Conversations with Javed Akhtar

1. If you admire somebody from a distance, you make an image of him or her and you fall in love with that image and soon you are no longer in love with that person, you are in love with the image that you've created. And that image is the extension of your own fantasies, so that image is finally you. It's a kind of self-love. You forget that person and get very upset if that person doesn't match up to your fantasy. If you're grown up, mature, objective, you have to understand that people are not your fantasy.

2. We might believe we do things on the spur of the moment, but unconsciously we're preparing ourselves for the future.


ps: Read in a book called Talking Films: Conversations on Hindi Cinema with Javed Akhtar

Jason Bourne, Mahatma and 3 idiots

In short I am back on Campus.

Here is a short review of the movies I have seen in recent times:
1. Making of Mahatma: Nice storyline covering some of the forgotten incident in the man's life. I have nothing else to compare it too. Still need to discuss the movie and the characters in the class so will update once I have more concrete opinion.

2. Bourne Series: I watched all the three movies in last couple of days. Just irresistible I must say. First movie got me really nostalgic about my stay Paris. It was a feeling like "I was there". Really nice pace in all the three movies.

3. 2012: One of the shittiest movies that I have seen so far. Nothing new. I tried so hard to watch it completely but just could not keep myself enthused for that. I wonder what did the world like in this movie!

4. Avataar & 3 Idiots - still to see. :D

LVMR

LVMR - Leadership: Vision Meaning and Reality

The Beginning of the End

Today is my first day of classes in this last term in IIMA. Another 70 odd days and I will be done with this vicious circle of classes, casemates and exams. Am I happy about it. I really am not sure. The senti nb is well on its way. I may not be those most vocal there but I know I am getting emotional about my time in IIMA. I missed these classes so much when I was away from the campus. I missed my dorm room and all the friends. They have been my life for last one and half year or so. They defined my life to a great extent.

Today I had three classes to attend and I really enjoyed each moment of those. I don't know why but classes here generate a wow feeling for me now. I see an awe-inspiring aura around my professors, something that I really did not feel during my stint in ESCP. This one last term is going to be a defining point for my career and life in general. I really don't know how much justice will I be able to do to it. Just hoping that I make the best use of it so that years down the lane I tell everyone "those were the days."

It's not the beginning of an end.
It's the return to innocence.

EuroTrip - Day 86

Last Monday

The shopping list is almost done. So are the travel plans. A little more needs to be done on studies part and then the pack-up. The EuroTrip is coming to an end. I am left with just one more exam (that is on Wednesday) so for now it's a little relaxed for me. I can afford to do some more sorting of photos or catching up with friends before finally getting lost in the ppts that the professor had shown us in the class.

I am still to overcome the Swiss experience. It's a beautiful place worth its name and fame. I found it more of an adventure seeker's paradise than that for honeymooners. Still it stands right at the top on the list I have prepared so far. Just that Shreya and me might also do a bungee jump or para gliding if we ended up coming here. Not a really romantic thing but I guess she will not mind this craziness.

My bags look over-stuffed now. I will have lot of trouble getting all my stuff cleared through airport checking due to weight limits. I wish they had provision for allowing compensation for personal weight loss in your baggage limit. I would have got at least 10kg leeway. :)

EuroTrip - Day 85

6th December

6th December - this day is etched on my memories permanently. For all the bad reasons. There is nothing that directly impacted me. Still, some memories just refuse to fade away.

Today I got one more reason to remember this day. It's the day when the biggest cribber I have known was born. A mota-in-denial (as his dorm-mates believe) who plays guitar well. When he plays, he is so much into it that everybody is awestruck. Himself included. The brain behind some of the best t-shirt designs that I have seen. A smart-ass observer, he can be nasty when he is taking your case. Ask his girlfriend about it. A gossip monger to the core, he can beat girls in these art. A slogger by heart and by choice, he does not forget to crib about the hard work later. A nice mix of characters from every genre of t.v. serials. Call him by any name - TAClee, Nepali, Pahadi, Bora, Raju - he is the same. A good 'old' friend indeed.

Today, on December the 6th, I did nothing extraordinary. Got up, packed my bag, reached the railway station, shopped for souvenirs, played train-train to get a glimpse of Heidelberg and finally took my last journey in ICE. We might have reached the end of EuroTrip today. No more travel in this EuroTrip. We plan to spend next few days in Paris taking one last look at the city and giving an exam in between.

I'm still not euphoric about going back India. I am not sad about leaving Paris either. I just don't have any special feeling. What is wrong with me? Instead of running a countdown, I am listening to Enigma and Lucky Ali. I wonder if 'Aal Izz Well' with me!

EuroTrip - Day 84

Backpacker's Paradise

Get up early in the morning when everyone around you is still peacefully sleeping. Get ready and go for a long walk in some random direction. A nice refreshing bath followed by a simple yet filling breakfast. I have done this many times. Vayittiri, Goa, Abu, Maheshwar, Yercaud - the list is endless. Each such morning has been a memorable one.

Today I added one more name to this list - Interlaken. It's unbelievable to think that I never needed need an alarm to get up in right time on such days. The body clock adjusts itself, I guess. Today also, I was awake well in time to witness the sunrise in this beautiful little town in foot of the most beautiful of the Swiss Alps. However, the little cover of clouds in the east played the spoilsport. I missed the sunrise just by a whisker. But it was still a really beautiful morning nonetheless. Snowy mountain are a treat to watch when the first ray of the rising sun hits their peak and gives it a heavenly glow. The whiteness of pristine snow gives rise to a golden tint. The blue sky plays the perfect companion making the sight a treat to be cherished. There was something special in the air. Pure and refreshing. Melting snow gives rise to a variety of shapes. Kissing couple to dancing budhha - it's all there. You just need to open your eyes and let your creative self rule the vision.

Xmas is just around the corner and you can feel it in every town and village in this country. Interlaken's Xmas market started today. These festive markets are like small carnivals. Craftsman set up their shops in makeshift hut shaped stalls, so do the people selling traditional food and beverages. The decorations are carefully done and attention is paid to every detail. I had seen a glimpse of what goes into making such beautiful and vibrant market during my morning walk when I had exchanged some pleasant good morning greetings with those people. I am really impressed by their creative efforts. There is a passion which comes out so distinctly from their efforts. So far, Xmas celebration for me have been about enjoy watching these Europeans unleash their creativity. It's inspiring to say the least.

The traditional craft work in these markets are really interesting. Handcrafted wooden articles to glass souvenirs, woolen items and loads of other things - each one beautiful than the other. I really wish they were a little affordable. I would have so many extra souvenirs to take home then.

Interlaken is surrounded by two beautiful lakes (Thun and Brienz) and we had not yet been to even one of those. Today's itinerary had to include at least one of those. We headed towards Lake Thun. The direction looked simple but turned out to be real confusing. Or actually we really did not care about them. We kept walking - a long silent walk before realizing that we were literally lost. We could hear the sound of the river but could not see any water. There were hardly any soul venturing out of their cozy homes on such a beautiful day. So we kept walking. A couple of attempts to get some help and we were on a newer road. A beautiful golf course covered with snow, some trails for horse riders, a big field (which was still a field and no snow field) where parasailers were landing with perfection and a beautiful camping site on the highway. We had reached the lake somehow. A long walk listening to nature's music. Life could not have been beautiful.

Lake Thun is like the blue water lagoon of anyone's dream. Crystal clear water in the best of shades. Snowy mountains seeing their reflection as if to appreciate their own self. Ducks playing in the water. Sound of tiny waves splashing on the shore. Seagulls. Beautiful woooden houses with their windows opening directly above the water. No soul visible for miles. You and your loneliness. Just You. Heavenly is the word. It's heavenly beautiful and gives an ultimate feeling of inner peace. No wonder, I just dozed off dreaming of something beautiful. When I woke up, I realized it was not a dream. I was there in that beautiful world.

We stopped in a small little town called Brienz on our return journey to Lucerne. I wouldn't call this town sleepy as then I will be doing a total injustice to the inherent beauty of this town. It's just too content with itself. It has a small toylike railway station overlooking the lake. Beautiful houses with a small garden in front of them paint the landscape in vivid colors. Huge cowbells hanging in the balcony, snow covered rooftops and the white smoke coming out of the small chimney there, Xmas decorations on the walls and in windows - they are like the houses from the fairytale world. The town also has a funicular railway going up the mountains. With its steep path, this train would be an experience in itself. Lake Brienz is no less beautiful than Thun. It's blue shades are a notch up and the snowy mountain even more beautiful. The dreamworld follows you wherever you go in this part of the world. I don't know how many picture did I click, none of them would be real justice to the beauty of this place, I can say right away.

Rest of the journey on Golden Pass Line was just the continuation of our dream. We were tired after the long walk. So it will be difficult to figure out when we were actually dreaming and when we were living the dream.

