Mumbai Diaries

Well, so here is my start of fascination for Mumbai I guess. I have finally started to like the place around. Very fast right? Ya, I have bipolar phases. Made a few tea friends at work. They invite me for lunch also. All senior to me with an experience of 4-8 years.  

Humans have encroached on humans

I live in Lower Parel. The place that was house to textile mills and mill workers decades ago. All the addresses around are in the name of these mills. But what happened to these mills? The urban jungle cropped up. The real estate prices went up. The mill owners sold the places to realty developers and shifted the mills to Bhiwandi which is in the outskirts, a completely another district and property prices are lower there. The mill workers were stripped of their living, they lost jobs, some lost their homes. There is a very good movie called Lalbaug Parel that depicts the plight of these mill workers. They still live here in chawls and have found alternate sources of income making their living as housekeeping staff, office boys, etc. 

Speaking of Lalbaug and the famous Lalbaugcha Raja, the story that I have heard is, there lived a fishermen community here that was about to loose their place these realty projects. They prayed to Lord Ganpati for saving the place and it was saved. And then was established the most revered Ganpati of all times in India Lalbaugcha Raja by that fishermen community.

Best of both the worlds

As I said Lower Parel houses these huge business parks and chawls as well. You get the best of both worlds around. There are really good street food joints and a city marketplace and there are elite pubs and restaurants and malls around. The office gives a view of the sea face and Mahalaxmi Race course. So there is no fight for food. Step out and there are numerous options to eat. And you get everything around.

So that’s my first in the Mumbai Diaries. Hope to make many interesting additions to this. My dearest Swati is gonna show me South Mumbai, supposedly a very beautiful and colonial place and the most expensive in Mumbai. Looking forward to the visit. With Swati its gonna be a memorable one. Cant believe how soon this is happening, just few days ago she called me to Mumbai in the vacation and always spoke of taking me to Colaba Causway, Candies and Poptates.. and I wouldn’t have been able to make it anytime soon if it would have been Chennai, but Mumbai it is. 

They say “LOVE LIFE AND LIFE WILL LOVE YOU BACK”.. And I have tremendous surge to do that right now. J

Talking of the flip side

Well all these days I have been talking about all things rosy and the flips that life has taken. There is no stopping to it. All this while the flips were rather pleasant but this one is surely not one for now. Guess what? I got posted to Mumbai… all alone… Yes, all those plans I made to be with Abhishek have shattered like a house of cards. And though I have been trying to put a smile everyday and trying to accept it to adapt to it, everything inside is tearing apart. I have gone weak in my knees and have been losing it with every passing day. No friends in Mumbai at convenient distances. And how would friends help? All I wanted was to be with him!!

I try to console myself saying everything in life has always happened for a good reason. Sometimes there were not enough resources to pursue some desires in life, but it has always been a no regrets life and whatever turns it has taken I have thanked God later for making that happen. So I have been consoling myself everyday that this too has a brighter side. But it just does not help. After all, all I wanted to do this job was for staying in Chennai. Huh… Sigh!!! Hoping everyday that either I get posted to Chennai or he shifts to Mumbai. Are some things just not meant to happen? Initially they retracted my offer. Oh yes, I found that out when I went for convocation. After a lot of drama I got it back. And when I got it back it was Mumbai. They first killed my morale and then all the motivation to work. You never realize sometimes how things get dirty and difficult. For me long distance was never a problem but now suddenly it has become the biggest problem in my life. My family is 3 hours away from here, but I am not bothered. I just try to sleep as much as possible, to stop that one question cropping in my head everytime.. WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME? And like I said before, every question that you ask gets answered. I am sure the answer is going to be a pleasant one, like it has always been. But right now I don’t have that answer and I am living with it. Maybe God is molding me for something better in life. I am a God fearing person and he knows what is better for me more than I do, so I must follow what he has in store whole heartedly.

Its strange, just when you think you have seen enough and are avert to all the hurt.. BANG!! There is a new one you never thought could hurt you.  

Talking of the first day at work… the office is a huge business park. They keep cleaning it all the time for no reason. Its new and plush. The lady I reported to, Prema, was very pleasant and positive. She made me feel very comfortable on day 1. But the happiness of starting to work is overridden by the emotional turmoil I have been going through. The locale I got a house in is a plush one. There are all business parks and IT parks around. And the best part is my office is 2 buildings away from my home. In Mumbai where people have to travel for hours and in overcrowded local trains, they say I am lucky, I hardly have to walk. But for now this just does not matter to me. Roommate is good. House is cozy. I am going to start making an earning soon. People world over live away from family owing to work. Even Abhishek lived in Delhi all alone. Now I realize what he was actually going through. Its tough and people do that. Respect for all those who do, few days later I will respect myself for doing that. They say, home is where the heart is, and for now MY HEART IS IN CHENNAI…

Life takes you places...

