The India Trip

Having to solve some paperwork issues and look up on bank accounts and other things that sound important, I had the pleasure to make a trip back to India a little before the Eid Holidays. Headed straight to Goa where Mom and Dad were waiting to take me around the beautiful state I call home. 

I made what most would call a foolish move of not taking a cheaper flight directly to Mumbai from Dubai, but instead, flying to Muscat, changing flights there and then flying to Mumbai. All just for the sake of flying with Oman Air, and some free time at Muscat Airport, because I don't have to tell you how much I love all things Oman.

Landing in Mumbai was sheer fun. Always brings back memories, that very act of landing there. How I once ran home from the airport, kept my luggage, changed into rain wear and ran off to attend a 7:30 Sudhakar lecture. How I love the early morning taxi rides from the airport to town and how i once was crossing the sealink at the very time that the sun rose. Such memories don't dwindle soon,and i don't intend to let them do so. Any ways, this time, Mumbai was all about being a leg in my journey to Dubai, so I hopped on to the inter-terminal bus and now excited myself with the prospect of landing in another favorite place. Goa!

The Goa section of my trip was not quite eventful. It was dotted with the usual meetings with relatives and family friends, but like always, this time also had that one get together with folks I must not have met since a decade or so. A sweet aunt and uncle who we last met in Salalah being the case this time. The rest of the trip focused on two things I was visibly deprived of in Dubai. Mom's Food (Including heaped servings of rice, which I otherwise avoid thanks to a precise diet) and sleeping on a proper bed were two things that really needed my attention. I also tried out this place, which surprisingly was tried out by my folks. An amazing seafood place, pretty nondescript, called Fishland, near the Panjim Residency. Amazing how a Fish Thali for 60 rupees can bring so much satisfaction.

9 days flew by with a lot of ease and I then had to prepare myself for the odd one and a half day in Mumbai. Spending that minuscule a time frame in a place you previously spent 3 whole years certainly isn't easy, but I kept a tight schedule and had adequate time for everything. Right from getting a new pair of spectacles and shirts to meeting up with the gang which surprisingly happened without a photo being clicked. Is the BMM blood fading away or have we become grown-ups already? Thanks, to everyone who was able to turn up. Before I knew it, 36 hours were up and I was catching a few winks in a taxi headed to the airport. When I finally arrived in Dubai, I happened to be so exhausted with the goings-on in India and the Jet lag, that I cooled off with approximately 18 hours of dead sleep. 

This trip didn't capitalize on everything I wanted but gave me all of the things I needed.

Its been long.

It's been a while.

It was very bad on my part not blog. The problem with me is that I often find a very thin line between blogging and writing a diary entry. Hence, my personal posts are mixed with a professional front and my posts about the professional front carry rich personal undertones. I do not know if this is right, but whenever I sit down to type out a post it happens. Maybe its just an indication of my personality or maybe its a style of writing which I can prune and control but am not doing so, at least, for now.

Well I've got a lot to tell you guys. My last post was exactly two days short of a year back and things have obviously changed since then. For the better or the worse, only time can tell.

Firstly, I now live in a cliche i.e. Dubai. I live and study in the city of Gold. A place where one observes glitter all around which he cannot touch. Famous restaurants I can't eat in, famous malls I can't shop in, most visited landmarks I can't visit and cars I cannot drive. But there is of course the fact that I'm here to study and you can see how easy it is to get distracted. I shifted here just before New Year 2012. And rang in the momentous occasion with my mom and a good family friend, Keith, to whom I owe a lot given how accommodating he has been over the past 8 months. I began studying my Masters in Strategic Marketing at the University of Wollongong in Dubai in February and finished a semester in May. The first semester was marked with three trips to Salalah during which I made 2 tries to complete the road section of the driving license test and failed both times. After the first semester, I went to India for my regular health check ups and hurried through the 10 odd days I was there for. Big Guilt feeling there because I couldn't meet and greet most of my relatives and friends even in that span of time. I returned from India in the beginning of June after which I began a relatively short second semester which will end this next week. So that's that for the University.