Lucerne is one of the major tourist hub in this part of Switzerland. It's really touristic. We did not really want to be the tourists today so a small walk along the famous wooden bridge and we were back to the railway station to catch our train for Mannheim. To our bad-luck the train got late (oh yes, DB is notoriously famous for its late trains in this part of the world) and we missed our connecting train to Bora's private station. A long walk at mid night to find his hostel was not a bad experience. It made me prove once again that I am not bad with directions. :D

A long conversation. Loads of random gossips. That is our time spent in Bora's company. It really skipped my mind that it was Bora's birthday and bloody bugger did not remind me too. So bad!! I am going to make him pay for this sin. What does he think? Just because he is getting older, he won't remind his forgetful foolish friend of a his birthday. He better be beware.

It's 4am and I should really go and sleep now. Nahi to kal alaram se bhi neend nahi khulegi. Nidhesh bhai ne mast bed ka arrangement kiya hai so I am dozing off for a long confy sleep. Over and out

EuroTrip - Day 83

Snow fall and Swiss Cowbells

I am a jiddi. My mom would not disagree. Hero Puck Turbo, Philips audio system, those numerous clothes, accessories, watches, my decision to go to Bangalore, and to goa and what not! There is a long list of things that I have done that will remind her of my jid. Baring few I will agree to most of the things in this list. I have been jiddi all my life. So last week when I had planned to visit Switzerland once more in the last leg of our EuroTrip, I was more or less sure that I was going to come here. PooCh had his own doubts on my intentions (I still wonder why?) but still I somehow convinced him that we were going to Swiss bhumi once more.

SNCF tried its best to stop us. We found some way nonetheless. A long train journey was the last thing on our wishlist for this last leg of 'EuroTrip 2009'. But when you have got to do it, you have to do it. For most part of the morning and early noon we played the dreaded train-train game to reach Lucerne. Paris - Metz - Strasbourg - Basel - Lucerne - 5 cities, 4 trains and lots of sleep. I recall only the last leg from Basel to Lucern phase as we saw fresh snow outside our window. Damn! you could not open the windows of the Regional trains.

We were to spend very little time in Lucerne before starting the most important train journey of the day - the Golden Pass Line between Lucerne and Interlaken. I had my plans ready. First the visit to Tourist Information(TI) office and then to McDonalds to eat their McVeggi burger. Now even before you imagine me trying to ask some directions in the TI, let me clarify that I had gone there to buy a souvenir that had caught my attention during the last trip to this city. I somehow did not buy it last time and had repented all this while about it. Today, I washed off that sin from the past.

Golden Pass Line was the attraction of the day or for that matter of this EuroTrip. Lucerne to Interlaken - 2 hours of ultimate bliss. Fresh snow fall has changed the swiss landscape. Lush meadows, old houses, small railway stations, tunnels, snowy mountains, blue lakes - imagine nature's beauty and you will find it here. With a childlike curiosity, we jumped from one seat to other so as to not miss the magic of the snow on either side on the train route. It was cold outside, but that did not deter us from opening the window (Thank god! they did not seal windows of this train). We got so amazed that we just did not realize that it was getting really cold inside. I forgive the old lady who reminded us of this and asked us to close the windows. The view from behind the glass window was not bad either. Alas, it was getting dark and we had to drop the idea of getting down at some random station and spend some time playing with snow.

A little drizzle welcomed us in Interlaken. It is a small town in the overlooking three very prominent ranges in Swiss Alpes. Backpackers was my next jid when I had planned this trip. We had to stay in this very famous hostel. Thank god that our goofups during reservation of hostel bed did not cost us this experience. The window in our room gives an amazing view of one of the mountain close by. There are two Australians guys in the room who are on their way to Italy and have stopped here just to take rest. There are two Korean girls who seem to be the usual touristic types and then there is a third girl whom I have seen only once. Interestingly all of us are EuRail pass travelers. Nice coincidence, I must say.

Six o'clock is too early to lock oneself in the hostel. The cute girl at the reception suggested us to take a walk in the old town as there was nothing much to do in this town in nnight except the usual visit to some bar/pub/casino. A quick look at the map and we were out in the snow fields. It takes a map like this to tell that the snow field that we are seeing in front of our hostel is actually a beautiful garden. It had snowed a lot in last couple of days in Interlaken and there is almost 6-8 inch everywhere in the town.

The road linking Interlaken Ost to Interlaken Est station is one of the major tourist hub in this town that is otherwise famous for the variety of adventure sports opportunities it offers. There are loads of souvenir shops (interstingly, most of them run by Chinese) and some beautifully designed restaurants offering the world famous cheese fondue. Old town is close to the Ost station and offers a close look at the traditional swiss architecture. Did I tell you they use so much wood to make those large mansions? Beautiful houses, like those dream mansions that we plan to build when are kid. Wooden carving at its best. Some of them have been standing there for more than 2-3 centuries telling stories about the glorious past that they have seen.

Back in the hostel, everybody seem to going out for dinner and then party, so we were left on our own. A quick look at the bookshelf and I found the lone book in English. It was on some series that is aired on Nickelodeon. Horror, school romance, fun, thriller - all in one. I could not have asked for more. So I made myself comfortable on the cozy sofa and read it in one go. It was nice to read after so long. The hot chocolate made it even more refreshing and fun.

Our room is heated very well and the bed is really confy. I have taken the lower bunker this time giving the upper on to the kid amongst us. We have no fixed plan for tomorrow so we can sleep peacefully. No alarm clock needed for a change.

So that was day 83 of this Eurotrip. It's been a long day full with loads of excitement. We are two of traveling together still there has been loads of silence. I don't mind it as long as there is no specific purpose of the silence. We have talked a lot with each other in last three months anyways.

EuroTrip - Day 82

The Judgement Day

This post is meant as a declaration that I have almost passed my International Finance course. Today, I sat through the two and half hour long exam and came out satisfied with my performance. I will hopefully get good grades too. However that is just a secondary output. The foremost is that I enjoyed sitting in that examination hall and answering the questions that were thrown at me.

Throughout this course, our professor tried hard to make the subject interesting and exams less scary. And I guess, his efforts have paid off. He has a typical approach to teaching a subject like International Finance. I guess his vast exposure in industry and not-so-academic background should be given credit for this. This is one thing that I have found starkly different in most of the professors here in ESCP. They seem more close to industry than academia. While back home, we are graced with the best of academia in the country. Thus there is a stark difference in the approach. However it will be difficult to judge who's better.

I am missing the classrooms and the cases now. Just a couple of weeks and I am going to immerse myself in the those cases and readings.

God!!! I had never dreamt that one day I will wait to go back to those bulky spiral bound monsters.

EuroTrip - Day 81

Aal Izz Well

Late night movies are not good for health. Irrespective of the number of hours that you had spent dreaming, you start the day on a lazy note. The more the dreams, the more incomplete your life appears to be. It's the law of the nature.

So while the poha that we were to have for breakfast became khayali poha, we resorted to the usual corn flakes - milk routine. Earlier during this trip, all my attempts of make Poha had met with cruel end (read - it looked and tested more like upma than poha). ConVo was my last hope in this far-far-away land for a nice plate of poha. Somethings were not meant to be. :(

At the Gare Du Nord, ConVo and I tried our luck to get some reservations done. 'No seats' - seems to be the standard answer for most of our requests. The amazingly friendly crew at booking counter is the only grace for SNCF that otherwise sucks with its reservation quota for eurail pass holders. Xmas is around the corner so getting reservations is even more difficult. ConVo dropped the idea of going to Luxembourg (damn! one less in country count). I persisted and finally got a really longer (and complicated) way to enter Switzerland. When you have to go, you have to go.

My last lecture in ESCP was rather dull. Even the presence of cute girl sitting next to me could not keep me awake in the boring one-way-communication called lecture. I wonder, why did I change my plans of staying at home (and studying) and ventured out on a cold and rainy day.

I tried my hands at bread roles one more and it came out even better. However, I really did not enjoy cooking today. I am not sure why. I don't want to cook just to make something to eat. Eating is just one of the end result of cooking process. If I think of it, the lunch was quite special today. Gunda made a nice mix vegetable which made our usual rasam chawal taste special today. A welcome change from eating aloo all the time.

I feel we all become too self centered. Today, this realization ruined my entire evening. I expect next couple of days to be hectic (mentally as well physically). But for now let me claim that I am not the only culprit here in this room. That's the only grace I have.

ps: Listen to this song called "Aal izz well" from 3 idiots. Superb lyrics by Swadanand Kirkire and a catchy tune by Shantanu Moitra. You are going to love it.

I am

Listening
Mere Paa from the movie Paa (I want it to be the first movie that I watch after reaching home)
The Last Mohicans (This tune is literally haunting me now)
Aal Izz Well from the movie 3 Idiots (probably, I might end up watching this as the first movie after reaching home)

Watching
Wake Up Sid (not bad, though I really think Ranbeer has tried to play Hrithik from Lakshya)
Brave Heart (nice movie with a superb sound track)
Gladiator (watched it to relate to my experience from visiting Colosseum. Awesome movie and soundtrack. I can watch it any number of times)
Fight Club (well... what to say? the more I see this movie, I more I fall in love with it)

Reading
Animal Farm (one of the best of what I have read so far in this life)
Love in the Time of Cholera (I bought this book twice and ended up gifting to someone both the times. Right now reading it from an e-book, will buy a paperbound soon)

Eating
Bread role, Rasam chawal, Frozen parathas and Ready to Eat curries from MTR, McVegi burger (Switzerland rocks), Falafal (everywhere in europe), Bread and Nutella

Playing freecell on my nokia e63.
Doing lots of random shopping for this Xmas
Missing home and everyone there.

