Being back in Barcelona and having a week off before starting my second internship has given me a lot of time to kill and boy have I killed it well! So anyway, I had a movie marathon week and managed to catch up on all the movies I have missed in a while....

At the risk of sounding vain (Actually, this is totally going to ruin my cool persona, but what the hell!), I love chick flicks! Especially the ones that have Hugh Grant - definitely the best thing that ever happened to Hollywood and maybe even (wo)mankind.Oh and Michael Vartan...and Colin Firth! Right...I am guessing you get the drift.

So here are my top six recommended chick flicks (for the vast universe of my blog readers..sounds a lot more sarcastic when I actually say it):

1) The truth about cats and dogs

2) Notting Hill

3) Two Weeks Notice

4) Bridget Jones Diary

5) It had to be You

6) Never been kissed

You are in a relationship with your phone, my friend!

When I just landed at ESADE, all of us got the same phone and contracts so that we could BBM each other instead of calling! I remember discovering the world of BBM and Whatsapp. I had hardly felt the need to use either before, but  I got so addicted to it! I remember a friend I had met for coffee look at me and go, "Did you really want to meet me? You have looked at your phone more times than you have looked at me! You are in a relationship with your phone my friend!". I was like, lets not overreact and get all dramatic please!

2 months later of course, BBM was passe!

However, I seem to be meeting a lot of people who are still stuck in the my-'smart'phone-is-the-best-thing-that-ever-happened-to-me mode! Coffee, lunch meetings, just hanging out - whatever the occasion, some people seem to find their phones more interesting than anything I have to say! I am trying not to take this personally.

But yes, it is a tad (just a tad) troubling !

Checking in...

It has been an eventful summer, which I kicked off with a trip with a bunch of people from school to Ibiza. It is an amazing island with some beautiful beaches and fancy clubs with a great line up of DJs and great music. Very relaxing and a much needed vacation after a grueling semester and internship hunt.

Right after Ibiza, I moved to Gurgaon to start an internship with Nokia. (Have I told you how much I hate moving? To think I will have to house hunt and move again in BCN in less than a month...sigh!)

Back to the internship, it has been a great experience thus far. I am working on a social media marketing project and some other digital marketing initiatives for a new Nokia phone. Social media has been an extremely exciting and new space to work in..I have been studying competitors and other consumer brands' social media strategies and I realise how much the digital landscape has changed thanks to the Facebooks and Twitters. Overall, a very satisfying and fun experience that I will be concluding in a couple of weeks.

In other words, as a new 18 year old friend I've made here put it...you get to be on facebook all day and its called a job, what more can you ask for in life! I really tried explaining to her that social media marketing is a lot more than just facebook-ing, but she seemed kinda fixated on Fb so I let it go.

Back in Barcelona in a months time to start the last term of the MBA (quite a bitter-sweet thought that!)

Ich liebe dich Deutschland!

A Monday off meant a long weekend and a chance to travel! So I did exactly that and decided to pay Radhika (A friend of mine from school) a visit in Germany. Vaiteesh and she have a lovely countryside house on the mountains about an hours drive from Stuttgart. This was my third trip to Germany, having done Munich and Hamburg before, and the more I get to discover this country the more I am starting to love it! So much so that I am even considering looking for an internship there :)!

Anyway, so the weekend got off to a great start as soon as I landed and got out of the Stuttgart airport in my nice-and-perfect-for-'sunny'-Barcelona jacket. It looked bright and sunny, but didn't feel anything like it. The board read -2 degrees,I almost got misguided in to walking a kilometer to get a train and  I coughed, shivered and froze until I finally boarded the bus and made my way out to Pfullingen!

An hour later I was so very happy to see Rads and she had the whole weekend planned for us. We spent most of Friday catching up, walking down the quaint streets, shopping at the town stores, driving through the mountain forests (and spotting Antilopes) and chilling (which also included watching the movie ROBOT, which btw has to be the worst movie EVER. Yes, it was my idea but in my defence it has Rajnikant. I mean we are talking about the guy who can kill 3 people with one bullet).

The next day, one of Rahika's friends joined us and the four of us drove down to the city, visited Vaiteesh's university (which he was very excited to show us :P), checked out a few palaces and ended the day at an awesome bar (I so love the European bar culture).

The Ludwigsburg palace was definitely the highlight of the day (after the bar :P). It is huge and has some stunningly beautiful arhictecture under one roof. We signed up for a two hour german tour (we missed the english one) of the entire palace which had about 120 rooms. We also found some 'interesting' facts about the king who weighed 200 kilos and drank 2 litres of coffee a day and the queen who had 5000 pairs of shoes! Surrounding the palace is a huge beatifully maintained garden and fountain. This place is amazing and totally worth a visit if you appreciate good architecture.

We spent most of the Sunday exploring Tubingen which has some quirky buildings, a lovely river and a beatiful park and walkway. It is dotted with many touristic stores (which were super expensive, but I didn't fall for it. I just got one shortglass...I mean just so it reminds me that I had been there. Oh and a calendar with such beautiful shots and some candles and a bag. Damn! These overpriced tourist stores...such a menace). There were also a bunch of bands playing the guitar by the street and entertaining people with some awesome music!

