Honeymoon continues

Producing a book titled “Weekend Getaways from Delhi”, my husband announced that our honeymoon shall continue in phases on his new Thunderbird (a massive creation by Royal Enfield). 

The first destination was Garmukteshwar – the location where distance from River Ganges and our city, Delhi, was minimum. But that is no less than 125 km! I was skeptical for do what I may, I cannot drive the monster machine, even if he’d let me. The passionate biker in him scoffed me away assuring that he did not mind doing all the riding – adding to please me, “with me behind him” and actually meaning “with an excuse to ride such a bike”.

It was August, just after the monsoons, so the condition of most part of the road was not worth mentioning. Once the urban sprawl had been left behind, we came across a Y junction – one road led to our destination, and the other was a village road with no signage. The driver turned towards me, and one look at his eyes through the windshield of his helmet told me which path we were about to take.

It was a completely new world – lush green fields rejuvenated by the rains spread out on both sides, occasional trees here and there, no sign of any development anywhere. Moisture still lingered in the air. We rode along, enjoying the landscape. There were undulations, but it was a fairly motorable road.

The road finally took us to a small village – children were surprised to see such a monstrous bike and started running behind us. We stopped at a well, where they gathered and wanted to be taken on a ride. Smiling, my husband obliged them, as I joined few women who were sitting nearby. They gave me water to drink and offered me some tea.

After enjoying such hospitality, we asked for directions to our destination – luckily we did not have to trace back the entire path. We ate at roadside restaurants, and rode through various small towns. You can be assured that we took small detours to visit anything that caught our eye – a tall pyre of a church, a signboard announcing a tourist attraction, the sound of a school bell, and more!

We did reach Garmukteshwar finally… but more than the town, I’ve cherished memories of this road trip!

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Sorry, this was about 7 years back, and I could not find the photographs. 

What is MBA all about?

"MBA is not about Money, Blazer, Arrogance", says the cover of the book written by debutant writer, Krishna Kranthi. 

This is what the protagonist, Revant realizes during his stint at a famous B-school after few years of corporate life. Although everything seems right, Revant is confused whether it was a correct decision and what his real purpose of doing the MBA was.

His is the 1 year course designed specially for young professionals. And Revant must make the best of his time! So he   embarks on his journey and discovers what the true purpose of MBA, and education overall, is.

It is a very simply written book - ideal for reading while travelling, etc. But you would find yourself nodding in agreement in most parts; may be stop to take a look at yourself and wonder whether you have done your bit.

Its not as if there aren't any female characters. There are; but have what you call 'side roles'. 

This book needs a final round of editting and you never know, may become a must read for young aspiring professionals! 

Toke: Book Review

Lord Vishnu has mesmerized mythologists, historians, religious people, script writers, et al since ages - he is a prolific character who lived life on his terms. A master manipulator, he would take multiple rebirths and influence people to act as per his wishes.

In this book, Vishnu is the 'cool dude'. He wears his traditional outfit of yellow satin, jewellery, etc and travels on his throne among clouds. He consumes drugs with the protagonist, Nikhil and his friends - now that is completely insane, isnt it?

Jugal Mody, the author, has framed his plot in an interesting manner. Utterly bugged with his immediate senior at work, Nikhil joins his friends for marijuana and has hallucinations. Vishnu entrusts them with the responsibility to save the world so that he himself can hold up his tenth and final reincarnation.

The reader is taken on a wild ride of imagination - apart from human beings and Lord Vishnu, there are a talking crow and eagle!

You would need to concentrate on the book while you take in the proceedings, or you may get lost in some parts. But one must commend the author for such creative thinking. A 3/5 from me.

Ordering food in minutes

On my marriage anniversary, our guests were surprised to see the file containing menus of various restaurants maintained meticulously by my husband. He let everyone choose what they wanted to eat for dinner.

After a while, almost everyone had selected mutually exclusive items from various sources and it seemed practically impossible to place and track so many independent orders.

Suddenly, I recalled a website called Foodpanda, which is the heaven for foodies. You can select your city and locality, and all major restaurants which have tie up with the website, are listed! One can browse through the menu card of one, select items from different outlets, place the entire order at one go, with a few clicks of the mouse, without investing much time, money, fuel or effort! The page also indicates the minimum order value, delivery charges if any and approximate lead time. The best part is that you pay for everything at the end with your credit/ debit card and your order would arrive together, piping hot!

Check this website out and subscribe to their e-mail alerts. Often there are movie tickets, vouchers and other goodies on offer upon placing an order. What more could you ask for?

Homeless !

I am temporarily without a place to call my home. How bad can it be?

My accomodation for the last seven years had been a rented one, and it has been sold. I had received a notice for vacating well in advance. We decided to move into a small apartment which we had owned since sometime. Till now, there is nothing surprising in the story, isn't it?

The problem is that the place we were supposed to move in is still under renovation and the work just doesn't seem to end! Now, our home is not ready and the new owners of the roof that covered me so long wanted the house vacated. But where do we go?

We pleaded for extension, offered rent, but to no avail. 

I thank God that He created a human bond called Friendship. They stood beside us in this hour of crisis - helped us in packing the numerous stuff we owned; let us dump them in their homes irrespective of how little spare space there was, and offered us accomodation and food. As long as we are ready to move in to our den, or even beyond.

I am overwhelmed by the support we've received from everyone around me, and wish everyone the very best in life!