Me, Mom and Keith at his place prior to leaving for our New Years Eve Dinner

Supraket comes home to visit me (or Tuffy?) during my short trip to  Mumbai

Its surprising that in that short time I managed to change my place of stay thrice. I began staying with Keith at Discovery Gardens, then moved in with William at Al Fahidi, who by the way is another gem of a Goan and made me feel very comfortable during my stay at his place. After that, I shifted in at Quisais. Unfortunately, things didn't work out well and I got back to Discovery Gardens to stay with Keith again, but this time at a new place.

A Lazy Boy Chair at Keith's new place at Discovery Gardens

As of July 15th, yours truly has also officially begun working. Spontaneous social media updates may have kept well, most of you informed. I work at Hang On Media, a start up digital media firm (The website currently routes to their first advertising product, but is in for an up haul soon). I'm currently working on some very exciting projects there including an e-commerce facilitation website. I love it here, and the fact that we're a start up is only adding to my experience of other routine office work in play. I work in Al Quoz, almost adjacent to the Oasis shopping centre and travelling there is a bitch because I have to change a bus, metro and a cab, thus increasing the income of the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority in all three forms of transport.

One of Dubai's many swanky metro stations on the Red Line

To be absolutely truthful here, I really feel the pinch of not having a car. Dubai isn't much pedestrian friendly no matter what the PR plugs in the newspapers say and a car is an absolute necessity here. On the other end, trying to get a license here is equivalent to trying to become a Chartered Accountant. People have been known to take numerous tests and still fail. Ironically, If you're European, American or Arab, you can easily transfer from your country's license to a Dubai one. So with my options limited, I go with the flow and put my faith in the public transport system here to get me places.

I think I have spoken a lot for now. I shall conclude with the same old self-promise to blog more often and if you are one of the extremely small if any minority who happen to read my blog and will like to read more, please remind me to post. Hopefully, I'll move on to write about the happier aspects of my life here.

Till then, Bye Bye from Brian in Dubai.  

Why Random Trips Work...

Its been long since i wrote out my heart here. And yes, this first line has been a never-ending cliche but nonetheless a good way to start my posts.

Random Trips make up a heap of the otherwise-never ending routine called College. And though, with all the last minute detailing that gets into them they are left far from random, everybody loves a good trip. The Girls like it when its short and at a time when there are plentiful of excuses to give at home, the bunkers depend on these trips to get their connect up with the class again, and the Boys, well....They just love Trips.

However, originating from a very cheap class who are at the will to spend a grand on a project but just above a dime on something they enjoy has its own drawbacks, In other words, even if you have a rich dad, there's no way you're going to save up money in BMM. We often end up calling ourselves Cheap, but there's a lot going into coining that term.

Coming back to the daunting task of saving up for a trip. Once the accounts have been made and the group realises that each one can spend nothing more than 300 bucks, we already have our destination marked. While in most cases Manori happens to win hands down, a few brave folk have also ventured as far as Daman (when the booze is cheap, why worry where to sleep?).

Now since these trips happen to work out only when the semester's about to end, we're sure to get the necessary crowd (10 upwards always works out better for splitting the room charges) and as they say, 'the more the merrier', specially when the barrel's rolling.

What happens from the time we enter our rooms though is a matter of sworn secrecy. OK, i'll admit it isn't sworn, but its still a secret. Its known by many, but still unspoken. You can take a guess now and there are slim chances of you being anywhere far from bullsey

The best part, however, or atleast according to me is the amount of time these trips allow you to be by yourself. In a spur of  moment, you can get all chatty with people you bitch about, and in the next you can enjoy the fleeting sea breeze all by yourself. After all, its not a holiday if you ain't got it to yourself!

Anyways, as always we have the gorgeous beach to ourselves too, and the water never looks as inviting as it may seem after a hard night if you know what i mean. A nice decent game of footy is what follows, and in due time, people are seen complaining of their respective tans and how horrible they look. That my friends is when we retire for the day and start the slow and steady journey home.

