2012 - Mid Anniversary Appraisals!

So lets do a mid anniversary appraisal of my To-Do list for this year!

1. Travel more!! Got to get atleast 4 vacations done this year... Each of atleast 4 days..

• Not Happening.. With the new job this one is down the drains...

2. Give more structure and thought to the entrepreneurial venture

• Well definitely made some progress on this front... Well things could move a lot faster.. made some strides none the less.

3. A movie a week... (no not in theaters but torrentz it)

• Must say this is probably the only thing which went according to plan... Caught up with many movies this year... 

4. Tennis on weekends

• Shucks!! Another initiative down the drains...

5. Would like give up non-veg food & aerated drinks for atleast a couple of months to begin with

• With all the trips to Mhd. Ali Street dont failed miserably.. However hope to salvage it in the coming months...

6. Go out on atleast one Date... (Have absolutely no clue on how I will get this one done.. but atleast for once
would like to ask a girl out)

• Lets just move to the next one...

7. Explore and learns new areas on a professional front (2011 was extremely horrid.. Need to regain the zeal)

• Well definitely a Win here.. Did manage to switch job and hope to get a much wider exposure.. but the change of adjusting to new organization and culture seems to a pain in the ass at this point...

8. Will not contemplate much and will take more decisions purely on the concept of "Leap of faith"

• Purely for appraisal reasons would like to say have partially fulfilled it... However a lot left to be desired...

9. Buy an apple product (ipod / iphone)

• Yaay.. Finally own an iPhone... And it is pretty cool :)

10. Will blog atleast once more :P

• Perfect way to fulfill this criteria ;)

2012

Hey Guys... Wish ya a happy new year and hope all your dreams and desires come true this year... (Am not even sure if anyone even reads to blog to receive the greeting)

So, Continuing with the tradition of having atleast one post a year let me get this one done on the first day of the year itself..

And here is my wishlist / To-Do list for 2012!!

1. Travel more!! Got to get atleast 4 vacations done this year... Each of atleast 4 days..

2. Give more structure and thought to the entrepreneurial venture

3. A movie a week... (no not in theaters but torrentz it)

4. Tennis on weekends

5. Would like give up non-veg food & aerated drinks for atleast a couple of months to begin with

6. Go out on atleast one Date... (Have absolutely no clue on how I will get this one done.. but atleast for once would like to ask a girl out)

7. Explore and learns new areas on a professional front (2011 was extremely horrid.. Need to regain the zeal)

8. Will not contemplate much and will take more decisions purely on the concept of "Leap of faith"

9. Buy an apple product (ipod / iphone)

10. Will blog atleast once more :P

Oh and would be a good idea if you guys could suggest things I need to work out / get right in 2012...

Awaiting suggestions!!

Uptown Hangouts -- Part Deux!

Yepp finally decided to update the blog once again.. lets hope can be more regular on it from now.. Past few weekends have been all about enjoying the typical IT crowds lifestyle. Monday to Friday its about spending time in front of your 15" monitor and weekends about nice fine dining experience.

Ok, now lets begin with the part deux of uptown hangouts.

Not Just Jazz by the Bay

Me and my buddies might not be the kind of people who can jazz up the place nor can we enter and be the center of attraction of the whole room, but we surely can pay up for the food we have had!! I really feel that the folks at Jazz by the bay thought we wont be able to pay up. Hence, we just had a couple of beers and were out of the place thanks to all the eye balls requesting us to be out as soon as possible. So next time you wanna go to Not just jazz by the bay, I suggest you better suit up apparently jeans and tee is not good enough for the folks there!

