in a white shirt and cream trouser with a typical's girl's handbag tucked up under her arm, grinning at me!The reaction was instantaneous - we hugged each other.The reaction was more a thrill of having actually met in life,after such a terrific build up of friendship over the internet.And so began an evening of animated conversation, fun,tea,potato wedges,careers,choices,strength and weaknesses in relationships,number of men and women that each of us seems to be having in life, managing people, managing expectations, jobs, money,future, dreams, dream girl,dream boy,ex partners, parents....you name it!!At the end of it,I guess we pretty much realised that life is just too short to be spend cribbing,so may as well, have a blast while we are here on this planet!No point screwing up our presence in this Earth, between our arrival and departure from the planet!

One of the striking things of this evening was the fan above the sofa that we were seated on.It was incredibly long and dangling down and was noiseless in its rotation and air circulation, despite being so old!

As we left Amethyst,I think both of us realised that we had befriended each other for life.Great to make new friends,but even better to make friends whom one feels absolutely onself with!

Day of miserable bosses!

Went out with Ashwin,Zubin,and Gopal to Dynasty,a chinese restaurant in G.N.Chetty Road this evening.Had a nice, animated conversation about one of the bosses in office.Was laughing the entire evening as I kept hearing so many interesting stories about people's experiences with this boss.Hilarious value,but technically no great shakes!

Vidya couldn't make it to the dinner as she was chasing a mad deadline.Helped her out with a very complicated chart and finally managed to crack it!Got her beaming smile in return,which was more than enough!!!!Nothing like making somebody happy!Good,good,good! Had chilli cheese sandwich with Pranab earlier in the evening and couldn't take the spice one bit!Of course,Subhasini called in the afternoon and did all I could to cheer her up.Poor thing, was having a miserable time with her boss!Looks like it was a day of people tired of miserable bosses!!!Anyway,managed to firm up a time to meet her sometime soon! Managed to make her laugh at the end of the conversation!

That was not all.Got a call from Leena in Bombay as well.She was totally cheesed off with her work and had no inclination to work either!Sob sob sob..another person down the track driven up the pole by a boss!Oof...!Did my bit as usual to cheer her up and well,did manage to make her laugh a wee bit.Dunno if its a skill I have to cheer up these girls..but well,they sure do seem to warm up to me,and I am not complaining!

Went around Chennai in Gopal's car,picked up my bus ticket to Bangalore for the upcoming long weekend and talked till 11.30 p.m. with him.Just burst out laughing when I heard stories of client presentations,deliverables,deadlines,recruitments,promises,meetings(not turning up for them!),and the best of them all - wrong designations!!!!Hilarious...laughed my gut out!!!

All in all, a very interesting day,where people were fed up with their bosses and I did the 'pep-talk'.Good part is I got to talk to two wonderful girls and am going to meet one of them soon!!Hehehe,blame it on guy charm!

Day 3 - Statue of Liberty

There it was.The first glimpse of the towering structure.The most televised statue from the United States.The most powerful gift that the US had ever received possibly from the world - the Statue of Liberty was a gift by the French government to the US.Auguste Bartholdi was the architect of this wonder.

I just gave the camera to Vali and told him to click as many snaps of the Statue from as many angle as he could, even as the ferry was approaching the Statue.In a way it was good, as the ferry went right around the Statue before laying anchor,so our snaps captured every describable angle of focus on the famous Statue.We were to later discover the wisdom of our judgement in clicking snaps from different angles,when we put the pictures onto the laptop!

Anyway,the ferry stand at the Statue of Liberty was choc-a-bloc.It was a weekend ofcourse,and my first reaction was,people sure are travelling these days.And the massive crowd also told me how much of an attraction some of these world monuments have become.

Scouted around the island on which the Statue was erected,took a few snaps there as well.Slowly and steadily,trudged along the aisles on the edge of the island towards the Statue.Discovered that the Statue of Liberty is actually made of copper and due to oxidation and pallination(some scientific stuff,I don't have a clue what they are!),the Statue appears green.Learnt that this is the case with most buildings which have copper platings on their roofs or any part of their buildings on the outside.

