Love what you do or do what you love?

They say if you want to excel in life, love what you do. But how many of us actually love what we do? For that matter, how many of us actually know what they should do. Interestingly, the common answer is not many. I still remember when I was a kid I had such fancy ambitions for my grown up days. The normal ones ranged from being a movie Hero to a Cricketer and on some rather outrageous phases it also ranged from being a Terrorist (for being able to use the gun at will) to being a cashier at a bank (who can take home whatever sum he wants at will). Unfortunately, none of this happened and the ambitions transitioned to some rather boring alternatives.

Engineer or Doctor was the decision to be made, dad being a surgeon stakes were high to opt for the medico route but common sense prevailed and I smartly opted for the engineering route. Not because I was exceptional in maths but more so because I was smart enough to gauge that I don’t have the dedication and the appetite to slog for at least 10 more years to be a professional doctor J. But in this age being an engineer hardly secures you a blooming career, unless of course if you have been a high flyer all along, which not-so-surprisingly I was not. So it was again the time to be at the cross roads, MBA or MS (M Tech)? I opted for the former as I found the latter to be too technical and former as the key to the supposedly wonderful management world. So once again it was a case of opting for what not to do rather than what I should do. And where on one hand I could have been a cricketer probably playing IPL for one of the franchises, here I am not so glamorously donning the hat of a pre-sales consultant. Not that I hate what I do, but I would be lying if I say I love what I do J. But I certainly envy what few people are doing in their lives.

I envy Harsha Bhogle. I envy him for being able to make a living out of what has been his love of his life from his childhood. I wish I could sit back, relax and enjoy commentating on my favorite sport for ever and make a living out of it. He is neither a professional cricketer nor a certified sport journalist but he excels in what he is doing and is seemingly enjoying it to the core. Not discounting his hard work or his elite academic credentials, nevertheless I still envy what he does J.

I envy Taran Adarsh. How could you not envy someone who makes a living out of watching every damn movie that hits the theaters and then rates it based on his views on the movie. Agree, it takes a degree in journalism and lot of insight to be in that position to critique a piece of art. But compare your daily monotony with this rather exciting avenue, do you need anything more to envy this arrangement? Certainly not J.

I envy Sanjeev Kapoor. He comes, he cooks, he tastes and in turn teaches you on how to cook an exotic dish and earns a bomb out of it. And in cases his work day just involves critiquing  a bunch of amateur chefs on how they have cooked. Who wouldn't yearn for such a fancy life. Being a hotel management graduate or a God gifted person could be some probable arguments behind this success story but that hardly lessens the imminent envy J.

I envy Chetan Bhagat. His English is probably as good as most of us and he writes simple, no brainer stories (some rightly call them as soft porn too) that even you or me could write but his popularity and craze in the commercial Indian literary circuit  is unparalleled. And with all his books being made into Bollywood movies he is certainly among the all-time best selling Indian authors. Now people may credit his IIT-IIM academic combo as the key contributor to his success but I still envy his work life more than his academic prowess J.

I envy Arnab Goswami. He hogs the prime time limelight every night and bashes and screams over the top politicians like nobody does. He may be a laughing stock for his over the top theatrical mannerisms but who wouldn't cherish doing what he has been doing for some years now.

I envy Miss Malini. Yes, Miss Malini, the elegant Bollywood grapevine queen. How about making a career out of gossiping? I mean can there be anything more exciting than that J. Not many around mind a dose of gossip here and there, I for that matter love it day in day out, so how can you not envy someone who makes a living out of it. That’s so damn fancy J.

In hindsight, it might seem I envy all those who sit back and merrily advocate or profess gyaan in some way or the other and make a flourishing career out of it. But probably these guys would also be lamenting about their respective trade suits. How I wish there was an option to pick and choose and adapt to a career of your choice anytime in your life and seamlessly transition to another favorite career choice of yours once you are done with the previous one J. But that couldn't be a possibility, so for those like me who couldn't do what they love, love what you do is the only enforced option left J.

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P S- For now, if not for ever, if I can just don the hat of a travel junkie who does nothing but trots the globe year long and makes a living out of it, I wouldn't complain for anything else in life J.

  

Well done Team India, you have still made us all proud!

On April 2^nd 2011, when Mahendra Singh Dhoni hit that memorable six to help India clinch  their 2^nd world cup title the entire nation erupted in joy and went into a festive frenzy that continued for days. Many (including me), also claimed that now that we have seen our heroes achieve this momentous feat, there is nothing more that we want from them and even if we don’t win the world cup again for a long time we would go on to cherish and marvel over this momentous feat for the rest of our lives. But public memory is short lived and appetite for more is atrociously greedy, hence as the 2015 world cup approached the excitement and the nervousness to retain the cup turned overwhelmingly imminent.

Though, India’s dismal show in Australia both in the test series and the tri-series dampened the spirits and expectations to a good extent but promotional campaigns like ‘wontgiveitbak’ and ‘maukamauka’ did well to keep the general euphoria among the masses intact. Given the friendly format, I personally felt India would reach the Quarters but due to their not-so glorious recent form would struggle to proceed any further. In a nutshell, my expectations from team India before the world cup were not very high, not just because of our on field form but even due to the fact that we have fairly recently won the cup. And I didn't expect our team to be so good to have clinched back to back world cup trophies, some might term it as high degree of pessimism but I consider it as being realistic to what we are truly capable of doing J.

