Johnny

I'm bored. I really am.
Its been 6 days since i went to work. I was unwell, but to be honest, i wasn't making much effort to be healthy again. I was only too happy to avoid my boss.

I know there is nothing new about wanting to avoid your boss. But, every boss is unique, yet similar in certain ways. For instance, my boss is a jerk, now that's common. My boss has an Elvis Presley haircut, that's unique.. get it? huh? huh? hahaha...yo

This post is going to be LEGEN wait for it DARY !

My boss is a Moron, that's common. He doesn't believe in punctuations, that's unique. ha .. haa ...haa.

Now, this is not a regular boss bashing session that i'm upto. This is months of pent up frustration finding a creative outlet. My boss is special in a lot of ways. Very soon after working with him i realized i was on the 'verge of making a discovery.I discovered the male dumb blonde. Only he isn't blonde, but that's a thought.. hehe im picturing a blonde him. He is the original Johnny Bravo.
Our Johnny believes in:

- his overpowering good looks.
- audacity being his charm.
- being super duper confident about something he doesn't have a fucking clue about
- talking non-stop about it (without punctuations), stopping only to breathe, which to him, is a communication barrier.
- most importantly, talking to 10 people who know the 'stuff'. Memorizing the buzz words to fit into his blabber to create the illusion that he does really know what he is talking about.

It actually works. Johnny made his career out of it. How this works is simple, people who actually know their 'stuff' and don't know him would believe him. Because, as per them, he would have to be an idiot to talk that much without having a clue about the underlying subject.

I have to give it to Johnny, that he does make a good first impression. But its only once you start working with him that you figure out that he is incredibly narcissistic and dim-witted with a severe inability to attract women. Johnny also royally ignores any discoveries related to his stupidity. Which again is a very effective tactic that works very well when you are the discoverer's boss.

A few days into joining Johnny's project, he said to me, "Welcome aboard", and i couldn't help but think of Titanic. The similarities were uncanny. It was Johnny's maiden project, HE was the self-proclaimed, unqualified technical architect and to turn it into the classic was his overconfidence. After surviving 3 months of getting nowhere and watching Johnny embark his high horse in every project meeting, we finally had to get the super boss to kick Johnny's horse so hard in the nuts that it turns into a mouse.

It took a couple of months for the super boss to put Johnny in his place and find a qualified replacement. We heaved a sigh of relief. Johnny too was happy to be relieved of his additional responsibilities, returning to the original ones of managing his rockstar hair and running his personal errands from his office desk. Reminds me of this quote by American Sociologist Larry Kersten,

Before you attempt to beat the odds, be sure you could survive the odds beating you.

Johnny's overconfidence:

Don't Write

Ran into this poem by Jen Lee. Don't know much about her yet, but the poem is something i could relate with.

Don’t write.

It’s too powerful.

It might tell someone how

you feel. How you hurt.

What you don’t understand.

Don’t write.

It’s too powerful.

It will show who you are

on the inside to the outside.

It’ll blow your cover,

your nice reputation.

Don’t write.

It’s too powerful.

You might hurt someone’s feelings.

People may not like your words.

They may attack you, or abandon you. 

Don’t write.

It’s too powerful.

It might give others hope.

Let them know

they’re not alone.

It might change minds.

Change directions.

Change the world.

So, whatever you do,

Don’t write.

Adventures with Arranged Marriage : Last but not the least

I have already lost my eligibility, provided the next guy can trace this blog back to me. So yeah, why not write about one last weird guy before i close the series. I would like to confess that in no way, am i trying to say, that i haven't done a few silly things here and there. The important thing is...
Its my blog.

Getting back to the story. Let's call this guy Mr Moron. So as the usual thing goes, Mr Moron and i lived in different cities. But thanks to our moms (who could challenge Nokia at "Connecting People") i got a call from him. We started talking, all was well for a while. Nothing over the moon, but alright.

We were just getting to know each other when one day Moron started to tell me about how he used to be a very shy person. I did express my disbelief, as he was very comfortable talking to me, infact even flirting if i may say so.