The first glimpse of the Statue of Liberty didn't make my jaw dropped. Possibly because,the charm and novelty of the first glimpse of the Statue was...

to be continued....got to rush now.

Day 3 - Stopover at Ellis Island

On the way to the Statue of Liberty,the ferry took a brief detour and stopped at the Ellis Island. This was the original port of entry to the US and one needed a visa etc,just as one would at an international airport these days!

I didn't get off the ferry to see this island, as the stopover was very short and we were running short on time. But there was not much to see here, and Vali's recommendation was also that it was a drab place.Seemed like I would not miss anything if I didn't see it.Almost like one of those islands off the Cochin coast,so to speak!!!!

The ferry then did an about turn and went straight toward the most televised structure from this belt of the world - the Statue of Liberty.My heart was racing,but well, had gotten used to this excitement over the last 3 days.

Day 3 - Ferry ride to the Statue of Liberty

The wait for the ferry to start off from Liberty Park was painful.The organisers were waiting for the boat to get full and we had to wait for a long time for it to depart.Finally,it did,mid-morning or so.

I enjoyed the ferry ride.It gave me a nice,hard,long look at New Jersey on the left and New York on the right.I could see the new Goldman Sachs building in Jersey city, towering over the small Jersey skyline.Apparently,the i-bank giant has struck a deal with the Jersey city municipal authorities not to sanction any building taller than their for the next 5 years! I wonder if the Jersey city municipal authorities are harbouring thoughts of building a New Jersey skyline!Now,as wild as that may sound, I think its best to leave the skyline in this geography to the Big Apple!Just my thought though..!

Vali and I clicked endless snaps from the ferry.Captured NY & NJ on film as the ferry hit the heart of the Hudson river.I continued to be fascinated by the NY skyline as to how mankind can actually erect such architectural wonders huddled together in just a few square miles.Amazing.And each of those buildings in that skyline is unique,has its own story to tell and sure has its own flavour.


One of the classic features of the ferry ride to the Statue of Liberty is the breeze that hits you. It can pretty much blow you off the boat,that's how strong it can get.The waves of the Hudson river, the speed of the ferry,the mesmerising NY skyline(sorry,to repeat this endlessly,but it was awesome!),the snapshot of the twin cities(NJ & NY)on either side of the river and not to miss, the distant sights of the Brooklyn Bridge,make it an enjoyable experience.Especially with that type of breeze blowing in the New York summer!Wow!

Another key element to this ferry ride is the helicopter ride that one gets to see up in the sky.There are copter rides in NY for visitors, where one gets to sit in a chopper and go around the NY skyline,and all the major landmarks in NY for USD 100!Costs a bomb,that's for sure!Will go on that someday,hopefully!And would be nice to write in this blog on that day, capturing an aerial view of the mega city!Let's see!

Day 3 - Trip through New Jersey

It was very difficult for us to get up in the morning,after a marathon across New York city over the last 2 days. But the only drive for me was that I didn't know when I would get another opportunity to visit the Big Apple.So, was out of bed in a flash and ready to see the last leg of the mega city on the last day of my trip to this extraordinary city!

Vali and I went alone in the morning,and Pawan was to join us later in the day.We stopped by at the usual doughnut joint for breakfast near Hoboken station. For a change, we went to the extreme end of the Hoboken station, to board a train that would take us directly to Liberty Park,the place where we were to hop onto the ferry to the Statue of Liberty. As we waited for the train to depart,I saw yet another version of the NY skyline from across the Hudson River, standing in New Jersey.Simply mesmerising and never did get tired of seeing that exquisite skyline. I mean, technically,its a concrete jungle,but the design and symmetry of the NY skyline had me hooked right through the 3 days, from every vantage point that I could see if from!

