Merry Xmas

Merry Xmas! Bah! We all waited for the clock to struck midnight in different places in the globalized world. The world celebrate christmas today as people will rejoice with a couplet of wine and eating delicious pastries.
Xmas is a time for celebration. I treated myself by putting a hand made christmas card on my table, the wine bottle is waiting to be poured on the thin white glass and gonna use my new acquired gadget the HTC One X cellphone which comes as the treat for this year. Yeah! I shed a bomb on the new phone but what's the harm to treat oneself to goodies when we toiled our ass so hard for one year at work. It's a beautiful feeling. This X-mas is special since I made lotsa gud frienzz who have become special and as it stands, 2012 was brilliant for me. I started off with my Goa holidays, traveled to Delhi for work where I stayed at Trident Gurgaon where I made wonderful friends during the conference.
Time flies! It can be such a silly bitch! Last year, I was on holiday and at that time of the year, I was enjoying the nice, windy weather of Pune and planning my holidays to Goa. And, this year I contented myself in the office..so missing my frienzzz in India. It's quite hard. Trust me on that! But, then we can't have everything and as I just told you, it's been a great year full of zing and unplanned surprises! I cannot complain too much as next year I shall be back to India for holidays!!
We are looking up to the joy of life but let's spare a thought to the child who is deprived of a meal, family living in distress, the family whose son or daughter was killed in a road accident and the number of women subjected to physical and mental torture albeit rape. My wish to father Xmas this year is to save the life of the girl whose condition is critical in Delhi and who was brutally raped and assaulted by six savages. I ask father Xmas to give the family strength and give the girl strength so that she recovers and can continue her medical studies. In  a way I am happy that several thousands young men and women stormed the streets of Delhi to protest against the rape at a time they could have enjoyed a drink in the pub. Who says the youth are irresponsible! It's the perfect example of what the youth represent.
Anyways, merry Xmas 2012, lovely people
Spread love N cheers
Say no to Rape and Violence.
Much Love
Vishal

I AM A MAN. I PROTEST AGAINST RAPE

At a time when we are looking up to celebrate X-mas and brand new year, somebody is crying.
Many of us have set the mood as we are indulging in alcohol and expensive food feast.
We are busy checking out the hotel for our holdings.
Somewhere, there is gloom.
A young and helpless woman was raped by six bastards who wanted to satisfy their animal instincts.
What was the fault of this woman?
Did she intimidated these man by her personality, the gender that no longer rely on man?
Or was she just a woman?
She paid the price for being  woman.
It's repulsive the way women are increasingly being subject to torture and violence.
It makes me ashamed of being a man today.
It scares me when I will walk on streets where women will cast a glance at me.
They shall smile at me or point accusing glance at me, RAPIST.
I will face the wrath incurred by hard working and patriot Muslims, TERRORISTS.
True, I believe in equality between sexes.
It's holier-than-true that I respect women believe they are the ones who call the shots,
They have reached their position in society through sheer hard work.
Who shall believe me after such a heinous act was committed by six desperate men?
An act that is beyond human comprehension.

Why is it that I cannot protect my female friend, mother, daughter and sister?
I shall tell my son not to rape rather than tell my daughter not to step out in the dark?
My forefathers have failed in educating their sons.
They have indirectly condoned violence against women by easily labeling them as 'sluts.'
They couldn't muster the courage to see a strong and empowered woman?
You know why?
Because it hurt their sense of pride and ego in a patriarchal society.
Indeed, it suits their dogmatic religious beliefs.
Protesting against human suffering, RAPE is no longer solely WOMEN business.
It is our role as MEN to protest against such perfidious cowardice act.
I AM A MAN. I PROTEST AGAINST RAPE.

Faltu plans

Things you can and should do to spice up X-mas and New Year 2013..so enuf of my bak-bak and more dhak-dhak......enuf of long posts and writing up thesis on this entry..lemme spare you the boredom as this time of the year is not meant to read long and tiring posts

1.  Chill in Goa and Bahamas. Gatecrash at the most happening party in tinsel town and let yourself loose.

2. Trip on weed, drink barrels of beer as you usher in a new era.

3. Go on adventure sports, trekking and bungee jumping.

4. Sex on the beach with a stranger. At your own 'fucking risk' though?!

5. Eat a long of goji-berries. It increase your stamina and metabolism.


6. Yell like mad on the top of the mountain.

7. Leave your job and splurge all your finances. kidding! lol

8. Plan a heist in the bank. Again, got you there!

9. Be the male or female desi Gaga. Dress like her and color your hair red. If someone calls you made, administer a sharp blow on their faces! Don't worry about the cops, they'll be all high on alcohol and grass.

