Vibrant Ahmedabad!

R officially finishes his MBA day after and its now almost time to pay the pending bills, close the accounts with our various domestic helps on campus and move on into another chapter. As R and I drove into the New campus last night after a movie and dinner, I was reminded of the immense amount of joy that I had experienced driving into the IIM A for the very first time in April last year. Through the ups and downs of the life on campus, R managed to survive the grueling pressure test that he was put into. So proud of him!

For me Ahmedabad is my 'City of Joy'. I am overwhelmed by the kind of effort that the people of Ahmedabad put into celebrating and enjoying their festivals, culture and their life in general. Just one night of Garbha and dandiya was enough celebration for me but for them, it almost bordered fanaticism. They were dressed up and danced every night for nine consecutive nights with the same fervor and energy. Its a feat not everyone can achieve. The dancing goes on into the wee hours of the night, even early morning, all without the help of inebriating liquids. The crowd at the various clubs in the city can give the Shakiras and Spears a run for their money. I was amazed at the energy in the jam packed clubs. Strangers like me, especially with two left feet were quickly pulled into a huge dancing circle formed around a Ganesh statue and coached with the garba steps that the crowd was performing. The co-ordination amongst the 'circle' was a delight to watch.

The Uttarayan kite flying festival was another spectacle that just engulfed my attention. The streets were patched with makeshift stalls selling colorful kites in unimaginable shapes and colors. The vibrancy of these paper kites hypnotized even the non-flyers like us to walk up on the terrace and spend hours listening to the calls of 'kai po che'. In the evening, the sky looked brighter than usual witha lot more stars much closer to us. When I noticed carefully, these were small hot air balloons being sent up in the sky! Absolutely marvelous!

Every year for the past three years, a small village in Kutch called Dhordo holds a Desert festival called the Rann Utsav. Three of us managed to plan an all girls trip into the heart of Gujarat and came back with an unforgetable experience. The surreal White Rann of Kutch remined me of the short story "Love across the Salt Desert" that I have read and cried over may times. The event is well planned and executed by the Gujarat tourism and reflects their enthusiasm and involement to promote tourism in Gujarat. The Rann Utsav deserves a whole blogpost and hopefully I will be able to write about it soon.

I knew that my stay in Ahmedabad would be incomplete without a visit to the Calico Textile Museum. A museum of age old textile pieces collected and preserved with utmost care by the Sarabhai Foundation. Some of these are almost 300 years old. The museum restricts entry to 20 people per day and bookings have to be made in advance. There is a fixed time of entry everyday and a well informed english speaking guide conducts the tour. I am glad that I finally made it, the trip was definitely worth my morning.

For the love of their food and liberization that the state provides its women folks, most restaurants are usally always crowed especially during the weekends. I have heard it many times over during the past year that just like all other businesses that take weekly holidays, Gujarati housewifes take off from their kitchens on weekends. This explained the never ending waiting line outside any restaurant and the funny fact that most of these places don't take reservations on phone! And ofcourse why most of these places have great food! I am yet to pinpoint a restaurant in Ahmedabad that serves really bad food.

The city is engulfed in a cocoon of vibrant culture that I in my so many years have not witnessed anywhere. I am happy to take a part of this vibrancy with me and hope to be back soon to witness it first hand yet again!

Xmas fun!

Its seems like light years since I last celebrated Christmas. So when the idea of organizing a funfair for the little ones on Christmas was floated around, I was all set to jump in and relive the school days of running behind a Santa - this time it was slightly different, I just watched Santa being chased around the lawns. We decided to put up a face painting and tattoo stall and it turned out to be a big hit. Others had great ideas too - popcorn, corn canapes, sandwiches, samosas and lots of games! The afternoon turned out to be a warm pleasant fun -filled one.

Senti!

Nostalgia hit again! Today was the last day of my penultimate semester at Raffles Millennium and I couldn't help but feel Senti. In no time I would move on from one of the best workplaces till date and just the thought of it left me wondering if I should shed a tear or so. It's crazy. Then, the other day I was reading Sammy's blog where she neatly outlined the "signs of growing up", I guess my over-the -top Nostalgia of things related and unrelated is a sure shot sign of an upcoming "turning 30" crisis that needs to be fixed.... pronto!

My "Unreal" World!

I often look back at the year that is now swiftly slipping away. The Home Run - R's final semester at IIM A begins today. In just another 3 months this sanctified campus that I live in will be a talk of the past. Sometimes I wish I could hold onto this time I happily spent doing hardly anything in what I call an  “unreal” world of mine.

Yes, it’s unreal – it’s unreal because of the small pleasures of living a different experience that I will miss once I step out of my small secure surroundings.