"no no no, lady, i was a very shy person", said the Moron. So how did you come around it, was my obvious  question. Lo and Behold.... straight from the Moron's mouth:

He started with just casually talking to women at first. That, i think was a good step and must have taken a lot courage on a shy guy's part. But it dint stop there. As he got comfortable talking, he started flirting. And as he started flirting, in his own words and i'm not exaggerating, "I got hooked on to it. You know, it just turned into a habit. I can't help it anymore"

A habit? Full marks for honesty, but to expect a woman to consider marrying you (when she is not blinded by love) when flirting is your habit, is a bit much. To be honest, there was nothing intellectually stimulating about the man and the 'habit' only went against him. And i remember at some point during our conversations, he also described how good looking he was and how women swarmed around him like farm bees, giving me a picture of his looks by saying that he looked like, "Anurag from Kasauti Zindagi Ki", whoever that is. Sigh !

Marriage is tough and arranged marriage, tougher. Yet some of my friends make it sound so simple. They just "take the plunge", like its the swimming pool in their backyard. And my favorite, "leap of faith" :)

What can i say, except, Que sera sera... 

Adventures with Arranged Marriage : Dog Guy

Hmm.. so this must be back in my parents' active search phase. They had just started to think that its the 'perfect' time for their daughter to get married. Considering she wasn't seeing anyone, or not that she was aware of the fact that she was seeing someone, but that's another story. Anyway.... so they took it upon themselves to meet, greet, interview every eligible man they could get their hands on. I, on the other hand, for some weird reason(meaning i don't want to talk about it) was not very keen on the whole thing.


Okay the weird reason being, i felt like there was alot i wanted to do before i could think about getting married. But like i said before, there is no harm in exploring your options when you are pushed into it.
I don't know about other people, but my mom has this most amazing talent of grabbing you by the scruff of your neck, stripping off your ego... chopping it into pieces.. and canning it into tin containers labeled LOSER. I always lose the battle, but the hope of winning the war keeps me going.. whenever the war comes. Or has it already come and gone while i thought it was only a battle i was losing !!! God Almighty !


Focus !


So came along, the dog guy. Now, its a misnomer. Nowhere in my entire conversation with him, spanning over about a week, did the dog ever come up. But when it did, THAT was our last conversation. Please don't get me wrong, i have nothing against dogs. Reptiles yes, but not dogs. 


He was fun to talk to, by which i mean, i did not get bored. My idea of getting to know someone via the Desi arranged marriage is not exactly to put the guy through the wringer or something. I would rather let them be comfortable and willingly tell me all that is wrong with them.... he he he (my devil laugh with pointy tail and fangs). 


The talks with dog guy were going okay, no major hiccups so far, except that i was sure he is not the one for me. For one, our sense of humor was not exactly on the same plane. If my humor was the fresh sea breeze(its my blog), his was stratosphere - too far over the head and with holes in it.
Also the guy was very fuzzy on his career path. I'm not exactly looking for the next CEO, but you've got to atleast have a teeny weeny plan. Or you've got to atleast like your job.


I had almost made up my mind, yet i needed that last nail for the coffin. Then it came, on a Sunday afternoon. 
As i was lounging in my room, the dog guy called. During his usual rantings, there came up a dog. 


Dog guy: "Oh yeah, i had a dog". 
Me: "Really, you did. tell me more"
Dog guy: "Well, we had this really cute dog. But once, when my parents went to the US for 2 months, the dog  died."
Me: "The dog DIED ! your parents left for 2 months and the dog DIED !"
Dog guy: "What can i say, i was so occupied at work, i had no time to look after the dog ! I barely took care of myself."
ME: "But how did the dog die ????"
Dog guy: "I don't know, i just came home from work one day, maybe after 2 days, and the dog threw up. By the time we got to the vet, it died."


THAT, friends, was the nail in the coffin, both the dog's and our future's. 

Adventures with Arranged Marriage: My First Time

To all those whose heart beat jumped up a notch as they clicked on this post : hahahaha.. get real.

So it was back in those early days when marriage was a blip on the radar of my blissful life. I was my immature self with a superiority complex and nothing to merit it. My idea of marriage was as faraway from reality as unicorn and Utopia. When asked about the sort of guy i might want to marry, there was only one thing i had to say : Highly Educated.

My parents, still under the illusion that i knew what i was talking about, went on to collect samples. Every nook and corner was searched, every relative called, every brick was lifted and the certificates of the worms under it checked. While the servers were still scanning data in the background (sorry im a techie), the first one that made through was presented to me on an email.

