Feels like an eternity since my last post...but then can be excused as had been travelling a lot these days...memorable places...Nashik, Aurangbad, Hyderabad, Bangalore the usul suspects....Bangalore stood out as it was my first visit to the te4ch city in the last 13 years...Last time I had gone, there were faint memories of a bustling South Indian city..techism was not present then..everything about Bangalore was so southie, the Vidhan Sauda, the South Indian Food, the busy streets of Kormangala (no malls then)..this time...you could smell the techism in the air!!! It started with the train...It looked like half the coach was full of people who had something to do with IT....couple of TCS guys, one typical Mr. HCL, a parent whose daughter just joined Infy...whole lot of fun along the way....in the city...you can just throw a stone anywhere in Bagalore and it can break the window of an IT company..they are just everywhere!!! Neways a memorble trip....all good ones..well ya it could have got better if certain plans had worked out..but then thats life......So bck now to the maddening world of RCP....at home today due to a bolt of fever!! Laptops koncked off...somehow mom's antique piece had daya on us and swithched on!! Otherwise its been over a couple of weeks without laptop...so online after quite a long time.....

At a personal level got quite fascinated with the title Princess of Eclipse...kinda stuck me so now wanting to expand it into some form..paintain/peom/story I dont know...just that the title sounds apealing to me! Till then...!

I had to see Fashion. It was a Madhur Bhandarkar movie, promos were amazing, and I had not seen a movie for the last two weeks and the last one was Kidnap which hardly counted. So It released yestarday and the whole day was just desparately trying to get someone or the other to come for the movie. So was pestering sis and mom for 1300 show. Then went upto the counter at PVR Goregaon at 1500 show ( was chilling at the Oberoi mall) and retrned as mom backed out....so came home..still determined to watch it.....sat online and was looking at tickets disappear every second....the Pramod called.....and it was decided...we had to watch it!! So finally after browsing thru all the cinemas..finally found two tickets...1130 show.....what a sense of achievement...so after a light dinner we set out for the movie...reached venue....took half hour to get parking....they didnt have iced tea for Pramod....1130 show started at 1200 for some reasons but nevertheless...what a beginning....what a movie...amazing..three hours just passed by.....movie got over at 3 in the late night/early morning and every one watching came out so Fresh....its the kind of movie you watch and you are so much into it that before you realise its over! Neways got to know what a "showstopper" is.....all desiners are gay....females are relatively safer in the industry...all as per what is shown in the movie...reality may differ....but who cares..its Madhir Bhandarkar....Page 3, Traffic Signal...all were good movies....next target...still have to see Body of Lies...thats a Ridley Scott movie...something I just dont wanna miss.....

Back home after 20 days of gruelling travel...its that time when you are out to enjoy yourself, prove something to some people and realise what a dork people can get by only sitting in "HO" and never actually venturing out in the real world. Its really funny when people can sit and analyse things to no end without actually never having the capacity to create anything! Sometimes the world seems to be surrounded by such people but then thats the beauty of it...thats where there is an opportunity to actually do something and thats what I love here! So more travel after Diwali and more opportunitites to actually have real learnings......

Edge of the seat thriller....thats what your can call Kidnap. Keeps you on the edge of your seat...."Yaar kab khatam hoga!!!!!" Wonder how directors take the Indian audience for granted when it comes to making thrillers. Beaten old story, the only saving grace was the visual effects were at par with the best in Bollywood movies. So there was a Minisha Lamba...who had me with my mouth open...she can be sexy....and Imran Khan delivers a good performance. Was hugely disappointed by Sanju Baba's acting and persona. Sanju Baba...pls hit the gym again with Sallu Bhai....u look fat and old!!! Rahul Dev deliveres yet another cameo..he really is the most underutilised actor in Bollywood..all said and done...Kidnap....shudave given it a miss...good thing is new Ridley Scott movie coming up.....so next weekend promises to be better!!

The markets are playing this Saare Zameen Par movie and its an amazing movie....somehow all the Economics taught in MBA colleges are going for a toss and its plain simple Newtonion theory thats expaining all the phenomenon happening around us. Its called Gravity!