On a particular day in November 2010, I sat through what I remember as the longest cab ride home from work. R recieved his much awaited admit into IIM A and I couldn't wait to see him. That November I spent thinking about how important this one year in Ahmedabad would be for me and for R. I was excited and anxious, I was uncertain.

The results for the next year have been declared and soon these courtyards will be full of another set of little ones and their contagious laughter. Last year around the same time R and I were in an ecstatic phase of life. We would spend our evenings after work feverishly planning our move to Ahmedabad. R’s inbox would be flooded with emails from his prospective classmates, now buddies and I would fight to read every one of those mails. Meetings, lunches and dinners were planned, a Google group for spouses was formed. At that time April seemed a whole 4 months away, and it felt almost like a decade.

We're now almost at the tail end of the crazy one year at IIM Ahmedabad and the reverse counting to March 9 has now begun in most households. At this point, I wish there was a pause button that I could press and hold on to the little joys of living in a closed community like this one. At times I find myself debating animatedly with my NRI friends about how the life on campus is "unreal".

Why "unreal"?

 - Because in the "real" life R and I usually spend most of our weekends endlessly seeking, fighting, chasing and then haggling with plumbing guys, electricians, and mechanics. In the "unreal" world they are a phone call away and I don't pay them. 

Unreal? Yes!

- Because in the "real" life that I spent in Noida, I lived with hours and hours of electricity cuts and water shortages. Power cuts don't happen in the "unreal" world and if they do, we receive an email about the date, time and apologies for the inconvenience! 

Unreal? Yes - I moved from the land of Power cuts. 

- Because in the fast paced "real" life I had been so preoccupied that I hardly knew my neighbor, leave alone the pot-luck dinners that we enjoy in our unreal world. One year is a really short time, by the time you start enjoying weekend dinners and poker nights, its time to move on. 

- Because there are days altogether when R & I don't even step out of the campus. Almost everything is a call away.The KLMDC Cafe and its range of not extraordinary but palatable dishes usually makes up for a dinner out - atleast technically.

- Because I live in a city that I have grown incredibly fond of within this short span of time. Ahmedabad that has recently been rated as one of the best cities truly lives up to its A+ grade. 

Although I do miss my relatively larger TV, fridge, and house -  but then, what the heck, I would give anything to live this one year all over again!

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind!

My red dell 1420, nicknamed Della became a wreck after we moved to Ahmedabad. Della gave up on the IIMA LAN and just couldn’t connect to the WIFI. Della ate up the already restricted storage space in my new house on the IIMA campus for a while until I started to work. Miraculously, sometime later, Della befriended the WIFI and I quit borrowing (read: stealing) R’s laptop for my work.

Last Wednesday, I sat in the Library at Raffles Millennium while my student was busy attempting the Product development test that I had set for her. I then decided to clear out the junk and discovered an unnamed movie folder. The folder brought back memories of a wonderful winter – spring transition of 2008.

I met R in the January of 2008. He wanted to do an MBA, loved ghazals and was a serious movie buff. My thoughts about him being a real and not a ‘wanna be’ movie maniac were confirmed when he brought a 300 GB external hard disk drive with him on one of our dates. He asked me to bring my laptop along and that day I was gifted a folder with over 50 of R’s all time favourite movies. The main folder was neatly divided into ‘seen’ and ‘not seen’ and I was given the ‘seen’ folder so that we could ‘talk about those later.’

Once the download was done, there was a moment of awkward silence. To move the conversation forward, I coyly asked him “which is your favourite?” My question turned out to be a date spent listening to the stories of why and what he liked in the movies he had saved and spent hours downloading. I wondered all through the conversation if I should even mention any of my favourite chick flicks for the fear of sounding immature.  But damn the question – our conversation ended with him asking me to watch his favourite movie – “The Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind.” A movie that by the sound of it had irked me to delete it from the folder at the very first instance was now on my ‘must watch’ list.

With a sheepish smile I promised him I would. Somehow my smile didn’t manage to blow him out this time and I was badgered with the same question for as long as I can remember – “did you watch it?” and my answer forever was “not yet” until I could stand it no more. One Sunday evening I put on my earplugs and sat down to watch and analyse the movie.  I was soon discovered by my roommate sleeping on the laptop while the eternal sunshine quite literally shone upon me. Technically I had watched the movie; atleast played it from the beginning to the end. I sent an sms out to R “loved the movie.” Yes, I loved it – I had never slept so well through a movie. He never replied and we never spoke about it again. I wonder why!

The unnamed movie folder still lay on my laptop unopened for almost three years until now that I decided to make use of my idle time here in Ahmedabad. I decided to give R’s favourite movie another try. So this afternoon while R was busy as usual, I gave up my afternnoon nap, put on my earplugs, made myself a super cup of Gujarat’s favourite wagh bakri masala chai and pushed play. I hoped to pull through the movie that as per R was almost like one man’s greatest gift to fellow mankind.