Till date, 92’ world cup happens to be my favorite world cup, although India did miserably in that edition but the memories of that edition are still fresh and edged out in my mind. Waking up early (mostly to see India tottering J), the excitement of newly introduced colored jerseys and the amazement of watching then greats in the action, well and truly made that world cup very very special. India has gone on to perform much better than that in almost all subsequent editions, barring 2007 but statistically none has been as prolific has 2015. Although, we won the trophy in 2011 but we have never been so clinical in our performances as we were this time around. 100% win record in the league stages, our bowlers bowling out the opposition every single time and an unmatched, impeccable record in the power play overs. These feats talk volumes of our rare consistent performance on the field and it shocked one and all as our performances leading up to the world cup were very contrasting. So this in all ways was a remarkable turn around and gave over a billion people a strong sense of HOPE.

Despite these string of surprises every Indian fan somewhere had that inkling that it won’t go on forever and inevitability will certainly strike sometime soon, though later the better was the unanimous hope J. In fact, I was literally praying for a loss sometime before the knock outs so that we stay in check and avoid such a debacle in the knockouts. Howsoever weird it might sound but I always had this strange feeling in mind that we are not the Australia’s of the world to lift the world cup being undefeated throughout the tournament and neither are we so strong to have won back to back world cups like the West Indies’ and Australias’ of the past. Nevertheless, I was hoping that all my negative thoughts go wrong and we go on to do the unexpected and with Dhoni around that feeling of anything is possible was ever so imminent J.

So what had to happen happened and a billion prayers and streak of superlative performance failed to take us through to our second consecutive world cup final. It was very sad to have lost the way we lost and there was an expected sense of frustration and angst against our heroes of the last 6 weeks. With electronic and social media being so very powerful and emphatic these days, people went on to indulge in high degree of Team India bashing, almost as if we have been knocked out in the first round itself without giving any fight. Given our passion and love for the game, to an extent this outrage is justifiable but burning effigies, bringing in personal lives of the cricketers and targeting the WAGs is utterly stupid. Nobody plays to lose, certainly not those who are on the field representing India, in fact nobody wants to win it more than guys donning the Indian Jersey. So if we can’t give them their due respect and support while they lose we don’t have the right to go gaga over their victories either.

All in all for me it was an engaging and an entertaining world cup that made me feel proud of my team despite its semi-final exit. The excitement and the euphoria that started building up from the 1^st match just kept on rising with every match. To top it all the maukamauka ads and following every match by waking up early in the morning and rejoicing/lamenting every moment over the whats-app with my best pals just made it all the more thrilling and memorable. A world cup win would have been the perfect icing on the cake but nevertheless for me the heroes of those six weeks continue to be the heroes despite a bad day in office in the semis.

Well done Team India, you have still made us all proud!

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London Diaries 5 | The Expected World Cup Knockout.

In the last 9 months, England have been treated to two rather unceremonious early world cup exits. The first one was in the game which is a national rage and people are as crazy about it as Indians are for Cricket, it happened in the 2014 Soccer World Cup in Brazil. And the latest one happened in the game that the English themselves founded more than a century ago and have been struggling off late to be a dominant force in the game, it happened a few days back in the 2015 Cricket World Cup in Australia-New Zealand.

The soccer world cup exit was the more expected one, as England Football team is hardly a threat for the tops teams in the International Circuit. The culture here is more club centric and although the fans wanted their team to do well, deep inside even they were aware that it would be too much to expect from their individual stars to pull up this heist and go beyond the Quarter Final stages. And that’s what eventually happened, the club super stars failed, so did their team and England got knocked out in the prelims. The reactions here were quite contrasting, the local newspapers butchered the team with a heavy barrage of not so pleasant words, the bookmakers were bang on in their predictions and made a killing with this early exit and the fans mourned for a bit and then moved on to focus on the upcoming Premier League. Probably the only option an ardent English fan has, as England never loses in the league and invariably one of the stars always performs J.

The early Cricket world cup exit was a little unexpected one, not that the fans were expecting the fragile English team to lift the cup but the least that was expected out of them was to do better than the teams like Bangladesh and qualify for the quarters. But that was not to be and the only wins that they could manage in their entire campaign were against Afghanistan and Scotland. No wonder the reactions on this shameful exit were quite extreme and every cricketing expert lambasted the English team for such a dismal show. Interestingly, the local newspapers don’t cover much of the English Cricket out here, Cricket not being the no.1 sport and neither are there any high expectations from the English Cricket team and so the criticism wasn't as grave as the one post the Soccer World Cup exit. However, the true connoisseurs of English Cricket certainly had some interesting reactions to this debacle.

A local friend of mine attributed this early exit to the influence of IPL and England’s reluctance in being an active participant in the cash rich T20 tournament. He believed that all those teams who have taken IPL seriously are the ones who have excelled in this world cup. Not quite sure how true or logical this analogy is but as a matter of fact when India lost to England in the test series last summer, he blamed IPL for India’s debacle too J. Probably, some English fans are more worried about the success of IPL then the failures of English Cricket team J.

Similarly, an office colleague who is always very proud of the English Sporting culture was very disappointed by this poor show. He was equally shattered after the soccer world cup exit too but then he consoled himself that time believing that the English pacers will bring back the lost glory by swinging the Cricket World Cup in England’s favor in Australia/New Zealand. Now all he had to say after this consecutive drubbing is that the hopes are high from the upcoming Rugby World Cup J. Amen! No harm in being ever so optimistic J.

