It was 0700 IST on Sunday, 01/15/2006. It was an idyllic early morning setting in Powai. For a brief second, you tend to forget that you are in the hustle and bustle of Mumbai. Powai can do that to you once in a while, especially if you are in Hiranandani and with a view as scintillating as that at Winchester. We had assembled at the unearthly god forsaken hour to proceed towards South Mumbai for the Dream Run - the Mumbai Marathon! After admiring the settings, I, for a brief period, thought of getting up early morning everyday to enjoy the makings of nature. But on second thoughts, I decided that it was too much of an effort for the same. And I wasnt ready to do that! The office guys had provided us with some cool jogging apparel. There was a smart green tee along with a sexy pair of white tracks for the run! A head-band and a wrist-band made up as accessories. All in all it was a wonderful effort at their end.
We reached Azad Maidan at CST without any problems. Before the run began, there were a few games held for the people who participated as a part of the corporate challenge. One such game called 'The tail', yours truly (in his fine primate traditions and in honour of his ancestors) came up with the longest tail made from a circular piece of paper! In a while, it was time for THE EVENT! We proceeded slowly towards the main entrance of CST which is where the Dream Run was flagged from. There were quite a few celebrities, notable amongst them being J. Srinath, Vinod Khanna and Suresh Kalmadi. We had divided our batch of 30 into 3 teams. .Joggers .Walkers .Crawlers I happened to be a part of the Joggers team. The idea was to start and the stop and drift to the Walkers and hope to not join the Crawlers. With a lot of enthusiasm and gusto, we started the run! It wasn't much of a race as there was no winner. In that sense, all those amongst us were winners as we were running for a cause. There were people from many other corporates such as Bank of America, Jet Airways, Birla Group, JW Marriot, TCS...each supporting a welfare cause of their choice. We were running for an NGO called as Magic Bus that works for the slum children in Mumbai. The idea in a run that stretches this long (well it was long for me!) is to conserve energy. So we (the 'we' is an effect of working in a team for long and learning the nuances of mail etiquette) decided to jog at a steady speed. Steady I was, but I guess it was a steadily decreasing one. Having be confined to a desk job with a crazy lifestyle(attibutable to my life and not the work), I was totally out of shape. The first few kilometers were fine. I could continue in a steady jog and things didn't seem to be that bad after all. I stocked myself with a few bottles of water. The small ones which fitted into the pockets. Somewhere close to Marine Drive, I lost steam. I decided to slow down and walk briskly instead. But as soon as I got to Marine Drive, the view rejuvenated me and I broke into a jog again. There after, it was a series of jogging spurts followed by brisk walks. There were a lot of people on the other side of the barricades who kept cheering us all and egging us on! Even the Mumbai Mamas (local lingo for the cops) had a pleasant smile on their face. The run wasn't without its share of hotties! A common sight in Mumbai, the run wasn't going to be otherwise I guess. One in Pink had particularly caught my attention. I guess it made the entire run all that more interesting! While on the topic, I must add that Riya Sen was running behind me! Guess that is something talking about... A good 40 minutes into the run, as we inched closer to the finish line, the enthusiasm seemed to return back into the muscles out of nowhere. I managed a sprint (a jog at that time could be termed as a sprint) to the finish line! While there was no ribbon, I raised my hands in glory! I had completed it! There were a lot of feelings in the mind at that time...ecstacy, glory, achievement, bubbling enthusiam...this was interrupted by the shrill of the muscles crying ou aloud. Pretty much akin to the time when you dad awakes you from deep slumber just before your dream reaches a climax! The stop watch read 48 minutes! Which meant that all of it was done in decent amount of time... Once done, we all assembled at Metro Cinema, where we had sugarcane juice! At that time, I wouldn't have traded the glass of cane juice for a whole bottle of Chivas Regal! It was heavenly! I had to spend a good 4 hours in downtown (and not go home) after all this as I was meeting up with a friend. Tried to eat a bit at MacDonalds and then caught a movie at Sterling in the middle of which I kept dozing off...Eventually, I reached home... Later at night, I learnt two important lessons in biology...there are 206 bones in the human body. And over 600 muscles! And I could identify each and every one of them without any trouble! Talk about an all around(also pound) experience! ALL the bones and muscles(everything for that matter) hurt! But the experience drowned this all (with able help from a Combiflam).
I embark tomorrow on a very crucial journey. I dont know if I will return. All I know is that if I return, I will return victorious. Else this will be the last that the blog has seen of me. Err...on second thoughts, I think that I will return nevertheless. After all, participation is the key! The result is just the end of the journey. It is the journey and its enjoyment that is the critical piece. Blah blah blah...I am off for the Mumbai Marathon. Catch you later with the complete story! Zindagi rahee toh phir milenge...
Switch on the idiot box (wonder which idiot named it after himself/herself). Keep a stop watch handy. Chances are that within 30 minutes of mindless surfing, you would have encountered the Tata Indicom ad featuring the Devgan couple - the sexy Kajol and the suave Ajay in an uncharacteristic scenario. A totally vernacular scene of a couple who make it big on the lines of the life of the erstwhile patriarch of their biggest competitors: Dhirubhai Hirachand Ambani. A vegetable vendor who makes it big in life. An advertising campaign that makes you wonder: what the hell were the Devgan's thinking whilst signing on the dotted line?