Le Meridien

The mid-night buffet at Le Meridien is quiet exquisite . It cost 570 bucks and is open only on Friday and Saturday nights from 12 mid-night - 3 am. The place is good the staff is extremely courteous. You get a complimentary pint of beer and an pint of corona cost 275 bucks. The best thing is to rake up a good appetite before you head out to such places so that can enjoy from the wide variety of starters, they had everything from Squids to Turkey. The Chicken and Lamb were perfect with the wide range of dippings that you can choose from. The only disappointing item was the Pork, as it seemed to be under cooked but the keema pav which they server was just too yummy. They could have improved the main course menu there were 2-3 choices for vegetarians however for die-hard non-vegetarians they had to be content with Chicken Biryani and in gravy for some reason they had Fish Manchurian!! ooh and ya they served some mango chilli drink, dont try it! Its gonna ruin your appetite. To drown it all the desert menu consists of 4 indian sweets and 4-5 preparations of deserts with chocolate and a couple of pastries and fruit salad. All in all its a good place to hang out with your friends if you have a night out planned

And ya they serve water from "Chandi ka Patila", guess thats why the water they serve tastes funny!

TGIF

If you wanna get yourself ripped off TGIF would be the place. A pitcher costs 595 bucks and serves approximately 4 glasses. The beer served is nice and chilled and the Chicken southwest we had ordered was brilliant. The happy hours are till 9:00 wherein its a straight one on one offer across all drinks. The DJ who was playing music seemed to be more interested in the food being served to him rather than the music being played. I think he had just inserted a random CD and turned the shuffle on. Ok, moving to the main course we ordered a sizzler which was best described by my friend kunal as "Sukha chicken with rice" it was absolutely bland! For deserts we ordered the desert platter which cost 299 bucks, the deserts were nice they had whipped chocolate served with 1. Oreo biscuits 2. Snikers chocolate 3. Mint

All in all the place is fun but is extremely hard on the wallet, would cost atleast 1000 bucks per person for a dinner, also the badges that the staff at TGIF wear has absolutely no significance just incase you wondered.

What’s my age again?

Well, probably when I would read this blog after 5 years, I would probably feel vindicated. For the starters let me get go on record and say “Being 25 & single is not a crime”. Off late most conversations with the people of this age group revolves around how badly their job sucks or how badly they want someone to suck on to them!!

On one of the binge drinking session that we had the topic of what is the best way to cope with quarter life crisis and the only solution in sight was to have someone from the opposite gender by your side and the suggestion were unanimously made by all those who are still single! I would completely endorse that yes it’s good to have found someone with whom you can connect, relate and really open upto and save money on visiting a shrink. But just because you are single does not mean that you have to go out with the next person you see on the road, because you are heading into the wrong side of 20’s.

Am currently in the phase wherein I strongly believe that one fine day a girl is just gonna fall into ma arms without any hassles. No seriously! Why is this not a possibility? Is it not too much of a pain to first of all make loads of small talk such that you earn a ticket for next meet. All the time only thing on your mind is damn, let me be careful with the words I choose gotta impress her/him. You are probably going to be in your 5-6 date when you realise that, nopes it’s not going to work out, there you are again inviting friends for another session with the Old Monk. I should really stop paying at such gathering.

So here are certain stages of “Relationship” (based on inputs for the fairer sex):

Phase 1: Hunk!

“A girl makes first impression based on aura you carry” [Well don’t really blame the girls out here, it’s really a big ask for them to judge the size of wiggly through the trousers] Suit up Bro!

Phase 2: Sweet!

“If a girls likes someone she will give the guy hints!!” [Yea girls, if the guys really understood that don’t think there would have been so many broken hearts] Well no one really explained what exactly those hints are, but apparently it’s true!

Phase 3: Fear!

“Don’t tell ma girl that I drank” [Well really, do you really think lying is the answer...How long will it sustain, why is it so difficult to clear the air? Coz the girls can’t stand the truth or the lie] Headed only one way...spiralling down!

Phase 4: Reason!

“There can be a boy friend and also a good friend...who happens to be a boy” [The most clichéd of all statements, it’s never acceptable to a girl that a guy speaks about his girl and friend who happens to be a girl in a single statement. So how can a girl expect that a guy should accept it...Then again who said life is fair] Geez.. Pick one!