Another acquaintance of mine, an ardent English Cricket Fan and a typical high headed arrogant English man brushed aside this failure professing that this is no Cricket, real Cricket is Test Cricket and our focus is entirely on regaining the Ashes later this year. I couldn't stop laughing but gathered some composure and courage and politely asked him, Sir weren't you the ones who proudly founded this sport and are yet to win the most coveted trophy of the sport even once. He didn't pay any credence to my question but a sense of frustration and dejection was all over his face.

It’s not easy to empathize with someone whose team isn't doing particularly well in a major tournament like world cup and it is all the more tough to do so when your own team is doing particularly well. But when a team is consistently faring poorly in such global tourneys and still stays arrogant in its conduct it’s hard not to enjoy their failures. Now after the world cup exit the experts and fans out here are longing for a better show from their team in the 2019 World Cup which will be hosted here in the United Kingdom. My only worry to this optimism is, given the looming threat of a curtailed World Cup from the next edition on-wards, which might feature only 10 of the best teams in the world, will England be able to qualify for the same on merit and be a part of their home World Cup J?

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An afterthought - However, the best moment for me amidst this knockout hoopla was when I asked a dejected English fan about his bet for this World Cup and his prompt reply was I N D I A ! I was myself not so sure about this being a possibility but his confident reply surely made me feel proud about my team J.

Tendulkar Vs Agassi!

No no, it’s not a man to man duel or a comparison of their sporting prowess, it’s just that in the last few weeks I happen to read the autobiographies of these two sporting legends and I couldn’t stop myself from marvelling over their contrasting personalities and careers. Tendulkar’s autobiography was an automatic reading choice for a true blue Sachin fan like me not just because of the high anticipation attached with its launch but also due to its deemed Biblical status for the hard core cricket aficionados. Agassi’s autobiography on the other hand was not a natural choice, not that I don’t admire him as much but it was mainly due to one of my best friends valued recommendation that I resorted to reading it and my love for the game of tennis just added as the right trigger. And since I read them one after the other, a comparison of personalities was imminent but the startling contrast on the same was truly interesting.

Coverage – Both the books cover the sporting lives of  these two legends right from their anecdotes of childhood on how and when they actually took the game and the way it transpired into an epic success story. In both cases it talks in length about the most important duels of their sporting lives and also covers in detail their injury battles that went on to transform their character. Tendulkar however, have mostly refrained from touching upon the rather controversial issues like match fixing, IPL and doping and has been criticized as well for this evasion, but then he has categorically stated at the start of the book that he has not spoken about certain issues ever in his career as he was never comfortable doing so. Agassi, on the other hand has been as candid as one can be, be it his own trysts with the drug, his issues with his receding hairline or his take on anything that he felt was not so clean.

Love of the game – With the amount of success both these gentlemen have achieved in their respective careers it’s probably a given that both of them would have been madly in love with their trades. Not surprisingly enough Tendulkar has at length talked about his love for the game and all the sacrifices he has made to nurture his immense love for Cricket. But surprisingly, Agassi has time and again emphasized on the fact that how much he has always hated tennis. And it was only because of his Dad’s madness that he had to forcefully spend hours and hours toiling hard to excel in this sport and eventually weave his entire life around it. Weird, but true and the way he has narrated his frustrating experiences in this regards are outstanding.

Family life – Tendulkar has all his life epitomized and idolized his parents like an ideal son, he has time and again showered his gratitude for his Dad and Mom and emphasized on how they have been instrumental in the making of his remarkable career. He has also heaped high accolades for his elder brother Ajit on how he has been his partner in all the ups and downs of his cricketing career. Further to this, he has also defined his partnership with his wife Anjali, as the best he has ever had and he is indebted to her for all the sacrifices she has made in her career to let him flourish. Agassi on the other hand hasn't been so lucky with his relationships, though he maintained a cordial relationship with his mom and other siblings but one with his Dad had always been a wretched one. He always hated his dad for his dictatorial ways and his obsession for Andre’s excellence in Tennis, however in the hindsight whatever he eventually achieved in the game should be primarily attributed to his dad’s unparliamentary ways. Agassi’s love life has also been very contrasting one, he has been a maverick here as well and has had his share of affairs, breakups and divorce unlike the rather sedate and lyrical love story of the cricketing superstar.

Discipline & Work ethics – Leave aside Cricket, you would hardly find a more disciplined individual in any walk of life than Mr Tendulkar. His work ethics and focus for his art has been exemplary and almost impeccable. Undoubtedly, whatever he has achieved in his career is not just because of his god gifted talent but more so for his hard work and discipline towards the game. Agassi, however has been very volatile and lived on extremes with regards to his discipline and focus towards his game. For some periods he has been a strict disciplinarian, with a routine sans a blemish and on some he has been so reckless that it would bring a school boy to shame. No wonder, his good spells of tennis has also been so patchy and not so consistent as Master Blaster’s performances.

Contemporary Talk – Tendulkar has been as guarded in talking about his contemporaries or other legends of the game as he has always been all his life. The only aberration to this in his book has been his rather open hearted outburst against Greg Chappell, but for it and more for the disappointment of the grapevines he has been ever so courteous and gracious. Agassi on the other hand has been an absolute delight in this regards, he has blatantly spoken about his rivalries against Becker, Courier and Sampras and has also at length spoken on how acrimonious things have been between them on some occasions. And the manner in which he has touched upon these duels is one of the highpoints of his book.