10. Throw away your lap tops, I-pad, cellphones and other gadgets in the sea at Marine Drive.

11. Tell your mom that you are leaving the house and that you are in a living relationship only to come back at 4 a.m in the morning waking up mommy from slumber, yelling maa she left me or she turned out to be lesbian.

12. Wake up the neighborhood with blaring music in your car at 3 in the morning.

13. Steal all fire crackers in your town and sell them for a dime.

14. Send your photograph in all newspapers with the heading, 'Missing' as you flee to Goa.

15. Dress like Dumbledore and crawl through the most happening party in town with a lamp in your hand.
(To be continued..ab ayega mazaa)

Disclaimer: Do all the above at your own risks. The author shall not be responsible for any arrest, heart attack of mom, wrong information supplied to the media, getting bashed by neighbors, parents disowning you from property, scaring people in party, accident, death or falling unconscious to excessive ganja. Ek dum faltu...

2012 in a nutshell

14 days to go and 2012 will soon become the year that was..period! The year that started marvelously started to unfold itself in a flick of time as events, totally unforeseen unwrapped itself. It started, moved ahead and waned away like thin air. It's been a beautiful year, surprises sprouting minus a few hiccups. But, then where is the excitement without a few dollops of upset. It's been a warm, very successful and amazing year both on the personal and professional year.


1. January started on a fun-filled and rollicking manner. I woke up to my amazing holidays in SoGo (an euphemism I just coined for South Goa). I partied at a frenz frenz marriage in Miramar and danced to the joy of the newly married couple. It started with a bang and as I look back, perhaps the saying hold true when they say that when the first day start on a great note, the ending is truly fantastic. Holier than true.


2. March was the month when I obtained the much expected appraisal which shot up by three and a half grand. Patience is a virtue. Well said. As mom says, success belong belong to those who try. A slow but sure indication of great things happening in life and reason enough to motivate the self to work even hard. This was cherry on cake. The best was yet to happen!


3. Love is an oxymoron. Well, the most ironic part about me is that I happen to fall head over heels with someone but only to realize it's not love. Yes, yes, I admit of not able to bring the relationship to the next level as lose interest. It's an entirely malfunction of both my head and heart. No! not that!! I am focused on some career plan that propel the love funda to take a back seat. The good part is that I nurture three crushes on three different women and post the crazy manifestation of the head, I'm back to normalcy. The most serious crush happened in the month of May, the first one happened in Goa in June and the other one seeped in much before May.


4. I just love the social media. I've been forever present all over the place blogging my way to happiness, make a special guest appearance on Twitter, Linkedin and forever in a full fledged role on Facebook. It paid high dividends. FB made me win..oops sorry renew bond with old frenz..i'm amazed as to how I become friends with school and college pals with whom I would exchange a mere hi, hey..whatever that means. I met a few friends with whom I was fell out of touch on FB and in November reunited with a dear friend Shikha after twelve years. Could you believe that? A school friend..we started chatting like old and lost buddies. There was Aishwarya who was my class mate at Fergusson College, Pune and I dropped a hi and we added each other on g chat. We hit off instantly and became such great friends. Who says that social media is devoid of a heart?

5. June & December. Professionally speaking, both months are intertwined as in June I spent two years in the media as a professional and justice had it that on December 14, it made two and half years. Started as subeditor and this year shifted as a reporter and since then, there has been no looking back. Did  tell you that I lined up great interviews this year..the list is long..Dr Karan Singh, Rajya Sabha MP and ICCR president, Uma Tuli of the Amar Jyoti Charitable Trust and Miss South Africa, Melinda Bam. The list is long. To cut a long story short, I lined up nine interviews in a month. That month was August. I was short of number ten since September 1 fall on a Saturday. Unlucky me! I ended up biting my own fingers.

6. 2012 is a year that I will cherish for a very long time. I made great frenzzz at work and during my trips in Mumbai and Delhi. Life can't be more beautiful and as they say, there are good people on earth. Like a couplet, I go and sing a song dedicated to frenz and networking.

