USA

Its been 5 months since I have been in the US of A. When I came here, I had some views and perceptions which I had developed from movies, TV shows, newspaper, internet, friends and relatives. However, it was different to have a first hand experience. For instance, I had made an opinion that people in the USA are rude, something which some of my friends who worked at a BPO servicing US customers had told me about, but now I know its not entirely true. I was surprised to see how people in the US are sweet and courteous. It was really something new for me. When I was in India, I would always wait in a que for the temple, or to get marksheets etc, and my friend were so not like me in this regards. But I see myself in people of US, who will always wait in a que for their turn.

But the focus has been studies. I really liked the US style of education, there's so much to do - readings, case study preparation, assignements, group discussions, learing from not only the professors (who are experts in their field) but also from class mates...the sail has been smooth, exciting and a rich learning experience. These experiences have made me think like a manager would, from a 360 degree perspective, however, I must admit, according to me I am not up to the mark. I still have a long way to go.

Apart from the cultural change, which have been good and bad, I also had to adjust to Boston weather. From the city of Mumbai which records a minimum temperature of 15 degrees C only to Boston's -18 degress C on some nights, with some days full of snowfall has been a very exciting experience. During Fall last year, the temperatures were in the range of 12 to 15 degrees C, but I was already in my overcoat with scarfs and thermals on as I was feeling really cold. Who knew then that in a matter of no time I will be living in temperatures below 0 Degrees C with snow and still not feel as cold. I guess I have got used to the cold weather. My first snowfall is really special. I will never forget it. I was all over the snow and had good fun. I was in snow for almost 2 hrs enjoying the snow. But the excitement works like economic theory of diminishing marginal utility (lol....guess you all know I am doing my mba, so cant help but use something which I learnt during my first sememster). The excitment during my first snow fall was 100%, but the subsequent snowfalls, the excitment was not as great. Now I can completely understand people's psychology of wanting what they dont have. When I was in Mumbai, where the weather is hot and humid, I wanted cold weather and wished to live in a place where it snowed. But when I am living in such a place, I just wish, that the weather was not this bad, what an irony of life - Man will never be satisfied with what he has, always wishes to get something which he does not.

I must agree though, that even if has been only 5 months, I have had my share of sightseeing in US, be it the central part of Minneapolis, or the water park center - Dells, Wisconsin, or the picturesque location of Maine, to one of the economic capitals of the world, New York City and neighbouring New Jersey, to the historic and academic hub Boston, Massachusetts. Whatever I have seen so far has been really beautiful, diverse and unique. However, I must admit that the roads in Boston has its share of pothole.

I admit, the experience in US has been great, but I have missed my loved one's back home more than anything. I must also admit that I have become more expressive since the past 5 months.

Motorbike Mania

Malad is not the place it used to be some years back. With the New Link Road developing at a rapid speed, Malad is growing dynamic. The Inorbits, Hypercities and D-Marts of the world, have changed the way Mumbaikars look at Malad. The developing contact centre property, Mindspace, has given humongous business to these retail properties.

One corner of this property has been our - my school friends - hangout since the last couple of years. Every saturday most of us (Mavericks, as we call ourselves) meet at Mindspace and chill out, discuss about the share market, exams, who will get married soon, foreign trips and what not. Our discussions almost always turn to teasing Mota (Vipul). Most of the times he is on the receiving end of the jokes. We often challenge him to go for a ride to Lonavala on his Pulsar, he gets all excited and then backs out at the last moment. Just imagine, going for a long ride on your bike, what a thrill...to feel as if you are flying in the air, talking to the birds, feeling the warm and cold wind, and to see the world pass by. Mindspace is a bikers praradise where they can explore the power of their bikes and show their expertise at performing stunts. If you hang out there around late evenings, you will see many bikers doing various stunts on their bikes. Some keep their side stands down to generate sparks, some ride their bikes with no control on bike handles, some do a wheelie but the best that I have seen so far was a biker standing on is seat straight, upright, no control on the brakes, clutch and gears. It was thrilling to see that biker perform the stunt. I wish I could perform that stunt.

A few days back, I saw a bike commercial on the same lines. Yes, you guessed it right, its the new Bajaj Pulsar Commercial. What a commercial!!! After seeing the commercial the first words that came out of my mouth were 'SIMPLY AMAZING'. The stunts were performed with great care and full perfection and it is awesome to see the coordination of the bikers. My personal favourites from this commercial is the part where all the bikers follow each other in a line going zig-zag without having control over their bike handles, two bikers hold each others hand and move in a circular motion, and the end. Superb. Brilliant.