I managed to watch it from the beginning to the very end. I didn’t just watch it, I enjoyed watching it! I enjoyed it so much that I found myself looking up the Alexander Pope poem that Mary (Kirsten Dunst) quoted during the movie.

“"How happy is the blameless vestal's lot! The world forgetting, by the world forgot. Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind! Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd." 

The movie begins with a background score that I had initially hated during my first attempt at watching it. My toleration levels were higher this time around and I soon discovered a beautifully created storyline. The idea about erasing one’s memory about a loved one, then to realise the intense love and feelings associated with the memory while going through the erasing process and the struggle to hold onto those. Phew! Heavy but definitely worth my afternoon siesta! Can't wait to "talk about it later" with R!

Trick or Treat!

An impromptu Halloween trick or treat session by the IIM A juniors!

HALLOWEEN FUN



OUR LITTLEST BABY GIRLS




TRICK OR TREAT!!






The Hong Kong diary

The third term at PGPX was an International Immersion module for R.  A term that probably I looked forward to more than him, a term that entitled me for a grand holiday in reward of the erratic 1st and 2nd term schedules that I had to bear with! Of the five destinations picked  from across the globe, R chose the Chinese University of Hong Kong to help him gain insight into the Chinese perspective of doing business today.

So on Sept 3 we landed in the newly built HK airport and were greeted with a sea of swanky Ferraris and Maseratis, Porches and Lamborghinis parked alongside our hotel shuttle. Turns out that a club of sports car owners in HK were at breakfast in the Regal Airport hotel. Wow! That was an apt introduction to Hong Kong's luxurious lifestyle in the grandest terms. These people know how to spend their money and spend it well!

We were put up in the Regal Riverside Hotel, a touristy yet comfy hotel in the quiet New Territories area overlooking the Shatin River. From here began the discovery of Hong Kong for us the three ladies who decided to tag along with the students for the trip.

The Hong Kong MTR is an extensive network of metro rail that interconnects almost all parts of the city and in one word is the "lifeline" of HK. Most metro stations open into a Mall of sorts and for the first few days we would squeal out of sheer excitement until we discovered that almost all of HK is a large, really very large mall in itself! This shopping guide to Hong Kong that I discovered and printed just before leaving became our bible for the trip. I would rate the Argyle Centre in Mongkok as the Star of low budget shopping in HK.

Hong Kong oozes style. Of all the malls that we visited there was never an empty one. The mix of population that lives in HK can give the Fashion capital of the world a run for its money. Apparently, most foreign brands in HK do better business here than in their own home country. It almost feels like everyone around you is on a perpetual shopping trip!

We visited most of the touristy "must see places" and I cannot stop marveling over the cable car network created on the Lantau Island. A cable car for me - until I visited the Big Buddha on Ngong Peak was a slow means to travel between: Point A & Point B and my frame of reference for years had been the Gun hill in Mussoorie. The extensive and intricate engineering opened my eyes to a whole new world of cable car rides. The fact that point A to Point B in this case was almost a half an hour ride over and across several mountains and the South China Sea, the Crystal Cable car ride with 360 degree views, emerged as the sure shot winner of the trip.

Another highlight of our trip was Oceanpark. I loved the dolphin & walrus show. The sea animals are well trained and completely charm the audience with their amazing co-ordination and tricks. I didn't want to leave. The Oceanpark also had some mind - blowing rides - literally! We came back extremely tired but thoroughly amused from our day trip - a day well spent.

While on the trip, we happened to witness the Mid - Autumn Carnival which takes place on a full moon night. Very similar to Diwali, the Chinese light beautifully shaped lanterns and eat mooncakes. The Victoria Park in Causeway bay was decorated with huge lanterns and showcased the famous Dragon dance. It was a pretty sight, although I expected a little more.

Food in HK is yum for some. HK is also known as the food capital of the world with its array of food specialities. Mostly things that walk, swim or fly, HK is the perfect place for the hardcore non- veg junkies. Being chickeaters, we had trouble explaining our likes and dislikes to a few bewildered non-English speaking waiters. Chicken feet are a delicacy and baby chicken is actually a frog. We even spotted lizards on skewers in a famous night market. We spent another fun evening pub hopping in Lan Kwai Fong, HK's famous pub district.

I could easily have spent another 15 days in HK, just taking in the vibrant energy that the city exudes.
The charm of Hong Kong lies in the reminiscent of its coloniser and the pace of its present, almost like a Calcutta put into a New York. A spice market that ran in the middle of the super chic Central, the trams in Causeway Bay and old dilapidated buildings with vintage cars made sure that the city's rich history did not die away in the realms of urbanization.

Phew! There has never been a holiday like this one! Two whole weeks of snoopying around every nook and corner of the majestic Hong Kong city - a grand Soiree to remember.