Duh!

My favourite snippet:

…

To see a spot of green,
in the sky of blue.
For a word of encouragement,
to make this seem true.
To walk through a meadow of marigolds,
And let go of fears never told.
To wake up in the middle of a fantasy,
And feel its touch of ecstasy.
I hold in that cry,
As my inspiration runs dry.

…

Isn’t it simply beautiful? I can totally relate to the poem; I guess most people can. This poem is definitely going on my cubicle wall.

Trip to Bangalore was fun. Worked hard for a couple of days and then freaked out with Moin, Subodh and Sallu for a day. Pics coming up shortly.

Went home for Mom’s birthday. Had a nice time hogging on home food and spending time with family.

Suman and Sanket got engaged in Bharuch. Had gone there to attend the function and had a nice time. Bharuch is a nice small place. Enjoyed with Suman’s gang and with Sanket’s family. Had good dabeli, pani puri and lots of ice cream even though I had an upset stomach. Return train journey was fun. Photos coming up as soon as Sanket/Suman send them to me.

Murthy finally managed to send my new digicam over from the US. Technically not mine since I gifted the camera to Mom but I have taken most of pics till now. It is a Canon PowerShot A570 IS, a decent point-and-click camera though I am yet to take great shots with it – many snaps are simply overexposed.

Tons of work at office. Team is growing so lots of things to do. Extremely busy at work nowadays.

Went to Ahmedabad for Christmas holidays. Sanket, Subodh and Sallu were in town. Bharat (who is in Ahmedabad only) played host most of the time. Also met Pankit. Had a blast with these guys. Had lots of coffee, went bowling but mostly it was talking. Also had a party at a friend’s place. Enjoyed a hell lot. Photos coming up shortly.

Also went to Moin’s home on Bakra Id – had amazing chicken biryani! Moin was also flying to Riyadh the same day so said bye to him. Photos coming up shortly.

My friend Mona got married to Sanjay Nair (so now technically she is also a Nair!). They hosted a reception at the City Lake Restaurant in Vastrapur, met Ushma there (she is as much the prankster today as she ever was) and also met Sanjay for the first time. Nice chap though could not talk much with him since there were many people vying for his attention. Was really difficult for me (and for Sanket) to drag ourselves to the reception after the party the previous night but I am glad we did. Photos coming up for this too.

My friend Pratik is also getting married in January. To Pulkit – I know I know it’s a guy’s name… I am still thinking of a good nickname for her. They make a nice couple. Am still getting to know Pulkit. She is my new best friends for reasons that will not be disclosed on this blog Pratik and I are sort of the founding members of the Devdas chapter of the Prakash gang so am both happy and sad that he is changing boats. But I still have enough people for company so am not too worried

Suman and I went down to Ahmedabad for New Year’s eve too. Sanket came down from Bharuch. Pratik, Pulkit, Mona, Pravin and Bharat. Ushered in the new year with lots of food, phone calls, dancing, singing and masti. Photos coming up in a few days.

Saw Taare Zameen Par with family (Dad, Mom and Nani). Liked the movie but was really happy because my family also loved it. Dad very rarely likes Hindi movies but even he loved this one! Mom and Nani also loved it… I wonder if it was because they had seen Om Shanti Om just a couple of days back? Hmmm.

That’s all for now. Hopefully I will blog more regularly this year. Happy New 2008!

Life is going on as usual. Nothing new to report. Work is normal. Personal life is normal. Well… as normal as normal can be I have about 6 posts as drafts that I hope to complete in a few days and publish the final version. Keep your fingers crossed.

Brother has moved to Vizag and I am sort of missing him. Actually we used to hang out at least once in a week when he was in Mumbai. Lots of friends from abroad have landed up in India (or will be arriving soon). I am trying to meet as many as possible. I met Bantu in Ahmedabad. I also met Mona, Nehal, Pulkit and Pravin. I had a nice time with all of them. Janak is also in India for a week and yesterday we met up for a few hours before he left for Ahmedabad. We talked about old times and new and we realized that he, I and many of our close friends were in the same boat in more ways than one. So none of us will be really alone Sobha is also in town… not sure if and when we will meet up but it felt nice talking to her after such a long time (nice detailed talk is still pending).

It is wedding season and I am making many trips outside of Mumbai to attend the engagements or wedding of many of my close friends. I have about 9 such events lined up but will not be able to attend all I am trying to attend as many as I can but simply cannot attend all because of the schedule. I wish I could take a month’s leave, chill out at home and attend all the functions!

Well… that’s all for now. Take care and enjoy life!