Career wise – From the achievement standpoint Tendulkar has arguably achieved all that he could have as a cricketer and probably that no other cricketer has done in the past or might do in the future. Some might say a few triple tons would have made his CV a tad more complete but even without that, his has been a near perfect story, one that people can blindly idolize without any second thoughts. Agassi’s has been a total contrast though, with his talent, had he been Tendulkar-esque in his discipline and focus he would have clocked as many slams as Federer has won or even what his better half Stefanie has won. But he lived life on his own terms and probably has no regrets about it as well. His may not be a biblical story as Tendulkar’s but his is arguably a more practically possible one for the mortals.

Reader’s recommendation – Undoubtedly, both the books are a must read for any Tendulkar or Agassi fan. Tendulkar’s is more of a textbook, written well within the boundaries of the righteousness and for a true blue fan who has followed his career very closely, it offers not much novelty from the sensationalism standpoint. Agassi’s on the other hand is a perfect mix of his on the court and off the court exploits, that even his most ardent fans might not be well aware of. His may not be a prescribed textbook stuff but surely is a 70mm blockbuster material, full of action, romance and lots of drama. I enjoyed both these books to the core, Agassi’s a tad more for obvious reasons J.

Now it’s for you to decide, what’s your preferred flavor.

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The AIB Hullaballoo!

In the last fortnight or so if there is something other than the Delhi elections, that has hogged immense limelight in the social media, then it is the All India Bakchod, AIB Roast controversy. AIB, per say is not an entirely new entity and is into existence through there hugely popular videos since 2013, much on the lines of similar social media players like Qtiyapa and The Viral Fever. However, they have all of a sudden become so controversial thanks to the AIB Knockout Roast comedy show that was held in Mumbai by the AIB team, featuring the Bollywood stars like Arjun Kapoor, Ranveer Singh and Karan Johar as the protagonists and other popular Bollywood stars like Deepika Padukone, Sonakshi Sinha, Alia Bhat, Anurag Kashyap to name a few as the key attendees.

So what is this whole concept about a Roast comedy show? Wikipedia defines it as an event in which specific individuals, a guest of honor (in this case Arjun and Ranveer), are subjected to good-nature d jokes at their expense intended to amuse the event's wider audience. This type of events are created as a mock counter to a toast. Such events are intended to honour specific individuals in a unique way. In addition to jokes and insult comedy, such events may also involve genuine praise and tributes. The implication is that the roastee is able to take the jokes in good humor and not as serious criticism or insult, and it is seen by some as a great honor to be roasted. The individual is surrounded by friends (In this case Alia, Deepika, Sonakshi, Anurag to name a few), fans, and well-wishers, who can receive some of the same treatment as well during the course of the evening. The party and presentation itself are both referred to as a "roast." The host of the event is called the "roast-master (Karan Johar in this case)". In a nutshell, anyone who is honored in such a way is said to have been "roasted."

Quite naturally, the language that was used in the AIB roast session wasn't holy and that coming from the A grade Bollywood celebs made it all the more jazzy. And when the leading ladies of the Bollywood sitting on the first row laugh out loud on these rather un-parliamentary jokes it becomes all the more eye catching. And as the videos went viral in the social media the usual miscreants popped up with vengeance to set the gravely disturbed moral orders right. Now, it is a hugely debatable issue that whether the show and the team of AIB should be banned and prosecuted in the court of law, as on one hand there is certainly a level of vulgarity attached with the content on display but then there is something known as freedom of expression and speech as well that people have every right to exercise. So who decides this thin line which acts as a balance between these two contrasting facets?

Will it be the Shiv Sena’s and BJP’s of the world, who any which way make an appearance on the Valentines and the Friendship Days of the year to safe guard the supposedly deteriorating Indian cultural values, acting as the self-anointed moral police of the nation. Or will it be the part time intellectual professors like Aamir Khan who profess being sensitive and respectful towards the society and refrain from such vulgarity. It can’t be the former as they are no more a maverick political outfit who can  indulge in such acts of hooliganism and forcefully shut things up at their own discretion, they are the ruling party at center and should act more responsibly and sensibly in dealing with such situations to cater to the interests of all the groups involved. And it can’t be the latter too as his work pieces like Ghajini, Delhi Belly etc. won’t pass his own professed vulgarity test, so it would be rather prudent for him to stay away from giving such hypocritical sermons. In fact, it would be best if we let our honorable court of law to decide what should be the permissible limit for freedom of expression and speech, keeping in mind the best interests of the society and these artists as well.

However, everyone is entitled to have an opinion, be it in favor, be it in against. I for that matter didn't enjoy the show at all, not because I am against the usage of such language or found the show too vulgar but just because I didn't find it funny enough. I would rather prefer watching movies in the genre of Gangs of Wasseypur and Satya to enjoy such crude language and humor associated with it. But that doesn't mean that I advocate a ban on such shows or groups, it’s an evolving art in our country and shouldn't be treated with a sense of unjust paranoia. And for the purists who are too concerned about such acts maligning our rich cultural heritage and ethos,  they should rather worry about the other far more vulgar and obscene videos more easily available for consumption by the masses in the social media.

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The Exotic Spanish Experience!