After scouting for almost an hour for a restaurant that had any vegetarian food at all (story of my life), we found the cutest Asian restaurant. It was done up in a mix of Thai, Chineese and Vietnamese style. Not counting the weird fried banana desert, this was pretty much the best Thai food I have tasted ever!

More walking, shopping (sometimes I feel like Sophie Kinsella's Confessions of a shopaholiolic was inspired by me) and freezing (this time I had three layers on) later, we ended the day with a lovely dinner at an Indian restaurant and with mango schnapps!

Had sucha a good time. Loved hanging out and catching up and can't wait to go back to explore other parts of Germany!

Now back in Barca and back to the grind!

Ups and downs! Crash and(back with a) bang.....

This new years I made a resolution that I would blog more often....just because I want to pen down (metaphorically speaking) this whole exhilarating experience! Clearly it took me 2 whole months since to actually do it!

Anyway, 2010 has been one of the most eventful years in my life. Exactly one year back I remember going back and forth in my head, debating two options and running my pros/cons list by everyone who was willing to listen. I was confused and couldn't decide if I should accept my admit with ESADE or wait two years to go to INSEAD (which then was my dream school and I had received a strange sort of deferred letter from them...long story). After a lot of thinking, I decided I needed to do the MBA then..it felt like the right time in my life and ESADE sounded like a pretty good option plus one tiny thing...it "happened" to be in Barcelona!!!!! So here I am one year later and I have got to say I am glad I made that decision. It has been one helluva ride...ups, downs, good times,not-so-good times, fun times, crazy work load and living in one of the most charming cities ever does help :)!


The one thing I have come to love about this school and this experience is the amount of diversity I get to experience on campus. The first team that I worked in had one Japanese, Peruvian, Canadian, South Arabian and Indian. My current team has people from five other countries. I live with a German, Moroccan and a Pakistani-Canadian! It doesn't get better than this. I have learnt so much about so many countries and cultures. #Good times!!!

I have often heard of the cliched phrase 'Change is the only constant' and boy did I experience it! That was the mantra in 2010. Not just school and moving countries, it was a slightly overwhelming time on other fronts too. Last year felt like the end (not sure if that is the right word) of a really long and intense chapter of my life!

In a way it was such a mixed year - some super awesome times and some forgettable moments! Either way a milestone year!

This year has been great..maybe even super fantastico (as they would say it here)!

My only grouse is that I seem to be missing too many golden moments !I'm missing two weddings - both really close friends!

Oh and my darling of a niece, Antara is growing up too fast. Last time I spoke to her, she asked me why I did'nt have an Iphone and dissatisfied with my answer, she grumpily explained it is the world of the Ipad and the least I can do is  get an Iphone! She is 3.5  years old. I keep telling my sister, this kid is a prodigy, but she doesn't believe me ;)!




Anyway off to Germany this weekend to meet Radhika and Vaiteesh! Quite excited and looking forward to some fun times!

Farewell Pati..

The last few months have been some of the toughest times for our family.My grandma (Mom's mom) passed away on March 26th.This was probably one of the darkest days in my life. She suffered a heart attack and was admitted to the hospital for over a month. She fought and struggled for almost 36 days before she finally left us.

Pati with Mom

I had flown down to Chennai to be by her side every chance i got. Deep down inside I knew this was coming. Everytime i saw her struggle I could feel she may not make it. Yet we clung on to every tiny ray of hope thinking she would somehow get through this and be with us for a few more years.

The day I got a call from my mother saying Pati (grandma in tamil) had passed away I felt so low.It felt very sad to think we would never be able to see her again.It took us all sometime to come to terms with it .Even today I can feel her presence when I think of her. All my memories of her are filled with fun and happy times.

She was all of 86 and probably the most active member of the family. She loved playing host and always made delicious food for anybody who visited. She had an amazing sense of humour and was nothing like most other older people I knew. She never sat us down to advice us or judge us in any way. She loved and accepted all of us the way we were.

There was so much cheer to her that it was almost infectious. She never depended on anybody for anything and would even hop into a rick by herself and take off to meet one of her kids or friends.I remember accompanying her on one of these rides and saw how easily she made friends with everyone from the auto driver to the fruit vendor. By the time we got off she was on first name basis and knew everything about the drivers family. I was truly in awe of her for the way she treated everyone and for the way she lived life. She never had an easy life, yet I never ever saw her crib. She always looked at the brighter side of everything and she is one of the most selfless people I have ever come across in my life.

Now, every minute spent with her is prescious. She will always be in our hearts and continue to be an inspiration to all who knew her.