Finally,we hopped onto the train and it was one of those classy trains, that I used to see,once again in the old movies.This time though, we didn't go underwater through dark tunnels shuttling between NJ and NY.Infact, the route to Liberty Park was very picturesque and I got to see some parts of New Jersey.What a quiet city it was,compared to its gigantic, action-packed partner city, across the Hudson River!The buildings in Jersey city reminded me a lot of Pune city, back in India. Quiet,classy,not very messy,extremely well -planned and quite picturesque too.There were cyclists,and cars visible too, unlike the cabs and trains and huge buses that I had been seeing in New York,where nobody likes to drive!Jersey city sure appeared to be a touch more laidback.And made sense to me why people shuttle between this quiet city and the razzmattazz of the Big Apple everyday.Its not just the cost of living,which is high anyway,but I got the distinct impression that people,after a hard day's work in bustling NY,would love to have some peace & quiet when they get back home.It would be nice to have some time to oneself,and a fair degree of solitude,in quiet surrounds too.Made eminent sense to me!

We reached Liberty Park station,and it was strange to see the place absolutely deserted.Got into a bus and reached the actual Liberty Park itself,with an old clock tower howering on top of the Park.This is where the ferry to the Statue of Liberty was to depart.And I found lots of Indians at this spot. That is when Vali told me, that in the US,in most of the famous venues,one would see tons of Indians - places like the Niagara Falls, will have ONLY Indians,apparently,with old aunts draped in sarees,scarfs and goggles to boot!!

Anyway,off to the Statue of Liberty now!

Times Square on Saturday night!

I had seen this sight on TV for years.In all my growing years, in all those English movies that featured New York, the famous Times Square was shown as a larger than life venue.The buzz of the place is what I had always associated with this famous Square.

When we had our interval during the Broadway show,we stepped out into the balcony and saw the famous Square in action on a Saturday night.It was abuzz with activity with cabs running all over the place,huge ad banners ticking away electronically by the second,jazzy models being sported on the different corners of the Square,huge barricades erected at different points in the Square,massive crowds,people talking at the same time...there was action galore.Got my pulse racing.

I told Vali,that I was spellbound to see that Square and it takes a lot to get me speechless!Clicked tons of snaps there,but unfortunately,my camera gave up.It was low on battery.So I had to rely on the reserves of my memory and emotion to capture the moment for eternity!Did just that.Watched every single bit of Times Square that I could lay my eyes on with blaring horns hitting my ear by the second and the sounds of people in animated conversation in the background.The first half of the Broadway show had pretty much swept me off the ground, and to see this world famous Square in action amidst such bright settings sure did heighten the occasion.

I will never forget one poignant moment when I noticed a cop helping an old lady cross the street below as she could not make her way through the crowd.Well, they say, NY attracts people from all over the world and people of all ages.And at Times Square,irrespective of whether one is young or old, one would want to be there and feel the excitement!

My portrait & a Broadway show!

Once out of the UNO, we had a few choices to make.Either go to Central Park and walk around,or go on top of the Empire State Building or hit TimesSquare and a Broadway show.We figured that since we had been doing so much of walking, we will not be able to do full justice to Central Park - it involved a lot of walking inside the Park.So that option was eliminated.That decision reduced the choice of options to Empire State Building or TimesSquare.We picked TimesSquare on this Saturday night,as the ES Building would involve a long wait.And we were too tired to wait anymore.Much rather see TimesSquare on night,that too on a weekend!

We walked back right through midtown,with my neck straining to see the top ends of all the skyscrapers.Was yet to digest the fact that man had managed to erect such concrete towers concentrated in blocks,all huddled together.I did make sincere attempts to capture the entire landscape of a few of the massive structures on film, but they were so huge that they just didn't fit into the camera focus area!I subsequently learnt that the famous picture of the New York skyline was actually a digital mirage, in that, numerous pictures of different parts of the NY skyline were jutted and attached together to make that one single snap!