Another trip another set of memories...I have always been fascinated by people. The sheer multiplicities in them leads to various analytical points to think over and keep yourself occupied. And travelling is the best form of meeting these multiplies of nature. Some of them are interesting, some you wonder are natures abnormalities and some clear misfits. Anyways always a pleasure!

Hair cut finally.....So after a long time and endless people reminding me endlessly finally got a hair cut.

My first trip to Kerala....and what a place!! That state is actually God's own country. The trip was full of anticipations, a lot of firsts...first public talk after MBA, first trip to Kerala...so after leaving reaching home at some 1130 in the night from work I prepared myself for the day ahead. The alarm was set at 0530 to help me catch the 0715 flight. As usual dad anticipated I would miss hearing the alarm and came and woke me up at 0515! So neways got up and got ready in time to reach the airport 20 mins before departure! Was a comfortable one...the view from the top was awsome during our descent. What looked like shrubs from way above actually manifested as a bed of coconut trees...and I knew I had arrived in Kerala!

My mallu and non mallu friends all had ranted unlimitedly about the food, so was really looking forward to that. There was a junior from the Admissions Team there to receive me. So she got bombarded with an early quota of Gyaan as the hotel was an hours drive from the airport. The drive was a pleasant one. The event was to start at 3 so had ample time to catch hold of the juniors one by one and give more gyaan (thats exactly they had got me there!). The event had an excellent turnout, some 170 odd turned up despite heavy rains in the city. Went of well, there was clear connect I could establish with the audience as some four years I was having exactly the same thing in the eyes about doing an MBA from a good college. Actually was amazed I could gon one for nearly half hour and then do a Q & A as well! Post that we rushed to the airport as dinner was to be taken. But alas, despite paying 400 per head all we managed was a sandwich and a couple of spoons of pasta. Two pax got complimentary thanks to fellow speaker Pradeep who happened to be a Kingfisher class member.
Once back in Mumbai at 1200, the junior girls suddenly wanted to eat Butter Chicken (despite me repeatedly pushing Mc Donalds at them )..so we began our search and after half hour of driving came across Crepe Station - a place I would definitely recomend for good grup and was amazed by the amount of nutelly Snehal and Revathi can gobble!!!!
The trip also touched another soft corner as that was conducted by the Admissions Team....ASR/Admisions Team and eveyone who is/was a part of it......we rock!!!

Back from the best tour ever in my life....feels good to see efforts get to a good start....RLH is on and here to stay....days were full of work, fun, food, booze and masala doodh....movies came and went..saw two amazing movies Chamku and Phoonk....saw an amazing movie twice...Rock on....had written an amazing review for Phoonk...bit late to post but here goes....

The crow, the toys, the animals and the spiderman....Phoonkh a review

Finally the moment of reckoning came and I had the honor of watching an amazing work of fiction called Phoonkh. So the movie starts and you are supposed to get scared. Whereever the camera goes, you are supposed to get scared. If it focusses on a painting, its supposed to scare you, if it focusses on a stuffed toy... its supposed to scare you, if it focusses on a giraffe model...its supposed to scare you, if it focusses on a smiley pressure ball..pls be scared, if it focusses on spiderman...you better be scared, if it focusses on the "Hero's" reflection in the mirror, the directors begging you to be scared!!!!!!!
So cut across to the "Hero's" home....straight out of discovery channel complete with a giraffe, monkey, paintings, artifacts, pressure ball, teddy bears and what not. Oh did I forget...the real "Hero" is the crow.....it doesnt move, it doesnt fly, it doesnt croak, doesnt even blink an eyelid...but you're suppposed to be scared if it!!! The hot bai and a tharki driver...the movie is just so perfect!!!The evil dayan....laughter reminding you of the lijjat papad bunny....Phoonk can definitely be voted as one of the worst comedies of 2008. So the black magic takes over our cute girl and the usual science vs supernatural follows...solution....Enter the Manja!! The Sultan of Contract deliveres yet another rocking performance...supposed to be the good spirit guy...looks scarier than the black magic evil forces!!
Ram Gopal Verma was wrong in declaring 5 Lakhs as the prize, either it should have been 50 lakhs or we should contribute Rs 5 per ticket to "RGV Pension fund" wishing him a happy retirement.......