I am Pritesh Jain
and this is my life -
One moment at a time.

EuroTrip - Day 80

Eggjam Time

Finally. Exams are here. As a preparation, I had collected all those textbooks/case materials that had been hiding somewhere in our apartment. My laptop was ready with all the ppts that had been used during the class. On a very short notice, they could come to life and help me in preparation. I was ready for the exams.

Yesterday half the day had gone in the above exercise while rest went in actual task called study.
Today, it was the time to put those learning to use. One after another I was quizzed in three different subjects. And I did well. Hopefully I will pass (too) and will be rewarded with good grades.

The highlight of the day was the presentations in Negotiations class. As expected, everyone had put lots of effort in doing the small little exercise called introspection and had come with some real concrete action plans. My action plan seemed very ordinary in front of the well researched plan that everyone had put forward. It was important to me nonetheless. It was my action plan to improve my negotiations skills. Hopefully, I will be able to convert it into real action too and see some results.

I have just one class tomorrow and I am mostly in mood to bunk that class. The exam on Friday is a tough one and I know I need to do some real work to get good grades in that. Alas, this time I will be the only one preparing for this exam. I will have to put all the efforts myself.

ConVo and Gunda are in town and they are staying with us tonight. From our visa interview in Mumbai to today's (almost) night out in Paris, ConVo has been an good company to say the least. An interesting one that is. It's an Indorian gang at home tonight. I hope we get up well in time tomorrow to make some poha for breakfast.

For now, it's time to enjoy garma garam rasam chawal for midnight dinner and then Wake Up Sid. There could not have been any better way to celebrate the fact that we were half done with our exams here in ESCP. I am loving it.

EuroTrip - Day 79

30th Nov - Monday

Mark this day in golden letters. It deserves the recognition. I spent almost the entire day doing studies. Yes, almost the ENTIRE DAY doing STUDIES. A rare and historical event of sort it is. There are three exams staring at our faces. So we don't have any option.

The day started with making a personal action plan to incorporate my learning from the course called "Positional Bargaining: Negotiation Workshop." An introspective account of my experience in last couple of months in that class. It was good. I am pretty sure I have done an honest work and tried to be creative too. Tomorrow, I will get to know the feedback from the class so hopefully there be a reality check.

The preparation for the course "Big Management Fads" followed. As the name sounds, the exam is also kind of fraud. Multiple choice multiple answers question from the things that were discussed in last 4 classes. It's an open book, open notes exam. However, I know I am not going to carry anything except my notes from the class (oh yea, I did make some notes here. 14 pages in total in my spiral notebook). A quick glance of the ppts (that the professor has readily shared) and the articles that were used as part of discussions and I was all set.

Last but most importantly, the group presentation for Marketing Strategy. We had a marathon meeting last Thursday and the group had almost finalized the ppt that was to be used in the presentation. Just a couple of big arguments to fix small details needed to be completed. And we did a group meeting for that. That too a group meeting in college (and not on skype). I just can not imagine me doing something like this in start of this term. But, I did go all the way to college to attend one meeting. And all we did in that meeting was to decide a theme that defined our team. It was a mendatory requirement for the presentation. Now that was disappointing, I had not come all the way to do just this. I had expected to see some discussions and arguments on the contents and design (did I tell you, we used a pink colored template) of the presentation. But all these group wanted to discuss what animal/song/line defines our team perfectly. And it just hit me. I don't know from where my creative (or not-so-creative) senses sprung into action and I threw blurted themes after theme. Sample this:

"They don't really care about us" - This is what our customers say about our firm and its products.
"E for Elephant.. oh no.. it is A for Ailment" - I wanted to call ourselves Elephant. haughty and really inflexible. We just could not take dynamic decisions. But Elephant starts with E and we wanted to make it beginning with A so we chose Ailment. Coz we could never identify the ailment that had made us suffer.
"Little moments of Joy" - We had reached 3rd position for a duration of one period and then our eternal fall started.
"Clueless" - We just did not have any clue of what was happening around us.

After a lot of crazy laughter and dirty looks, I settled for something less dramatic and came up with this lines from "The road not taken" by Robert Frost. It just fits our situation and the way we have behaved in this game. I am glad that the team appreciated it too and we have decided to call ourselves the team that took the road not taken. Here are the lines...

"I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."

I guess I am all set to face the exams tomorrow. Wish me luck.

EuroTrip - Day 78

Christmas is all around me

One more of those unplanned journeys. We took train for Bern but got down at Zurich. A not-so-bright Sunday morning. Everyone is fast asleep as expected. Including the city. Empty roads - a welcome change, I must say. A new map and one more of those longs walks. To another lake front. Blue waters. And snowy mountains in the horizon. Morning dose of jogging and joggers.

Loss of purpose.

Return journey to find it back. Another long walk. Hundreds of shops and their glittering displays. No touch or smell - just the sight. Window shopping in true sense. A hot cup of coffee and veg burger in the McDonalds. A luxury mall with its festive decoration. "Welcome sir, may I help you?" I wish you could. Out of place and time. Running back to the real world. Migros. Lindt and some store brands. Shopping ville in the basement of Zurich railway station. And the Xmas market above it. Billy Mack singing.

I feel it in my fingers,
I feel it in my toes,
Christmas is all around me,
and so the feeling grows

It's written in the wind,
It's everywhere I go,
So if you really love Christmas,
C'mon and let it snow?

Train-train to go back home. Fcuk SNCF. Fcuk TGV. We are back to reality. Slow locals rock. 10pm arrival on a freezing night. Home sweet home. Rasam Chawal at midnight. A good night sleep. I am coming back to life.

Lakshya

My GK is failing me once more but the dozens of handsome hunks flaunting their fascinating army uniforms make be believe that Switzerland has a compulsory army stint for its young men. I have seen them in all the train journeys that I have taken so far in this country. Their well groomed appearances, typical backpacks and most importantly an even more typical army way of conversing and joking - it reminds me every bit of a person I wanted to become one day. I wanted to join Army for all these, let me accept it today. I guess, my parents did well to stop me get blinded by these charming face of army life.

Actually, if I look back today, I realize that there never were any serious discussions about me joining army, except a couple of mentions of Short Service Commission during my high school years. Mom wanted me to become a Collector (an IAS, not a ticket collector!!). Dad never really told me about his dreams for me. Him being a banker, one thing was sure that I had to study well and do something on my own. There was no question for succession. Moreover I knew from start that there was no way I could let their hardwork go rewarded by taking up just another job. Engineering and the job after that were my own decisions. So was the decision to quit job and join a business school. What I do for a living after my MBA will also be my decision only. But I know for sure, that my parents have put their full faith in all these decisions and have supported me with their heart and sense. I have no options but to take the wisest of the decisions and do my best to ensure that its in best interest of everyone. Now, after engagement, I have more expectations to take care of and there are many more dreams that need to be brought into reality. I know I have a companion who will support me in all these and more. I pray to God that we make our parents proud and happy.

ps: I just loved the movie Lakshya. I don't know why but I could not think of any other title for this post.

EuroTrip - Day 77

On the Top of the World

Presently the Swiss countryside has only three colors - that of green grass, white snow and the golden winter sun. Trust me you won't even ask for any more color. It's just as beautiful as it could get. Might sound cliche but I have to tell - if there is heaven anywhere on earth, it is in Switzerland. I have fallen in love with this place. I am not putting my camera to too much work as I know it just cannot capture the Swiss beauty. You have to be here to enjoy it (I know how much everyone will curse me for saying things like this! Still)

After spending a quiet day in Geneva, it was time to see some real Swiss attraction - snow capped mountain tops. And what better place to do that then Mount Titlis. Situated close to the beautiful city of Lucerne (Luzerne), this is one of the most beautifully developed tourist attraction in this country and is part of every travel plan. For Swiss people, it is one of those place where they come to every now and then to unwind themselves by skiing down some of the most exciting slopes in Swiss Alps.

In Mt. Titlis you meet only two kinds of people - those who are skiing enthusiasts or those who are Indians. There are just too many of us visiting this place. Bollywood movies and SOTCs of the world have heavily sold this region of Switzerland as the best honeymoon destination. Swiss tourism now does not need to do much apart from putting some instructions in Hindi. The local businesses have adapted well too. You can find Paneer Butter Masala being served in the restaurant at the top of Titlis (that is at a height of 3200m asl). They just can not afford to ignore Indians anymore.

Mt Titlis is an experience presented in a golden platter. It starts with a train journey in red toy-like narrow gauge train that takes you through beautiful Swiss countryside in an hour long journey from Luzerne to Engelberg. Don't mind, if half the bogey is filled with Indians. You might wonder why they have not yet started selling chana jor garam in this train yet!!

Towards the end of journey, this train almost converts into a funicular climbing steep hilly terrain at tortoise speed. The speedway runs alongside the train route most of the time. DJ had been suggesting me that we should do a car trip in Swiss countryside. Today, it became clear why he had been saying so.