Anyway,as we walked past 33rd Street for the umpteenth time,I saw the famous caricature artists.They were busy at work, sketching the outlines of numerous tourists like me,absolutely involved in their work,ensuring that even the eyeline and the bend of the nose of these tourists were truly reflected in their works of art. Amazing commitment to a very low profile job,but high attraction value,all the same. Scouted the block for a few of these caricature artists to gauge who would be the best guy around there to make a portrait of myself, and finally stopped at one of those East Asian guys who hardly spoke English.His eyes were narrower than the types I had seen on Jackie Chan movies and his nose rather bent.He had just completely sketching the portrait of a stout blonde and it did appear a lot like her and was looking good. Just as I firmed up my request with him to make my portrait,the NYPD constable made an appearance shooing this artist of the main street into the back alleys.Reminded me so much of the cops back home in India pushing their weight around on the street vendors!

Anyway,we trudged back to the back alley and this quiet Asian made me sit on one of the shortest chairs I have ever sat in my life.I was to sport a grin and keep a happy face nonstop for close to an hour!Ouch!That was painful,but well,I don't get to NY everyday and surely nobody ever makes my portrait everyday!So did manage to grin widely as this artist took out his paper easel,colours,eraser and a host of paraphernalia to decorate an otherwise straight-looking me!He took close to an hour to completely portrait.In this time,Vali sat on a bench behind us and Pawan ran up to the Broadway ticket counter to get hold of a discount ticket.

The artist gave my portrait lot of fine touches,brushes,sketched the tall buildings behind me as the background to my portrait,drew orange strings that reflected the stripes on my shirt....ooo...incredible attention to detail.Well,as with most things in life, this effort to sit static for an hour in the heart of NY,did come at a price.$ 30, along with a photo frame.Well,I wasn't complaining,as I had just made a piece of memorablia for myself,for life!!!Thanked the artist profusely and realised that I was his last customer for the day,now,now now,I can't be that tough to sketch!!!

Vali,Pawan and I then walked the most famous Square in the US(Times Square) and had about 10 minutes to beat the start of the Broadway show, Fiddler on the Roof.We just about made it and I was soon to experience the thrill of the world's oldest theater!

It was a revelation.It was an experience.It was an insight into management.It was a learning curve.It was an evening of being in awe.It was something I would remember for the rest of my life.The show, the artists,the lights,the script,the story,the plot,the smoothness in movements,the synchronisation of music and the artists,the overall co-ordination,the magnificently appreciative audience,(with spellbound members like me!),the lead actor,the support cast,the props and the sets...it was fascinating and captivating to say the least.The story was about an old,poor villager who had 3 daughters and believed in the system of arranged marriages.And all his 3 daughters eventually end up finding their own guy,challenging the traditions and belief systems of this farmer and the village at large.But this farmer(the lead actor) gradually gets convinced that its happiness that matters and it doesn't really matter how his daughters attain them.And finally gives in.Beautiful story line,possibly contemporary in its own way,but incredibly realistic as well.The lead actor is apparently one of the legends of Broadway and he did receive a thunderous applause and a standing ovation!

My hands were clapping and my feet were up automatically when the play ended.Wow!

Part 3 of Day 2 in NY- Inside the UNO

Finally,our turn came and we had a Pakistani guide,who was to take us around the famous building.It turned out that he was actually a student from Columbia University,doing a part time job at the UNO,as a tour guide!Now,that is SOME part-time job!He gave us an excellent tour.Really loved it!He was well informed,but spoke a touch fast,as we were racing against time.

Learnt that the UNO building is treated as international territory and is NOT considered as part of the US.Now,that left me wondering why they didn't ask me for my passport,at the security check in the front of the building!Anyways...

As the guide took us into the interiors of the UNO,I saw for myself,why the UNO is as powerful as it is, what prompted it to be formed,how the evolution of man in the mid-20th century propelled the need for peace etc.And how all those different segments - General Assembly,Security Council- came into being.

We first went to the Security Council.It was a huge auditorium, sound proof,with state-of-the-art technology in it.The seating arrangements,the speakers,the language translation capabilities,the sound control systems within the Council were explained in great detail by our guide.He was pretty knowledgeable and fielded questions from us quite efficiently.Learnt that the UN recognises 6 languages in the world as official languages.Also learnt that the universal system of traffic symbols is a from a Security Council lineage.It was also a novel learning experience that the Security Council created the system of immigration,passports,customs and such international travel procedures!Ensured that I took snaps inside this historic auditorium,where scores of the power leaders of the world have treaded on!