For me the return has always been the hardest, you know, when you're out all of a sudden, just getting that incredible adrenalin-like rush of independence, and doing things your way, the return just makes you feel like shit. It brings to mind the painful journey in a creaky local train back home. It reminds you that you're back to the routine. (When were you out of it anyways? Half a Day?)

While memories often keeps these trips fresh, Nostalgia hits hard. After all, when you'll be so rich as to spend a couple of days at an end instead of one, you won't have the same weird, unshaven pain-in-the-ass friends with you. :D

 

Washing Dirty Linen.....

She came with instant thunder.

Struck me when least expected.

My deepest of nightmares did she plunder,

I was on the behest of being beheaded.

She entered to the stench of masculinity.

But she lived up to her name.

For she stung with feminity

Which was not many people's game.

She was initially in a rage.

The sight of my house being the reason.

However, ahe forgot all about her age,

and brought on the place a new season.

Such was her beauty

and such was her stride.

She'd make my Granma,

glee in pride.

She cleaned lotsa things,

the first in the list being ME.

and in the matter of a few ding-dings,

There was a new ME, u see.

She cooked some awesome food.

Which completely won over my heart.

If you think she's a chick, watchout DUDE!

She's my MUM. A Class Apart.

The "Odd"acity...

Was just thinkin about my parents and how they got me into this course (don't worry, there were no donations involved)....

U know they've hardly SEEN the college...(my sister did the admissions), and they havent MEt sudu yet (Joy to the world for Various reasons), They havent even met 1 of my college friends.....and i am now entering the second year of my college! I mean jus see how instinctive parents can be....coz im sure based on how much they've actually heard about sudu from my sis (who being a true Xavierite did, however manage to attend one of Sudu's lectures).......

Parents are awesome, chuck mothers day and father's day...why distinguish on the basis of sex? Celebrate Parents day.....Thats where the gift and the tribute is..........!

Hola Senors et Senoritas,

And Yeah......Keep drinking Polarizer and get Polarised...........!

Polly wants a Cracker!.....A Real Big Cracker....!

Hey People!

Face it, Im back....to where my heart belongs....Polaris....the one word worth a lotta effort. And btw, im back in mumbai too. 

These few days......MAN...just got a pinch of the giant dose that all the resident polaris team is puttin in.....nd whoa...it was an awakening.

Cant let out much information on the sponsor status. Coz we are quite a bit steady now, and i dont want some ass from the bmm department of Ali Baba College to poke fun. Seriously. Festival Work is goin kinda hectic, but manageable, coz u know its one of the things we actually learn in our course. We've burnt so much midnight oil that I was sure we caused the hike in oil prices. Lotta designing goin on lately. The looks of various things. a little pinch here a little pluck there.

And the future definitely looks positive. Id like to see a Polaris where evry1 dabbles in a bit of fun and tension, and goes home as bubbly as ever. 

Very Short Note, Very Random Note......I know....but my thoughts as of this moment arent so constructive and bold. So this is it....jus wanted to update the rare abominable snowman who reads my blog. :)

Keep reading Yeti, and Hope ya get Polarised.!!!

Ek kaam...Polaris ke naam!

Come the month of june..
and a certain group of BMM students shall be heard singing a new song..
The lyrics have already been put together...
The theme is fixed on "Never say Never"..
Unique individuals shall lend their voices,
to ensure inclusion of ONLY the right choices...

The groundwork is amazing..
Something that people at the Moffice will "hopefully" keep praising.. :D
I don't say that it'll be something hatke...
But Its gotta have some Jhatke-Matke...
After all we're Wilson BMM and we're cheap...
and luckily enough, thats not our reason to weep........