"He is a double MS", said my mom, insisting on the double. She was sure its as educated as you can get while being socially acceptable. "But who does a double MS", was all i could come up with, unaware of the pretty glass floor under my mom's feet that i just shattered. "You couldn't even get through CAT, he atleast has done his masters, twice over.", shrieked my mom from the kitchen cracking a jar or two.
Like CAT was easy to bell !

It wasn't exactly boring to explore your options. My email id and phone number was passed on to Mr. Double MS. We started with emails and graduated to chatting. As we got over the basic discomfort of being absolute strangers trying to make polite conversations because mummy wanted us to..... i got to know about his lack of interest in books, music, his ex girlfriends, and his problem of "firing blanks" sometimes (!!!)... all of which did not bother me.... For i was this new age open minded "modran" woman of the 21st century who would not bother with anything as trivial as 'firing blanks' and incompatibility, I knew what i wanted and what i wanted was : Highly Educated, which he was.

Finally over one of those chat/video conferencing sessions i asked him, "So why did you go for a double MS". My maiden question that was the elephant in the chat room we never talked about. Here's what followed,

Turns out, Mr double MS was terrible at academics. But somehow was whacked into taking up engineering. God knows how he got through, my guess is a paid seat. But owing to skipping a step in evolution, it took 5 years of threatening from home to get him through the course. Post the engineering, with no ambition to follow, and too old to be whacked, he was cajoled into going for an MS. His dad's convincing argument was, "What have you got to lose anyway". And so went our friend to US for his first MS.
US dazzled our henceforth non-desi friend with the plethora of possibilities of screwing up. Not one to be missed. He sailed through the MS storm with a GPA not good enough to get him a job. *buzzzz GAME OVER* It was bye bye US my motherland time. Our fast thinking non-desi friend overwhelmed with his patriotism, found that the only way to stay, was to quickly enroll into another MS. And so came about the second MS, WHICH btw, he did not complete. He left it midway the moment he got a job that did not pay him very well ofcourse.

So with V for victory stamped on my ego, i descended from my bedroom to the living room below and summoned my parents to tell them of my discovery. I ended it with,

"There was one thing i wanted : 'highly educated', and even THAT he is not". sssswwwweeet.

Adventures with Arranged Marriage: The setup

This is the first post of a series of posts i'm planning to write about my adventures with the Indian Arranged Marriage scene.This might bring down my eligibility on the marriage front, but as Kurt Cobain's would put it : Well, Whatever, Never-mind.


If i rewind 20 years or so, in an Indian setup, marriage is not optional, is a once in a lifetime affair, might not have anything to do with love, has nothing to do with the individuals, has everything to do with families, background, financial compatibility (dowry included) and social status. 


Getting a little specific, a man would be judged on his salary, own house, vehicle, number of unmarried sisters, and maybe just MAYBE education too. 


A woman on the other hand would be appraised on age, color of her skin (the gori'er the better), number of brothers, dowry size, acne free skin, facial hair, regularity of her periods, reputation in the Biradari. Most Indian mothers of their very Indian sons suffer from the "tall, slim, fair, beautiful and homely" syndrome(barf). Needless to say, this is completely independent of the eligibility of their sons. Oh and one more thing, the girl should not be "MODRAN" (modern in english).


I can safely say from personal experience that this has changed.*
*only in metros, only amongst the educated working class. 


Thank you god, for my parents belong to the educated working class in the metro. That changes only a few of these parameters though. Marriage is still not optional, it might be late though. It is still a once in a lifetime affair but they will not get a cardiac arrest if it doesn't work out. It could have everything to do with love and individuals. 


However, if they don't approve of the match, they have all the right to emotionally blackmail you, squeeze your big fat indian wedding to Size Zero, make an exhaustive list of everything wrong with your boyfriend/girlfriend so they can discuss it with your massi, bua, chacha and chachi (all combinations of indian relatives) when they talk about how "iski akal pe to parda padh gaya hai" ( literally : a curtain has shut your mind out).