I am amused after reading my older posts.. how I wished I study at an IIM after meeting the candidates who were aspiring for a Tier-I B School. I wasn't really aiming for one and just appeared for the sake of it. Filled up the form on the last day of registration, gave exams in a festive mood and appeared for the WAT/PI just because I was shortlisted. I was aiming for the Mumbai University MMS degree. How I wished I was taught by professors like the Director of IIM Trichy after meeting him. How I noted random thoughts about life taking a 180 degree turn.. And there I was. Life took a 180 degree turn!

Yes, I am now an IIM graduate. It will sound like a destiny's call after reading the earlier posts. After appearing for CAT's WAT/PI, I got a call from IIM Trichy. Amidst all the confusion of going so far, how will we arrange for the fees, I had never thought of leaving Maharashtra for studies.. and now Tamil Nadu!!!
I was leading a carefree laid back life until the day I got a call and within 4 days I was packing my bags, searching for loans, arranging tickets, formals and was ready to go down South for 2 years. I was so nervous, whether I will survive the competition there. How will I find my ground amidst all the IITians and NITians who must have got 99 percentile on their scorecards?? But all went well, I found my feet firm in that ground, dint have to struggle a bit to make an identity.. Studied things I always wanted to, the HR subjects and voilah what a splendid journey it was.. like it was an extension of my previous life.

2013, such an eventful year it was. Why dint I document it all this while? The most beautiful part of my life happened in this year. No brownie points for guessing :p its so evident.. I fell in love. How??? Well thats a story. Its with my senior in college. Had a long due crush on him right from the first day in IIM - T. Never spoke to him in the entire year and then got drunk on his farewell and blurted everything out. All this happened towards the end of my first year and his college life. I apologised to him, we started with being friends and soon discovered the fondness for each other which grew into consumable love. He is Abhishek Singh, this guy who carried a bad boy image, played football, marketer by DNA, pink cheeked fair northy guy. He plays, sings, acts and is witty. It was not easy to not fall for him, but he falling for me was a surprise.

Then Bangalore happened..! The city I would love to live in. I stayed there for my summer internship. The internship turned out to be a troublesome one, we were not required to report the office or do some worthy work and I ended up visiting malls and pubs everyday and exploring the city for a month. Also had a lovely time courting Abhishek there. I fell in love in Bangalore.. with Abhishek and the city :) Stayed at IIM Bangalore which was again a once in a lifetime experience, staying at a beautiful campus of the most coveted B School in the country and wondering how learning in this school would be.

It will almost be an year now, having met him and sailed through this torrid journey. He got posted in Delhi from Chennai. Could not meet for a couple of months. In the course, I also visited Delhi and Kozhikode. Finally I was out of my closet of not visiting places outside Trichy for it would make me feel guilty if I dint do good in studies. By God's grace, the report card was complaint less and I was on the go :) Then he came back to Chennai. Met a couple more times.

I got placed in HDFC Bank. The location they would offer is 90% Chennai. And the only reason I am in love with this job is the location is going to be Chennai. Looking forward to a good worklife ahead. Hope the smiles prevail throughout.

So yes.. Life took me to places.. I spent 22 years of my life in Nasik.. but these 2 years were a ride.. I was taken to Trichy, Bangalore, Delhi, Kozhikode and now its gonna be Chennai. I never planned for it, but it kept happening.. and I am thankful it did.

That's when Abhishek came for the Alumni match

The wonderful friends I made :)

At the IIM Kozhikode campus

Le Rock Cafe in Bangalore

TGIF Bangalore

Random thoughts

Again due to the sleep deprived night random thoughts were flowing in..
Though these are cliches I just felt like noting them down and publishing them.

•  I wish I had learnt all that I have now, back then when I was getting hurt..
  I would have been so less hurt or not at all..
  For I would have understood, it happens, with anybody, anytime.. Its life!
  Yes its life, this is how it teaches..
  It does not give you lessons first and then an experience,
  Its always the other way round..
  But the best part is "For every wrong that you question, you r answered with a right later"..
  All you can do is question.. Y?

• You will find yourself with people and question.. had I ever thought I would be with them?
  You will find yourself in situations and wonder.. I had never thought I would be in this one.
  Just when you start believing life is very unpredictable, stability sets in..
  And start believing life's stable.. zoom it takes a 180 degrees flip :D

Zaroori Hai

A couple of days ago, I was sleep deprived... owing to which at 3 am in the morning I wrote this small poem or shayari kind of thing.. :D it resulted from one thought, which I eventually concluded with and framed the entire thing. Here it goes-

Duniya dekhna bohot zaroori hai,
Logon se milna aur jaan na bohot zaroori hai..
Ye tumhari pehchan nahi, zindagiyon ki pehchan karana zaroori hai...
Khud ki zindagi se na bahar jhake toa kya sikha?
Khud ko mili khushiyon ka andaaz lagana zaroori hai,
Apne sath hue sahi aur galat ko zindagi ka rang samajhna zaroori hai.. :)

The brain opener

Yesterday I went to the written analysis test and interview of the 6 IIMs, namely, Ranchi, Raipur, Rohtak, Kashipur, Trichy and Udaipur. I was shortlisted by 5 of them, the one that dint was Rohtak.This entire experience was not just an eye opener, it was a brain opener for me.