Exited from the Security Council and walked through the corridors of the UNO,seeing signs, gifts from other countries to the UNO.There were a few gifts from China(an ivory model,before the trade in ivory was banned),a small memorial from the Japanese government,and a huge ship model from the Indonesian government.Very interesting indeed!

The walls of the UNO are studded with snaps - war against terror,disarmament,social issues,education,deprivation of children - the range of issues that the UNO works on is amazing.What staggered me most was the minimal budget that they operate on.It was really shameful that such a powerful,global organization operates on a budget that would well be the turnover of a small division of a Fortune 100 company.That's how bad the budgetary outlay for the UNO is.Sorry,we are not supposed to state anything outside the UNO,so not appropriate for me to quote the budgetary figure.Will suffice to say that its paltry,to say the least!

We then entered the hallowed portals of the General Assembly.I stood blank at the door.I was actually at the General Assembly.Couldn't quite take this element off me right through the NY trip, every place I went,shook me,made me believe that what I was seeing was unreal etc.

Our guide explained to us how the General Assembly works.There are 3 seats on the podium of the General Assembly.All sessions of the Assembly is chaired by the Secretary General,and his absence the Asst.Secretary-General.The UN budget is presented and passed in the General Assembly.There are broadcasting and television studios right around the General Assembly,which is where we get all the live telecast from!As usual,took snaps,though will treasure the first glimpse of the General Assembly forever.It HIT hard!The UNO is not just a building you see.Its a world by itself!

After a quick round of the Economic & Social Council,our guided tour ended,as we handed over the badges that were given to us at the entrance gate.

Came down the elevator,stepped outside the UNO and clicked a lot of snaps of this world famous building.

Part 2 of Day 2 in New York

Didn't realise how 4 hours went by in the Museum of Modern Art. Loved every bit of it though!

Once we exited from the museum, we walked down Times Square again,looked at the NY map again.Finally, decided to head to the UNO! There is a guided tour of the UNO for visitors and I didn't want to miss that for the world!Had to walk quite a bit through the different blocks in midtown NY.Our legs were giving up and it was really, really hot.

Just outside the UNO, was yet another skyscraper that read, The Donald Trump Tower.Hmm, that guy owns half a dozen buildings in New York!It was an amazing piece of architecture and didn't fit in the frame of my new camera.But took a snap all the same, and then walked into the UNO building. My eyes feasted on the famous globe outside the UNO office.It was not very well maintained though and it was actually broken quite a bit.Felt bad that such a global organization had a globe that was all screwed up!Took a few snaps in front of the globe and then entered the UNO building.Felt as if I had entered yet another office,till I was to discover otherwise in a few minutes.

As we walked the corridors of the ground floor in the UNO,there were a bunch of portraits along the wall. These were portraits of all the Secretary Generals that the UNO has ever had, ending with the current one, Kofi Annan.It was an exhilirating feeling to be in the same building where the UNO's Secretary General sits!And 9 of them have sat since 1945,when the UNO was founded!

Rushed to the ticket counter,as we had to beat time - had reached the UNO at the fag end of the day and there were just 2 more guided tours left for the day.Got the tickets,and headed to the basement to grab a bite.We were famished,to say the least!Gobbled down a tart and a cranberry juice, exited the cafe and took a snap in front of the UNO logo and flag.It was a very different feeling to actually be holding the UNO flag in my hands.Hmm,it carries weight,I realised,in those couple of moments!Just before we left the basement,took a snap of the UNICEF office as well.

Hurried back upstairs to the main lobby to join the guided tour, only to be told that we had just missed our token number.Fortunately, they said that they would put us into the last tour for the day, which would start in a few minutes.Thank god!Would've felt miserable not to have seen the interiors of the UNO,after entering it and getting hold of those tickets!

Read on for more in the next blog!