Rambling on... again..

11.5 years... too long a gap... maybe just about enough to make me curious as to how i'll react to being in a classroom again... over this time period have come close to giving a serious thot to actually going back to school twice... and both times the inertia + fear of rocking the current boat stopped me somewhere.. so god bless my company which sent me on this course... that too no less than INSEAD.. fontainbleu.. france! :-) dont think i ever expected it to be anywhere close to being as simple as it was... have been to my brother's campus a number of times at cranfield university in UK... and that was HUGE!! so when it comes to the best management college in the world, somehow simplicity was not in my mind! but then maybe thats what the crux is anyways - it IS all about sticking to the basics! in life and in managing a business! :-)

The movie has caught everyone's fancy - am yet to meet anyone who's seen the movie and doesnt have good stuff to say abt it... and its just completely spooky that as i start writing this, the cable guy has put it on!! :-) Mom's not enjoying it so far... so there DOES seem to be an age barrier at work here...anyways... A movie which manages to touch a chord across such a wide spectre of people... Its a unique movie which is not just about friendships... its about individual growth / change as well... Evokes somewhere or the other a feeling of resonance or even envy... having such deep friendships is not something too many people are blessed with... Characterization as well as fitment was fantastic... Essentially even a critic like me couldnt really find anything to crib about... so let me not even try going there. and there's enuf and more to praise... Its pretty obvious to target youth and the most common theme is friendship... tough to go wrong if you have a basic scri...

Ek jagah hai door si... Pahado ke bhi paar Sundarta aur shaanti ki rehti hai hamesha bahaar... Chota sa ek ghar bhi hai... Safed rang ka saja hua Ek bageecha charo taraf Phoolo se bhara hua Ek ladki hai khoyi si Baithi hai jaise intezaar mein Ek ladka hai chupa hua Shararat ki muskaan liye hue Baadal kadke aasmaan mein baarish ke aasaar hain 'Ab to aa jao ghar wapas' Dil se yahi pukaar hain Ye chota sa sapna dekhte Badi hui kayi ladkiyan Sapne shayad wohi hai aaj bhi Bas badli thodi Khidkiyan Ab ghar kahin door nahi Posh locality mein hota hai Safed rang to hoga hi Marble se jo banta hai Phool to hi-maintanence hain Lawn ka sapna bekaar hai Multiplex kitne door hain Gym banna hai ya tyaar hai? Ladki yaha bhi khoyi hai Shaam ki tyaari mein Strapless pehnu ya spagetti Kitni pareshaan bechaari hain Ladka hai ghoom raha Paise ikkethe karne hain Show-off karna zaroori hai ladki ko impress karne mein Ab baadal ki chinta nahi Sabke chalte hain gaadi mein Baarish bas ek pain hi h...

NDTV Lounge is fast becoming a fav. show of mine... It seems to bring out in the open the kind of discussions we used to have in our friend circle in college days... and even later. Somehow dont seem to have that kind of a circle these days... maybe this is also a fallout of becoming a 'middle level manager'! Or maybe becoz most people around are anyways married and any controversial viewpoint might endanger peace at home!! ;-) Anyways - back to this week's topic... Making the first move... at various stages of a relationship... Gender stereotypes dictate that the men need to make the first move - asking out for the first time, taking a step forward in the physical side of the relation and finally - Marriage! Women have all the right in the world to refuse at any of these stages - but taking it on themselves ... mmm ... well thats a clear NO! Any woman who does that is classifed 'fast / easy / cheap' material! This is the given that ruled the mindsets - esp. here in...

Such coincidence that my last topic here became the reason for a very disturbed friend to rant about!!! Her colleagues in a pre-dominated male setup were making her feel excluded... and she was convinced it was because she is a woman and doesnt do the 'male bonding' bits! The same bonding mechanisms - after-hours drinking, bitching about women colleagues - kind of by their own nature mostly exclude a married mom who also wants to do a fair job at work. Couple it with the fact that this friend is not from the top-most premier mgmt college and is yet at par with some men who are (and are her 'seniors' by a few batches!). She is convinced that this has contributed a fair bit towards providing some more fodder for the discrimination she feels she's going through. But would all this justify the behavior of these few 'good' men? Is it ok to behave in a fashion which just comes naturally to them? Is it really needed that they feel more responsible for their actions...

As per Linda Goodman, scorpio women have a hidden desire that they shd have been born a man! And my honesty makes me admit - this is very true for me... :-) Have spent most of my growing up years as a tomboy - only very reluctantly did i get onto the 'girly side' of things! And when i think of why this shd be - very simply put, i think the biggest difference being a girl and a guy is that they seem to have such a simple approach to life!! In india of course - being a guy gets you a whole lot of additional freedom that a girl doesnt have - and pls dont pretend that a 'modern / rational / unconventional' family doesnt have this discrimination... its the biggest fallacy possible. Girls in India - if they already dont have ppl tellng them to behave like 'girls', they themself recognize the fallouts of not behaving like one! anyways - back to the topic at hand... what i admire about the guys' way of living - beyond this freedom of existing the way they like! well...

Found this amongst my pile of 'will do something with this one day' pile of papers at home! Brought forth all the memories of my trip to North-east... 1 week... different towns every day... amazing stuff to see and observe.. Digitized the contents over the weekend... its missing a few bits abt the best place of them all - shillong... i seem to have recorded only stuff i was maybe afraid of forgetting!! ;-) will add that part on sometime soon... (this is an example of the digital version of 'will do it one day' pile!!) Kohima 12.06.03 North-east! A distant place only vaguely heard about – an adventure – if you had the time or the resources for it. Now am actually here – its beautiful. Simple. In some ways more than I expected, and in many ways lesser. But no denying its beauty. This is just the 1st stop … every night a new city. Yet in some ways, the thrill always dies down when you’ve actually seen it / done it / had it… 6.20 am 13.6.03 Sunrise / sunset had stopped m...