Phase 5: Introspection!

“Was never meant to be.. All men are dogs” [Raj palace, Friday evening?]

Well in SDLC terms, the entire relationship process works on a spiral model. You keep going in circles unless the realization happens and requirements are met.

Yepp, so on that note am happy to be single also ready to mingle! Age is not the criterion for getting into a relationship.

P.S.: Ok, my approach is not really gonna work!

Creatures at Work!!

It’s been approximately a year and half since I have started working. When you are a fresh pass-out and join a company with more than 1.3L employees it’s scary. I remember my first day walking in all suited up with halo of confidence around me and everything came shattering down the moment I saw these bald scalps just popping out from the top of the cubicles...

Ya so coming back… 1.3L employees means you are gonna have people of all categories around you and listed below are some of those categories:

1. Mr. Riddler:

These are the type of people who can’t have silence around them; they always have to break it by asking some question. picture this the dude walks up to your desk you look at him give him a customary smile and continue to peep into your desktop hoping that the next link you click is not blocked by websense… now the dude will start so you are an MBA naa… you would look at him and say "yes"... Heard yours is a good college… You reply trying to be modest "well yea but there are better colleges also"... then the awkward silence… broken again… what’s the fees?... reply: around 6-7L... well that is too much and that’s why I don’t want to do MBA...

The best thing being he will never question anything on Work it would always be on useless topics!!

2. Mr. Know All:

This kind of creature would most probably be an MBA.. Just because he has attended more GD than anyone else thanks to numerous attempts to get placed he would have an opinion on every damn topic. But the worst quality being at end of any catastrophe instead of helping he would reply "I knew, this was gonna happen... this was all wrong… it should have been this way" all you wanna say to that guy at that moment is dude shut the f*** up!!!

3. Mr. Superlative:

Ok since a couple of guys from workplace follow this blog let me give out a statutory warning: It’s not directed at any particular person… any resemblance to a person living or dead is purely coincidental....

This is the kind that makes you laugh... Everything with them has to be at the highest order... If you are discussing a tragic story.. the dude would say "Ye toh kuch nahi... mere saat ek baar naa..." and continue to rant about how badly his life sucks... on the other hand if you are discussing a happy event he would again start by saying "Ye toh kuch bhi nahi... ek baar naa...." so it’s like if you say you leave home at 8:00 to get office this dude has to say I leave at 7:55

Scenario 2: I went out with a couple of girls... ooh I went out with 6!!!... You say but the party sucked!!... Superlative dude say......"People were discussing saas bahu serials... could it be any bad"... Dude how about your company was bad and hence they had nothing else to do, to kill time!!! (Peace gandaa bhai)...

4. Mr. Always Right!!:

The most irritating kind... more or less gonna be your boss... There is no scope of having a dialog... it is gonna be a one way sermon... no debates only orders... But it’s an entertainment to watch when you have Mr. Know all and Mr Always right discussing (yelling)... Sparks are bound to fly...

5. Mr./Ms. Friendly:

Mr. Friendly would be the dude whose only job in the day would be to visit 10 different cubicles, once before lunch and once after lunch... This is the dude who is gonna have the most of the gossip... and since he has been so courteous towards you it would be in your agenda to meet him at his desk (if he is not on his round that is) while you go to the wending machine or loo... Can be one of the most resourceful people in office

Ms. Friendly... Well she is the one who would like to be a part of the all males club just to show the pretty women that she’s got the oomph.... Well the guys will just about accept any girl considering the male to female ratio...

6. Ms. Snob:

This would have to be the high expectations... career oriented woman... All she would be interested in is how to I become a better manager... and it would come naturally to her... would be a master in exploiting her feminine attributes... most of her chores would be done by unsuspecting IT nerds who would probably have only never sat beside a girl for 8 hours in a day...

7. Mr. Cool

Well I guess this is where I fit in :D… the one who thinks he does not belong to any of the above groups and is cool enough to write a blog on how he has to put up with some seriously un-cool shit everyday!!!