The CP has a dedicated soul..
He's someone who's definitely gonna make some heads roll...
Its not that we'll be giving volunteers the pink slip..
But again, we never said we won't use a whip........
About the Two DCPs, the less said the better..
One's a man of few words, and the other's ironically sweeter..
Three hot-heads down......8 more to go.....
Defining them isn't all so-so......
I'm thus doin you all a favour....
By not letting out our committee's flavor.......

Coming to the Tys, they're a bunch as sweet as ever...
They've done a Polaris...and so we're expecting them to be clever..
They've had their moments.....and they should have some more.... :D

So here we come with Polaris '09.....
hoping that we do well.....
to ring many a bell....
taking the "blitz" of bmm on a wild "detour", while keeping in mind our "Copyrights" and definitely our "Lakshya", not to forget our sole existence of "02"

Cheerios to my readers.....and lastly....... HAIL Polaris!

Destination: Home Sweet Home

Ok….by the time you people get to read this, I must have already reached the heavenly abode of Salalah, also known as God’s own Kerala……(A term coined by one of my friends on orkut…….hoping he doesn’t have a copyright). Now I am sitting on the plush leather chairs on the Mumbai airport, the ones with polished steel spines. The Boarding Area is deserted. I arrived early. A result of my high levels of preparedness, and of course, Past experience. Believe me! You do not want to get into a tussle with Oman Air. The Staff there are simply illogical. So, coming back to me and my loneliness….Im SUCH a despo na……..doin blogging as TP. 

Aila! The Egypt air flight just exited the parking space. That’s right. It’s the Egypt Air which is supposedly flying to Kuala Lumpur. Ok, forgetting my sarcasm. Lets arrive at the point. My Despo eyes are hunting for the plane among planes having the trademark Gold and silver symbol, and two words which distinctly remind me of home “Oman Air”.

Home! Yaay! Salalah………..Man I couldn’t have waited more for this moment. But come to think about it….Was it really the longing for home, or just the want to get the hell out of that Hostel? Pata nahin……….But whatever it is, I’m going home. And that’s my permanent address. Coz there’s No place like HOME.

Polaris. Had lots of it in the past two days, and I know that its just a spoonful of the ton of servings we’re gonna have. Its just a teeny-weeny mushroom on the base of a life-slice cheese pizza. But atleast it’s a mushroom, and not a molecule of pepper. Whatever it may be……Starting polaris was fun. A group of daring, arguable individuals who want to get pissed off. Now that’s our committee!

Coming back to the enticing prospect of Salalah. I’m coming home, little green lady, be prepared. I wont wreck havoc, but at the same time, u cant expect an Air condition deprived supposed mumbaiite to stay quiet can you?  

What the Fuck??

Mumbai, the city of Dreams, and Success...............currently turning into a waterhole for Nightmares and Failure. They Call us the Youth of The Country, and according to what I've come to know, the terrorists wer also youth in their early 20's. What the Fuck man!! a few bombs blasted approximately 4 kilometres from where I stay, and two terrorists were killed at just a 5 minutes walk from my hostel. Fear comes in front of my face, and I just stare. Not knowing how many have already succumbed to it. 

People call me a BMM student, and expect me to change the world with my means. while I see a few Ex-BMM reporters and presenters on television heightening the fear already building in the common man's mind.

The Nation has recieved a couple of shots in its arm already and will continue to do so. The best thing here is that we don't have anyone to blame. the Politicians?? Who has elected them? The Voters? who corrupts their mind? The Media People? Who said money was the only lever to run a soul in a society???

Load Shedding.........

Hmmmm..........kind of happy today.......In fact, never was so happy since i joined WILSON'S BMM (Yes....It's what I like to call Bandhutva Mukti Morcha for specific reasons). And yes, they do have specific reasons to them. Both my presentations, sudu's and reena's, have managed to fare pretty well(And I'm NOT fibbing......well, maybe I am....but who cares? I like It :))

Sudu ka docu well, theek gaya, par I personally thought I was gonna get screwed, KING-SIZe types. PAr response theek-thak mila (thik-thak in BMM means, and IS very Good for me) aur I was quite happy with my team, (Royston, Nehal, Vishaal, Sukriti, Joy and yah......(blink,blink).....ME!) Sudu still did manage to team-screw us with his questions. (Yaar........woh itna kahaan bharta hai??)

