Hiya...

I am alive and still here. I just didn't feel like blogging.
The last few days have been spent on a new project.

I am closing down this blog. ... why? 'Coz I am Gemini and am bored. Need a change.

You can head to my new blog at

http://boogerworm.co.in/

Major shallow post coming

I don't know if I'm having a mid life crisis... am turning 30 in June. Since the last week or so I have been back on the fitness/weight loss bandwagon with a vengeance. I have decided to eat healthy without being restrictive... meaning, I can eat white rice instead of switching to brown rice. I haven't lost any significant weight but my tee which was tight and I had saved it to wear under some spaghetti dress fits me comfortably now. Or maybe it is a case of tee stretching itself to become loose.
A new instructor who has taken interest in torturing me has enhanced the gym experience. I love coming home aching, hungry and falling into deep sleep.
The other day this instructor asked me to do 100 squats. I thought he was kidding. I can comfortably do 2 sets of 20 each but 100??? Impossible. Well, I did it. I couldn't walk for 4 days but it was worth it.

Now, coming to the really shallow part. I have been reading style blogs... not the fashion week kinds...  but the blogs from which styles can be imitated. Sharing a few styles I have tried out:

From http://www.theaili.com/

Look 1: I have similar cotton denim lounge pants which I bought from Promod during the sale. I pulled on a white tee and grey shrug over it... went with blue shoes instead of sandals. Will wear a more formal version to work tomorrow.

Look 2: I have similar slouching pants... the pink pastel one is from Zara which KC gifted and another light green pastel one is from Splash (love some of their styles). I wore it with a black and white top bought from Lifestyle. I wore it on our wedding anniversary last month. It looked awesome (even if I may say so)

Look 3: From http://whatiwore.tumblr.com/. 

 Polka dots on polka dots. A difficult trend to pull. I wore a light blue shirt with white polka dots paired with black pants with light brown polka dots. KC remarked that it looks like I am wearing a night dress. 

Look 4: Denim shirt with a skirt. I love this. I pair my tie up cotton denim shirt whenever in doubt. I wore an orange skirt bought from Sarojini with a skin tight white top from Zara and a tie up cotton denim shirt from Forever 21.

Look 5: I wore this for work last week. Straight formal pants from Wills Lifestyle with a formal light green shirt and waistcoat from Sarojini. I skipped the blazer, of course. The only mistake was pairing a loose shirt with straight fit pants. One of them should have been tight fit. I was trying to wear the shirt in a different way. I hate the shirt... its been with me for 1 or 2 years, don't remember. Wearing it like this gives it a twist. 

Many more to go...

What I like about the 2nd blog is that the lady does not wear new clothes everytime. The same skirt or shirt or jacket is worn many times in different ways... over a period of years. I hate blogs where the female is rich enough to wear new clothes everytime. I have also realized that money cannot buy style. There are very few women who actually experiment... buy a different style of trousers or tops. 

The idea is not to look good everytime... it is about trying something new... experimenting... whether it looks good or not. It motivates me to wake up every morning and go to work. 

Mumbai is such an uninspiring city when it comes to style. Day after day I see women dressed shabbily. Few weeks back I saw a woman on the train wearing a mini skirt. "Finally", I thought. A few hours later she was in my office to meet someone. I think only women from my workplace who travel on trains wear skirts. All the other women are dressed in salwar suits or trousers (rarely). This was the case even when I would commute from Andheri. Where is the cosmopolitan city? I was running some errands before going to the gym today and wore my gym shorts. I got the weirdest looks from men and women alike. And Mumbai is supposed to be safe? Really? Try wearing a mini (not even micro mini) skirt to the station/train and then we'll talk about how Mumbai is safe and you can travel anywhere and wear anything. 

I still wear what I want... where I want... when I want... I will not let narrow minded people define what I want to do. 

Tales from Sales

Hi, I have started another blog (Yes, I'm crazy... you should know that by now). This is to document my experience in sales. It is an experience I treasure and am very proud of. I decided to write it so that the memories are always fresh.

Here is the 1st post. You can read more here:

The Job

I don't want to get into "how" I got the job. For that I will have to write about my B school and everything. I can write a separate blog about it.
Here are a few highlights:

- Everyone joins a B school for the placement. My college was snobbish enough to think otherwise... and made our life miserable during placements by scheduling exams at the same time. They have realized their folly now

- I got placed by 9 am on placement day... there was no day 0, day 1 etc. Everything in 1 day. 99% of the batch was placed by 12 noon

- There is an IT company which comes with a truck and loads all the leftover students in it. Don't worry if you don't get a job, you can jump onto the truck

- Getting a job on campus is so damn easy (even though it didn't seem that way then) compared to the job hunts later on

- There are 3 kinds of students during placements

1. Those who know where they want to join and get in... like me
2. Those who don't care where they join as long as they get a job... they generally have 20 companies on their wish list. They spend their time running from interview to interview and scattering their energy and focus
3. Those who come with one objective and end up doing something else. One guy I know wanted to join banking... thats all he talked about in the 2 years... but ended up joining IT. It was not 'coz he could not get into banking... he didn't even go for the interview

- What you study in B School has no relevance in your work life. Those case studies are useless too. I did not use even one word of my textbooks in the first 5 years of my career. Of course, the long words help in clearing interviews. This relevant for all courses- sales, marketing, consumer research, finance, HR, supply chain, distribution etc etc etc. 

- What will help will be skills... writing research papers, making presentations, learning excel, team work. Being a team player... working in a team... leading a team are the most important skills that you can learn. Of course, what you do in the 2 years is upto you. 