If you ask me to name my favorite movie, one movie that will always feature in that list would be Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (ZNMD). Not just for its superlative star cast, emphatic dialogues and refreshing music but equally so for the locations where the movie was shot, SPAIN. Ever since, it has been a dream to visit this beautiful country and soak in the scenic landscape with best of your friends. So when we were planning for our next vacation sometime back in middle of December, Spain topped the list not just for the relatively convenient weather but even for the ZNMD hangover that had engrossed all of us for some time now. So Spain was zeroed in and we all were super excited to celebrate our new year in this magnificent country. With just about a week to go all the plans were finalized in a hush-hush manner and the short timeline and the looming Christmas and New Year’s break made our booking a bit too expensive, but then we were prepared to shell out that extra bit for the very thought of going to Spain J.

So as the D day approached, everyone was busy in their own way to prepare for an amazing vacation week ahead. So where I was struggling to keep my last minute leaves plans at office in check, Shalini was busy shopping for her beloved son, Avyaan’s food and clothing, Mayank, the planner in charge, was efficiently finalizing all the bookings, Harshita the chief itinerary and catering manager was giving final touches to the finer details of our vacation and our little princess, Charu was busy polishing her Spanish skills, as she was our only hope when it came to interacting with the locals out there J. However, the start of our trip wasn't that memorable, it was a chilly Saturday morning when we stepped out to board our cab for the airport and it was so windy that only after we have boarded the cab I realized that the wind has blown away my favorite Roger Federer cap L. Probably, a gush of wind from east of Spain to remind me the fact that we are going to the land of Rafael Nadal, so I better stay behaved J. To make matters worse, we got delayed to the extent that the flight had to delay its departure because of us, much to the dismay of our fellow passengers and howling flight staff.

Nevertheless, we landed on to a bright and sunny Barcelona, which was in itself a huge reprieve vis a vis a gloomy and cold London. Despite, an early and a hectic morning, we were super charged up as soon as we came out of the airport to witness a beautiful city shining bright with palm trees all across the streets with mountains on one side and not too far off, the coast on the other. It was a gentle reminder that the vacation has well and truly started J. We have booked ourselves a huge Spanish style apartment which was our luxurious abode in the heart of the city for next 2.5 days. Not that we spent a lot of time in there but whatever time we spent there was truly relaxing. For the next two days or so we explored the city in detail and experienced its rich cultural heritage, plentiful of beautiful monuments, breath taking coast line, unique food and a stark sense of pride among people where they want to be identified as Catalans and not Spaniards. We mostly explored the city on foot so it gave us a real sense of the Spanish culture and the prevalent lifestyle.

On the third day we had our plans to take our rented Car around midday and leave for our next destination, Valencia. Earlier, while we were planning for the trip there were lot of discussions around whether or not we should do a road trip, I was a bit apprehensive about the idea as it involved kids as well but then the overwhelming thought was that unless we do the road trip we won’t be able to see the real Spain. Finally, we finally agreed on taking the plunge with some confidence from our previous road trip to Wales and in the hindsight it was indeed a very good decision. Though, the shift from the usual right hand drive to left hand drive was a funny one, Mayank who proved out to be the best driver in the trip mastered the art pretty soon, however I kept banging the door with my left hand searching for the gear (as in a traditional right hand drive setup) J. It was indeed a super experience and the overall road trip of over 1500 kms made it all the more memorable. Although, the car that we hired (a brand new Volkswagen Caddy) was such a huge vehicle that it almost seemed that we were driving a bus and more often than not the person sitting at the back-most row had to literally shout his/her way to make himself/herself audible to the driver J.

Our journey to Valencia was very scenic and we reached our destination late in the evening and checked in to our apartment, which was once again a beautiful accommodation. For the next 2 days we covered the length and breadth of the city (thanks to our car), which included exploring the beautiful architectural masterpieces, pristine beaches, and buzzing city center. But our (mine and Mayank’s) main agenda of the stay here was to spend a gala time in the local Casinos and make a killing through it at least to an extent of sponsoring our trip through it. So what really happened when we actually ventured out on this mission was nothing surprising, we lost a lot, but neither of us repented doing it at allJ. It was indeed a relaxing time in Valencia and the relatively slow pace of the city added to the leisure. On the third morning we set out for Madrid, and after a rejuvenating 5 hrs drive reached the capital city well in time to celebrate the New Year’s eve.

We relaxed a bit in our hotel and drove out  for the dinner post which we had plans to embrace the New Year on the streets of Madrid. And I must confess, where all this while I was boasting highly about the Christmas and New Year’s decorations/lightings/preparations of London, Madrid was certainly a notch or two higher. The entire city was literally glittering and basking with the new year festivities and the scenes on the city center streets were truly mesmerizing and that surely made our new year very special. One unique new year tradition that we came to know out there was that the people leave there houses just before the midnight and meet at a common place and welcome the new year by eating exactly 12 grapes, as the clock strikes 12. We went on to debate on things like why grapes, why twelve and why eating on the street but yes, it was interesting indeed. The next day was spent in exploring the historic capital city and we were enchanted by the magnanimity and opulence of the metropolis. That being our last night in Spain we were out till late and treated ourselves to a sumptuous dinner and relished exploring the beautiful skyline of Madrid.

The next day we had targeted to leave for Barcelona by 4 am, as it was long 8 hour drive and with kids we didn’t want to take any chances. We did manage to execute our plans to success and by the time kids woke up we were on the outskirts of Barcelona. With our flight being at 10 in the night we almost had half a day at our disposal after returning the car, we decided to spent that day lazing around in the beach and enjoy every bit of the serenity on offer. And those last few hours on the  beach were so relaxing, comforting and memorable that we hardly felt any sense of tiredness even after that long ride back from Madrid.