I'm an educated working woman born and brought up in a metro. My parents are supportive enough to not blow their head off thinking about their late twenties, aggressive than average, supposedly modern, unmarried daughter. But they have been trying to set me up for a few years now. Not-so-seriously to begin with, seriously in a couple of years, aggressively after that, and finally a few flares here and there like a dying flame. 


And here i am their shameless daughter blogging away about my "adventures with arranged marriage".

How i found my twin soul

I had just started working when one day i came home and mom told me about one of our family friends who would be moving into our house on the floor above mine. I was mostly indifferent to this new development.
She moved in and we got introduced. We were both working so we dint exactly have the time to 'hang out'.I don't think we talked much initially.

I don't remember how that happened, but at some point i developed alot of affection and admiration for her. She was all that i was, and much much more. She munched on books, had the strongest, most independent mind i have seen in a woman. I have seen her shoot people down with her words and trust me, there wasn't a comeback in the world that could save them.

But here's how we realized the twin soul part :

Once upon a time at dinner, we were discussing men. And she was telling me how there was this one man she had met on the train who made sense to her. Who she could actually talk to and was instantly attracted to in a certain way. They went out for coffee later. I was all ears.
Then she told me how this man was from X city and studied at Y school.... i started to get a little uncomfortable at this point... i let her go on.... getting more and more uncomfortable. After 5 minutes, i told her, was his name A?  She froze and mumbled a yes. She was talking about my very recently ex'ed boyfriend all this while, the only man who made sense to me. (at that time ofcourse)

We knew we had a bond but this was freaky. I wouldn't obviously think she is my twin soul based on my bonding with her and this 'small' incident. But things dint stop there.

One day i went to a book store, and bought a beautiful diary for myself. It was this hard bound thing with a beautiful print on the cover. She came back from work that day and reached for something in her purse that she wanted me to see. And there came out the EXACT same diary i had bought earlier in the day :)

Another thing i remember vividly is when She (thats what i'm going to call her) , S and i went to the book fair. Given our love for books, all of us were super thrilled to be there. Only She and S are 3 years my senior, both extremely smart, both very talented with words and sarcasm, both with a temporary desire to bully me through the day... which they did on the way to the book fair. Finally, we got to one of the stalls and they were calm. All three of us were in different directions. I ran to S with this book called 'Don't read this if you are stupid' and told him, "This might have our kind of humor". In next 20 seconds, She ran to us with the same book and said, "This might have our kind of humor". S ofcourse was laughing considering he knew about the "bond".

We are now conditioned to accept these little incidents and not find them creepy. Coupled with all these little things is our undying love and admiration, close to worship, for Garfield. Garf happens to be a constant inspiration to us with his sarcasm, complete insensitivity,self obsession and insatiable appetite.

To her : *Mush Alert* Thanks for being a part of my life. Thanks for having the nerve to tell me the 'right thing' knowing that it will break my heart a million times. You are an incredible woman.

Eurotrip series : Crash Course

Okay, im going to keep this very dry and clinical. I will try not to get carried away with how much fun my trip was and keep it to the necessary information only.

1. How do you wish to travel 
If you have no time to invest and its your first trip to Europe, i'd suggest that you book yourself a package tour. It is the simplest way for you to travel with everything taken care of. It is also as economical as it can get with the sort of facilities you will be provided. And at the time of writing this, forget about going to Europe on a package tour if you budget is anything less than 1.5 lacs per person.
Now, if you are the kinds who like to do their own thing, lets talk :) Before anything else, you have two choices : East Europe or West. Look at the map if you dont know what im saying. The west is the rich, popular part. East is the relatively poor, less popular part. However, west is also more uptight and east is warm and friendly. Almost, not almost, ALL the friendly, talkative people i met on my west Europe trip were actually from the East.
Also, West would be more expensive than the East.

2. What to include and exclude
Once you have decided on the countries. I would suggest that on the first trip visit the capital cities or the important cities. On your subsequent trips take the road less traveled. As a rule, people travel in a circle, or across. Make sure you plan your trip such that you are not wasting money travelling back and forth. I had to leave out my beloved Rome because it did not fit into the circle of Basel->Paris->Brussels->Amsterdam->Basel (via Germany). On the next trip probably i could do Italy, Austria, Czech. Remember its not your last trip.