If there was a poll of the most irritating ad campaigns of the year, I think that it would be right up there with the very best(???), if not at the top! Poll 10 people whom you know on what they think of the ad and there is all likelihood that 8-9 of them must have either -- muted the audio -- changed the channel -- switched off the TV I wouldn't blame you for having done either of these as I have listed the above from experience. It is one of those ads that compels you to question the wisdom of all those who were responsible...Tata Indicom itself besides the creative team. While I am not an authority on creative matters...but nevertheless...HOW COULD THEY??? Agree with me? Then. let me share with you an important piece of information that I picked up.The revenues of Tata Indicom have seen a steep surge ever since the first ads of this series were rolled out. The Insaan phone leta hai baat karne ke liye jingle seems to have really hit it big! A little birdie tells me that the revenue surge and the jump in the number of connections have been to the tune of 60-70%. This is something that is heresay and unfortunately cannot be substantiated with hard data. However, one thing is for sure. It seems to have caused a sort of panic amongst the competitors. Players like Airtel, !dea and Reliance have been forced to come with schemes on the lines of those provided by Tata Indicom.
At some point of time or other, all of us must have thought of an MBA degree. For some, it is the natural progression after having worked for 4-5 years as it prepares them for the managerial world. For some, it is an easy avenue to switch careers. For others, it is the sure-shot method of earning the unbelievable salaries that are associated with an MBA grad! The 7-figure salaries that compel young students to burn the mid-night oil. For those in search of these bloated salaries in the realm of management education, I have come across this wonderful article on a blog by Rashmi Bansal, editor - JAM (Just Another Magazine). I think that it is something that they should read. It is a wonderful reality check and addresses mis-conceptions that have been propagated by the numerous managament institutes.
Long long time ago, when i was a kid (people still claim I am...), I played a game called Monopoly! It was a lovely game and I have some fond memories of the same. However, these were all shattered when I went to watch the movie 15 Park Avenue.I am a big fan of Aparna Sen, Konkona Sen and Rahul Bose. These names are the who's who of parallel cinema as we know it in India in our times. Under such circumstances, 15 Park Avenue comes as a surprise.
I am probably not the right person to comment on such a fine piece of art...but this is India...the worlds largest democracy...we have opinions on eveything under the sun... Politics, morality, movies and of course the ever favorite nation-wide obsession: Cricket! First the positives: Konkona Sen is the star of the movie...she takes the piece hands down! I have been a fan since the days of Mr. and Ms. Iyer (no where related to Mr. & Ms. Smith) and I think that she has grown in stature ever since! And she doesn't fail to deliver! It is almost as if the role was written with her in mind and I cannot imagine anyone else in the current circuit who would have done a better job! Shabana Azmi and Rahul Bose deliver fine performance, although Bose seems to have been wasted in the movie. A nice concept. However, Sen gets too documentary-ish and the psycho-analysis(???) of schizophrenia and the sketchy story tend to let you down... Enough of heavy stuff. Here are a few experiences that I had whilst watching the movie... . 10 minutes into the movie, i hear an innocent question someone behind me asked..."Is this a horror movie???". The laugh we had made it paisa vasool! . Someone sits on our seats and has the audacity to tell us that we should check the tickets properly. When we show her the tickets, she says that the usher asked her to sit there! Like he owns the place. We dont have a place to sit because she is sitting on ours. And she claims that we dont have sense! B-ah! . The phone rings incessantly and people talk in the theatre! Some one please teach the nouveau riche (and those snobbish brats) some basic etiquette! . Wonder which crowd is more vernacular: Kandivali-Borivali or Mulund? . Why did I watch a sad movie in a sad theatre with a sad crowd?
There is a saying which goes something like this... "To measure the value of something abstract, take it away and see the impact!".
Having moved away from home...from heaven...you realise the worth of what you had. And when you realise that you cannot come back again...there is only one thing to do...make the most of what you have, while you have it.
For the last few years that I have moved out of Goa, I, along with a few of my friends, have started an unique trend...where ever may we be, we try to come down to Goa for the Christmas and the New Year. The period 24th Dec to 01st Jan is arguably the best time of the year to come down to Goa...For one, everyone else is here. And that means that you end up meeting most, if not all of your friends. Also, the party mood is set to an all-time high and it is one hell of a time at this time of the year. You have to be out here to totally comprehend the meaning of what i am saying.
The period involving X'mas eve, X'mas, Boxing day and the New year is a period full of all night parties. It is also that time of the year that my parents consider disowning me.... :) well, not exactly...let me explain this... When you come down for a week, your parents and your relatives expect that you will spend some quality time at home. Especially, if you have touched base after a long time...
On the other hand, when you(well...atleast I) come down to Goa during the Christmas - New Year time, you expect to do only one thing...party till you drop...for this is arguably the best place in the country for parting at this time of the year, if not throughout the year. The hordes of tourists bear testimony to the same. Not to mention the awe-filled looks that one receives when you tell people from metros like Pune and Mumbai that New Year will be in Goa.
I dont blame them (my parents). If you are out night after night(days as well, when not spent sleeping), there is very little time that you end up spending at home..especially if i end up persisting with the late hours in Goa as well. Hence, today we have decided to have a rest day after some frentic partying and get togethers... The idea is to have a chill day...take a break...be laid back for a while...and also to keep the parents happy ;) I do have a late night party, but have decided to give it a miss... 31st night will be another night though! Hehehe! Fully recharged and all cylinders firing!
Recently, i was introduced to the world of Hi5! And i must say that it gets the thumbs up! 5 minutes into Hi5 i realised that it is one hell of a service. From the list of contacts of just one friend, i was able to ping a lot of our common friends...their friends and so on... Touched base with a lot of people and got in touch with a lot of people who I considered dead! i was surprised to see the ease with which i was able to get in touch with so many of my friends! Verdict: Hi5 rocks!