The aspirants were so passionate about getting into the top B-Schools of India, unlike me who would take admission even in Sinhagad Institute of Management. But after seeing their zeal, even I am inspired to raise my bar. So coming to the candidates, there were 100 boys and 5 girls, yes thats the ratio 1:20. I was sitting in a pool of IITians and NITians. These students had a profound work experience too. Everybody had a fabulous English diction too. And never have I seen so many good looking boys all in one place :D they were undoubtedly academicaly smart and had a great persona too. These boys had been to places like SP JAIN, XLRI, ISB, the IITs for mba admission processes, it just barked on me, how small I thought and never wanted to go an extra mile and always wanted to settle only for how much I could do.

We got to meet the Director of IIM- T Mr. Agnihotri and a couple of other faculty members from the institute. And I actually got the feeling of how it would be to be taught by such professionals. I got an insight about the entire environment at the IIMs, such was the organisation of the process, very co-operative.

The WAT topic was 'Outsourcing is welcome to India, Walmart is not. Political double standards?'. I was very well prepared on FDI, so i could write a good content. the interview panelists too were bigwigs from
industries, but it was a very chilled out interview. I just went in with a cool, gave the most candid answers and came out smiling. They asked me about wines, my hobbies, cyber laws, nothing techincal, thank God!
 Dont know what the end result would be, but I wish I get selected.

The center for this process too was a prominent place to be. The Institute of Hotel Management and Catering, the oldest in Dadar. A very good studying atmosphere there, i could sense the quality of education by just being there. I saw the oldest residential area in Dadar, the parsis (whom we dont usually get to see in Nasik), the kabutar khana. The taxi driver who dropped us to college was a 78 year man who was not only driving for a living but also did the profession to help children and pregnant women with medicines, i was moved to acknowledge the charity done by that old man in an age when people want to retire and rest. When you see new lifestyles you get a new enthusiasm to lead your life, i wont be able to describe it but its a fresh zeal to lead your life. I guess its the acquaintance with another lifestyle that brings in the novelty. But its often short lived.

I came home in the night and took the newspaper in hand and the supplement was about the next generations of businessmen in Nasik. It was an enterprising edition in itself.

I felt like the day made my brain open to new horizons, just with the experience I had throughout the day. We should think about and should go an extra mile :) probably find the best of the institute to study.. facilitates your growth, yes its the atmosphere around you, you cannot help but get moulded :)

Back after long time

Here I am on the blogger after such a long time.
The last time I wrote I was not an Engineer.. today I am...
Exams went well.. vacations lazy.. then took to studying Java...
Almost near the end of Harry Potter and the Order of Pheonix and I saw Sex and The City all 6 seasons all these days... I have been so obsessed with this show that I sat at home for 2 weeks and saw all the series back to back.. I can simply go on and on about it, what a series they have made...
I could relate so much to it, though I am not a New Yorker, I am an Indian but I loved the philosophy of New York and the girls, I am sucker for their lifestyle.. The show is fun, silly, bold, and just takes on everything on a single girl's mind.. About how the journey of finding that one perfect guy could turn out to be.. the show has a beautiful soul... and they an envious career, designer labels, own apartments, i would love that life at this age :)
Coming to my life from SATC, I have'nt been upto much since I was so much into the show, I could watch the series once again all over, but that will probably mean my life will again come to a standstill..
For now the things on my agenda are, OCJP preparation, CET preparation, CAT...
I have been aiming for both a software job in java and management studies.. for now I am up for both.
So these are the things on my mind right now..
For fitness I joined a yoga + pranayam class from today and it was amazing.
I felt so calm, peaceful, mind completely clutter-free after I left the class..
I am so proud of my Indian roots, I wonder how beautiful life or rather lifestyle must have been when there was only yoga and ayurveda in people's lives. I wish I was born and lived in that era of peace and serenity.
how beautiful the old times were... and our ancestors have left us with such beautiful legacy or rather therapies    , I am proud !!! :) and also surprised how I felt a glimpse of the inner me in just one class.. the inner me and making the insides thoughtless, without life, like a place to be.. like they call it the inner sanctum :)
no wonder so many firangs visit India for the inner peace, yes it is this land where you will find it :)
that's all for today.. have decided to write everyday.. lets see how far I go :) chao..
Happy navratri bloggers and blog readers :)