8. Pissing...

Aaah don’t know how to classify them... but these are the kind of dude who have to first unbuckle their belts then unbutton their trouser and then finally unzip it… All this just to pee!!!

I wonder what the hell they have at their crouch region, that they are forced to unbutton the trouser to pee... Aren’t their zippers big enough??!!

Well in case you feel if there are any more such creatures... do reply!!

Who would you like to be?

What are the things that people generally dig?

Occupationally:

1. College Student: Damn! Am too obsessed with college... There is nothing more satisfying than being a college student... Nothing is too complex... Lead a simple life... Go to college; meet up friends... spice up your life with idiosyncrasies of friends... It does not matter what the world thinks of it as long as your friends love it!

2. A Writer: There is something about the life of a writer that people simply adore... You get loads of opportunity to give "Gyan"... You actually get paid to speak your mind out!! This is a complete opposite to my current line of work where you are paid to speak what your boss says!!

Gender based:

1. A Woman: Don’t get me wrong... But there is something about being a girl that fascinates every guy... any detail however inane gets a lot of publicity!!! How else does one explain the list of "Can I be your friend" requests that girls get!!

2. Be a woman who smokes: I guess most guy would disagree on face of it... But it is something about a woman who smokes that guys completely fall for... Its like being way too cool for guys... And if you couple it with a woman who is not afraid to use man words in public and for icing says that she might be bisexual!! uff... A dream come true for every guy’s fantasy!!

Skill based:

1. A Public speaker: Again more like a writer but simply more flamboyant and impromptu... Its people who have this skill that can leave an excellent first impression on you... And that is enough for you to carry that image of his for the rest of your life!!

Appearance

Can’t really comment on this, but based on my limited fashion taste... It is relatively safe for a guy to be a metro sexual... I wonder what happened to the age old style of the moustache and the beard!! Whereas for a woman... well just be a woman... that is enough for a guy!!

Uptown Hangouts

It’s been long since the last post... Well nothing much has changed apart from the weather... Mumbai continues to get flooded... Job still sucks... The feeling of stagnation continues to haunt... now that nothing has changed its difficult to write about the same old stuff...

But there are certain things that have changed... like friends willing to pay after dinner... There used to be a time when the Rs. 5 Paratha and the Rs 2 Paise 50 cutting chai was beyond reach... Today a Rs. 1000 bill is paid off without a blink of an eye... In college we used to always wonder if ever we are gonna visit these pubs of south Mumbai... Recently we did visit some of them and this blog would be my take of uptown "Hangout" places of Mumbai...


Cafe Mondegar:
This was the first "Uptown" place that we went to... Neat place... loud music coupled with a lot of chattering noise... Nice place to look at chics... Food is also decent.... Recommended items Pitcher with beef chilly and some French fries...I remember the first time... Amazing fun... There were 6 of us the seat just next to the entrance and we just could not get our eyes of the firangi chics in spaghetti tops!!! The key is to gulp some beer and head out to Mhmd. Ali streets Cafe Noor Mohammadi for some Sanju Baba chicken and Roti... This place is also memorable as was quite high and was Jaywalking for the first time and twisted my ankle badly!! Damn those dividers....

Hard Rock Cafe:
HRC had always been a dream place to visit and to be honest was quiet disappointed with it. The music was not great and no pictures!!! WTF.... Anyways key is to reach before 7:30 [Happy Hour] timings and order buckets. The key is to order them at one instance coz they don’t allow you to order the same item till the previous one is finished as its considered "Stocking" once again WTF... And a word of caution anyone who tell you HRC is near from Lower Parel is kidding and yes its not a walking distance. This was again a memorable place as we got Sandeep drink at HRC. In food don’t ya ever order Onion Rings at HRC... it’s horrible... Instead the chicken is good...

Well these are the two places that we have visited and the next target is "Not Just Jazz by the Bay" till then....