3. Airtickets
I found these really cheap deals on Emirates with a 12 hour stopover at Dubai. But the tickets were so cheap i dint mind the stopover. It cost us 28k delhi-dubai-zurich and zurich-dubai-delhi. Dubai airport is great to pass your time. Or you could take a visa on arrival and go into the city. There were equally good deals on Swiss airline too. But you have to book about 2 months in advance and i had lost out on the time. Those were about 26k Delhi-Zurich-Delhi ( grrrr..... :/).

4. Travel within Europe
If you are two people travelling, get a eurail pass.
http://www.eurail.com/
Its the simplest way to travel. However, its valid on the National railways only i think. So keep some money aside for the local travel. If you are more than two people, the CHEAPEST way to travel around Europe is to hire a car. We were 4 people and it saved us a whole lot of money. But keep in mind :

• Its a right hand drive.
• Unlike India, you actually have to read and understand the road signs. 
• There are parking rules. 
• NEVER take your car into Paris. NEVER.
• Some cities have huge central parkings like at the Olympic stadium in Amsterdam.
• We took a car because my friend had already been driving in Europe for sometime. First timers, take a train.

5. Youth Hostels

Get the YHAI membership while you are in India. Lifetime membership costs a mere 1500/-. It can get you upto a 2 euro discount at some youth hostels in Europe. Stay at the hostels. Its the best and cheapest way to travel around europe and to meet new people. Do not expect luxury, but you will be comfortable. And you might get some really nice hostels if you are lucky. Book in advance on websites like 

http://www.hihostels.com/

http://www.hostelworld.com/

http://www.hostelbookers.com/

You might not find a single room in cities like Paris and Amsterdam over the weekends. And if Brussels is on your list i highly recommend the 'Hello Hostel'. It was the most spacious, airy, clean, accessible, economical and friendly hostel we stayed at.

6.How much is too much

Do not plan every second of your trip in advance. When we left India, we had a loose plan. Something like:

Day 1 : Basel, Day 2 and 3 : Paris and so on. And we had booked a hostel in Paris in advance. Then on, we booked a day before we reached the city. We were a little to adventurous there, but we were prepared to sleep in the car if we dint find a place. Not a very good idea though.  

Have a list of must-visits in a city. But be open to new ideas. And be prepared to overstay by atleast one day. 

Here is our list of must-visits to give you a general idea :

1. Switzerland : Interlaken

2. Paris : Jim Morrison's grave, Louvre, Moulin Rouge, Eiffel at night. 

3. Brussels : Mini Europe (missed it, we were late), Delirium pub(they serve a record, 2000 types on beers on their menu. Environment is grrrreeeeaatttt)

4. Amsterdam : Anne Frank's House, RLD, Brownies and be prepared to overstay.

7.What to Pack

Get a backpack and thats all you should carry. Considering you are backpacking, you will not exactly be eating at fancy places or clubbing at the 5 stars. Pack

•  comfortable walking shoes (which you will wear and go)
• A pair of denims and tracks ( apart from the one you will wear)
• Simple tees that are light and take very little space. 
• One dress ( if you are "just-incase" type, but remember you would also have to pack shoes to go with it)
• We travelled in November, so it was starting to get very cold. I carried 2 sweaters and 1 jacket which i  wore at all times. I bought this very good black jacket from Puma which was stylish, black and very warm for 3000/-. Also it was made of this wind cheater sort of material, which works coz its very windy. One jacket is sufficient. Benetton and woodland had something but it was twice the money and nothing more convincing that Puma.
• Dont forget a muffler, gloves and cap. 1 each.

MOST IMPORTANT : Visit http://www.ricksteves.com/. Its the most useful website on travelling to any place in Europe and any which way you want.


8.Currency
Get a travel card. Carry some currency. You can buy it from the money exchangers. I bought from GK.

DO NOT keep your money together. Especially in Paris. Carry what you need and leave your travel card and  rest of the currency in your luggage... again, not together. Be very careful with your wallet (unlike me. i lost mine in Paris) and money.

9.How much did i spend


My favorite part. Believe it or not, we did it in under 1 lac per person including visa fees and 110 euro shopping and losing my wallet in Paris which had 70 euros.