Engelberg is a sleepy little town (or at least that is what it appeared to be) in the base of Alps. It is surrounded by snow capped mountains from all the sides and is a base for some very popular adventure sports destinations. However a bright sunny day compelled us to not 'waste' any time in this beautiful town and directly start the cable car journey.

It takes a journey of around 40 minutes in three different cable cars to reach the peak of Mt Titlis. The first cable car just takes you from the dark alpine forests to start of snow covered hills. A foreplay of a kind, it just gets you excited well enough of the things that you are about the experience.

The second phase of cable car journey is done in a bigger gondola that takes you almost midway to the peak at a stop called Stand. This is where you start seeing the skiers in action. While a lot of them will be lazying after a quick journey down the slope from the top, others are getting ready for their turn. The last gondola from here is a special one. Its a revolving one giving you a panoramic view of terrain and takes you to the mountain top that is situated at 3020 m asl. This last 600 mtr long segment is the best part of the cable car experience. Incidentally, this was first of its kind revolving areal cable car to be installed in the entire world.

The thermometer was reading -9 degree at the top. There were snowy winds awaiting to welcome us as soon as we got out of the gondola and crossed the huge commercial complex. And there we went. Right away in the snow. Without even checking on our preparations to do so. First touch of the snow and we were ecstatic. It just did not occur to me that dressing up in snowy winds could be harmful. Like a warrior, I removed my gloves to check on my jacket and in that process exposed them to snowy winds for a long time. Next hour or so, I was just praying to god to save me from any snow bite or chill blitz (damn Bora!). My hands were getting frozen and it was difficult to even bend my fingers. I could feel the pain but there was no way I could stop playing with snow. It was my first time of seeing so much of snow. All around. Snow white mountain tops - till the horizon in every direction. We were on top of the world.

The skiers all around us were enjoying their rounds. It's a different world out there for them. High of excitement and passion. Excitement can be contagious. We tried our hands at walking and rolling on the snow. And then we took the "Ice Flyer" glacier chairlift that offers breathtaking views of the crevasses on the glacier at the top of the Titlis. It could not have been better than this. The chilly winds got colder and colder and we lost track of everything. I just knew that I had to do one thing - make a call. Titlis has a big transmission tower for Swiss Telecom, the second best thing they did after making the Rotair cable car. Every soul needs to be in this heaven with their loved ones. Or at least get a chance to talk to them. :D

We had lost track of time, of our self and of everything. That's the euphoria of this place. We were in heaven. If not heaven, it was his second cousin for sure. The best of what I have seen so far. Our return journey and then search for food in the beautiful town of Engelberg was really insignificant compared to what we had experienced. It takes time to coming back to reality. Who wants do that anyways?

ps: I have taken a couple of videos and lots of photos, just in case if I could not describe my experience better. I knew that I will really find myself short of words. As I had spent time writing this post, I am posting here. I will upload the videos and photos soon.

EuroTrip - Day 76

Everything Swiss

4:30 am is still night for all practical purposes. It's just insane to imagine getting up at that hour and running to the station to catch a train on a chilly winter morning. If one could do this after having slept only at 1:30am, he should be awarded atleast a symbolic kNighthood. To make it easy for you let me directly state it - "you can call me Sir from now on". 'Coz I have done it.

Alas, PooCh could not do it due to his never ending kutto vali khansi. He decided to stay back and do some recovery before hitting the road. I can imagine how hard this decisions was. But when gharwalo and gharwali put pressure, one does not have much choice. :D

So HotTiii and Boondiii it was. For the first time. It was going to be an interesting trip - Hyper enthusiast meets Seriousness personified. He wanted to go to CERN while I wanted to sit on the lake front. And so we did. Geneva is a cosmopolitan city. It has done well to develop its modernistic face - the world class shopping street, business district with head quarters of some of the world renowned banks and the head offices of some of the most prestigious institutions like UN and Red Cross - while preserving the charming old town.

People never fail to amaze you. I would have almost missed the heritage of this city, if one old lady had not approached us asking "do you need any help?" We really needed it. A map does not tell you anything. It's the people who talk. One just need to start of a conversation. Conversation with real strangers. I really feel ashamed to admit that I am not very good at it. Still, I have seen some improvements in last couple of trips and I know I am going to do well on this aspect. She gave us a brief history of town and guided our way through the most important sight. We just needed a small boost, she gave us a power doze. A quick round to cover the usual one cathedral, one garden and one public building tour of the city. Hidden amongst the usual European city attractions was a beautiful Russian church. It's stands apart from everything else I have seen so far because its uniquely shaped golden domes. It is also one of the fewer places of worship where we have actually seen people doing prayers. For the first time I saw peace prevailing in a church. It's such a precious thing in this tourist friendly world.

A walk around the lake and you will see the world famous flower clock. Finally, a clock in the city of watches. The who's who of world known watch brands origin in Swiss, most of them in Geneve. You can see most of them in the streets close the lake. It's a shoppers paradise out there. Brands and brands. Deals everywhere. It's Xmas time.. yuhooo...

There is an themed display of work by some artists on abstract things around the lake which is interesting too. I wonder why there are so many working on random abstract things in this part of the world. Why are they always in search for deeper more complex meanings and interpretation of life and things.

A little rain here and there made day even more interesting. A walk along the lake front and then some silent moments sitting next to the lighthouse watching the tiny waves making splash in the sand. Sounds like a sea shore right? It was not my dream. It's lake Geneve in its real beauty. You need to give it some time to unravel itself. I am happy that I gave it that time.

A lot of window shopping then the train to St Gallen. Yash is an enthu host I must say. Pav bhaji is one of my favorite and he made it almost perfectly. Some long conversations and then a peaceful sleep.

Switzerland is famous for its chocolates, knives, watches and cowbells. People come here to enjoy its snowy mountains. I have not yet scene any of it. But I guess I am going to love this country. It has been a great start for the trip.

ps:
Theory of Relativity
Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.
- Albert Einstein
(Read it in a restaurant)

1: The flower clock in Geneva is just like the one in Baroda. Unfortunately Gujrat is not famous for Guj Watches.
2. The day is also dedicated to those kids that boarded our train. The school going kids seemed so carefree and happy with their life. Ignore that they were a little high on the red vine.
3. McDonalds in Switzerland serve a vegetarian burger. They are the only one to do that in the whole of Europe I guess.

EuroTrip - Day 75

26th Nov - Thursday

Time for a good news. Bruges' nomination as a probable destination for my honeymoon trip has been accepted by the lady. Bruges came as a challenge to undisputed champion - the Switzerland. It implies that now I have an implicit permission to visit Switzerland as part of this EuroTrip. My loved ones will surely be disappointed to know this. Sorry people, I just could not wait. ;-)

We leave for Geneva tomorrow morning. That's the only bit of planning that we have done so far. But before we leave, there is a class to be attended and a couple of assignments to be finished. One of those being a presentation for the final class of Strategic Marketing course. I spent the whole day today working on this presentation along with a couple of group-mates (the same girls who found a mention on this blog long back for yelling at me) and let me accept that it was real fun today. We spent almost 6 hours trying to justify poor performance by our team. We have tried our best to be honest. I hope the professors agrees to them too.

Tomorrow, we catch 5:40am train from Gare Du Lyon. That means we will have to leave home even before 5am. I wonder what had stuck me when I had gone to book tickets. The lady at ticketing window had confirmed at least thrice with me about the timings. It just did not struck me that what she was hinting at. Silly me. :(

EuroTrip - Day 74

Baba School & Libertease

The winter has arrived in Paris. We are kind of used to temperatures around 10 degrees now. It's the chilly winds that make us shiver every time we go out. The cloudy weather makes it even worse. It has taken the fun out of walking on the beautiful Paris roads. Now a days, We have been using metro more often than ever.

Yesterday, I had final exam for one of the subjects. It's that time of the trimester when you really can not avoid 'studying'. Back home, this phase lasts just a couple of days. But here, they prefer to have in-class exams and the randomness of schedules have stretched this exam phase to a whole of three weeks. In a sense, it should be beneficial for us as we will get ample time to prepare for the exams and get good grades. Did I hear - 'what a joke!!' Haha. I accept. That was a muggu joke.

The college is buzz with activities right now. Elections for the BDE (an equivalent of student council) is a really grand affair. Mad Is On (Baba School) and the DayLightFul (Libertease) are the two groups/gangs/teams that are competing for the prestigious BDE. They have been campaigning for this election for quite some time now. It's just that we did not realize that the daily parties that were thrown in the school premises were the mode of canvassing for such an elections. Free food, drinks and games have been a regular feature of these parties. However, last few days before election saw even grander events. While one team built up an artificial ice skating ring in the campus, other converted it into a go-carting arena. Free food and drinks were topped with free messages from trained masseurs, quick makeup help from experts, sumo wrestling, PS consoles in the halls and loads and loads of freebies. And not to mention, there were dance parties. Parties that get really wild. All this just for BDE? I think, I still don't understand the system. These parties were bloody expensive affairs. I have not had chance to listen to their debate (oh yes, they actually do such things as debate and manifestos too) but I have one of the manifesto with me. It's very creative and french. I will have to spend some quality time with google translator to figure out the details of the ideas on which these elections are fought. For now, we are just enjoying the party. The campus is livelier than ever and that's the best thing that these elections have offered us.