As our vacation came to an end, there was evidently a sense of disappointment in everybody’s heart. There are some places that are so beautiful that you remember them for the rest of your lives and then there are some which are so memorable that you yearn to go there again and again. Spain is certainly one such place. Beautiful beaches, scenic landscapes, magnificent cities, sumptuous food and cheerful people make it one of the most preferred holiday destinations globally. In many ways it reminded me of Goa, as like Goa it may not be THE most exotic place in the world but that sense of calm, a ting of laziness and an overwhelming symphony of happiness in the air makes you instantly fall in love with it forever. This fantastic road trip would remain etched in our memories forever and those countless windmills across the large expanse of beautiful landscape would  surely get us back there, very soon.

Gracias Española!

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The Big Boss Dilemma!

If there is something that is really considered derogatory in terms of your choice of TV viewings, it is surely watching Big Boss. Although, the connoisseurs of classic test match Cricket also find following IPL derogatory but in relative terms watching Big Boss is considered to be a bigger sin. It’s almost akin to the fact that you don’t have any real class if you watch these supposedly tailored/scripted chunks of entertainment doses. So it’s hardly surprising when you find a strange sense of reluctance in some ones admittance to the fact that he/she does follow Big Boss. More often than not you end up gazing which way the wind is blowing before deciding upon the level of your involvement in that discussion J.

But the most interesting thing a midst all this is the popularity of the show despite its predictability every after year. So every year when the season begins there is a general rant that the contestants this time around aren't that good and are boring compared to the last year. Then right from the very beginning lots of new relationships are formed, ranging from brother-sister, father-daughter, sister-sister and so on. And as the show moves on there are those characteristic high decibel fights, violence led short term evictions, brewing romance, late night dim light mushy tamasha, in the loo romance, through the season cat fights, periodic doses of wild card entries and the ever so similar streak of no-brainers.

And not so interestingly even the kind of contestants that take part in the show every year are pretty much the same, so there is for sure a petulant character that stays in the show till the last week, to single handedly take care of the TRPs (read Imam, Dolly, Sambhavana et al), there is an estranged couple to keep up a parallel track going (read Rajeev Delnaz, Dimpy Rahul et al), there is invariably a couple madly in love with each other (read Anupama Aryan, Kushal Gauhar, Upen Karishma et al), there is a drama queen from the TV sops to keep up the drama quotient intact (read Urvashi, Pratyusha, Shweta, Deepshikha et al), there is a bevy of gorgeous models/unsuccessful TV actresses (read Tanisha, Minisha, Mehak, Diandra et al), a representative from the transgender community, a self-proclaimed saint cum agony aunty (read Puneet Issar, Navjot Singh Sidhu et al)and a lot many peculiar type casts. And you can pretty much predict who will do what and what will happen next to the absolute precision. But you are still never quite sure as to who was right and who was not during the week till Salman comes up and opens his card on the weekend. His charisma, his charm and his madness definitely does wonder to the entertainment quotient but in the hindsight its hilarious how the entire nation awaits his verdict on right or wrong during the week with a bated breathJ.

I for that matter brazenly follow the show with the same interest level and invite a lot of wrath for it both at home and among my friends as well. But interestingly the people who detest me for following this piece of crap are also the ones who watch it as diligently as me J. My wife for instance, hates me for supposedly hijacking the remote from 9-10 every night and curses me for my cheap taste and lack of class. But somehow that doesn't stop her from watching the show as religiously as I do and even have strong views on her favorite and not so favorite contestants J. When I counter argue as to why do you watch it when it so cheap and low class, pat comes the reply ‘do I have a choice’, the ever so obedient and accommodating Indian wife J. And the funny thing is all the anti-Big Boss lamenting usually happens either during the commercial break or when the show is not on J. Similarly, one of my close friend who is out of the country for work is so busy these days that he couldn't even call his wife back home every day nevertheless he still manages to catch every episode of the show as if it’s a part of his Job Description. Another close friend of mine laments her tale saying that even his husband is super annoyed with her mania for watching Big Boss and keeps on cursing her on all forums for this irritating choice of hers but then he is the one who sits in front of the TV set bang on time at 9 every night and tunes into Colors J.

So it won’t be wrong to say that people who crib and curse it the most are the most avid followers of the show. If you don’t watch it, its fine, there is no discussion at all. But if you watch it and still cry over it, saying its crap, cheap, class less etc. it’s the most two faced thing possible. Understandably, it’s all scripted, predictable and beyond sanity but then it’s all tailored to keep the masses involved, engaged and captivated. After all, who doesn't like watching a beautiful couple getting cosy and comfortable at prime time at the confines of your living room or for that matter two people shouting at each other at the top of their voices and throwing fists at each other. Can it get any more entertaining? If not, you always have the remote in your hand to switch over and watch something more sensible, sane and classy, as they call it J.

And as the popular adage goes, you may love it, you may hate it but you can certainly not ignore it!

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Gabbu Singh Diaries 1 | An unforgettable week with my sweetheart…

By the time our annual vacation was coming to an end, everyone in the group was sad for different reasons. One common reason was an end to one of the most exotic holidays we all have ever had during our week’s stay in Spain and the other prominent reason being the start of the same monotony at office all over again. My wife was a little more worried as she was resuming her work after a 5 month break, worried not just about with the anxiety pangs of her new job but more so with the fact that how will his beloved son do without her in the day time or for that matter how will she do without her darling son during the day. She was also concerned about the fact that in the first week of her job her not-so efficient albeit carefree hubby will be donning the hat of being a full time care taker of her son. So when others were trying to come to terms with work related challenges ahead for the new year, I was bracing myself for an altogether new and a unique challenge of being the sole full time care taker of my 18 months old son, Avyaan.