The disappointment of Phoonk was more or less topped up by Chamku...a work of Fart.....but then came Rock on.......man just wish Farhan Akhtar makes or acts in more movies....an amazing movie..saw it twice..listed to its songs non stop ever since.....rock on guys..me will be back!

Theres nothing really much to write, no real impacting incidents, no real motivation to blog, just sat down and typing away. Actually there is, theres a friend of mine I had asked how come she had not blogged for a few days. And she was like no inspiration to blog. That actually got my little head thinking...actually we all need some form of motivation or inspiration to blog. What it is and how it manifests depends on person to person.

The extended weekend came as a good breather. Three days are like a luxury! Sad part is that they just disappeared. Had prepared myself by getting some old Amitabh Bacchan movies which I had always wanted to watch without the commercials and songs and this was like the perfect opportunity to do so. So luckily got hold of 10 AB movies and was all set for the journey. Started with Coolie, then Mard, then Mukkadar ka Sikandar, then Amar Akbar Anthony......after that got back to Rambo!!! Somehow all of them seemed to have the same storyline....family separated when hero was small, evil villan, beautiful heroins (childhood buddies with childhood hero), a mega khaandan reunion in the end and the evil villan dies and happies endings!!! Luckily there was no Shah Rukh Khan sayin "Picture abhi baaki hai mere dost!!!!" I would have lost my head and seen Rambo 2 five times!!! Neways will try again..the next lot looks more promising...Kalia, Sharabi, Deewar..so pretty proven hits...hopefully will not have to resort to Rambo 3!!

The best things in life is the joy in giving people what you dont have. It may sound stupid if only tangible things are considered worth giving. Just a thought. Anyways lifes collecting a lot of loyalty points, just hoping it encashes it before expiry! At times, its just that people have to realise that actions have every right for a reaction and anything else is is a bonus. The best companion for these days is Cranberries music. Somehow I have been listening to ot for the past three nights in a row and just cant seem to get enough of it. Salvation, Promises, Linger, Animal, Ode to my family, Zombie...its like every song is giving me a message and I am supposed to just ponder in the lyrics. Its a message and I am deep in it. maybe its all in my head!

Finally I saw Jaane Tu ya jaane na.....after the whole world had seen it, debunked it, laughed at it. the amazing storyline and the climax (or lack of it), I took it upon me to explore the movie. The movie has been ripped apart by critics and audience. Some have loved it, some hated but one thing is there. Have to give it to Abbas Tyrewala for the way he handled the multiple emotions throughout the movie. Every character has a story, says somethings which sometimes doesnt get captured by the dialogues. At some point of time you feel theres a bit if every charactes in you. The way he has handled the characters is quite amazing. But yes, we all could have done without the bhaloos and the bhageeras and mougli!! Terrorist meow kar raha hai...I mean c'mon!!! You take good characters, build a nice storyline then why this sad humor in the end!!! All he should have done was peppered the whole movie with better humor and maybe some of my friends who hated it would have tolerated it. But yes, if you thing too much its an emotional roller coaster........

Came across a very thought provoking thought the other day. Its about judging people. The question is "How do we judge people?" Are people supposed to be judged by their actions or by their thoughts? Are we supposed to judge them by what they do consciously or by what they would have done subconsciously? Is a person correct when he or she does one thing in the absence of someone or anyone or when the same thing is not done? Are we supposed to be judging everyone or anyone? If so why?? For what?? Are we looking for answers or are we just looking to find new questions? Do we really seek the answer or want to escape with more questions? Can we handle the answers? Do we really have to? How does it ever matter when the answers you seek are not worthy of the questions you ask? Or the person who you ask the questions? Or you yourself? Does it really matter if some questions are best unasked? If asked unanswered? If answered pretended to be unheard? if heard pretended to be misunderstood? if understood make believe the answer we want to hear? Some thoughts........