I had a presentation today in Consumer Behavior. It was based on an article titled 'Extended Self and Possessions in the Workplace.' In simple terms, it talked about how people today personalize their office workspace (cubicles) to express themselves. From the word go this article just made me go 'wow'. It reminded me of the every object that I had kept in my cubicle in all those years of jobs/internships and tried to explain hidden meaning in them. I felt as if the author had written it with me in mind. I really loved each moment of it.

BTW, did I tell you that now yours truly can boast of having the secret recipe of bread rolls. Thanks Tanya for sharing that with me. For others, now you have one more reason to come my home for the breakfast. :D

EuroTrip - Day 73

TitBits

A Swiss Bank Account
Yesterday a German friend of mine told me that he is a proud owner of a 'swiss bank account'. He had opened it while he was studying in Luzerne and then just did not feel like closing it even after leaving Switzerland.

Life in a Metro
What do two Indian guys do when the couple sitting next to them gets super passionate and get going? Against all general perceptions, they sit silent. Their awkwardness makes them stare in all possible directions except the couple. Interestingly, even though both of them are in same situation, they hardly look at each other or talk about it.

The American Ways
Only an American professor can come to class with a beer can in hand and finish it while teaching. Only he can talk about what his step-son has cooked for dinner and how he looks forward to go home for that. If you hear 'Son of A Gun' during a lecture, take my word - the professor is an American.

Man on the Street
Go to any popular tourist spot anywhere in Europe and you will find some Indian (he could be a Pakistani or Bangladeshi too) selling the souvenirs on the street. Afros and Blacks are his eternal competitors everywhere he goes. You can bargain hard with him. And at least once, he will try to let you believe that he is from your country and thus wants to do a fair business with you.
In contrast, you will find lots of European doing creative work to earn their livelihood. They are the street artists performing and entertaining the travelers. And they hardly talk about their nationality.

iPod therefore I am
My rough calculations say that atleast one third of the commuters on Paris Metro own an iPod. The number of people owning a smart-phone is roughly the same too. Almost one forth of them like to read something (from a news paper to French translation of Ramayana) while traveling in the Metro.

Bata
For most part of my life, I believed that Bata is an Indian brand. When I was a kid, this was the biggest shoe brand I was aware of. It's an altogether different thing that, like most of the other kids like me, I always aspired for Action Shoes; Bata was my Dad's brand. It was kind of a sad feeling to see the fall of this brand in Indian market (or atleast that is what my perception is) and transformation into a brand that survives on Half Price Sales.

However, its an altogether different story in Europe, where Bata competes with the who's who of the brands and shares the prime locations in the poshest of the shopping districts in most of the cities. Unarguably, it really is the only 'Indian' brand that I have seen in whole of Europe.
For the marketer in you (and me) the questions is 'how is it possible to have such a contrast positioning for a global brand in two different countries?'

And for those of you who don't really know about the history and origin of brand Bata, here is a clue. It was born in Czech Republic. Find more information here.

EuroTrip - Day 72

Just 18 days More

Eventually it has happened. The countdown has begin. My counting says that today was my 72nd day in Europe and that means that just another 18 days before I go back home. Home sweet home. And just over 27 days before I go back to campus. I am waiting desperately for both of them.

Today was another boring day in history of EuroTrip 2009. Our laziness index has hit the roof by now. I am pretty sure that Paris weather has something to do with it. Glooming sky and chiller winds trap your inside the four walls of whatever you call your office/home/college. I have been sitting here in my sofa-cum-bed for over 12 hours now and I can tell you that there is no fun in that.

So many times, we thought we should go out somewhere. Somewhere. Anywhere. Just go out of this room. But the laziness just killed any motivation that would have pushed us to venture out. It takes efforts go get up, get ready and get going you know. And hence, energy conservation is what we did the whole day today.

There are a couple of exams/presentation coming up this week. I still have to prepare for them. Today was supposed to be reserved for them. So I better do a little justice and get back to my books.

EuroTrip - Day 71

Happy Birthday Creamiii

Now you might want to question what kind of name Creamiii is! I let you take the freedom. I can just tell you that it is outcome of a limited creativity on part of a bunch of drunk tuchchas. I thank god that they were sane enough to give me as decent a name as Boondiii. Talking about Creamiii, this guy 'Ankur' was the first soul I met in IIMA. He had been allotted D3-R22 and he had settled there by the time I reached my room D3-R23. Impressive arrangement in the room, I must say. He was to be my neighbor for next two years. In next couple of weeks, I realized that I was surrounded by some of the best souls in this campus. In next couple of months GMBC.inc was born in the D3 dungeon and we all became part of it. GMBC has spent crazy times together as one gang. And I know we will continue to do it for a long time.

Today there is one branch of it open in Paris with Ankit, Ankur and Me as its members. GMBC.eu lets call it. We had some really amazing moments during the Barcelona trip and now it was time to celebrate a very special moment. It was Ankur's birthday yesterday and we just could not miss a chance to do the ritualistic birthday bumps. And then there is always a birthday treat. Aur phir birthday treat ke liye to ham kuch bhi kar sakte hai. :D

So we met. For a lavish lunch and then for a trip to the city of Paris (for Ankur, who lives in a village/subrub, Paris is actually a different city). We employed our best cooks (read me) and made a grand lunch - HotTiii's Tadka Daal, chawal and PJ's special Aloo sabji. Son papadi to end the lunch on a sweeter note (it's very difficult to find eggless cakes you know!). And we ate like kings. I hope Ankur liked the food coz I know others (read my roommates) are too indifferent of my cooking skills.

Our tourist day was going to guided by a shopping list that had arrived from India. Start with Arce de Triomphe, then a walk through Avenue des Champs-Élysées followed by some peaceful moment at Grande Arche, back to some (window) shopping at Galeries Lafayette and then end of the day at Eiffel Tower enjoying the light show - that was the plan.

Now If I can take the freedom, let me talk about two new entities that got mentioned in this list. This is just for the sack of completeness.

Arce de Triomphe - it is a replica of India Gate (or was it the other way?? Whatever!!). A huge gate and a small amar jawan jyoti in the mid. Unlike India Gate, you can get close to the gate and actually can go up too. There will be hundreds of tourists on either side, you being one amongst them.

Avenue des Champs-Élysées: It's the luxury street of the Paris. The who-s-who of retail brands have their outlets here to make their presence felt. Louis Vuitton has one of its biggest showroom on this street. There is Lido and a couple of theaters. And there are various galleries that are actually big malls in themselves. The best place to window shop coz everybody knows that they just can not afford to buy anything (unless of course if you are a Japanese tourist or a winner from 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire'.). Still there are shops where you enter and there are shops where you don't even dare to enter. This is the beauty of the human psychology behind retail. I remember one of the post I wrote about a quote from Maximum City. Read the post here.

Amidst those shops selling dreams, we spotted a Starbucks Coffee. It was time to fulfil one of our dreams. To have a cup of coffee at Starbucks. Such an insignificant dream na? I don't deny that. Read the title of my blog and you will know I am a man who cherishes 'little moments of joy'. Starbucks is at the forefront of retailers who are selling experience and after hearing so much about it in all those classes of marketing and strategy, I had to feel it first hand. Luckily, other two guys felt the same way and we were right there in the queue ordering our first cup of Startbucks Coffee. Anything great? Not love at first sight, I can tell for sure. For anything beyond that, I will have to have more such dates. I had my fun at Starbucks and that is more than enough. Sometimes the people around you make a lot of difference. A great company can make it a memorable day. I am on my way to another such day, I am pretty sure.

An untimely rain almost spoilt our plan to walk till Grande Arche and we had to detour and take train to Galeries Lafayette but not before having a good look at the festive events and exhibition shops. It's Xmas time, every nook and corner of this street seems to say you. Ho ho ho.. Santa can come anytime.

To our bad luck, Galeries Lafayette remains closed on a Sunday. Unbelievable but true. Here they still respect work life balance and shops do get closed on atleast one day in the week. It was still a good place to be nonetheless. There were amazingly beautiful decoration done on the facade as well as on the displays along the wall. And street artists had captured the space to entertain the tourists like us. A couple of magical moments and work of art captured and collected for memories and we proceeded on our way to Gare Du Nord. A nice south Indian dinner was waiting for us in some restaurant. Masala Dosa and Sambhar Vada are delicacies that we have been missing for over two months now. Today it was the occasion to treat ourselves. The treat was on Ankur afterall. :D I can tell you the Dosa was as good as you will get in most part of India. Thin and Crisp. You could not ask for more.

PooCh and me were reached Eiffel just in time for the 8pm special light and sound show. Sadly Ankur had to leave for his village (or subrub whatever it is) and could not come to Eiffel. This was the second time I was coming to Eiffel and was third time I was to form an opinion for his beauty. It looks simply stunning in those dancing lights. No monument can beat its beauty at that very moment. An engineering marvel from last century meets the latest technology from today to create a marvelous experience. These light and sound performances are being done every night to commemorate something. Do try to make it to Eiffel by 8pm if you can. You will never forget what you get to see.