So as the eventful Monday neared, her anxiety rose exponentially and her questions to me started becoming all the more irritating. ‘ Will you be able to properly drop and pick him up from his nursery’ (No, I will book a cab for the toddler and let him manage on his own). ‘Will you be able to feed him his meals properly?’ (No, I will eat his cereals and baby food and keep him starving). ‘Will you be able to sing all his lullabies and make him sleep properly’ (No, I will give him some sedative and let the dose do the needful). I so wished to reinstate the fact that he is my son too but I refrained from getting into any such vicious discussion and curtly kept on replying with a ‘polite yes’. But expectedly she was not so convinced with my answers and kept on feeling that I am not too concerned or geared up for the challenge ahead. To be honest, I was not at all thinking about the week ahead, I was just trying to keep myself as blank as possible with a mind-set to tackle things as they come. As this how I have dealt with most of the key events of my life.

Not only was she worried about the week ahead, Delhi (read in laws )was in a state of numbness, Chhattisgarh (read parents) was breathing heavily too. As if their darling son/grandson is all of a sudden going to get into some not so safe custody. So for me to perform and survive in such a not so comfortable, hostile and discouraging environment wasn't an easy task. But then I was more concerned about managing my darling bwoy well, then fretting this unanimous lack of confidence in my abilities J.

So the day finally arrived and the day started a bit early too, as Mrs had to leave early for her first day at office. She left early but not before shedding a bucket full of tears, probably double of what she would have shed on her ‘bidai’ night, so much for the pain of going away from her son for the first time for this long. I too got ready by the time she left with an intent to keep my entire focus on the man of the hour. So the task ahead included feeding him a bowl of milk/cereal, getting him ready by putting on 6 layers of clothing as prescribed by her mother, getting his baby bag all decked up for his nursery and leave at least 20 minutes in advance so as to reach his nursery well in time. To make matters a bit more interesting Avyaan chose to lighten himself up minutes before leaving the house, so I had to do the 6 level undressing, cleaning up the mess and changing his nappies and dressing him up all over again. So if feeding, dressing and other stuff weren't some task in themselves, this was probably an added twister of the morning. Anyways, we eventually left for his nursery and he had no clue as to where was he heading to. Her mom kept on texting incessantly that ‘when you leave him there stay back for some time, he might cry and would want to come back, don’t just leave him there and rush back…’, I choose to ignore all of it and replied to none of those messages. After all, I was the boss now!

We reached there on time and when we entered the nursery Avyaan got visibly disturbed and started crying inconsolably. It was a tough moment, all the more tough when you have to leave him there crying and being all by himself. The staff there advised me to leave immediately and not to worry at all. I abide d and came out with a heavy heart, it wasn't a good feeling. But by the time I came out, I had 6 missed calls and 8 new messages on my cell, no points for guessing whose no. was it. I called her up and she did all the  talking for next 10 minutes, ‘So did he cry’ – Yes | ‘Did he cry a lot’ – Yes | ‘ You came out immediately’ – Yes | ‘ Can you hear him crying now too’ – Yes | ‘Can you peep in and see if he is fine’ – No | and so on…. I decided to stay outside and stroll around for the entire duration of his nearly 2 hour session and her texts kept on coming all this while. I went in by the end of 2 hours to see Avyaan standing at the door still crying hard and probably waiting for his dad or mom to come and take him home. And this was all the more gut wrenching. I asked the care taker how was his day today, to which she said, he kept on crying for the most part but that’s normal, things should improve in days to come and he will be alright. He jumped on to me and hugged me hard, probably as he has never done before, I could imagine how uncomfortable and disturbed he was with this sudden change in his life. We came back home and he was normal pretty soon. In between there were calls from Avyaan’s mom to know about everything that happened in these 2 hours and probably a lot more too. There were calls from Delhi too, to know about the grandson’s well being. And not to forget, in between I attended some official meetings too, over the phone wandering on the desolated streets of London, outside my son’s nursery, after all I was not on leave J.

Back home, act II - It was the time to cook, cook for Avyaan, cook for myself. So I cooked for both of us,  patiently invested 50 odd minutes to feed him his bowl of vegetable khichdi and then sang him his lullaby clinging him on to my chest and making him fall asleep in about 20 odd minutes. So where cooking for him and feeding him were quite an important milestones achieved, making him asleep was probably the icing on the cake J. He slept well for over two hours and that helped me to complete lot of my office work and answer lot of calls from around the world, giving minute by minute updates about the monster’s day so far. He woke up fresh, full of energy and engaged himself in his own world thereafter, I once again held fort and successfully fed him his portion of rice pudding to complete my last important task of the day J. The mommy dear arrived soon and reunited with Avyaan as if they were meeting after ages. I was told to once again narrate the entire day as it happened ( probably the innumerable calls and the texts during the day were all about discussing PM Modi’s plans for a cleaner India). I repeated the entire string of events as it happened, with a hope of getting some accolade for my supposedly brilliant job during the day, but that was not to be.