10 days in the Jungle and now back in the zoo....thats what it always feels after returning from a tour. Neways the trip as a whole was very enriching. Both while going and returning the routes taken were amazing in their own right. Malshej ghats actually become so heavenly in the monsoons all I could think was its the best place to be with your loved ones and lonavala strech of the Mumbai - Pune Expressway becomes so enticing in the night with the rains lashing....an amazing experience. The 10 days have been some quality time spent with the Aurangbad Store Team, if this the way then really looking forward to Nashik and the other locations where we would be opening our stores.

back on the blog after quite a while..have been travelling a lot..first Hyderabad, then Aurangabad...so its been quite a busy 12 days...lots of experiences..so many that its difficult to express on the blog. If I describe one it'll be a gross injustice to the other as all have been equally enriching/learning/learning/touching. So maybe one by one they would find themselves on my blog, so if any future posts seem disconnected then this is the reason. Neways the latest is that the trips goin amazingly well, the latest movie was Mission Istanbul and the latest events that happened in Bangalore and Ahmedabad are really heartening. More on everything later!

24 hours of awsome fun in 24 acres of luxury!!! Thats how I can describe the 24 hours that have been one of the best in this year. We had gone to wish marital bliss to good friend Tarun and Anisha. The place lived up to its name of Treat Resort as the experience was definitely an amazing treat. Surprisingly it was the first full fledged wedding I attended without managing to sleep exactly at the time of the pheras!!
The arrangements were awsome, the friends amazing,the Bacardi and Chivas rocking!! Tarun and Anisha....wish you a very happy married life ahead!!!

Sometimes some questions have no answers and answers if any would end up in more questions without answers.

Rains always bring mixed responses. Its the joy of geting wet and the feeling of freshness combined with the yucky feeling of getting dirty, late and the irrestible urge to get lazy! You actually feel like just switching on the music, taking a book and a cup of hot coffee and sit on a couch next to a window and just relax! But yup... some souls brave the rains to arrive at work wading through the rivers of fury! Its amazing how our buses can at times row like boats! Neways the next day its an amazing feeling to see that you office building has got some power trip and the ac wont work the whole day! Next you come to know the tea coffee dispenser wont work the whole day!! Next you come to know the Gym is closed for the day!!! Aw man, guess being lazy in the rains is the best thing to do.

This Saturday is definitely dedicated to a good friend Nasir - who made a perfect ending to a very eventful day. He made me watch Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic!!!!! Its like with every movie Yash Raj movies get more pathetic. Somehow I fail to understand who was the movie targetted towards. There were kids, a loving dog, an industrialist and an item number!!! The kids in the audience were left wondering about the new female features they would have seen for the first time in their lives and the moms and pops cusring under breath searching for the damn remote control wishing they could just change the channel or send the kids packing to their rooms under the pretext of packing theire bags for next days school!!

The scene opens to a visible frustated baby Saif who ends up losing everything and winning evey award..cut to today as a leading businessman knocking over a couple...a court case..four children (and a dog)...guilty!!! Where are my tissues!!! sob sob!!!

So the kids (and dog) land up to live with our hero and find an amazingly sexy (and equally blond) Amisha and they hapily live on!!! But alls not well in the happy family..so angelic Rani cycles down a rainbow by God's diving grace and the family then happily lives ever after...yawn yawn!!!

Must really thank Star Movies for showing Rocky Balboa on the Sunday afternoon. Helped me get over the state of shock!!! So that was my Saturday late evening thanks to my friend!!! Neways good time..got to laugh at the movie...after the eventful office day was really required.

Theres a new phenomenon goin on. Its called the "i-effect". Kinda love it. Pioneered by Apple, the i range stands for a wave of innovation. The i pod, the i phone,i con, iwoz...all the right things. Peek into the other innovative companies of the world, theres a new I effect. I did it, I came up with the idea, I planned this, I pioneered this, I got the numbers, I came up with the idea, I realised we are going off track, I corrected this, I was responsible for all the good things that happened..and when the goin gets tough...the "U effect!!!!!"

They served Red Bull in Air Deccan!!! That was like the most unexpected surprise ever...guess they were preparing me for what was the most turbulent flight I had ever been on. At one point of time I was wondering if I was in Essel World! All said it was a great end to what can be called and amazing two days. Must have met around 200 people in those two days. It was great trying to know the aspirtions of the guys most important in any retail company. Also it was a peek into their world..their struggles, their family, their dreams, their take on careers etc etc. KInda remimded me that in life not everything is a given. Looking forward to having some of them work with us. Now back in the world of "HO". Looking forward to more of "cocktail accountability". Will catch up