However, giving it a second thought, makes me think deeper, about the effectiveness and safety of airing such a commercial. Yes it has caught on to the audiences quickly, which might lead to increase in sales. The company might think, great, thats what advertisements are for, to increase sales of the products, ultimately leading to more profits. However in today's world, they also need to think about consumer's safety. With a commerical like this one, I think I will see more and more inexperienced bikers trying these stunts at Mindspace. It may lead to accidents, maybe a fatal one. But who is to blame? The commercial starts with a warning informing audiences that the stunts are performed by experts and they should not be tried out. The question is, are such warnings enough? Do these warnings stop us from doing those stunts? I think they don't. Everyone wants a thrill, an excitement, and at times these stunts give us a gateway. Another example of this is the latest commerical of Thumb-up by Akshay Kumar.

There have been talks that this Pulsar Commercial should be pulled off air. I say WHY? We live in a democratic country, where all of us are responsible citizens. We should not curb the creative freedom of the commercials, and take responsibility for our own actions. We do not need others to take decision for us. We know what is good and what is bad, and we are independent to take a decision.

View Pulsar Commercial : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJkRilZdL14

India Lies in You

Bachelors of Management Studies (BMS as we refer it) days were the most memorable of my life. Numerous incidences and people have touched me and made me the person I am today. Each one was different in his own way, but the one who would stand out; I would term him as an “Initiator”, Akshat Singhal. He would come up with very vague ideas often workable, and there were times I found myself identifying with him, in terms of thought process, execution of tasks...among others. But I guess he is me minus my laziness. :)

After college, networking with BMS friends was bare minimum. But once Akshat started with his MBA, his update mailers would help me know whats up with him. He sends these mailers to many people and I am lucky to be a part of his mailing list. I must tell you that I have enjoyed every bit of what he had written. These mails brought out his strong and unique personality. Write-ups about his internship with Sehgal Foundation, meeting with Dr. Verghese Kurien and on India Lies in You have moved me. I think that recent write-up on India Lies in You means more than just the words. It acts as a critic in the life of every Indian, compelling them to THINK about certain issues.

India Lies in You…yes it truly does. If you introspect you will see how beautiful these words are and they mean more than the words to you. It says that every Indian should be responsible for the country. Your thoughts, actions, views and above all YOU are the ones who will help to alleviate the under privileged. Around the world campaigns like Incredible India and India Poised are promoted. There are predictions made by the best in the Industry that India will be a Superpower by 2050. But do you really think this will happen? We lag behind not only in terms of human development, but also in terms of infrastructure, electricity supply, etc. So why celebrate these campaigns? What is in it for the poor/needy? Will it make a difference in the life of the people? I feel that instead if we put the same effort, time and money in alleviating the life of under privileged, it will help in the overall development of the Nation and not just a few sections of the society.

At the pace at which we are going, the gap between the rich and poor is widening. Issues like shortage of electricity, food, poverty, debts of farmers, infrastructure, etc are not addressed correctly. Governments make promises, but are they really helpful? It is more like passing the bug. In the latest budget, Finance Minister, Mr. Chidambaram has waived off the loans for all the small farmers, but is it a correct solution or just an election gimmick? What about the concerns of the banks who had lent them the money?

So who should come forward? It is the responsibility of every Indian to come forward to help in these causes. It will be a small step, but it will surely help us inch closer to bringing a smile on the faces of many underprivileged.

To salute this cause and create awareness, a team of young, enthusiastic future entrepreneurs from Sri Sri Ravishankar Vidya Mandir have organized an event – INDIA LIES IN YOU. A small lamp in a dark room but it will definitely give warmth, knowledge, information, motivation, realization, and optimism amongst the masses that they can also make a difference.

To know more about this event, you can log on to http://www.indialiesinyou.com/

You can also visit the Official Blog of India Lies in you at http://indialiesinyou.blogspot.com/

Hair Cut Day

My hair was growing long, and I knew I needed a hair cut, but couldn’t help. My hair stylist was not in town and it has been more than 3 months. Can you imagine getting a trim for that long? Being a person who does not have the best of hair quality and texture plus the wavy hair makes things all the more worse. 