From Paris

Paris is turning out to be a real fun city. There are so many things that you can explore and visit only if you plan to spend plenty of time in this city. For once, I am really happy that I chose a college that is situated right in the mid of this city. I wouldn't have got a chance to see all these places and get these experience if I had been to any other place. I am really happy we decided to spend today like this. It was a day worth every moment. I hope we made it special for Ankur too. It was his belated birthday you know!

ps:Experience makes a man perfect. See today how safely I described Eiffel's beauty without mixing it up in any comparison to my fiancee. :)

ps2: The ritual birthday bumps are still pending. We did not know if it was safe enough to beat a living person like the way we do it in campus. You never know the laws in a foreign land. The wooden floor does not help in such matter too. pata nahi kab toot jaaye.... So the rituals will be completed in India with celebrations with a formal invitational ppt and cakes.

EuroTrip - Day 70

Fontainebleau, La Défense and an almost broken nose

Some days are better spent unplanned. Planning kills the romance. After having traveled so much in last couple of months, we have reached a saturation phase. Our days no more start at 6 am as there are no early morning trains to catch. We visit Facebook more frequently than bahn.de. The number of starred mails in my inbox has come down drastically. And yes most important of them all, we are taking bath on a daily basis now. :D

But it does not mean that we are not traveling at all. We are not yet caged in these four walls that we call home. If that was our agenda, India would have been a far cheaper place. We are doing small trips in and around Paris now. I feel ashamed to accept that we have not done any real sight seeing in this city as yet. So it clearly is the right time now to explore this city called Paris from close.

So after doing justice to a lazy morning (ready lazying around in our sofa bed), PooCh and me loaded ourselves with three of the greatest weapons that a traveler in this part of world should own - a EuRail Pass, a Paris Metro pass for a day and map of Île-de-France - and hit the road.

Fontainebleau, situated around an hour distance from Paris center was to be our first destination for the day. This commune is renowned for the large and scenic forest of Fontainebleau (which, incidentally, we did not know), the beautiful historical Château de Fontainebleau ( incidentlly again, we did not know about it) and is the home of INSEAD, one of the world's most elite business schools (Oh yes, we knew it). Taking TARDi's feedback on its face value, we had planned to visit the this town for it's 'beautiful garden'. For the first time, we did not bother about approaching the tourist information office (See how much confidence we have now on our tourist sense!) and we just reached the garden. Not bad, I must say. The garden was huge (actually a notch higher than huge) and it was green and had a big lake (with monstrous white ducks). There were people doing their morning rounds of jogging (at 2pm). What I loved the most about this place is that it had the silence. It had the silence of a jungle. I could hear the chirping of the birds. And I know I was at the right place. The splendid Château was right in front of me, but I knew I did not want to go there. I had found what I was searching for and that's it. I was at peace. And when you are at peace, whatever you speak comes right from your heart. Me and PooCh did not need to do 'random bakar' for a change today. We spoke about things that matter to us (atleast I did). I really admire this quality of PooCh. He is a good company whatever is the mood around. He can be part of any discussion in any group and let the group feel his presence. Random bakar or some profound discussions - he is the man. I, on the other hand, really get switched off in many situations. Can this art be learnt, I don't know. But if it can be, I know who will be the biggest 'guru'.

On our way to the garden, we had chanced to pass by a huge Carrefour outlet (one of those outskirts biggie) and we knew that we had to visit it on the way back. We are children of this consumption age you know. So we did. It's a huge world out there inside those four walls. There are loads and loads of brands trying to capture your attention. We did not see many offers (as expected, I can tell from my SRM class learnings) but then there were loads of store brands (again, as expected). People come here prepared to literally stock up their houses. We, on the other hand, were just exploring things that could serve as our lunch for the day. And we found Popcorn. One that was really affordable. The decision did not take much time. It's been more than two months since we munched those yummi things (I never realized, things like this will matter so much). A couple of biscuit packets and a bottle of sprite and we were on our way to railway station. Our next stop was going to be business district of Paris - La Défense.

For two whole months, we had seen just one side of Paris - that of culture and tradition. La Défense was to be our first interaction with its business side. It's the area where the who-s-who of French companies have their offices. With high-risers and glass-and-concrete giants, it presents a totally difference face of Paris. The difference becomes visible in the metro station itself. The station can beat many an airports with its design and the kind of shops it has accommodated. Xmas celebrations have already started so the decorations have gone up manifolds. If you are a 'mall' person, then this is your area. The malls are huge and have the biggest of the stores. If our afternoon was dedicated to visiting Carrefour, the evening went to Toys-R-Us. A child's heaven, this shop has a superb collection of toys and kids' items. Thank god the really high prices, else I and the kid with me (read PooCh) would have surely been down by a couple of dozens of Euros by end of the day.

We did spend a couple dozen Euros (together) shopping some other useful stuff though in some other shop. At times it is just too irresistible. The shops are plenty and have done very well in presenting their offerings. The only way to escape getting lured is to come out of the mall as quick as you can.

Arche de la Défense or simply as La Grande Arche welcomes you there. The modern day replica of Arc de Triomphe is at the westernmost extremity of Paris' 10 km long Historical Axis, which starts at the Louvre in Central Paris and continues along the Champs-Élysées, well beyond the Arc de Triomphe before culminating at La Défence. This 110 m high gate shaped building is meant as a monument to humanity and humanitarian ideals rather than military victories (as in the case of Arc de Triomphe). A photographer's love, this place offers a very beautiful view of La Défence and also Champs-Élysées. Currently the festive celebrations are going on making it really alive. A really nice place to spend your evening staring at the well-lit concrete monsters and ofcourse the Arc De Triomphe in a distance.

I will also remember this place for an almost broken nose. They have put some glass panels randomly (I guess to direct the winds so as not to hurt the temporary constructions in the area) but have forgotten to put sufficient warning. It was my luck or foolishness (I don't know which one) that I went and banged my face straight into one such glass panel saying these word 'bechare kitne jaakar takara jaate honge in glasses par' (or something like that, PooCh you might help me with those exact words). Irony is the word I guess. It was really a bang. The biggest I have had in recent time. The sound could be heard to a good distance. I am happy that my spectacles and my nose both are intact (it would have costed equally bad to have repaired any of those here in Paris).

It's time to do some damage control and take some rest. Tomorrow, it's a crucial day for all PGP2s. We go through our ritualistic bidding process for course selection in the wee hours (Paris time). It means that I should have slept early. But then for some unknown reasons, I started watching Fight Club. Once I start this movie, it's difficult to stop. It's going to be a long night, I am sure. I don't complaint. It has been a very good day and the longer it is, the more memorable it will become. I am Jack's greedy soul.

In Rome

We heard these guys in Rome first. Enchanting is the word for their music. Thanks HotTiii for finding them on youtube.



I remember listening to this tune in some Hindi movie. My guess is that either it was Koyla or Karan Arjun. A Rakesh/Rajesh Roshan work for sure.

And for record, this is the original composition from which the inspiration is taken by the group. Another amazing piece of music.

EuroTrip - Day 69

Friday Night Fever

It feels nice to get up one morning realizing that your bank account has been replenished. You don't need to worry about that extra euro that you might spend to quench your thirst on a chilly afternoon. That you don't need to feel guilty for the word 'spending' itself. It feels so nice to even to imagine such a day. I woke up today doing the same. Now I am hoping that such miracles do take place in this world. Life will be beautiful then.

Talking about money, I have always wondered why these people have a currency denomination called 'cents'. It just does not have any value without another denomination called a 'euro'. I have collected dozens of 1 cents by now (I hate carrefour for that) and I know I will end up carrying them back home and using as souvenirs. It just not make any sense to take two hundred of them to a shop to buy a can of sprite. You just can not buy anything in those cents unless the count up to a euro.

Coming back to world of crazy dreams (I am going to juggle back and forth between some topics today). I feel dreams and abstractism have one thing in common. They are open to interpretation and you are bound to get different interpretation given different people, same person at different time, or for that matter the same person, same time but different mood.

We visited Pompidou today. The temple for people who worship abstract art. This inside out building hosts the Centre national d'art et de culture and is open to public for over three decades now. It hosts a permanent exhibition (in Musée national d'art moderne) as well as some temporary ones to showcase the work of some well known and some not so well known artists of our time. As apparent from the name of the place, the idea is to promote modern art. Currently, the central exhibition is focused on work by around 200 female artists from around the world to emphasis on the importance of women artists in 20th century art. Around 500 works of art are used to portray the way these artists have explored various topics ranging from sexuality to modern notions of junk. They have used various media such as paintings, sculptures, plastics as well as photography and videos. There are rooms dedicated to each artists or on a particular theme and apart from just a brief description from the artists they are left open to interpretation by the viewers.

I must tell you I have not seen so much of abstract work in one place. I just fell in love with it. Each piece of work is so different and can convey so many meanings. At times, I had a feeling that even I could do something like this - a lot of things were just too normal and we tend to ignore them from the word go. But then I realize that even if I could do it, I did not do it. These artists did it because they had the courage to do it. They did not bother what the world will think about them after seeing their work. And because of this courage that today people like me stand in front of those same works of art and appreciate them. Somewhere I read "I do what I want to do. Others do what they can." I guess it beautifully sums up my thoughts.