10. How did i do it 
Your favorite part.

• Find someone you can park with for a day or two. We stayed with a friend in Basel for overall 3 nights. It saved us alot of money. It doesn't have to be you chuddi buddy. Trust me people would love to have someone over from their country for a couple of days. 
• We traveled by Road. Fuel is overall cheap and even cheaper in some countries. Get a tank full when leaving from there.
• We NEVER ate at fancy restaurants. We lived on street food. Always. And its a great way to try new things. If you are not adventurous, you will always have subway and McD to fall back on. 
• We stayed at the cheapest hostels. 
• We saved on everything we could to spend on entry ticket to Louvre, Madam Tussad's, Eiffel etc. 

So major saver : Friends to park with, road trip.

PHEW ! There you go. I'm open to questions ofcourse. There is alot i could not put down here, but i would be happy to share information if anyone needs it. 

Eurotrip series : Paperwork

Okay depending on where you want to go in Europe, you would need a visa ofcourse. Assuming you are Indian. I'd be specific here. 

You need to apply for the Schengen visa to travel around Europe. This visa is a common visa for the EU, which covers 21 european countries. Switzerland was recently added to the Schengen visa contries. Hurrey for that.

However, UK unfortunately is not a part of this. You would need a seperate UK visa if you want to go to London. I recommend you check the latest list of the schengen countries. 

In India you could apply for the Schengen Visa at the VFS offices. They have two centres : Delhi and Mumbai. I applied at the Delhi centre in Nehru Place for the Swiss embassy. Swiss was less crowded. The french and German counters are mostly overcrowded.


Visit the VFS website and you will get all the info you need. http://www.vfs-ch-in.com/
You can do it yourself, it takes about 5 days. 


How to arrange the documents
The only documents i was confused about were the air tickets and the travel insurance.

The travel insurance can be purchased online. I bought a 20 day travel insurance which covered EVERYTHING for about a 1000 rupees.
The air tickets were tricky for two reasons : one, you might not be sure when exactly you will travel and second, what if you don't get the visa, you would have to pay the cancellation charges. So you could get dummy tickets. You can get dummy tickets from a travel agent. What they do is, they book and immediately cancel your ticket and give you a print. You could also book tickets online and print the ticket before you pay for it.
I was not sure about the exact dates, so i got dummy tickets for the maximum range of my travel. I wanted to travel for 15 days, but my tickets were for 20 days and so was my travel insurance. The visa i got was for 20 days. Please make sure that your travel insurance starts the day you travel, your application will not be accepted if you are not covered for even a single day.

CHECK AND CROSS CHECK YOUR DOCUMENTS AGAINST THE LIST or be sure to visit the VFS again as they will not accept incomplete applications.

Visa Interview
If its your first Schengen you will be called for an interview at the embassy. If not, you are lucky. Its a 5 min interview and mostly they just very your details in the form, so please know your form.

5 days and you will have your travel visa :)

PS: For UK visa too you will have to visit the VFS UK center.

Eurotrip series : Where do i begin to tell you the story of how ssssswwwwweeeeeet a trip can be

Eurotrip :  The plan

Okay it DOES remind me of DDLJ too. As Chandler would say, "Could it BE more cliched".
If corny just popped up in your head, im not surprised. And if you think you already know im going to mention Raj and romance next, sorry to disappoint you... or did i just say that :/ shucksie

Setting it up
When i watched this movie for the first time, i was still at school. And more than the idea of Raj, i fell in love with Europe. I decided that its one place i just HAD to visit. The good thing i did is, informed my parents. It gave them 10 odd years to come to terms with it.

As i was growing up, i read more and more about Europe and it only kept inflaming my desire to visit. How i wanted to do this was : budget, basic, impromptu, and single. Unlike alot of people around me who wanted it to be their honeymoon destination. Nothing wrong with that, but it just wasn't my thing. Also, i think why alot of them settled for honeymoon bit (atleast the women) was because Indian parents would not be thrilled at the idea of letting their kids fly away to Europe for a holiday, single. Not the middle class working parents with decent but not luxurious lifestyles.

So how did i get around it? One of the best things you could do to yourself for Euro or any other trip is go study there. Or better still, get a job. I had neither of these. All i had was enough ( not much, just enough) money to make it to Europe. It took a couple of business trips abroad and a couple of years of repeated planning and plotting and reciting the Euro Chalisa 108 times a month... for my parents to atleast consider the plan. Also, i think they knew it was one thing i would not settle on.