7. October/ November. It was unexpected and I was taken by storm. I was chosen by the Indian Government to be part of journalists delegates to cover the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation known as IOR-ARC at Gurgaon. Well! That's the end of the surprise and that's what I referred to above as the icing on the cake. I had the bestest of time and biggest professional fulfilment. It's been an emotional route, amazing and fulfiling journey where I made such great friends in Gurgaon/Delhi and learned so much from colleagues in the media fraternity. I stayed at the amazing Trident in Gurgaon and attending the conference at Oberoi is, was and will remain awesome. It add zing to one's life as I got back my mojo! The kind of networking and visibility I experience cannot be told but felt inside. It' such a great feeling which words fail to express. It will remain with me perhaps forever and I haven't still recovered from it. I made great friends in Gurgaon and Delhi. What more can I ask from life?! Better than that spoil the gorgeous feeling. I am grateful to those who facilitated my trip, including my boss, Indian Government and MEA.

What's life without a few unsettling and unfulfilled tasks. Here, it goes:
8. I started my novel and a few scripts but like always, it's still hanging somewhere in the closet. The range of progress made is far far from satisfaction. But, the work continues.

9. I have been unable to save money, a huge credit card balance hovering on my head and the salary been quite late for past few months. Hopefully, it shall be a thing of the past like the great year that 2012 been. I am an optimist and looking forward to smashing end of 2012..hey dudes and babes, in fourteen days lotsa things gonna happen..there's my new cell phone and i-pad on the cards. Looking forward for an awesome 2013. Hope yours was great as well and 2013 will be even better.

Love as always,
Vishal

Gurgaon: Looking beyond the towering height

The Gurgaon-Delhi tollway in the afternoon

What comes to your mind when you think of Gurgaon? Industrial city, business boom, luxurious malls and five star hotels mushrooming in that part of North India..well, you are right about Gurgaon. Gurgaon is the perfect place for business trips, work adventure and business-related meeting and is an upcoming and growing market in the industrial and financial centre in the state of Haryana.
Business complexes and malls are booming in Gurgaon which is located some 25 to 30 minutes away from Indira Gandhi International Airport. If you are visiting Gurgaon for the first time like I did once month back, you can visit the city biggest mall Ambience which is 10 minutes away from Oberoi/Trident mall by walking. However, if you take an auto or car, it's hardly three minutes trip. Shopping in Gurgaon should not be a problem since you will find all the well-known brands such as Louis Vitton, Marks & Spencer, Levis, West Side at Ambience. You gonna shop for groceries, you can just pay a visit to the department store, Big Bazaar where you will get everything under one roof.
I visited Gurgaon for brief work trip from October 28 to November 4 and stayed at the plush and wonderful five star hotel Trident. It is a very peaceful place located at Udyog Vihar and is in itself a world of its own. The hotel crew is well-trained, very hospitable and the best thing about Trident is that there is lot of space inside the main lobby, entrance towards the main restaurants Konomi, Cilantro and The Pool Bar. It is a place that you feel at home and where you are greeting with a traditional 'Namaste' at every end by the wonderful and smiling faces.
However, if you are looking for places to visit in Gurgaon for a gateway, look far away coz will will end up being disappointed. It is an industrial and financial city, considered to be second biggest in the state of Haryana and beyond buildings, you will not be treated to lush greenery. However, the city is well connected and you can take a rick from Udyog Vihar towards nearest stations such as Guru Dronocharya, Iffco chowk and Sikanderpur, which is the nearest. So, if you wanna run away to Delhi, just take a rickshaw and head towards the nearest Metro station. The Metro through Delhi to Gurgaon and may I add Noida is well connected and as you get on the elevator and frisked by the 'jawans' get your ticket and Delli door nahin.
The only hitch is the rickshaws is not run by meters and there is no meter tampering. No! Nooo! You will not be offered a free ride even if the auto-wallah is a distant relative of yours but you have to take a price imposed by them! It's their laws and the rest depend on how proficient you are with your persuasive power.
Never mind the hitches and glitches in Gurgaon, you can stil head towards NH 8 off the national highway to catch a glimpse of DLF Tower, Ericsson Building and Belvedere Park which is a commercial and business premises where the towering building is quite interesting. The roads are well maintained and state-of-the-art infrastructures makes the city live up to its name. Down north, you head to Jaipur and Haryana. Every city has its silver crowd and moving towards Udyog Vihar in the vicinity of Trident/Oberoi, you can talk a walk in the afternoon in a quite peaceful atmosphere. As you turn towards the lanes, you will find the chai-walla and get on-street food which is a rarity in the town of Gurgaon.
Eight days is very less to know about Gurgaon and perhaps, I have not seen interesting stuffs and this is the reason as to why, I have limited myself to say that it's all about buildings. If anybody has something to share about the city, please educate me. I would love to know more about this part of North India. Nevertheless, I would say that it's been interesting to visit the complex city of Gurgaon and next time, I shall try to remove the google and look beyond the buildings sprouting its nest everywhere.