Reena ke maamle me thodi samajhdari barakni padi, (forgive my NRI-hindi) par overall mein haal thoda toh bemisaal tha hi. Meri team ka to kya kehna? Neeraj and Heena did quite a good job, and for the 1st time in presentations, I took a back-seat. Ma'am ko jo chahiye tha, so hamne diya............aur ma'am aur sawaal puchke apna Sunday-mood kyun kharaab karna chahegi?

Frends.....

I thought coming to Mumbai would help me make a lot more friends of the trustable kind. But I don't know why but my mind simply can't accept a lot of vibes from a lotta people?? But maybe its because i've grown up in an environment where i've had the same grup of frends, the same seniors, and yes, of course................the same school.

But even in that case, my soul has gelled up pretty well with a select few. Consisting, of course, primarily, of my hostel mates (My Lifeline), a handful of the opposite sex (coz calling them "gurl-frends" dosent make justice) and yes a good lot of in-class-same-mindset male frends. I wanted to have sum more, but I guess a lot of frns puts u in a muddle..... But I should say, the few frens tht I've made too can be really counted upon and i can seem to put a specified amt. of trust in them.

But Besides that, I'm kind of waiting to return to salalah and click with my old cliche.......for old times sake.............! :)

Hah........That was the WCNC Nature Trek i went for, though it was abt. two weeks back, memories keep rushing back when I look at the Pics..........and the damned Action Shoes!!!! I mean it was indeed exhaustive, both in terms of the distance covered, and in terms of my knowledge about nature.........SSR, of course, stole the show and had something interesting to say about each and every speciality of flowers and trees. All In All it was simply awesome. But I'd Kinda Like to refrain from these treks for about 3 months now........ ;)

Spidey 3 Rocksss!

Hey Guys! I'm sure most of you people out there must've caught a glimpse of the new mania that hit the world..........SPIDER MANIA.This film attracted me almost immediately. And Yes, the advertisements too, didn't fail to play their part.

I watched the movie *TWICE*, the first time being the second day of the movie's release in a MultipleX together wid my sis n her frend. The Second time i watched the Movie in a Normal Theater, again with my sis and two of her frens.

I was like woohoo! right from the 1st scene! This movie has the most stunning graphics n sequences one could ever bear to watch. Together with a somewhat-constructive story, spiderman 3 never fails to impress!

I Guess Toby Maguire's role in this movie promoted his own image more, rather than him just being the man behind the mask. Kirsten Dunst also looked quite gorgeous and nonetheless amazing. Some peak points in the movie witnessed Dunst as nothing more than a Damsel in Distress.

Bomay......Evry Damn Place Looks The Same!

See people....... Actually i'm supposed to like settle down in mumbaifor my college, (i presume i'll get into a Good one!) and its automatically fixed that i will have to learn travelling through the numerous transport routes in and around Mumbai.

The Only Problem is that I DONT KNW HOW TO TRAVEL BY ANYTHING BUT A TAXI !!! Considering buses, the numbers really put my hindi knowledge to a REALLY HARD test. Take the Option of Trains, HOW DO I KNOW WHERE THEY LEAD TO???

I mean If I'm Left 2 hours away from my home in mumbai, Thats like the last u'll see of me! Coz I'll not noe which road leads where!

In Mumbai.....n enjoyin It!

K Guys.........finally in mumbai......now i mustve waited n waited 4 cumin here, but now that i'm here, i sort of WANNA GO BACK! Its like ive got a new house n all but its so DAMN HOT!~~

Sit in a place, and in abt. 2 seconds u'll hae u'self drenched in a solution similar to brine- TOP 2 BOTTOM.

Anywayz guyz, 2 months to be spent here n i'll try my to make the BEST out f it!

So long...............Adios Amigos!