Do Not Give in
I planned 1 week exntension on my first business trip to London to visit scotland. Unfortunately, my business trip got extended. I planned a 1 week extension on my second business trip to London... work extended AGAIN. Then i planned a holiday with 3 female friends, (which my parents were okay with) and one of them decided the get pregnant... shelved again. (Im happy for you T :) )

"Mere paas bhai hai"
While in London i met a childhood friend, after 12 years, thanks to orkut... who happened to be living.. guess where? Switzerland ofcourse. Finally, i planned a trip to visit him so we could go on a road trip.... but two was not good enough for us. We roped in his brother.... but my very Indian parents would never have agreed.
So thats when your younger brother comes in handy. After ALOT of planning, cancelling, begging, cajoling, bribing, threatening, counselling, emotional blackmailing, tantrums, sulking, yelling, emailing, calling, video conferencing................ I got a thumbs up from the authorities.

Take aways for those not interested in my long story :
1. If your parents are not happy about it, you can always walk off, there is nothing much they can do about it if you are working. But thats not something i wanted to do. Give time for the idea to settle in.
2. Find someone they know or are comfy with: friends, siblings (if your sibling is as cool as mine), cousins, package tour?
3. Be sure to make your passion visible.

Eurotrip : Where to Begin

To put it mildly indian parents are conservative and over-protective. Atleast by international standards.
These attributes go up a notch

Euro trip for Indians

I have decided to write a series of posts which can help you plans a trip to Europe.
Specifically a budget trip. It took me about 3 months of reading up on the net to figure out how and where to
travel. I would like to share what i learnt about :

- How to pester Indian parent to give in to a Euro trip, especially when you are their only daughter and single.

- Who to travel with?
- Minimum budget.

- How to decide which favorite city to skip :(
- How much planning is too much planning.
- Cheap flights
- Where to stay
- What to pack
- A little bit about what places to cover in a city (you can find this very easily ont he net, but i'll just tell you what all we covered and how much time it took us)

I dont know if anyone would be interested in these posts. But im going to write them anyway.

Are you reading? Anyone ? :(

I was there

I was there when India beat Pakistan 4-1 in the Hockey World Cup. The taste of vitory was...... ssswwweeeet.

It wasn't the final ofcourse. It was only the first match. But historical data suggests that neither Indians, nor Pakistanis care two hoots about the World Cup as long as their team beats the other.

It was 1982 when Pakistan beat India 7-1, labeled as the darkest day in the history of Indian hockey.Though i'm not even close to being an expert on hockey, but as a commoner, to me, the darkest day in Indian hockey was when India failed to qualify for the Beijing Olympics.

There were many things about the match last night that went beyond my expectation.

To being with, the crowd that turned out for the match was unbelievable, both in quantity and quality.People were civil, and the ages groups, diverse. People actually stood up when Pakistan's national anthem was played and acknowledged their team with cheers as it ended. Verbal battles with the small group of Pakistani fans can be excused in my opinion. It adds spice to the game as long as the larger picture maintains the good spirit of the game. The Pakistani fans were cheered for as they entered the stands and i remember seeing a poster that said "Happy holi to Indians from Pakistan". Very thoughtful.

And guess what? the security was super tight and the policemen super courteous. For a sec i couldn't believe my ears when i heard them say "Please". Bravo !

As i entered the stands i was surprised (im not exaggerating here) to find these beautiful chairs there. I was prepared to sit on the cemented steps. I looked at the ground and it looked.... fresh and green... so green it made me grin :)

And finally, the team that played last night against Pakistan was something else. Their body language was full of confidence and their game aggressive.



My brother btw, came up with this fascinating story post-match. In all seriousness he said to one of our older relatives, who wouldn't know anything about hockey and would believe anything my brother said, he said...

1982 when India lost to Pakistan 7-1 was darkest day in the history of Indian hockey. AND you know what, Sandeep Singh, was born on that day in 1982....
(which ofcourse is not true)

To which my amazed relative then said in hindi....

"Bhagwaan ne bhi socha, inse kuch nai hona. Sandeep.. chal tu ja"
(God must've thought, Bunch of good-for-nothings.Sandeep... go help)