The Famous Five - Tag

So I got tagged by Hari to write on this sometime last year :-)

Here goes :-

A) Five things in my room
1) A huge wardrobe that occupies half the room - Always makes me feel like I need more clothes!!
2) A custom made Teddy shaped photo frame that has pictures from the last 20 years
3) My new jet black guitar - looks awesome!
4) A comfy bed with 3 pillows and a blanket - Yawn Yawn!!
5) Pile of clothes that need to be dry cleaned (I can hear my mom yelling already :))

B) Five things in my bag
1) Laptop and a charger to go with it
2) Pen Drive - U never know when you need to transfer stuff
3) Business cards - Mine and of a bunch of other people
4) Diary - that has a zillion things written in it
5) Cell phone - Yes that stays in my bag ever since someone tried to flick it from my hand on a rick ride (I didn't even know that was a possibility :-)

C) Five things in my wallet
1) MONEY
2) Biz center ID card - The guard wont let me in without this even though he has seen me a million times and definately knows me ($Stupid rules$)
3) Debit cards and credit cards
4)Crossword memebership card - gives me that precious discount considering the amount I spend there!
5)Enrich membership card - I was awarded a free card for the sheer usage :)

I tag Andy, Chirag and Deepak...write on!

14th July 2007

It was one of the most memorable days of my life. The day my sister Maya bought this bundle of joy Antara into the world. At 3:30 in the night I recieved a call from my mom saying its a girl (which I was hoping it would be).First thing in the morning I went to visit M. She looked tired yet happy. She had this really nice smile on her face.Next to her, lying in a cradle was my litlle niece Antara. She looked beautiful (she is going to turn out to be such a pretty girl ;) ).

I would go visit them everyday in the hospital. We had limited visiting passes and unlimited people wanting to visit. Hence we fought over the passes everyday.

3 days later the beautiful Mother-daughter duo were discharged and they came home. They are staying with with us for a month and Mom,dad and I couldn't be happier.

I feel so proud of Maya for the way she went thorugh everything. Its still to sink in that my sister (the one i had pillow fights,cold shoulder fights with and the one I've shared innumerable happy moments with) is now a Mommy!

Here's a pic of my darling Antara!

Aint she cute!!!

:-)

PARIS!!!!

I visited France earlier this year.It has definately been my best vacation till date.Whats so nice about France??Definatley Paris!!!!!
Its the most beautiful and romantic city I have ever visited.Here are some pictures of places that i liked.




Eiffel tower
It is the tallest structure in Paris and one of the greatest landmarks in the world!
It is situated right beside river Sienne(read as sen) which is my favourite hangout:-)



Arc de Triumph
There is some amazingly beautiful architecture under the arc de triumph!




River Sienne
For me , The most beautiful view in the world:)




The Louvre
I read a little about the louvre meuseum in the book Da Vinci Code.Hence i was dying to see it when we were in Paris.We spent about 5 hours there and we just managed to cover the art gallery and 1 other:)
It is huge and it will take atleast 7 days to cover the enitre meuseum!!!

MUMBAI? RUDE? HOW RUDE!!!
“After you”
“Can I help you??”
“I beg your pardon”
These are phrases we hear often, but seldom in Mumbai .Is this really true??A recent survey performed by Readers Digest revealed that Mumbai is the rudest city in the world!
Having lived here for over 21 years, rude would be the last way I would describe it. Mumbai is a melting pot for various cultures. People from all over the country and around the world reside in this city. Most of these people call it home. Mumbai is known to have a very fast life .Hence most people here would agree with me when I say “There is so much to do and so little time”. A number of times this trait is mistook for arrogance or rudeness. However when it matters people come through. Take for instance the 26/7 deluge. The day when Mumbai experienced the fatal rainfall!Along the flooded roads where heavy current water was flowing, people made human chains in order to help others cross the road safely. Residents of various areas distributed food to people who were stuck through the night and could’nt go further until the rains stopped. A lot of people joined organizations like Touch etc to help families that were badly affected by this deluge. Does’nt this signify politeness??
I don’t think it right to label Mumbai as a rude city because of one incident. One has to live here and experience the life for a long enough period in order to soak in the essence of Mumbai.

AT THE MERCY OF THE RICH

I accompanied my mum n dad to a temple yesterday.We sat in there for a while until the pooja was done.During the pooja two ladies clad in torn sarees came in along with two young girls and two baby boys.The babies were also dressed in dirty old clothes.Their appearance suggesting they struggled to afford even everday meals.The reaction that they drew from the rest of the so called "devotees"(mostly sixty odd year old ladies), was quite astonishing.I heard one lady yell and ask "What do u want? You'll are not suposed to come in.Stand at the door".What kind of behaviour is this?Why the preferential treatment?
On my way out one of the small baby boys was following me,smiling at me.He was adorable.So i patted his head and smiled back at him.That ofcourse did'nt go down too well with anybody there.All those ladies were giving me that dirty look.I could read their minds."Oh you should'nt be touching them.They are dirty and blah blah blah".
This incident got me wondering why this attitude towards them?Are'nt they as much human as we are?Is'nt the temple meant to be for everyone to come offer their prayers?Who are we to do decide these things?