It was an exciting move for me. I was going to lead the team. I was moving much closer to home. I was going to the city so central to the Indian mindset, the home of Bollywood, the financial capital of India and the city nickname the city of dreams. I was also moving closer to many of my friends… I had lots of friends in Mumbai and Mumbai is also closer to Bangalore where my brother lived.

Contrary to what is widely believed settling down in Mumbai was much much easier for me than settling in Pune or Delhi. I contacted some friends looking for accommodation and eventually moved in with my DA-IICT junior Murthy who eventually became (and still is) a very good friend of mine. Murthy and I brainwashed a good friend of ours Punit into moving in with us and he shortly did. Jitu was my 4th roommate and we were the residents of a nice 1 BHK flat in the very Gujju area of Borivali. All my roommates proved to be nice and understanding (albeit slightly eccentric) people and I did not have any trouble settling down. I seem to be very fortunate as far as roommates go, I have always managed to end up with nice guys only. The rent is reasonable, roommates good, area nice and best of all I can avoid the horror of commuting in Mumbai. My office is just 100 meters away from my house and I walk down to office every day. Eventually Murthy and Jitu went “onsite” in the great tradition of the Indian IT professional and Punit and I decided that we needed and could afford to have the flat all to ourselves.

The new project that I joined was also exciting. Most of the projects I had been part of till then usually did not involve any explicit leadership or management responsibilities. Of course people skills are always required, especially so for a security guy since his work usually involves ego clashes with others, but this was something different altogether. I had an amazing time honing existing skills, picking up new skills, trying out new ideas, heavy-duty multitasking and in general becoming more confident. Some of my bosses placed a lot of confidence in me, some of my superiors seemed skeptical but in the end I made everyone happy by doing well, stabilizing the team, keeping the client happy and ensuring a smooth ride in general. My team’s efforts (cannot take all the credit for it) coupled with some good work from my company’s management resulted in the team size doubling around in 7-8 months time. A bigger team means more bucks so again everybody was happy. After 6 months or so I moved into a different role within the team and this kept everything interesting for me. The team I built (for this I do not mind taking most of the credit since I interviewed, selected and helped in the training of new joinees) was a very balanced team of techies, positive-minded open people who did not mind additional responsibilities and new challenges and who are willing to learn. All of them are not only colleagues but also very good friends of mine and my life outside of office also has all of us hanging out on a number of occasions.

However the year also involved a lot of downs. Many of my close friends moved out of Mumbai… if they were still around I would be having a better time. Some of my friends decided to go their own ways and I lost touch with them for various reasons. My girlfriend of 2 years and I also broke up and I suddenly felt quite alone in life. I also dated a couple of people but things never really went anywhere. I made a few new friends but not many close ones. I also completed 3 years in my company which is a rare occurrence and promptly became the butt of many jokes in my friends’ circle. I will also turn 26 in a few days… my Mom and Grandma have started the Varun-get-married-please campaign and their aggression and determination sometimes scares me.

I like Mumbai in general. It is an open city with adjusting people. The people around here keep to themselves and do not poke their noses in your life. The people are also helpful in general. Mumbai never sleeps so time is never an issue. Transportation is also a lot easier and even in the wee hours of the morning it is easy to find an auto or taxi that will take you home. Autowaalas rarely ask for anything more than the tariff displayed by the meter and I like that very much since I am very poor at bargaining and find that bargaining often spoils my mood. I also found Mumbai to be cheaper than Delhi. Rent is slightly higher but everything else is cheaper I felt. Also being closer to Ahmedabad meant that I had to could travel more frequently and could conveniently travel by train and save on plane fare. Many of my friends, on their personal and work trips, pass through Mumbai. That gives me an opportunity to meet them, sometimes for a few minutes, sometimes for a few days. They are lots of places in and around Mumbai for short and long trips, though I have been on only one such trip. Since I live very close to work I do not have to commute so I managed to avoid the single biggest gripe of most Mumbai residents.

I also dislike Mumbai because of the many unpleasant memories it has for me. Mumbai is the place where my girlfriend lived and I used to come to the city often when I was in Pune and later Delhi. This is the city where I got to know her better, fell in love with her, spent many beautiful and memorable moments with her, grew as a person but also grew distant from her and eventually we went our own ways. Many things and places about Mumbai remind me about some of the best moments in my past, and since I cannot relive them anymore they are often painful.

Why am I writing all this under a post titled Mumbai? In many ways I feel that Mumbai will be a watershed in my life, professionally and personally. As long as I am here I want to enjoy it and be happy and face the demons that it keeps throwing at me once in a while. But I guess once I get out I would not like to return. Maybe I will keep visiting it and maybe before I leave I will check out all the cool and happening places it has to offer. But this will never be my favourite place or a place I want to settle down in.