It was a sunny morning to start the day but as the day progressed the clouds covered the blue sky. I just hate such weather where the cloudy sky leave in anticipation of rains. You just feel too lazy and bored. A long walk turned out to be so boring that I literally felt sick of it. I have never felt so tired after a walk back home from college. I'm too tired to do anything useful now and I guess will hit the bed pretty early. It's my way to enjoy the Friday night.

EuroTrip - Day 68

Buddha is smiling again

Because the apple has finally fallen. A long wait. Some nerve wracking tense times giving way to moment of elation. I had dreamt about it recently. I just could not believe when I heard about it first time. I wanted to check it myself and I did the same. And yes, it did happen. The apple did fall.

I am talking nonsense right? It indeed is nonsense. For a majority of you in this world. But it matters a lot to me. Because it proves that there is still an element of luck in my favor. I don't want to attribute it entirely to luck. That will undermine the persistent efforts that we had put in. It's just that our efforts have finally fructified and I am mood to celebrate this moment.

It's 2:30 am Paris time. By this time a lovely sun would have risen in most part of India. I can not wait any more to call home and give them the news. Sometime this time differences make all the differences. I distinctly remember waking up my sleeping parents at around midnight when my IIMB admission result had come. I just could not wait then. I just could not wait today.

It's a new day now.

My iPod had the same playlist for more than 6 months for now. I just cannot imagine how did I let it happen. A new playlist is on its way. Karunesh and Coldplay are back on the list. I hope to find my Lucky Ali collection soon. It's been a long time since I heard him.

I just finished watching Pulp Fiction. Finally. I feel no shame in admitting that I did not fully understand the movie but I loved it nonetheless. I guess I will spend some time reading about it and other work by Quintine Tarantino before giving this movie one more shot. I want to watch a couple of Raj Kapoor movies too. They have been doing rounds in my mind for quite some time now. Now that my vacations is about to end, I hope to get back to my movie watching schedules soon [Isn't it ironical that I watch less movies during vacation as compared to during the college time?].

PS: Smiling Buddha was the code name for the missing to conduct the first nuclear test in Pokhran. Buddha smiled again when we successfully tested our nuclear technology for the second time in Pokhran.

EuroTrip - Day 67

Kisses on the Grave

There were no negotiations yesterday. It was one of those canceled classes that I had mentioned in one of my earlier posts. You turn up for the class but the professor does not. Luckily, the professor entrusted us with some task and allowed to claim an attendance for it too. We really could not afford one more rescheduled class.

When it comes to negotiate something in absence of professor, it does not take much of a time. We are just too good and the meetings get over in less than a couple of minutes. There is no disagreements whatsoever inspite having students from so many cultures and nationality in the class. Nobody wants to work even a bit extra if the professor is not taking a note of it.

So we had a break for ourselves. A long break. And the first thought that came to our mind when we realized a possibility to go out of college, it was about visiting Le Cimetière du Père-Lachaise - the world famous cemetery in the center of Paris. It's just a 5 minutes walk from our college so we could spend a good amount of time there. Last time I went there, it was about to close and I really did not want to venture a great deal inside the big place so as to get lost and then end up spending my night next to some grave.

This cemetery boasts of being the resting place of many a great personalities, the world famous author and lover Oscar Wilde being one amongst them. His grave is very famous and is high priority item in the agenda of every visitor to this place. BTW, could you believe that this cemetery sees more than 2 million visitors every year (almost a third of those visiting Eiffel Tower)!! Coming back to Oscar Wilde's grave, this tomb is unique in itself. Instead of flowers, Oscar's follower shower kisses to his tomb. There are lipstick marks all over the tomb and messages from hundreds of lovers. It's interesting to say the least.

There are thousands of graves here, few of them are really beautiful. These graves are a testimony to the person who is resting to peace inside them. They are full with messages and souvenirs from the family and loved ones. Each one special for the people for whom it matters. Each one is unique in its own sense.

There are more than one million dead burried here and this cemetery seems to be running out of space. What will happen then? I wonder. They will need to find some way. Every soul needs its own resting place, you know.

That was my second date with Père-Lachaise.
Today the day has been rather uneventful. I really don't know how can a marketing class be so boring. It just not make any sense to me why they need to teach so much theory about human psychology in a course of consumer behavior. One could go in that depth if he has lot of time at his disposal. However with just 10 classes to complete a course, it does not leave any scope for actual interaction or discussions about the consumer in the class. I wish I had a chance to take this course again in IIMA.

International Finance class was as interesting as ever. The arrival of good news that 'pappu pass ho gaya hai' made it even better today. Yes, I have passed the mid term exam of International Finance. Atleast for the time being, that is. I was so hopeless after that exam that I had to pray to godjee and promise him that I will be a good boy. I guess it is time I become a good boy. :D

EuroTrip - Day 66

Life @ ESCP

I have been asked this question many times that how do I find my life at ESCP? How are things here as compared to those back home (sounds cool to talk like this). I really feel it does not make a great sense to compare the two institutions as each business school has its own distinct culture. The cultural difference between two countries make this task of comparison even more difficult. So, let me just list down my observation about this place instead. It's Life@ESCP through my eyes.

1. While just one class per week schedule gives you enough time to prepare well for each class, the three hour long class is actually a big pain. You tend to lose the concentration how much ever you try to hold your attention to the proceedings in the class.

2. Canceling of classes is common. Some of the professors have buffer sessions to take care of cancellations and rescheduling of such classes.

3. Every student realizes and respect the authority and power the professors command. However, this does not translate to a feeling of respect the same way that we see in India. A professor's presence does not affect your actions and discussions.

4. There are no prohibitions. In fact, there is a basement bar in the college. Every week there are party thrown for some reason or the other.

5. I did not notice any smoke detectors and fire alarms. Smoking is not banned in open space.

6. Assignments are taken very seriously. The deadlines need to be followed.

7. Basic facilities such as printer and xerox are very expensive and require you to take a bulk usage subscription.

8. The student body (or whatever it is called here) elections are really the matter of pride. It's a long process and requires the parties (or teams) to actively campaign through various means. There are many parties thrown out for such campaigns. Free daaru and khana are the biggest attraction of such parties.

9. As the Paris campus does not have residential facilities, everything closes by 9pm. You are on your own after that - no library, no internet.

to be continued...

ps: Will update as and when something comes to my mind.
ps2: Screwed up marketing strategy again, no negotiations on it. I really think classes are becoming a fad now.

EuroTrip - Day 65

Back To Reality

Back to Paris. To our abode for these three months of EuroTrip. Back to the world where we have a 'home' to go back to at the end of the day. Where we go to college and attend some lectures. Where we need to bother about assignments and attendance. And about the stock of grocery at home and cleaning up of trash from the bins.

This world is not as bad as it might seem from my words. It's just a different world.

It's a world where we bother, just for a moment though, that we have been wearing the same jacket for last two months. And that the jacket is not black in color (Black is 'the color' in Paris). Our appearances do matter here. Even if we don't bother much about it.

It's a world where we bother that if not us, there is someone else in our group who really cares for his/her grades in the course. And we need to work hard that grade.

It's a world that reminds us that life in Europe is more stressful than it appears on the faces of fellow travelers in the places we have been. Tourism has taken a toll on the face of this world. The real self is somewhere hidden behind the mask that a tourism friendly city portrays. One need to stay longer and interact at a deeper level to get to know the real nature of a city.

It's a world where you don't find a single smiling face in the metro train unless that person is on phone chatting with his/her family or loved one. The higher you go on comfort, the lesser you see a friendly face around. It's the same back there in India too. A journey in AC compartment is the most boring of them. I think a traveler loves to share only if there is pain around. Comfort makes him a loner.

Here people are more willing to kiss in public than throw a broad smile on their faces. Take my word - smiles are really rare. It might contradict my earlier observation about this city. However I have to accept that I was wrong to a certain extent.

Here we are so glued to our laptops that we forget that there are other souls around us. The virtual world overshadows the reality.

We are back to a world that is more closer to that back home. The loose threads of email and phone calls are pulling us back to those old days. Days, when we had to bother about our resumes. About the job and the salary it entitled. Bidding points, CGPA, CV Points appear more frequently in our conversations than 2 months ago. We are no more in our dorms but the conversations are same.

We don't know which destination we will go tomorrow. We don't bother about it anymore. May be it's really what they call backpacking. Good or Bad? I don't want to judge. It's just the way it is. And it happened on its own.

We are getting back in form. We are getting back to reality.

EuroTrip - Day 64

Life is BARCAful

It's consecutive third morning when we have got up with beautiful Barca sun outside our hostel room window. Till today, each morning had been sunny but as the day progressed the clouds covered the golden sun and we had to just make good with a pleasant temperature. Today, it was different. The sun was out there greeting us a beautiful day. It was a perfect day to hit the beach. However all of us had this firm belief that if we hit the beach, that will be the last thing we do in the day before the evening train to Paris. It was difficult but we had to control our emotions and proceed to see some of the things that were not yet ticked on our list.