I got into my preferred organization for sales. I wanted to ultimately get into marketing but for now I was keen on starting with sales. Some of my batch mates advised me (unnecessarily) that companies don't hire females for sales and I should look at other career options. That is pure bullshit. Companies are falling over each other to hire females for sales since it makes their sex ratio look good. It makes them look like a women friendly organization. 

Some GOOD FMCG organizations have openings only for females. 

Reality- If you are a female and shortlisted after an interview and there is a male also shortlisted... you will got the job considering that both of you are equally good. 

I am alive

Hiya... I have been gone long... mainly 'coz my laptop was giving me problems. I was too uninspired to blog.
What has been happening? The usual- work, movies, food, books.

There is so much I wanted to talk about... but don't know where to begin.

- Books: I have read many, many books... most of them on the kindle. It is awesome to be able to carry books where ever I go

•    The growing pains of Adrian Mole: 2nd book in the series... very similar to Diary of a wimpy kid. A fast read... 

• I've Got Your Number: A book by Sophie Kinsella (my fav author). I thought this is just a chick lit novel and avoided it for the longest time. I bought it when I read a positive review on one of the blogs. I loved it... its the kind of chick lit I like. Good fun.

• The Perks of being a wallflower: This book is about a teenage guy.. he is different from normal kids... a little shy... very giving... a wallflower... he makes 2 close friends... in the end he realizes he has a psychological problem. A very good book. I even watched the movie

• The silver linings playbook: An excellent book about a man who is mentally disturbed. His wife leaves him and he becomes disturbed. He is sent to the mental institution but his mom brings him home after a few years. How he copes up with his loss and turns normal again with the help of people around him. It is not a mushy mushy book... it did not make me cry... but it touched my heart. A must read. I am going to watch the movie too

• We need to talk about Kevin: My fav book of the lot. This book is a series of letters written by a mother to her husband. He is not around... it is not apparent where he is... it seems like he has left her... and 'coz their teenage son killed a few kids at school. It is the story of a mother whose son murders. She is innocent and yet her life has become hell. I loved the book... watched the movie too but its not that great. A must read. 

Movies:

• Nautanki Saala: The story is no big deal... the heroine is ugly... watch the flick for Kunal Kapoor and Ayushman. They are brilliant...  enjoyed it. Worth one watch

• Ek thi daayan: I read good reviews and went to watch it. KC was not too keen since he was moving into a new house the next day. Pathetic movie. Indian horror movies are so regressive. Such a waste of good actors like Emraan, Kalki, Huma and Konkona

• Chashme Badoor (Old): Nope... I did not watch the new one. I had downloaded it 2 weeks back and tried watching it on the laptop... for 5 mins. The old movie is a classic... it is so genuine... and authentic. Rakesh Bedi has holes in his tee shirt ... the tee is repeated many times in the movie. In today's movies, heroines sleep with their make up on. Please do watch the old one if you have not seen it. I am so glad we can now watch such classics in the theatre. 

• The perks of being a wallflower: The movie stars Emma Watson. That was reason enough for me to watch it. A good flick. Worth a watch once... makes more sense to watch it after reading the book. It might seem like a drag otherwise

Serials:

• Vampire Diaries... The Big Bang Theory... Game of Thrones... 

• Girls: I have started (and finished) watching this series. I read good reviews somewhere and downloaded the 1st episode. Until then I thought it was a frivolous serial about girls in NYC. But, this is different... the characters are weird but genuine... the women are not completely airheads. They are all 24 year olds trying to find themselves... figuring out their goals... career, love, sex... The amount of nudity is shocking but then SATC (sex and the city) also has a lot of nudity. Unfortunately, when it is screened in India (even at 11 pm), most of it is chopped off. I have watched the unedited version and it is pretty racy. The best part is... the main character is not good looking and over weight. It is a serial anyone can relate to. After all, we all have felt like a loser at some point of time in our lives. 

More... tomorrow... 

Plays

I like plays... even though I have not watched too many of them. I remember watching a Gujarati play with my dad. I had an exam 2 days later and he was not willing to take me along. I pleaded and promised that I had finished preparing (I had... I was a geek). He relented but made me promise that mom would not be told. The play was ok kinds but I did enjoy it.

I have started watching plays. It does take a lot of effort since most of the theaters/auditoriums are in Juhu, Nariman Point etc. They require time and effort to reach.

I wish they were reviews of plays... I could not find any. This is weird considering that some plays have been running for many, many years successfully. They are also priced higher than a regular movie at a multiplex.

In the last 2 weeks, I have watched 2 plays:

- Class of '84:
  In my B-School I was part of the 'Arts and Aesthetics Forum'. Our biggest event was 'Dionysia'... an inter section play competition. Students looked forward to it all year. Anyway, our juniors performed this play. They had taken/bought the rights to perform the play. It is a good play.
Last week I noticed that it in the paper and booked tickets. KC and I watched it last weekend. The play is about a group of friends... they have reunited at the funeral of their friends. Over the period of one night, secrets come pouring out... they fight... they make up. I liked it. Please do watch it.

- Dance like a man:
  I wanted to watch this play or the movie for a long time now. Currently, the leads in the play are Suchitra Pillai and Lillette Dubey. It is about dancers... the older couple have struggled and faced parental opposition to pursue their passion. Their daughter is about to make her debut as a dancer. The various emotions.. the past... everything comes spilling out.
Awesome.

Need to watch more plays... even a bad play is better than a decent Hindi movie. 

Day 5

Skipped day 4 'coz laptop has gone for repairs... don't know whats wrong and why.
I hope it is not a hard disk issue... don't want to buy a new one.

Fingers crossed. 

Day 3

Game of Thrones season 3... yippie... I could remember every event and word written in the book while watching it.

Using my phone as a kindle... I read on the train... in the loo... sometimes at work... in the cafeteria. So awesome. Very few free books... but I don't mind paying for them.