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.

Set to conquer Gurgaon

The countdown start rolling and rollicking as I gambol on the days and nights hovering. Six more days and I am set to visit a new city, Gurgaon. I have never been to Gurgaon which is 30 minutes to one hour away from Delhi and honestly speaking, it was far far away from my travel list. The only thing is that it is eight-days trip fully funded by the Indian Government. Officially speaking, I am on duty and it doesn't go without saying I shall enjoy the perks in terms of sight seeing and exploring the city.
I am excited to discover the city that I have never been. It shall add to my travel data base and it's always cherry on the cake to discover a brand new city, new people, make new friends and of course, networking. For a journalist, networking is a sine qua non and dire necessity in today's world. It opens a whole new avenue coupled with immense possibilities where one is afforded a unique opportunity to discover an entire gamut of 'windfall gains.' The offer came unexpectedly as I was informed from official quarters that I have been chosen to represent my company. I jumped leaps and bounds as the Priyanka Chopra's song, In My City' blarring to my ears. Yeah, babe I gonna be in your city and make some new friends.
Apprehensive! I am always since it's a new experience and through I am confident of the eight nights, it's a new city for me. But, that's the fun part of being in a new city all by myself and enjoying every moment in the city. It will also be my first trip to Delhi as I get set to get down at Shrimati Indira Gandhi International Airport while my stop has always been Mumbai, albeit, Chitrapathi Shivaji International Airport. Guess, when I reach Gurgaon at 3 in the morning, I shall sleep till noon and get set to explore Gurgaon which I've told is very well-developed and mall mushrooming all over the city. Come Monday, assignment start as I shall hunt for interviews with important interviews..well that's just a teaser..ahem! ahem! I shall pull all strings to grill two important personalities, to say the least.
Frankly speaker, I am restless as I can feel the chill down my spine and I am bestiring myself to the joy of discovering the new city and its people. It's my premiere professional experience on such a grand scale and I am aware that I will rub shoulders with giants in my field, learned men and women who are maven at the craft. I am looking forward to learn and draw inspiration from these beings. Though, eight days conference is quite less but there are so much that one can do in one day work and I gotta eights day. It's grand and an opportunity that can only spruce the 'professional me' up. It shall buttress the individual in me with regard to my craft as a journalist and it is indeed the start of many beautiful surprises like this one.
The only hitch is that I will not be able to visit my favorite city Mumbai and what I call my home, Pune. I am supposed to understand I will be caught in a swirl of activities and adhering to my professional assignment is what prevail. It pinches when one cannot be in maximum city and Pune. Like one friend remarked, you be in India without being in Pune and Mumbai. What to do? Sometimes things get out of control as we caught in a maelstrom of professional activities. But, but, I am grateful to Bharat sarkar for giving me such an opportunity. It's a dream come true and further reinforce the view that India has made me who I am. I am eternally grateful to my country of origin.
Time to wave good night folk. Watch out as I shall narrate the Gurgaon and Delhi story.