The rest of the week continued in the same vein, Avyaan’s crying in the nursery gradually decreased and he settled through as the week ended. The two and half  hours stroll around his nursery and office meetings on the roads of London continued. The cooking, feeding and sleeping efforts went on as diligently as did Mrs’ frequent calls and texts. I kept on expecting some token of appreciation from some corner or the other but Delhi and Chhattisgarh attributed this seamless and rather successful week to Avyaan’s character and him being such a hassle free child and his mommy dear brushed aside any such demand by saying  ‘you have not done anything extraordinary, this was expected out of you being his dad’ and ‘this is what I have been doing for months, have you ever applauded me for the same’. I neither had an answer for this backlash nor had the energy to indulge in an argument to rightfully claim my piece of appreciation. All I had after this eventful week was a great sense of joy, contentment and pride in the way we (dad son duo) have both collectively dealt through this rather challenging week. And for me this excitement and thrill was probably the same as it was when he was born on a sunny Sunday morning J. This indeed was an unforgettable week for me which not only brought me a tad more closer to him but even taught me a lot of things.

And for all the greed for some applause, I would say the confidence that all my friends bestowed on me by pinging me over the office communicator or over the phone throughout the week and asking ‘ How is Avyaan  doing’ or ‘What is there for lunch today’ or ‘ Has he slept’ and so on has been the real dose of encouragement and praise to get me going so well J.

A week seemed to be a long time but salute to Avyaan’s mom who has been doing this for months, my mom who has been doing it for years and all the moms in the world who have been doing this for ages!. You all rock. Thank You J

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The 2015 Resolution Bustle!

Its new years’ time, time to enjoy, celebrate, have new hopes and look forward to  some new and exciting things ahead. It’s also the time to make some resolutions or break some of them by now or make fun of those who make such resolutions J. And fortunately enough I am not perfect, so I have this habit of making some resolutions and getting mocked off by a lot of my friends for indulging in something as nonsensical as this, but then that has hardly ever been a deterrent. I took some last year and will be taking a few this year too, that keeps me going and excited for the entire year and when your friends know about them you rather try harder to meet your resolutions to a greater extent to avoid some kick-ass banter J. So before I jump on to this year’s list, it’s important to assess last year’s progress J

So the list last year was a rather interesting one and here’s my honest report card on the same –

·         2014 Resolution 1: To write at least 2 blogs every month – I penned down 23 for the year, which I believe would be acceptable by any standards J

·         2014 Resolution 2: To explore the world of sea food – O, I made a killing on this one throughout the year and passed out with flying colors J

·         2014 Resolution 3: To not indulge into any unnecessary arguments or wittily mocking anyone – It’s actually a bit tricky to evaluate or quantify this one and I won’t say I didn't do this at all but I had it at the back of my mind throughout the year and I tried my best to stay away from such indulgences.  So I can safely assume that this was as well not a total failure

·         2014 Resolution 4: To read at least 12 good books this year – And I failed miserably on this one, I could read just 6 books for the year. Mainly because of the relocation and related instability at London but having said that I did fail to achieve this one by a big margin

·         2014 Resolution 5: To gift something really good to my wife – Hmmm…another tough one to quantify and qualify. I did my best to accomplish this one, gifted her and shopped for her throughout the year so that should let me pass through this one as well. But then my wife is yet to approve this so probably this might also go into the ‘hold’ category for now

In a nutshell, I couldn't achieve all my targets but then it wasn't a miserable show as well. And but for the relocation bit I would have rather fared much better on most of the unsuccessful ones as well. Naturally, the show last year does inspires me to do better this year round and be upbeat for the new resolutions. So after a lot of contemplation, the list for this year is as stated below –

·         2015 Resolution 1: To write at least 2 blogs every month- This one remains as is and I hope to achieve this in totality this year, probably a bare minimum expectation for the my love of writing

·         2015 Resolution 2: To read at least 6 good books in the year – I wish I could have resolved for a bigger number, but given the work and parenting schedule I will have for this year, I would rather aim low and try to achieve higher

·         2015 Resolution 3: To gift lot of goodies to my near and dear ones – The happiness and joy this brings in is certainly unparalleled. I did quite a bit of it last year as well but I have that greed of greater joy and hence putting this as well in the resolution bucket. However, more than anything else my wifey is already curios to know who all fall or will fall under this ‘near and dear ones’ category J

·         2015 Resolution 4: To work out for at least 150 days in the year – The least I could do to satiate my fitness pallets and since this in a way translates into thrice a week workout, it shouldn't be an arduous task. And I would really love to be disciplined on this one to the extent possible

·         2015 Resolution 5: Commit myself to do at least one instance of charity -  This resolution is to not only do some good to those in need but also experience that sense of satisfaction by indulging in a good social cause

There could be a few more things that I would like to certainly do in 2015 like being a movie buff, watch a lot of good movies, which I couldn't do a lot last year. As always, to commit myself for at least two good holidays in the year, though I am sure I might exceed this one for sure in 2015 J. Spend some more time with my close friends, as any time spent with them is unarguably just not enough. Be a little more kind and polite in the way I conduct myself and to an extent do away with my carefree and blunt self. If not anyone else, the success of this last bit would certainly keep my wife in high spirits J.

So the clock for the year has started ticking and the pressure to accomplish these rather big mouthed but achievable goals will only increase with every passing day. I hope I accomplish each of these by the end of this year, if not better all of them. As the gratification after achieving anything that you have aimed for is much more than making fun of those who make such resolutions J.

Happy New Year 2015!

Be Resolute J

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