Weekend in Bombay!

Last weekend was spent in Bombay to re-live the memories that have been so special! Pruthvi and I met up with few friends of us having total masti in Bombay!

Major highlights that included mostly visiting places / doing things that used to be a part of daily lifestyle on the Indian MC and meeting friends:

* Meeting college friends, other good friends - Aalekh, Rishi, Jeeten, Neha, Ishani, Sabi and couple of cousins
* Chomping Vada and samosa pav at Vikhroli station
* Bowling at Hakone in Powaii
* Totos and watching India win with a bunch of special friends - a heavy spirited night, indeed!
* Midnight chilling at Taj Lands End
* Carter road
* Mondies
* Having Bade miya's rolls
* A sneak peek at Gokul's but dint manage to spend any time there


I stayed at Bhavesh and Janki's place who used to study with me in university and now are married. Such a simple and sweet couple! Had a great time catching up. Also met his small cousin - cute & naughty who we used to hassle a lot during our university times when I went to his place to study :) Here is a pic!

Frustrating and disappointing....

Yes, its about 3 a.m. and India just lost the 4th One Day International to England.

Disappointing because India lost yet another match but frustrating because India bowled very well but the same old thing - could not finish. Most of the time the reason has been that the Indian cricket team have been poor at finishing the great job they have been doing throughout the match.

After England was nearly out of the match at 114 for 7, they came back with a 100 run partnership for the 8th wicket to win the match. I wonder whether India has ever come out of such a situation strongly to win a match - probably I can count them on my one hand.

The other thing was a bad decision (and that also happens always against India) at about 172 / 7 when Stuart Broad was plumb in front, ball hitting the back leg by Piyush Chawla and of course the decision never went for India. That could have turned the match but well a disappointing end. Another frustrating point in the match!

Damn! Not a good feeling to go to bed with. Lets see what happens in the last 3 games - a miraculous performance can have India win this series now.

My baby!

I have someone new that has become a part of my life. Yes, ladies and gentlemen - I am talking about nothing else but the beautiful Sony VAIO CR12 model.

Slick black, with the latest techie stuff - inbuilt camera and microphone, blue tooth and other jazz. And its not heavy like the suitcase (I am talking about Dell) I used to carry on AI. It also has the speech recognition stuff, so it basically responds - writes documents, accepts commands, opens documents, applications by recognizing my voice. It needs some training to get used to my mixed and different accent, but training is on its way. It is fun, since its like teaching a baby on how to respond to what you say :) But anyways, continuing my loyalty to this brand, I bought this at a pretty decent price.

Hopefully it does not give me problems and behaves well. It is a bit delicate but its fine since I do not live a crazy AIESEC lifestyle anymore :)

Happy 60 - India! My notes...

It is the 60th birthday of my beloved nation today.

Today's day is significant. The question I am pondering over is what does it mean to me?

Amongst a lot of things, one thing stands out for and has been resonating through my mind a lot.

Giving and thinking beyond one's self - the independence day echoes the message of giving to the nation and society.

Yesterday I saw back to back movies - Gandhi, my father and Chak De India which also has the message of giving yourself for the "greater good beyond your own self"
Impressive movies - enjoyed it! A must see for everyone.

Another thing which I found impressive is the lead campaign of timesofindia. The first page of yesterday's newspaper is really cool.

Some excerpts:

D.O.

Two simple letters.

Place them side by side however, and they form a word potent enough to turn a mass of people into a nation.

The last time we decided to Do or Die it changed the map of the world. Today, the eyes of the world are on us again. So what are we going to do?

Thinking may be a great way of getting things started. But DOING is the only way to get things done.

And lets face it. You are never really caught a in a traffic jam. You are the traffic jam.

So lets stop basking in our glorious past or day dreaming about our great future. Lets start by dominating today.

And domination starts with DO.

Check more about the entire campaign here

A lot of debate can go on whether India has been truly free - 6 is how Youth of India scores on a freedom index of one to ten when asked how free they feel in a recent poll.

In the last 60 years, a lot has grown. I was talking to one of my school friends and he said - "India is at a position which no other nation has reached". And it is true. The situation is pretty complex if you see the management of this country. But amongst all the complexities, the nation can significantly prosper if the passion and will to grow more and solve the underlying challenges of the country comes from within the people. Do those small things, not throw garbage on streets etc. think beyond your own self and I am sure you will be a BIG help in moving the nation forward.

Small cities, states can prosper if its people are willing to do so. I have seen great examples of cities like say a Surat who has come out of serious diseases like plague, heavy floods etc. and that too within a span of couple of years but talking to people - it all boiled down to that the people in that city wanted to make a change and that's how it happened.

So start with the man in the mirror!

Once again a historic moment for India today - Happy Independence Day to India and all the Indians.

Home sweet home...

I am back in Baroda for about 3 days now, but say I have woken up only now :)

The last 2 days in Rotterdam had been pretty intense - packing plus emotionally as well. I am ready to leave AIESEC after 6.5 years but not really ready to leave my team whom I had a ball of a year with.

Its the beauty of AIESEC that you meet with ambitious young people whom you can relate so deeply with, have great conversations, built genuine relationships, but at the same time a big con is that because it is a year of such an intense experience that you become very close friends, and then you need to move on - though you know that you will make sure you will meet up with them soon. I miss you!

So the last 2 days in the Netherlands were packed with dinners, spending a lot of time with close friends and the night before I flew - a high spirited bachelors party for Ryan :) who is going to get married next July with Ildi.

Now I am back home spending time with family and talking to so many relatives over phone - incredible how big our social circle is. I have been sleeping a lot and watching movies, news channels and cricket :) (Star Cricket - 24 hrs non stop cricket channel - bliss! I am making up for all the cricket I have been missing since the last 2 years)

Meanwhile, while waiting for the VISA procedures for Switzerland, I am thinking of going to Turkey for about 8 - 10 days. Lets see how things unfold, the next few days will have the answer figured out.

A good time to regroup, reflect as it is like starting a new phase of my life and not another year!