Plaça d'Espanya was the first stop for the day. Actually we happen to reach here just by chance on our way to the Olympic Stadium. It's really hard to imagine that they could build a stadium that can host in vicinity of such a huge establishment. It's only after visiting the stadium that we realized that the stadium was actually constructed in the first half of 20th centuries and actually had been a major center for holding various events of international significance. The architecture of rest of the Olympic park is very much modern. I wonder why did they not include even a small hint of Gaudi influence or may be a dedication to Gaudi in the design of this stadium. I really expected to see some connection to Gaudi in this place that played such a significant role in bringing this city to the world map.

As if the detour to Olympic park was not enough, I chose to take a different route again. Instead of hitting the beach, I decided to go to Tibidabo, the small hill situated close to Barcelona. The church situated on its top had caught my attention as soon as I had arrived in this city. When lit in evening, it looked really beautiful and I really wanted to get a closer look at the place. I reached here (alas I did not take the popular funicular train and took the bus route instead) on a sunny afternoon and was amazed to see the crowd at this place. This place is heaven for couples who come here cycling/trekking or by other modes. The cathedral is just-another cathedral but looks good next to a giant wheel on top of this hill. Such a peak is an unsual location for an amusement park. But the park which is located on Tibidabo hill is a very popular attraction for locals and tourists alike. They say, this place is the best location to get a panoramic view of the city. And I vouch for it. It's like being on the top of Barcelona. You get a good look of everything around. I really wish that I should have come to this place during night so as to see this city when it is really alive.

There are so many things that you can do in one city. Barcelona is the first city where we have spent so much time and tried to feel the beat. We still could not do it full. It takes a lot of time and more involved interaction to understand the psyche of a city like Barcelona. For last 4 days or so, we have made our life BARCAful. Hats off to this city.

ps: Title taken from Jalan's status message on gtalk.
Barcelona trivia: There are metro stations named Parellel and Diagonal in this city. I wonder why they needed to have names like this.

EuroTrip - Day 63

Rome once more?

Oh not yet. Not in this EuroTrip for sure. I shall keep some thing pending for the next time too.
Then where should I go if I want to see a cathedral, aqueduct, circus, roman fora and an amphitheater in same town? If you are in Barcelona, the answer lies two hours away by train. The city of Tarragona offers you a date with Roman civilization right in the middle of this Catalan land. Before I forget, let me also list down that it has Gothic architecture and a beautiful sandy beach on offering too.

I am too bored of talking about this Roman and Gothic architectures. They are huge and glorious. And have a long history behind them. Lots of stories of love, hate and betrayals. War and peace. In all, a complete period drama. Still I think I would want to skip that portion for the day. You can check out the web if you want to hear those stories.

For me, this place was one more chance to learn about an industry called TOURISM. All throughout this EuroTrip, It has been impressive to notice how even the smallest of the cities are working really hard to promote tourism.

With the EuroZone in place, most of the boarders have virtually vanished. A well designed and maintained transportation system has made it easy for anyone to travel from one part to another. They boast of a train system where each and every station has the timetable available at each station giving you detail about the arrival and departure times for each and every train till the minutes. You can plan the entire journey at any station and will be able to book most of the tickets. Even a 8 minute difference between two connecting trains is really manageable. Trains run on time most of the times and if they are late you will be compensated in most of the cases. EuRail/InterRail passes are a boon if you are non-European and they make your travel really affordable.

Once you reach any city/town/village, the first thing on your mind would be to know about the place and get directions. A tourist information office is at your service in most of the cases. An English speaking officer gladly answers queries that you have got and will give you required literature. Maps, tour guides, brochures etc are available in plenty and in multiple language and they are really useful.

And now that when you know what you want to see, you might want to find out about the ways and modes of reaching there. There are city cards, travelers passes etc available to make it hassle free for you. You get free travel on local transportation (which by the way is mostly controlled by one authority independent of mode of transportation - metro, tram, bus, boats etc) and discounted entries to various tourist attractions.

I don't need to talk about the restaurants, pubs and shopping areas as they follow once a city is ready to attract so many outsiders. Interesting thing is that even there they have done very good to promote local art and cuisines.

Today in Tarragona there were two noticeable events.

1. The city tourism department seemed to be in a mode to track each of the tourist visiting this city. They collected extensive data about the tourists in terms of their nationality and the places they visited in this town. At entrance of every tourist attraction, the officer noted down a little information about us without bothering us with lot of hassles. For record, we were the first Indian tourists that many of the officers have met so far.

2. There was a promotional event by another state in Spain. The stage was set very well with use of latest technology and traditional music and cuisine at the same place. The enthusiasm with which the people concerned talked about and promoted their state was remarkable. It just gives you an idea the amount of effort everyone puts in promoting tourism here.

Today many of the European cities are using tourism as not just a way to earn money but also to promote themselves on world map. Influx of tourists had done wonders to these cities which have more global exposure than ever. It has also helped in preserving and promoting local arts and thus ensuring a longer life for them.

It's a win-win from any angle.

Can we do the same in India?

ps: For the record, we came back well in time to see Spain playing Argentina in a friendly match. We could not find a better place to see this match than the Irish pub on La Rambla. It was not the right place considering even Ireland was playing with France at the same time. So we ended up watching the Ireland match. It's fun to see a football match in an Irish pubs. These English people go really crazy. Good clean fun to end the day on a good note.

EuroTrip - Day 62

To the MAN called ANTONI GAUDI

I am not an artist. I don't know the alpha beta of art. Still let me tell you that Antoni Gaudi's work rocks. He is just too awesome. Yesterday, we had just got a glimpse of his style when we had chanced to see La Casa Batlló. Though we did not enter the place, even the view of the facade was sufficient to make us believe that ki Gaudi ka andaaj thoda hatke hai. Today, it was the time to prove our hypothesis. And what better place to do that than one of his best work - the Sagrada Família. This monumental church dedicated to the Holy Family is the finest example of his visionary genius, the worldwide symbol of Barcelona and the Cathedral of the third Millennium.

Did you say? "A cathedral!!"

Well yes, it is a cathedral. And before you say "not again," let me tell you that this is one place, you should visit even after seeing a thousand cathedrals all over the world. It is one of its kind and it will remain the same for centuries to come.

The work on this historic cathedral started in the last decade of 19th centuries and it continues even today. Gaudi visioned this place to be the symbol of faith. He incorporated his architectural knowledge with a complex system of symbolism. He was able to finish just one (out of four planned) facade in his lifetime. But he had more than done his job with his drawings and models for the rest of the cathedral. He had a huge influence from nature and geometry on his work and it took quite some time for other artists and designers to decipher his rules and style. But since then, the work on his cathedral is on a flow. With incorporation of the latest technologies in building materials and design, this building promises to be indeed the monument of the third millennium.

There are two distinct styles on the two facades that have been completed till now. While the Nativity facade has ornamental work with direct influence from nature, the Passion facade has a rather simple style. The audio-guide does a very good job explaining some of the details. One could write a book about the symbolism used and the way Gaudi has interpreted the various events in life of Christ. The museum has some of his drawings and models and tells us about the vision of the architect. I thoroughly enjoyed this place and would recommend it to everyone. Take my word, even the 11 euro entrance fee should not deter you from entering this place.

Our next stop was to be a temple of another kind - Camp Nou, the house of FC Barcelona. The main stadium in the big complex is the biggest in Europe and has hosted many crucial matches at international level and in UEFA league. But after seeing the Alliance Arena in Munich (what if it was just from the outside), it really was a disappointment. May be it looks good when in night, but when we went it was just ok. The entry to the museum is restricted and charged at 17 euros. And it is not even a guided tour. I guess FC Barca is too big a brand for me. See yea some other time guys!!

Now that we have come so far, it did not make any sense to go empty handed and we did what we could do the best - visit the FC Barca store and buy some merchandise. I am still trying to recall who amongst my friends is a Barca fan. If you are, do leave a comment. You will get an original FC Barca souvenir with love.

It was our chance to enjoy the Barcelona night life but the night had not yet arrived. So we took a long walk along the La Rambla. This street is famous for its street artists and the restaurants and pubs on the both sides. And true to its fame, it had an assortment of arts on display. The street is alive throughout the day but the real colors come out in evening. I am really happy that we decided to take the walk despite our tired legs.

I had been for over a day in Barca but still there were no signs of Jalan. Mr Busy was really trapped in his applications so I had given him the freedom to fix the plan. And finally he planned. We were to go clubbing with him. Those of you who know Jallu, he likes to party. So it was a safe bet. ;) We headed straight to beach side. It's difficult to get entry to free clubs if you are a gang of 7 guys. So we had to resort to an Irish pub. With some random live music in background, this was the best place we could afford to enter at that moment. For the record, I drank the most expensive sprite of my life here. A few random songs and then Jalan and I decided to call it a day. The applications were ringing bells in his head and I had no intention to stop him to cater to that. We had a long talk on a half maggie and a cup of chai (yes no tea, it was chai). Life could not have been more RVish.

It is 3:30 am, well past my bed time and Jalan is still left with lots of application work. So it's better that I hit the bed now and let him burn the midnight oil. I will have my own sets of such nights soon.