Few months back one of my friends from USA was down here for a holiday. He has good quality hair and had grown them. It looked good on him. But when I had grown my hair I looked like a mythological actor. I am not kidding, look at the picture. (are Ekta Kapoor's casting agents reading? If yes, I am sure they are ready to grab their phones and call me ….lol). Yeah now I think you know how bad my hair looked :) :) :)

A couple of days back, I was passing by my salon and saw my stylist, I took a sigh of relief, he was finally back in town and I was very happy. Finally the D DAY had arrived. My hair has been a very integral part whenever I wanted a makeover. I have grown them, tried different hair styles, colored them, you name it and I have done it :) but opted for a regular trim this time.

One other friend would get a hair massage done after his hair cut and he told me that it felt wonderful. But I had never experienced it but now I do, always. Trust me, i feel its the best part of going for a hair cut. When I get a massage, it calms me down, soothes me, and helps me explore my own world. I close my eyes, enjoy the massage and explore this world. Head massage with acupressure techniques is something that my hair stylist does and yeah boy its feels so fresh. It’s an amazing experience and I would suggest you should also get it done after your hair cut. Its worth trying once.

Everyday Magic

Watching your parents receiving you at the airport, you smile; seeing your girlfriend, you smile; a beautiful rose on your home plant, you smile; clicking a photograph with colleagues, you smile; speaking to a friend after years, you smile. But what makes this wonderful expression so special? Any guesses?

According to me it is pure emotions. Though generally used as a positive emotion, it has numerous shades like happiness, sorrow, pride, pain, excitement, thrill, etc. Imagine being too stressed out at work and your manager walks up to your desk smiles and says, “You have done an excellent job”, it makes your day. A new born baby smiles for the first time, the entire family rejoices. Wife reads an old mail sent by her husband she smiles.

Celebrating these endless moments in life is a beautiful commercial of Orbit chewing gum. Everyday Magic, as its punch line, it exhibits truthfulness and honesty. The commercial not only does justice to the emotion but also conveys the message crisp and clear. Three cheers to Grey Worldwide for a commercial that will definitely bring smile on your face.

Watch the preview of the commercial: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zsGjhTB124

INKED

When you are not and you see others INKED, you are inquisitive and envious. Inquisitive 'coz you want the questions you always had, to be answered, questions like how much time did it take, did it pain a lot, etc. Envy 'coz you dont have one. 

One who is really passionate about having a tattoo would at one point or other get it done. I was in Goa and had heard that there are many Tattoo shops there, and yes we did find them there. On day I took a round around Calangute beach and saw few tattoo artist. Out of my bunch of friends only Ashish has the inclination towards doing freaky things as I do, and it was with him that I visited this tattoo shop on our way back to the hotel room.

The biggest task of gettin a tattoo done is to finalise what you want to do. I had nothing in my mind when we entered the shop, but these guys have lots of 

books which have various designs. I selected this one. However, I was not sure if I am making the right choice, as it is going to be with me life long (yeah i am aware that now they have laser surgery's to get it removed). I checked with Ashish, who also got a temporary tattoo done. He said that it is a good choice, and that it will look really very nice. While I was waiting for my turn, I was still thinking if I was making the right choice of design, weather it will pain, if there is going to be any allergy, amongst others. I wanted to tell the one who is so close to my heart that I am getting a tattoo done, but no luck, my phone could not get through. I know how much I cursed my phone at that moment. 

It was my turn to get inked. After carefully selecting the needle and fighting over getting the best artist to get the tattoo done, the artist began. He drew the border and then filled it up. Initially it pained a little, but then you get used to it. Its amazing. You start enjoying the needle. It took almost one and half hour to complete the same and when it was ready, the results are in front of you. I was really thrilled and excited that I now fall in the category of being INKED.

I had not told my parents that I had got a tattoo done, but they were really very supportive. When I came back home I clearly remember two comments which mom made - a) Why did you do it so up, you should have done it lower on the arm, so that it would have been visible when you wear half shirt and b) why didn't you do a colour one. My answer to both of these was I will do it next time. :)

Its just few months and I am dying to get another one done. I am sure the ones who are tattooed will agree with me. I am really happy I am part of this league now, and that I took a decision, beg your pardon, a correct decision when the situation demanded. 

Cheers!!!